## Chapter 12

Just as she was getting restless, she finally heard footsteps, followed by Li Ying’s shy “Sister-in-law.” Tan Yun turned her head sharply and her eyes nearly popped out when she saw her younger sister.

Strictly speaking, Li Ying’s features weren’t ugly, but they could only be considered pretty. Upon closer inspection, her features weren’t as beautiful as Tan Yun’s.

But if Tan Yun had thought Li Ying looked good after seeing her changed hairstyle for the first time, then her younger sister now was simply stunning. Her eyes were lively, her nose bridge was straight, and even the curve of her lips was exceptionally captivating.

Although her features were still the same, Tan Yun couldn’t believe that this charming and lovely girl was her silly younger sister.

She had been worried that Xu Jin would turn her sister into a monster, but now she realized that even if she was a monster, she was a charming little monster that people would like at first sight.

“Xu Jin, how did you do it? How come it’s, it’s different from how others do it?” Tan Yun stared at Li Ying’s face, her eyes refusing to move away.

It was so beautiful! As a woman, who wouldn’t love beauty? Oh, she also wanted Xu Jin’s friend to do her makeup!

“That’s because they don’t understand makeup. Real makeup is like a lotus emerging from the water, maximizing one’s own advantages, natural beauty without the need for makeup,” Xu Jin, clearly seeing through her thoughts, explained with a smile. “In a while, I should be opening a small shop here in the provincial capital. If you like, come anytime, I’ll definitely give you a beautiful makeover.”

The customer base in the small town was limited. If she really wanted to make money, she had to come to the provincial capital. In her previous life, Xu Jin had only opened a shop here a year after Zhou Hanxiang graduated. At that time, Zhou Hanxiang was extremely against it, mockingly saying that Xu Jin’s skills were only useful in the small town, and people in the provincial capital would definitely think she was rustic.

Later, Xu Jin realized that Zhou Hanxiang wasn’t against it because of her poor skills, but because he thought she was embarrassing. Moreover, it hindered his relationship with his white moonlight. Because of Zhou Hanxiang’s opposition, Xu Jin stayed in the small town until Zhou’s mother fell ill and was admitted to a hospital in the provincial capital. Xu Jin happened to be walking on the street and discovered that making money in a big city was much easier than in the small town. She insisted on moving here despite Zhou Hanxiang’s opposition. At that time, the city’s economy had already developed rapidly, and Xu Jin’s small shop had struggled for a long time before finally gaining a foothold in the provincial capital. Even so, making money was still much easier than in the small town.

Now, compared to her previous life, she was ten years ahead. To put it bluntly, making money in business was much easier now.

“You’re going to open a shop here in the provincial capital?” Tan Yun was indeed very excited. “You have to tell me when you come over…”

“That’s great!” Li Ying was also very happy. Li Ying’s father said he was finding connections for her, and she should be able to transfer to the bank system in the provincial capital within the year. If Xu Jin also came over, they could play together again. As she spoke, she thought of something and started to act cute, clinging to Tan Yun’s arm. “Sister-in-law, let’s not go on the blind date. Can you tell Dad…”

—

Oh, she didn’t want to go on a blind date. For the first time in her life, she looked so beautiful. Now, the most she wanted to do was to quickly find a photo studio and take a picture of herself now, and keep it forever.

“Silly girl, what are you saying?” Tan Yun was also amused. She dragged Li Ying inside and called out to Xu Jin, “Come on, Xu Jin, let’s go together.”

“I won’t go in. I have something to do…” Xu Jin waved her hand.

“I don’t want to go either, Sister-in-law. I want to go take pictures…” Li Ying whined like a spoiled child, refusing to go with Tan Yun.

“Okay, okay, after this is over, I’ll take you to take pictures. This afternoon, we’ll go this afternoon, alright?” Tan Yun coaxed Li Ying.

Hearing that she could take pictures, and even take pictures in the provincial capital, Li Ying finally stopped talking about not going on the blind date.

The two took the elevator to the fifth floor. As soon as Tan Yun stepped out of the elevator, she heard a man’s voice:

“You guys go ahead… You think I want to come over? Isn’t this my dad’s comrade? I have to give the old man some face, go through the motions, right? I’ll be there soon, very soon. You guys call my pager then. Remember, don’t forget…”

Tan Yun glanced to the side unintentionally, and her gaze paused. Behind a cluster of green plants to the right of the elevator, there were a few young men talking, and the young man who said “at most twenty minutes” was none other than Han Xu, her younger sister’s blind date today.

