Three days ago, Zheng Wan was reborn.
Upon her rebirth, she learned exactly how her life was destined to unfold.
In a month’s time, she was supposed to seek refuge with her biological mother, Li Mei, under the guise of being her niece. Then, she would work diligently at the Meng family’s restaurant before marrying an honest man and giving birth to a son. She would toil for her small family for the rest of her life—a happy, yet ordinary and mundane existence.
She didn’t just know her own end; she knew everyone else’s too.
Take Meng Ruo, for instance. She was a mere passerby in Zheng Wan’s long life, a stupid and clumsy clown consumed by jealousy until Meng Jun finally reached his limit and kicked her out, leading to a miserable end.
Then there was You Che. Currently, he was just an unremarkable R&D engineer at an appliance factory, but in the future, he would found his own company and become a wealthy electronics tycoon.
The only reason she knew someone of his stature was through her future husband, Tan Lin. During Tan Lin’s darkest hour, You Che had reached out to help. At that time, You Che’s appliance kingdom had already taken shape, while Tan Lin was devastated by the closure of his factory and the prospect of being laid off.
Of course, Tan Lin eventually worked hard to lead their family to a comfortable life, but a mere “comfortable” living was worlds apart from You Che’s empire.
Having lived one life and knowing how the future would develop, how could Zheng Wan possibly follow Li Mei’s arrangements and marry the mediocre Tan Lin again?
Because of Tan Lin, she had met the great You Che. Back then, Tan Lin was at his lowest point—his mother was seriously ill, the family desperately needed money, and he had lost his job. With nowhere else to turn, Tan Lin had to swallow his pride and borrow money from You Che.
Tan Lin was a fellow townsman of You Che, but they had no connection before You Che became successful. Only after You Che made it big did Tan Lin shamelessly use that distant tie to ask for money. Tan Lin himself knew the act was somewhat disgraceful.
The truth was, not only did You Che lend the money generously, but he also didn’t look down on Tan Lin in the slightest. In Tan Lin’s heart, this was a massive debt of gratitude. From then on, their interactions became frequent—though “frequent” really just meant Tan Lin visiting during holidays with local specialties from their hometown.
Later, when Zheng Wan and Tan Lin married, Tan Lin invited You Che to be their witness. You Che was gracious enough to give a speech and even gifted them a large red envelope.
In the period following their wedding, You Che visited their home two or three times. Every time he came, he insisted on staying for dinner, saying that Zheng Wan’s cooking reminded him of the flavors of his childhood. Zheng Wan later learned that You Che’s grandmother had passed away during that time.
Recalling the past, Zheng Wan thought confidently: I don’t believe for a second that You Che didn’t have feelings for me.
As they say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. In that regard, she held a significant advantage. In this life, she would get to know You Che early, capture his heart, marry him, and smoothly live the life of a wealthy socialite she had always dreamed of.
She had suffered enough in her previous life.
After being reborn, Zheng Wan couldn’t wait a moment longer. She packed her bags and took a bus straight to the provincial capital. Originally, according to Li Mei’s plan, she was supposed to wait at least a month. Li Mei’s letter said the safest way was to wait until Meng Jun’s daughter, Meng Ruo, married out; then Zheng Wan could move in as a “niece.”
Li Mei was beautiful, fair-skinned, and maintained her figure well. When she married Meng Jun, she lied and told him she was a virgin. Given Meng Jun’s status back then, he never would have married a divorcee who already had a child. Although Meng Jun was also on his second marriage and had a teenage daughter, he was wealthy and owned a restaurant. Many truly young, unmarried women were eager to marry him.
Consequently, Meng Jun was completely unaware that Li Mei had been married or had a daughter.
When Li Mei saw Zheng Wan standing before her, she was utterly shocked. It was a mix of surprise and pure terror—surprise at her sudden arrival and terror that Meng Jun would discover the truth. Only after Zheng Wan smilingly answered Meng Jun’s questions did Li Mei recover from her fright. In the sweltering heat of midsummer, a layer of cold sweat soaked her back.
“This is my niece from the countryside,” Li Mei forced a laugh and explained quickly. “The girl is hardworking. Her mother asked me to help find her some work in the city. She was supposed to come in a month, but she showed up today out of the blue.”
Li Mei brought forward the script she had prepared in advance.
Meng Jun nodded, looking somewhat displeased, but he didn’t say much and turned back to sit on the living room sofa. Li Mei hurriedly pulled Zheng Wan inside and took her luggage.
“You child! Why didn’t you give me a heads-up? I wasn’t prepared at all,” Li Mei hissed, shooting her a sharp look of blame.
Zheng Wan didn’t respond to the scolding; she just smiled. She walked into the house without a hint of shyness, her dark eyes darting around to inspect the layout of the apartment and the people in the room. Her gaze swept past Meng Jun and lingered on Meng Ruo for a split second before moving on.
Why is this place so small? Only two bedrooms? It wasn’t even as good as the dormitory building she lived in with Tan Lin after they married—at least that had three rooms. This small place was just a rented unit in a dormitory block. People said the Meng family ran a restaurant, but it looked like an empty shell that only sounded good to outsiders.
Sitting on the sofa, Meng Jun frowned at Zheng Wan’s brazen looking. Where did this country girl come from? No manners at all. From the moment she stepped inside, her eyes hadn’t stopped wandering. She looked like a girl full of schemes, and he hated nothing more than a girl with too many ideas.
