A splitting pain shot through Ye Wanwan’s head after she hit it. She let out a pained groan and abruptly opened her eyes.
She looked around. Before her was a small, crude earthen house. The mud walls were yellowed and mottled, and the wooden beams supporting the roof were blackened by smoke. Beneath her was a cold earthen bed covered with a worn straw mat.
Where was this place?
In an instant, countless fragments of unfamiliar memories flooded into her mind.
She had transmigrated into a book!
She had entered the very 1970s-era tragic romance novel she had read the night before, becoming Ye Wanwan, a selfish and self-centered character in the story.
The original owner had been excessively spoiled by her father since childhood, which had made her willful and selfish. She was lazy, hot-tempered, and inflexible in her ways, always ending up at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, she had a marriage arrangement that everyone envied. It had been settled by her paternal grandmother before her death. The prospective groom lived in the city and came from a family with excellent circumstances.
Just then, a series of knocks sounded from outside the door.
“Elder Sister! Elder Sister, are you awake? Grandpa is asking you to come out and talk, too.”
The voice belonged to her younger half-brother, Ye Yubiao!
She called out, “Coming!” Then she got up and headed toward the main room.
When Ye Wanwan entered the main room, the old man, Ye Kaishan, was already seated in the main seat. Beside him sat his second wife, Yao, while her younger female cousin, Ye Ziyu, sat nearby, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Wanwan, your younger cousin wants to swap marriage arrangements with you. Do you agree?”
Ye Ziyu’s shoulders trembled incessantly as she cried, looking fragile and helpless.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Elder Sister, I can’t face anyone anymore! This morning, I climbed a tree to pick some fruit and accidentally fell. Brother Yongqiang happened to catch me. Everyone saw it. Now my reputation is ruined, and if I marry someone else, the whole village will point fingers at me. Please, I beg you to help me! Elder Sister, I want to swap marriage arrangements with you. Please!”
Ye Ziyu lowered her head, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint smile. Little did anyone know that she was a Reborn person.
In her previous life, her older female cousin, Ye Wanwan, had relied on this marriage arrangement to secure a wonderful future. After the resumption of the college entrance examination, Wang Yongqiang returned to the city and eventually became an official. Ye Wanwan lived a life of glory, and everyone praised her for making such a good marriage.
Meanwhile, Ye Ziyu had been forced to marry the hunter, Xu Yuchen. She had never expected that Xu Yuchen was all looks and no substance. Not only was he impotent, but a year after their marriage, he was also injured while hunting and became disabled. All their savings went toward treating his leg, making their already difficult life even more miserable.
Fortunately, that life had lasted only a few months before she was Reborn.
Heaven had finally shown her mercy by allowing her to return to six months before her marriage.
Having lived another life, she had only one thought in mind. She would take her older female cousin’s marriage arrangement for herself at all costs.
To seize the opportunity, she had established contact with Wang Yongqiang long ago. Compared with Ye Wanwan, whose reputation was already in tatters, Wang Yongqiang preferred the considerate and understanding Ye Ziyu. The two had therefore planned this staged rescue.
The ambiguous and painfully conspicuous scene had happened to be witnessed by villagers returning from their farm work.
In a conservative rural community, a single man and a single woman embracing each other was nearly impossible to explain away. Rumors spread throughout the village in just half a day. This was precisely the opportunity Ye Ziyu had been waiting for. She immediately returned to the old family home and made a tearful scene.
When Ye Wanwan heard the news that morning, she hurried home to question everyone about what had happened. Unexpectedly, she had just stepped inside when she slipped, hit her head, and fainted.
Ye Kaishan, seated in the main room, wore a solemn expression. This marriage arrangement had been secured because his first wife, Madam Hou, had once saved Old Master Wang’s life by chance. It was a genuine life-saving debt.
Grandma Yao wore a kind and benevolent smile as she spoke gently.
“Wanwan, the matter has already spread throughout the village. Ziyu’s reputation is ruined. If we continue to resist, all the young women in our family will be subjected to gossip and criticism. For the sake of our entire family’s reputation, you can only make this sacrifice.”
