Chapter 8: The Old Lover

Lian Yuqing couldn’t hear what others were saying, but the moment she got on the cart, she already regretted it. It was easy getting a ride to town, but how was she supposed to get back? Walking dozens of miles in little leather shoes? Just amputate her legs already.

In reality, riding the donkey cart wasn’t great either. The mountain roads were rugged and bumpy, and the whole way she was jostled so much that her butt practically split into eight pieces. As soon as they arrived in town, she jumped off the cart like her butt was on fire.

She asked around and eventually found the post office, where she picked up a package.

Inside was a letter from someone named Sha Junping, mailed from the capital.

The moment she opened it, her face turned green. Judging from the content, this Sha Junping seemed to be the original body’s ex-lover, and even though she was already married, their relationship clearly hadn’t been severed.

What disgusted Lian Yuqing was that the entire letter was full of Sha Junping’s greasy love talk. Not a single word about helping the original body deal with her difficult situation.

Then she opened the package—and got even angrier. Not a single cent, no coupons, just a dress and a can of candy. And this from someone who claimed she was his “one and only muse”?

When she left the post office, Lian Yuqing crumpled the letter and threw it in the trash. As for the contents of the package—she kept them. She was broke, after all.

With no money in her pocket and no mood to stroll around, she began walking home, hoping to catch a ride from someone along the way.

Not long after she left, someone sneaky came rummaging through the trash. It was He Xiaoshan—she had ridden into town with Lian Yuqing on the same cart, deliberately avoiding her to stay unnoticed.

She had secretly followed her to the post office, and now, finding the letter, she revealed a sinister smile.
“I knew you were a shameless hussy. Brother Dongzi will never let you off the hook now.”

When it rains, it pours. She had come to the post office full of hope that someone had sent her money, only to be nauseated by a scumbag’s love letter—and now, she didn’t even have a way to get home.

Lian Yuqing considered pawning the dress for a night’s stay at a small inn, but they insisted on seeing an introduction letter.

She sat dejectedly on the curb, not caring at all about the custom-fitted Western-style dress she was wearing.

Other transmigrated heroines either rely on their own grit to thrive, or have doting husbands who give them a hundred or eighty yuan without a second thought. But her? She landed a stingy man who hadn’t given her a single coin after all this time—aside from buying a wooden bucket. What kind of pathetic excuse for a male lead was Wei Dong?

Ding-a-ling!
The crisp ring of a bicycle bell sounded nearby. Lian Yuqing, still in a foul mood, wanted to yell, “Get lost and stop bothering me!”

Then a pair of large black boots appeared in front of her. She looked up—and wasn’t this the very bastard she had just cursed in her head?

Lian Yuqing’s eyes lit up instantly. “Did you come to pick me up?”

Her half-tied inky-black curls, that pretty little face lifting up—it felt like she lit up the whole world. Sitting by the roadside in a refined dress, if he hadn’t come, someone else would have definitely harassed her.

Her mood turned on a dime. Wei Dong hesitated before saying, “I was handling some things and happened to pass by.”

Lian Yuqing stood up immediately and grabbed his arm. “Then take me home.”

As if she had forgotten the cold shoulder she gave him these past two days—making him sleep on the floor and all—Wei Dong asked, “So I get to sleep in the bed tonight?”

She beamed. “Yes, yes, of course you can!”

“Get on.”

Lian Yuqing hung the package on the bicycle handle and hopped onto the back seat, naturally wrapping her arms around his waist.

As the bicycle started moving, Wei Dong glanced at the swaying package and casually asked, “What’s that?”

“Oh, something an old friend sent me.”

Wei Dong said no more.

After a long, exhausting afternoon, Lian Yuqing ended up falling asleep on his broad back, her arms loosely dangling around him.

Afraid she’d fall off, Wei Dong had to steer with one hand and hold both her wrists with the other.

She was still asleep when they got home. With no choice, Wei Dong carried her inside. Wei Miaomiao, hearing the commotion, came out and whispered, “What’s wrong with sister-in-law?”

Wei Dong whispered back, “She’s asleep.”

“Where’d you find her? Didn’t go too far, right?” she asked again.

“In town,” he replied, carrying her inside. Wei Miaomiao followed with the package from the bike.

Earlier that afternoon, when Wei Dong came home and heard from Wei Miaomiao that Lian Yuqing had gone to town, he borrowed a bicycle to go pick her up. But knowing how spoiled and self-absorbed she was, even if he told her he had come especially for her, she’d never take it seriously.

Still, as he stared at the package on the table, his expression darkened.
—What other friends could she have?

Lian Yuqing’s mother had died a year ago, and her father committed suicide not long after agreeing to the marriage. Both Wei Ximin and Wei Dong knew about it but didn’t dare tell her.

Wei Ximin didn’t want them to divorce, either—he was afraid Lian Yuqing wouldn’t be able to survive on her own.

That little episode passed, and it seemed like Lian Yuqing wasn’t angry anymore. She even spoke to Wei Dong with a fairly pleasant tone.

The next morning.

“Brother Dongzi.”
He Xiaoshan finally managed to bump into Wei Dong and quickly greeted him.

Wei Dong nodded. He Xiaoshan was the village party secretary’s daughter, much younger than him. They rarely interacted and weren’t close.

Carrying two bundles of firewood on a shoulder pole, Wei Dong was about to keep walking when He Xiaoshan stopped him.

“Brother Dongzi, I have something to show you.”

At that moment, Wei Dong guessed that it must’ve been He Xiaoshan who came looking for him that day. Lian Yuqing wasn’t wrong—being alone with a woman was bound to stir gossip.

He had no intention of dealing with her, but He Xiaoshan rushed to block his path, holding out a letter. “Take a look, Brother Dongzi. It’s… about Lian Yuqing.”

Wei Dong set down the firewood and read the letter with a blank expression. Then he asked, “Where did you get this?”

He Xiaoshan avoided his eyes, guilty. “I found it on the road.”

He slipped the letter into his pocket and picked up the firewood again. “Xiaoshan, don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Dongzi, I won’t say a word.” After all, it was humiliating for a man to be cuckolded.

Watching his tall, strong back and thinking of his handsome face, He Xiaoshan blushed.
No man could tolerate his wife having another man.
It was only a matter of time before they got divorced.

Brother Dongzi would definitely be grateful to her.

Wei Dong clenched his fists, veins bulging. He was furious.

No wonder she had been so unwilling to marry him—partly because he was poor, but also because she already had someone else in her heart.

So in the end, he, Wei Dong, had unknowingly become the third party, the one who ruined someone else’s relationship.

When he got home and set down the firewood, Lian Yuqing had just woken up and was squatting at the door brushing her teeth. She smiled at him.

Wei Dong walked back to the room without a word, face dark.

Lian Yuqing rolled her eyes and spat out the foam. “What did I even do to you~?”

He Xiaoshan waited the entire day, but heard no movement from the Wei household. She even tried to discreetly probe Wei Ximin and Chen Caiqi—but Wei Dong hadn’t gotten angry at all.

He may have been able to tolerate it, but He Xiaoshan was fuming.

If they didn’t divorce, how was she supposed to marry Wei Dong?!