“Okay, okay, hurry up…”

The few young men turned around as they spoke, and they met Tan Yun who had just stepped out of the elevator. Upon seeing Tan Yun, Han Xu was clearly stunned.

He naturally recognized Tan Yun and knew that her younger sister was the one he was being introduced to today.

He didn’t know if Tan Yun had heard what he just said.

Then again, it didn’t matter if she heard it. After all, he hadn’t had enough fun yet, but his parents were constantly urging him to get married. If the girl wasn’t happy, he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed.

He quickly regained his composure and greeted Tan Yun:

“Yun Jie…”

He then casually turned his gaze to Li Ying, who was following Tan Yun out of the elevator. Just one glance, and Han Xu felt his heart start to beat rapidly, as if it was going to burst out of his chest.

Tan Yun clearly saw his discomfort and teased him with a smile:

“Xiao Han, it’s okay, if you have something to do, just go ahead.”

She then took Li Ying inside.

“Ah, no, I’m fine…” Han Xu said subconsciously.

But his gaze uncontrollably stuck to Li Ying. Sensing this, Li Ying was clearly unhappy. She stopped as she was about to enter the room and glared at Han Xu angrily.

Han Xu didn’t get angry at all, but instead, he showed a silly smile.

Even a beautiful girl rolling her eyes had a unique charm.

He was about to follow, but he was pulled back by his friend, who whispered:

“We’ll call your pager five minutes after we go downstairs…”

“Call what? I’m not going.” Han Xu waved his hand impatiently and ran after them.

It was obvious that he was coming with Tan Yun, and it must be the daughter of his father’s comrade who was going to have a blind date with him.

Seeing Li Ying for the first time, Han Xu suddenly felt that hanging out with his friends was no longer appealing. He decided that he wasn’t going anywhere today. He was going to stay with his father’s comrade and his comrade’s daughter.

This unexpected development left his friends speechless.

As the saying goes, “seeing beauty makes one forget one’s friends,” and this was truly the case.

On the other side, Xu Jin watched Li Ying and the others disappear, then left the hotel, her face filled with joy and excitement.

After confirming that she had truly been reborn, the first-person Xu Jin wanted to see was her grandmother and grandfather’s family.

Unlike Xu Hongsheng, who had always disliked Xu Jin, the old man and old lady of the Wei family had always been very fond of Xu Jin. Her uncle and second uncle also treated her like their own daughter.

Because Xu Hongsheng was particularly averse to Xu Jin, and because he and Wei Lan both had to work, Xu Jin was held by her grandmother, fed milk, and played with from infancy until she was three years old before being sent back to Wei Lan and Xu Hongsheng.

But later, Xu Hongsheng became too addicted to alcohol. Wei Lan tried to stop him, but they would fight. The relationship between the Wei family and Xu Hongsheng became tense. The worst incident was when Wei Lan had three ribs broken. After the incident, Wei Zhenming, her second uncle, who was usually very honest, was so angry that he brought people to tie Xu Hongsheng up and beat him severely.

After that, Xu Hongsheng completely broke off ties with the old Wei family. Knowing that the old man and old lady loved their children the most, he took revenge by sending all the children back to their hometown. This included Xu Jin, who was just in the first grade at the Wei family’s place at that time, and she was also transferred back.

During festivals, he didn’t allow the children to visit their grandmother’s house. Although Xu Jin was young at the time, she already understood the pain in Wei Lan’s heart.

As the only and youngest daughter in the family, Wei Lan had always been obedient. The only time she rebelled was when she fell in love with Xu Hongsheng, who came from a remote town and didn’t have a proper job.

But it wasn’t strange that Wei Lan was so infatuated with him. Xu Hongsheng was incredibly handsome when he was young, and he was six feet tall, making him stand out from the crowd.

On top of that, Xu Hongsheng had a sweet tongue, and he completely charmed Wei Lan, making her devoted to him. In this world, no parents could ever overrule their children. Even though the Wei family was extremely reluctant, they finally agreed to the marriage after Wei Lan threatened to kill herself.

Xu Hongsheng’s job as a railway worker was also obtained from the Wei family.