Zhang, the second branch’s daughter-in-law, immediately chimed in. Her eyes were filled with calculation.
“Xu Yuchen is one of the best hunters in the village. His house has sturdy brick walls and a tiled roof. He always returns from the mountains with a good catch, and his family is well-off. Plenty of girls dream of marrying him! Wanwan, you certainly won’t be losing out by swapping marriage arrangements.”
Xu Yuchen’s family was indeed well-off by the standards of Tianmeng Village. However, the Wang family lived in the city. Once her own daughter became a city dweller, wouldn’t she be able to get whatever she wanted?
Besides, her daughter had experienced a prophetic dream. According to that dream, Wang Yongqiang would definitely become a high-ranking official in the future, while Xu Yuchen would end up crippled.
Ye Wanwan’s lips curled into a smile so subtle that no one noticed it.
Now this was getting interesting!
It looked like Ye Ziyu had been Reborn, which explained why she was so determined to swap their marriage arrangements!
In the original novel, Wang Yongqiang had indeed returned to the city with the original owner a year later. He was humble and courteous toward others, earning everyone’s praise throughout the village.
But only the original owner, who had married him, knew that beneath his gentle exterior lurked an extremely twisted personality.
Deep down, he looked down on the original owner because she came from the countryside. During the day, he pretended to be a loving and respectable husband. At night, however, he unleashed all his pent-up resentment, arrogance, and twisted desires on her, tormenting and deliberately mistreating her without restraint.
The marriage that others envied had become a living hell for the original owner, filled with unbearable nights and suffering she had nowhere to voice.
Thinking of the original owner’s miserable fate, Ye Wanwan immediately felt a surge of anger.
She planted both hands on her hips. Her little face flushed red with fury, and her eyes blazed as she threw her head back and shrieked.
“I refuse to swap! I would rather die than swap! This marriage arrangement was mine from the very beginning! My own paternal grandmother arranged it for me! What right do you have to force me to give it up? You want to steal this marriage with a city dweller? Dream on! I will never agree to the swap, even if I die!”
Ye Guoqiang hurried forward and positioned himself in front of Ye Wanwan, immediately defending his daughter.
“If my Wanwan says she won’t swap, then she won’t swap! The marriage arrangement was settled long ago. No one should even think about taking it away!”
Ye Ziyu’s eyes reddened as she spoke in a wounded voice.
“Elder Sister, Brother Yongqiang has already promised to marry me. If we don’t swap marriage arrangements, I’ll truly have no way out except death! Besides, if you marry Brother Yuchen, you’ll get to eat meat every day and live in a big house. Isn’t that wonderful? What if Brother Yongqiang can’t return to the city? Then you’ll have to spend your entire life stuck in the village. By then, even eating meat will be a problem!”
A hint of mockery flashed through Ye Wanwan’s mind.
She had no interest in this so-called marriage to a city dweller. Even if Ye Ziyu had not caused this commotion, she would have found a way to end the engagement herself. Now, things were conveniently working out in her favor.
A conflicted expression also flashed across Ye Guoqiang’s eyes.
Indeed, in terms of skills and character, he felt that Xu Yuchen was a hundred times better than Wang Yongqiang. If Wang Yongqiang could return to the city, that would be fine. But if he could not, his daughter would be stuck with him in the countryside for the rest of her life.
Ye Wanwan lifted her chin arrogantly.
“I refuse to swap! I want to become a city dweller.”
She had to maintain her original character. Besides, if she did not get some benefits out of this, she would be letting herself down as a modern woman!
Ye Kaishan looked at Ye Guoqiang and advised him seriously.
“Eldest son, Wanwan, marriage is a major matter in life. It must be based on mutual willingness. Only when two people are compatible and genuinely want to be together can the outcome be a happy one. I also spoke to the young man from the Wang family earlier. He mentioned that he prefers Ziyu. So why not help them fulfill their wishes? A woman’s reputation is a serious matter. We cannot allow a stain to remain on it. I hope everyone will put the interests of the family first.”
He emphasized the final sentence to make his position clear.
As far as Ye Kaishan was concerned, it made little difference which of the two girls married whom. What mattered was that the reputation of the Ye family branch must not be ruined.