Lin Jiayi, seeing the man outside being urged to enter with a big red flower on his chest, hurriedly adjusted her clothes in front of the mirror with a bit of panic, but her face couldn’t hide the excitement and shyness.
Just as she finished adjusting, someone came to call her. Lin Jiayi quickly responded and was about to go out when she thought of something and went back inside.
“You agreed that you couldn’t go out.”
After repeated warnings, Lin Chuxia was too lazy to even roll her eyes at her, and said impatiently, “They’re calling for you outside. If you don’t go out now, I will. After all, it was the Li Family who initially approached me.”
“You…”
Lin Jiayi didn’t dare to entangle with her anymore, about to marry a millionaire, she didn’t want to spoil things at this critical moment.
As for Lin Chuxia, after marrying into the Qin Family, let’s see if she can still be so rampant.
“Second sister, I’m also doing this for your own good. Regardless, today is a big day for both of us. As your elder sister, I wish you and Qin Yang a lifetime of happiness together,” hoping you end up with nothing but trouble and discontent on the inside.
Watching her insincere eyes, Lin Chuxia also said, “Well, I also wish my big sister gets her heart’s desires fulfilled, and lives a hundred years of love with your brother-in-law,” just don’t regret it.
Sun Lanlan watched the two of them. Although they were saying blessings, something about the atmosphere felt off.
When Lin Jiayi left the room, Sun Lanlan also got up, “I’m going to check the situation outside and will come back to update you.”
It wasn’t really appropriate for Lin Chuxia, being another bride, to show up right then.
The Lin Family had a total of four main rooms, with two connected ones in the middle where the Lin Family parents lived, also used as a guest hall. The bedroom of the Lin Family’s young brother was accessible via the two rooms to the east, while Lin Jiayi and Lin Chuxia’s rooms were separately entered from the very western room.
The Li Family wedding procession had already been welcomed into the main room, and about half an hour later, the courtyard became lively again.
Through the glass, Lin Chuxia saw a group of people escorting a couple out.
It was as if she had returned to her past life, the same kind of scene, except that the new couple being surrounded was Qin Yang and Lin Jiayi, and she sat quietly in the room, imagining what her husband would be like when he came over.
Originally, the same situation would make her feel timorous, but not anymore.
Back then, she worried whether her parents could return in time, whether the Li Family would look down on her for not having a dowry, whether her husband would have thoughts about her not having new clothes, and even more whether she could be a good wife…
Now, her only worry was whether she’d be hungry if she couldn’t get to the Qin Family by noon.
It was busy in the morning, and she hadn’t even had breakfast.
Outside, Lin Jiayi walked beside Li Guangyuan with a face full of happiness, that unattainable man who frequently appeared in newspapers and on television, would become her husband from then onwards.
What good is it if Lin Chuxia looks good? She’ll end up laboring in the fields every day, facing wind and sun, dealing with trivial household chores, aging quickly, just like in her past life.
And for her, once Li Guangyuan makes money from his business, she would buy lots of high-end cosmetics, certainly outshining Lin Chuxia.
God gave her a second chance at life, to enjoy her blessings.
This life, Li Guangyuan and wealthy days are hers.
Feeling the person beside her pause slightly, she saw him turning his head to look back.
A sudden sense of alarm in Lin Jiayi’s heart, she spun around rapidly.
Seeing nothing but family and friends behind them, and not that particular figure, and even the glass of their room reflecting the light, not showing anything, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“What are you looking at?”
“Hmm?” Li Guangyuan shook his head, “Didn’t see anything, let’s go, the bicycle is outside.”
He didn’t even know why he looked back; it just felt like he’d forgotten something.
But on second thought, that was impossible, since this was his first time at the Lin Family home.
Lin Jiayi nodded vigorously with a smile, the setting sun casting a glow on her face that momentarily dazzled Li Guangyuan.
Living in a neighboring village, he had seen the two Lin sisters before and knew that the matchmaker had initially proposed the younger Lin daughter for him.
In his memory, the younger Lin daughter was thin and frail, usually quiet and not talkative at all, quite the opposite of Lin Jiayi.
Lin Jiayi was not only beautiful but also kind-hearted. It was said that her sister looked down on the Li Family, and that Lin Jiayi had given way to her sister, thus allowing him to score such a great bargain.
Li Guangyuan puffed out his chest, held Lin Jiayi’s hand as she climbed onto the rear seat of his bicycle, then he flashed a big, white-toothed smile as he started pedaling.
Back inside the house, Sun Lanlan had returned, gesticulating wildly as she chatted with Lin Chuxia.
“The Li Family actually sent four bicycles to pick up the bride. Li Guangyuan was riding a rather new one; not sure if it’s theirs or not. My dad has been talking about buying a bicycle since before the new year and still hasn’t gotten a bicycle ticket. I don’t even know how the Li Family managed to buy that bike.”
“You didn’t see how cheaply Lin Jiayi was laughing, not even wearing her bridal veil. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Li Guangyuan. Really, I’ve never seen a bride act like that. Now, I believe it; your sister was crying and insisting on exchanging brides because she truly liked Li Guangyuan.”
Lin Chuxia thought to herself that it wasn’t that she liked Li Guangyuan; it was his money she was after.
In her past life, right after she got married, she often disparaged this brother-in-law, calling him poor and unsophisticated.
This time, all she dreamed of was the leisurely life of a rich lady.
It’s just that Lin Jiayi only saw the glamorous surface, unaware that Li Guangyuan’s every move from the start was spurred by her behind the scenes.
Li Guangyuan was stubborn. Getting him out of the countryside to do business had cost her so much effort.
Later on, every step in the business world involved her meticulous strategizing and scheming, and she had settled several company crises at the dining table, as a woman alone.
It was only Li Guangyuan’s chauvinism, along with her troublesome mother-in-law, that forced her to remain in the shadows.
Not to mention that after he made his fortune, because she couldn’t have children, Li Guangyuan took a mistress. He even abused her over the adopted son he had brought home.
Thinking about it, she truly owed her dear sister for taking away the marriage.
“By the way, your folks have left, and the neighbors too. Now you’re the only one at home, with no one to look after you. Could they have forgotten about you? What if the Qin Family arrives and there’s no one at home?” Sun Lanlan spoke up, concerned.
Lin Chuxia thought to herself, it was pretty much the same as them having forgotten.
She tidied up things to take with her and said nonchalantly, “Isn’t there still you? When the Qin Family arrives to pick up the bride, it’s enough as long as this bride is here. Oh, help me pack these old clothes into a bundle, I’m going to check the main house for some candy.”
Sun Lanlan had been here for half the day and hadn’t even had a piece of candy.
Thinking she wanted to check the hospitality arrangements for the Qin Family, Sun Lanlan nodded her head, “Sure, leave this to me, you go ahead.”
Lin Chuxia left the house and, just like in her previous life, found the yard silent and empty, not a soul in sight.
She concealed the emotions in her eyes and headed straight into the main house—her parents’ room.
The room was a mess: sunflower seed shells and candy wrappers on the ground, tea cups half-drunk.
Lin Chuxia went straight to the kang bed, pushed open the storage cabinet at the head of the kang, lifted the mattress, and there was indeed a piece of plastic covering the earthen kang.
She then picked up the plastic and lifted the brick at the bottom that seemed to be part of the kang, and from the cracks pulled out a cloth bundle, unwrapping it to reveal a neat stack of banknotes—probably the dowry money given by the Qin Family.
