Li Lezhi’s home was located in the heart of Haishi’s wealthy district, a small Western-style villa filled with the marks of time. It had been one of the pieces of dowry Li’s maternal grandfather had given to Li’s Mother when she married, and the mother and daughter had settled there ever since. Every corner of the villa’s decor carried a sense of history.
Li’s Mother was sitting on the sofa in the living room. When she saw Li Lezhi coming downstairs, concern filled her eyes.
“Lele, why didn’t you rest a little longer before coming down?”
Li Lezhi smiled. “I just finished some porridge and already feel much better. I couldn’t sit still any longer, and I have a few things to take care of outside.”
“Then make sure you come back quickly and don’t overexert yourself,” Li’s Mother reminded her gently.
“Okay, I’ll take care of myself,” Li Lezhi replied before opening the door and leaving.
A little over ten minutes later, she was walking through the streets of Haishi. Looking around, she saw quotations from great leaders hanging along both sides of the roads. The atmosphere of the era was everywhere, making it hard to imagine that a few decades later, towering skyscrapers would stand here and completely transform the city.
Relying on the original owner’s memories, Li Lezhi headed toward the recycling station. The recycling station on the eastern side of Haishi was a familiar place to the original owner as well.
Half an hour later, the station came into view. A man in his fifties sat at the entrance. As soon as Li Lezhi approached, he looked up at her.
“Uncle, I’d like to look for some old newspapers and study materials,” she asked politely.
The man sized her up before saying, “Go ahead! Paper costs three fen per jin. Just don’t rummage through anything else.”
“Alright.”
Li Lezhi nodded and entered the recycling station.
The place was piled high with all kinds of discarded items, including tables, chairs, broken porcelain, stacks of paper, and countless other odds and ends. She first searched among the furniture and other larger objects before beginning a careful inspection.
She clearly remembered a scene from the original novel. Shen Yueyue had discovered a white jade pendant and three small gold bars hidden inside an old wooden box. As the Female Lead’s cheat ability, the author had described that episode in great detail.
Because of that, when Li Lezhi picked up several wooden boxes, she immediately noticed that one of them was unusually heavy. Quietly carrying it to a secluded corner, she began examining it carefully.
Ten minutes later, she finally figured out how to open it.
Three gleaming gold bars instantly came into view. Beneath them lay a pure white jade pendant engraved with the pattern of an unknown flower.
Li Lezhi found a sharp wooden splinter and, gritting her teeth, pierced her finger. Bright red blood flowed out. Enduring the pain, she pressed her finger against the jade pendant.
The blood instantly spread across its surface. The engraved flower seemed to bloom like a living red spider lily, vivid and lifelike.
The next moment, the jade pendant transformed into a streak of white light and flew into Li Lezhi’s body.
At the same time, a flower-shaped tattoo appeared on the back of her hand.
Staring at the mark, she silently thought, Hide.
The tattoo immediately disappeared.
Ecstasy surged through her heart, so overwhelming that she no longer cared about the sting in her finger.
She returned to the wooden box, picked it up, and with a single thought, both the box and the gold bars vanished before her eyes.
A thrill of delight rose within her. Although she could not yet enter the spiritual spring space to inspect it, she could clearly sense its existence.
The feeling was indescribably wonderful.
Afterward, she stepped into the sea of discarded books and papers, searching for newspapers and the supplies she needed.
Just as she was holding several high school required reading books in her arms, a gentle female voice drifted in from outside.
Li Lezhi instinctively turned to look.
A girl entered her sight.
She was a little over one meter sixty tall, with an oval face, large innocent eyes, and delicate features. Though her clothes were old and patched, they were clean. She looked frail enough to be blown away by a gust of wind, swaying lightly in the breeze.
By the time the girl stepped inside, Li Lezhi had already found most of the books and newspapers she needed. Gathering her things, she prepared to leave.
As they passed each other face to face, the girl widened her eyes slightly and parted her lips as if she wanted to say something. Yet she seemed to remember something at the last second and instead pretended nothing had happened, brushing past Li Lezhi.
Li Lezhi could not help glancing at her once more.
Despite her plain clothing, her skin was still as fair and smooth as jade.
Recalling the girl’s hesitant expression, Li Lezhi already had a good guess.
This was probably Shen Yueyue, exactly as the Female Lead had been described in the novel.
She had never expected to meet her so soon.
The Female Lead truly lived up to her reputation. Even while enduring abuse from her stepmother at home, she still possessed that delicate, boneless grace. Her skin remained fair and flawless, showing no signs of malnutrition whatsoever. Even compared with someone like Li Lezhi, who had been pampered since childhood, she was not inferior in the slightest.
The entire girl radiated a uniquely captivating charm.
Lost in thought, Li Lezhi had already carried her books to the gatekeeper.
The man accepted them, gave them a quick glance, and said flatly, “Twenty cents.”
Li Lezhi paid the money and left without delay.
Shen Yueyue watched Li Lezhi’s retreating figure and felt an inexplicable irritation rise in her heart. She thought it was probably related to seeing that girl again.
She had met her in her previous life.
Back then, one of them had been a phoenix in the heavens, while the other had been dust on the ground.
Thinking about how Li Lezhi had managed to rise again even after being reduced to living in a cowshed filled Shen Yueyue with jealousy.
During her years as a sent-down youth, Shen Yueyue had once pitied that woman. At the time, Li Lezhi had been branded with the label of capitalist class and forced to perform the hardest and most exhausting labor in the village.
Yet no one had expected that only three years later, she would completely turn her life around.
Three years later, her family was politically rehabilitated, though she was the only survivor left. The state granted her a generous compensation payment, and she married a husband who loved her deeply, a man named Zhou Junling.
Whenever Shen Yueyue remembered how foolish she had been in her previous life, falling victim to her stepsister’s schemes, losing her reputation, and eventually marrying a village thug who subjected her to endless hardship and abuse, hatred filled her heart.
Although she had lived only a little more than a decade in her previous life, by the time she next heard news of that girl, it had been through a black-and-white television broadcast.
A television program.
At that time, Li Lezhi was basking in glory. Though she was only a year younger than Shen Yueyue, she looked an entire generation younger on television. The difference between them was like heaven and earth.
Zhou Junling had also appeared on television, radiating the charm of a mature man while doting on his wife.
Fortunately, heaven had taken pity on her and given her a second chance.
Earlier today, she had already gone to the neighborhood committee and added her stepsister’s name to the list of youths being sent to the countryside.
In this life, Zhou Junling would be hers.
She would make him fall in love with her and spend his entire life by her side.
Immersed in memories of her previous life, she eventually arrived at the area where she intended to search for materials. Looking around, she felt as though something was missing.
The feeling only made her gloomier.
Naturally, Li Lezhi knew nothing of these thoughts.
At that moment, she had just arrived home. It was already a little after five in the evening.
Li’s Father had returned as well and was currently talking with Li’s Mother inside.
Just as Li Lezhi was about to open the door and enter, she heard Li’s Father speaking with a troubled expression.
“Xiruo, it looks like our family’s turn is coming. On my way back, Old Feng told me to be careful recently. I suspect someone from above has come to investigate.”
Li’s Mother immediately became anxious.
“Are you sure?”
“Eight or nine times out of ten.”