After Wei’s father retired, Wei Lan’s elder brother took over his job. Four years later, Wei’s elder brother and his wife died in a car accident. At that time, Wei’s elder brother’s only son, Wei Yueheng, was only four years old, so he didn’t meet the requirements to take over the job.

Logically, Wei Zhenming, her second uncle, should have taken over the job.

But first, Wei Zhenming was working at the soy sauce factory at that time. Although his salary wasn’t high, it was enough to support his family. Most importantly, Wei Zhenming loved his sister Wei Lan the most.

After Wei Lan married Xu Hongsheng, she went back to his hometown with him.

But the Xu family was incredibly poor. The entire family squeezed into three dilapidated rooms. Xu Hongsheng and Wei Lan’s new house was just a temporary partition made from the kitchen.

Two months after their marriage, Wei Zhenming went to Xu Hongsheng’s hometown for the first time. When he saw Wei Lan, wrapped in a gray towel, wearing a gray jacket, looking like an old woman squatting in front of the stove, the seven-foot-tall man almost cried on the spot.

Therefore, when Wei’s father asked Wei Zhenming about taking over the job, Wei Zhenming immediately said that he would give the job to his sister Wei Lan.

But at that time, Wei Lan and Xu Hongsheng’s relationship was like honey and oil. Xu Hongsheng had poured a love potion into her, and Wei Lan followed his wishes, telling her family that she wanted Xu Hongsheng to take over the job.

When the Wei family agreed, Xu Hongsheng was grateful and even patted his chest, promising that since he was taking over his elder brother’s job, he would use half of his salary to raise Wei Yueheng. When Wei Yueheng grew up, if he wanted to take over the job, he would retire early and give the job back to Wei Yueheng.

For the first year, Xu Hongsheng did as he promised, giving half of his salary to Wei Yueheng every month for support. But in the second year, he started giving it every one or two months. After adopting Xu Jin, he directly said that he needed the money to raise his own child and couldn’t afford to give any extra money to Wei Yueheng. The truth was that Xu Hongsheng didn’t spend a penny on Xu Jin. Besides drinking, he spent most of his money on his nephew in his hometown…

But in that era, divorce was almost unheard of. Besides, Wei Lan loved her children dearly and couldn’t bear to see them suffer even a little. For the sake of her children, and for her pitiful self-esteem, she had to stay with him, after all, she had begged him to marry her.

Although Wei Lan made a fuss a few times, she didn’t divorce him in the end. She gritted her teeth and lived with Xu Hongsheng…

When she went back to her hometown with the children, her health was already very weak. She didn’t last long and passed away.

After Wei Lan died, Xu Hongsheng became even worse. His attitude towards his in-laws was worse than that towards strangers. The old man and old lady, worried about Xu Jin and her siblings, changed buses several times and then walked more than ten miles to find the Xu family. But they were turned away by Xu Gen Sheng and his wife, who said that Xu Hongsheng had told them that they had severed ties with the Wei family after Wei Zhenming had hung him up and beaten him.

The old couple would never see his children, Xu Hongsheng said. If they dared to come again, he would beat the children to death…

At that time, the old couple left in tears…

In her previous life, Xu Jin didn’t know about this. Xu Hongsheng even told the children that the Wei family was afraid of being implicated by them and didn’t want to see them.

Xu Jin didn’t believe it, but she thought it was probably because her grandmother and grandfather were also struggling and couldn’t take care of them.

It was only after many years, when she had supported Zhou Hanxiang, and her three siblings had all grown up, that their lives, although still poor, were at least on track, and they wouldn’t worry their grandmother and grandfather too much. Xu Jin finally gathered her courage, bought some nutritional supplements, and visited the Wei family again.

But when she arrived, she saw a funeral altar set up at the Wei family’s house. After asking, she learned that her grandfather had passed away. Her grandmother was also old and her eyesight was failing. It took her a while to recognize that the woman in front of her, who looked haggard and exhausted, barely twenty-six or seven years old but looking like a woman in her late thirties, was her granddaughter, whom she had been thinking about day and night. She almost fainted from crying…

From her second aunt, Xu Jin learned that the old man and old lady had always been thinking about her. They had cried so much that her grandmother’s eye was almost blind. As for the old man, he had been muttering her name before he died…

This was the deepest wound and the biggest regret in Xu Jin’s previous life. Therefore, as soon as she set foot in the provincial capital, Xu Jin couldn’t wait to fly to her grandmother’s house.