Sensing Meng Jun’s displeasure, Li Mei cleared her throat at the right moment and introduced her.
Li Mei: “This is your Second Uncle-in-law.”
Zheng Wan bowed halfway: “Hello, Uncle.”
Li Mei pointed toward Meng Ruo: “This is your Sister Meng.”
Zheng Wan smiled: “Hello, Sister.”
Meng Ruo gave a polite nod in return. To be honest, she was also surprised by Zheng Wan’s sudden appearance. According to the original plot, Zheng Wan wasn’t supposed to arrive for another month. Why was the timing so far off?
Beyond the surprise, Meng Ruo was worried. In the book, the moment the female lead appeared, the original owner acted as if she were possessed, falling into insane jealousy and brainless trouble-making, led by the nose by the plot. Therefore, she had to be careful. For safety’s sake, she would take the initiative to stay far away from Zheng Wan.
Meng Jun seemed annoyed by the uninvited arrival of Li Mei’s country relative, a fact evident in his tone. When Li Mei asked him to help find the girl a job, he frowned with impatience. However, since she was already there, he couldn’t just ignore Li Mei’s request. Eventually, he agreed to set her up with a job doing odd chores in the restaurant’s kitchen.
Meng Jun stayed for a bit before heading to the restaurant, and Meng Ruo soon returned to her room. Once they were gone, only Zheng Wan and Li Mei remained in the living room.
“Mom, where am I sleeping tonight?” Zheng Wan asked bluntly.
Li Mei jumped in fright and lunged to cover Zheng Wan’s mouth, looking around nervously. She dragged Zheng Wan into the kitchen and slammed the door shut.
“Didn’t I tell you? Don’t call me Mom here! Call me Second Aunt!” Li Mei glared at her, lowering her voice.
Zheng Wan rubbed her arm where Li Mei had grabbed it, saying reluctantly, “Oh, fine. I get it.”
“So where am I sleeping, Second Aunt?” Zheng Wan deliberately emphasized the title.
She had noted the layout: only two rooms. Her mother and Meng Jun definitely occupied one, and Meng Ruo occupied the other. It had been a long time, but she vaguely recalled that in her previous life, she had shared a room with Meng Ruo.
Li Mei didn’t answer. Instead, she scolded, “You brat, why did you run over here without a word? Didn’t I tell you in the letter to wait until I had things arranged?”
“Also, Meng Jun doesn’t know I’ve had a child before. You absolutely must not let the secret slip,” Li Mei cautioned.
“I know, I know,” Zheng Wan replied, looking like she didn’t want to hear the nagging at all.
Zheng Wan actually couldn’t figure out how Li Mei had pulled it off. Usually, when Li Mei met Meng Jun, she was nearly thirty. How could Meng Jun believe a woman that age was a virgin?
That was thanks to Li Mei’s silver tongue, turning black into white while Meng Jun believed every word. Li Mei had claimed her parents sold her to a sickly man to bring him luck, but the man was so ill he couldn’t even move, let alone perform. Thus, despite being “married,” she claimed to remain pure. Anyone else would have laughed, but Meng Jun was so infatuated at the time that he believed whatever she said.
“Where to sleep? Where to sleep?” Li Mei glared at her again. “Running here without a word… it’s lucky my reactions were fast enough that Meng Jun didn’t see through it.”
“You wretched girl,” Li Mei poked her forehead hard. “It’s lucky enough I can get you a job, and you’re asking about sleep? How should I know where you’ll stay?”
Zheng Wan had lived two lives; using that perspective, she didn’t have much respect for her mother. In her eyes, Li Mei was a short-sighted woman who focused on crumbs and would always live under someone else’s thumb. Even the life Li Mei had planned for her was just a copy of her own.
“Then what do I do?” Zheng Wan asked again.
“What to do? What to do?” Li Mei glared again. “I suppose you’ll have to make do on the sofa in the living room for tonight.”
“The sofa?” Zheng Wan’s voice rose, clearly finding it unacceptable.
“What? You look down on it? If you don’t like it, get lost and go back to the countryside! You think I want to deal with your mess?” Li Mei gave no quarter, her words incredibly harsh.
Go back? Impossible. Since she had made it to the city, there was no way she was leaving. She was still preparing to seize the opportunity and meet You Che early.
Seeing Zheng Wan stay silent, Li Mei thought she had learned her lesson and softened again.
“Why were you in such a rush to get to the city? Didn’t I say wait for my arrangements?” Li Mei said earnestly. “You saw Meng Jun’s daughter just now, right? I’m finding her a husband. Once she marries out, her room will be vacant. Then you can have it.”
“I had it all planned out, and you’ve gone and messed it up.” Li Mei began complaining again.
Meng Ruo is getting married?
That’s not right.
If Meng Ruo actually got married, wouldn’t that deviate from her original life path? Zheng Wan remembered that in her previous life, Meng Ruo was also preparing to marry when she arrived, but the marriage fell through. Because Zheng Wan was there, Meng Ruo spent all her time opposing her and had no time to worry about her own wedding.
Furthermore, with the kind of matches Li Mei found for her—loiterers or ex-cons—it was no wonder the original Meng Ruo never successfully married.
Since there were no suitable matches in the last life, it must be the same in this one, Zheng Wan thought.
Believing Meng Ruo was destined to remain unmarried, the next day at work, Meng Ruo was greeted by Sister Wang with a piece of good news.