Seeing Lin Min calm and composed at the moment, Wang Guixiang felt much more at ease and said in an ingratiating tone, “Wait here, I’ll go get you some food.”  

As Wang Guixiang, Gu Jingchuan’s mother, stepped out, several people were crowded outside the door, eavesdropping. Seeing her come out, they hurriedly asked, “Mom, how is it? Is she still making a scene? Should we tie her up?”  

Wang Guixiang replied, “No, she seems calm. She even asked about your second brother.”  

The eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Ying, sneered sarcastically, “Calm? That’s just the calm before the storm. She’s probably saving her big move for later.”  

Gu Jingxiu frowned at her. “Sister-in-law, how can you say that?”  

Wang Ying crossed her arms and scoffed, “Am I wrong? What healthy, able-bodied girl would marry a cripple like your second brother? You guys spent so much money—just watch it all go down the drain!”  

“Sister-in-law, I won’t let you talk about my second brother like that!” The youngest, Gu Jingqi, glared at her.  

“Then how should I put it? What era are we living in, still believing in ‘auspicious weddings’ to cure illness? Mark my words, this time, you’ll lose both the bride and the money. Just wait and see.”  

With that, Wang Ying strutted arrogantly toward the west room where she lived.  

Gu Jinghui, seeing his wife upset, hurried after her like a loyal puppy. “Yingzi, wait for me!”  

“Mom, is Second Brother still not awake?” Gu Jingqi asked.  

Wang Guixiang looked worried. “No. Did we give him too many sleeping pills yesterday? Could something be wrong?”  

“It wasn’t too much, just two pills. The doctor said it’s within the safe range. He probably won’t wake up until this afternoon.”  

“Listen, you two. No matter how much your second sister-in-law fusses or how harsh her words are later, for your second brother’s sake, you have to endure it, understand?” Wang Guixiang admonished Gu Jingqi and Gu Jingxiu.  

“Mom, we understand.”  

“I’ll go get her some food.”  

Wang Guixiang went into the kitchen, while Gu Jingqi and Gu Jingxiu lingered outside the east room, their expressions troubled.  

“Jingqi, do you think what our family did was… inhumane?” Gu Jingxiu asked the younger Gu Jingqi with a heavy expression.  

Gu Jingqi sighed, his youthful face clouded with worry.  

He returned to his room to do his homework.  

…

Lin Min remained seated on the kang, staring blankly at Gu Jingchuan’s sleeping face.  

It had been at least half an hour since she woke up, yet she still couldn’t believe she had truly been reborn—let alone reborn on the second day of her marriage.  

In her past life, she had been deceived by her so-called family, completely unaware that she wasn’t actually the Lins’ biological child.  

She had been switched at birth, robbed of her true life. Thus, her so-called parents had never cared about her well-being.  

The one originally engaged to Gu Jingchuan was her younger sister, Lin Jiao.  

But when Lin Jiao heard about Gu Jingchuan’s injury, she insisted on breaking off the engagement.  

However, the 3,000-yuan dowry the Gu family had given the Lins had already been spent on building a new house. There was no way they could return such a huge sum—nor would they ever willingly give back what they had taken.  

So, the family conspired to substitute the bride.  

They made her marry Gu Jingchuan instead.  

Of course, she had resisted fiercely.  

It wasn’t just Gu Jingchuan’s condition—she already had someone she loved.  

What she didn’t know was that the moment Lin Jiao learned of Gu Jingchuan’s injury, she had begun seducing her sweetheart, Li Qingming.  

The plan was to make Li Qingming abandon her, leaving her heartbroken and vulnerable enough to accept the family’s arrangement.  

Li Qingming couldn’t resist Lin Jiao’s advances and cheated on her.  

Her adoptive father, Lin Jinshun, and adoptive mother, Li Qiumei, took advantage of her grief and bundled her straight into Gu Jingchuan’s bed.

Lin Min had just sorted out the memories in her mind when the door was pushed open again. Gu Jingchuan’s mother, holding a bowl in her hands, walked in cautiously, her steps trembling with nervousness.  

She inched forward with small, hesitant steps toward the kang (a heated brick bed). “Xiao Min, have some porridge. You must be hungry.”  

Lin Min’s stomach had been growling for a while. She reached out to take the bowl, her tone calm. “Thank you.”  

When Wang Guixiang entered, she had mentally prepared herself for the possibility of the bowl being flung at her head. To her surprise, Lin Min was unexpectedly composed.  

Wang Guixiang stared at her in disbelief, as if she couldn’t trust her own eyes and ears.  

Under her anxious gaze, Lin Min picked up the spoon and began eating the porridge in large mouthfuls.  

Soon, half the bowl was gone.  

She lifted the quilt, preparing to get off the kang. “I’ll put the bowl away.”  

“No, no, I’ll do it!”  

Wang Guixiang was still wary of her and didn’t dare let her take a single step out of the room.  

Lin Min suddenly felt the need to use the bathroom. She glanced around the bridal chamber but didn’t see an attached toilet.  

Then she noticed a bucket on the floor—this was apparently meant for her to relieve herself.  

“Um… I need to use the restroom.”  

“Xiao Min, just go here. I’ll take it out to dump later,” Wang Guixiang said.  

Lin Min: “……”  

“I won’t run. You don’t need to guard me like this,” she said.  

Even if they drove her away, she wouldn’t leave.  

Wang Guixiang didn’t respond, forcing an awkward yet polite smile.  

“Fine, I’ll hold it for now.”  

Wang Guixiang left, closing the door behind her.  

Lin Min turned her gaze back to Gu Jingchuan, who still showed no signs of waking.  

She reached out, lifted a corner of the quilt, and felt for his wrist. Placing her fingers on his pulse, she began diagnosing him.  

A few seconds later, she withdrew her hand.  

His condition was much better than when she and her master had treated him in her past life.  

Although his legs were immobile, since the injury was recent, his overall physical state wasn’t as deteriorated.  

In her past life, by the time they met him, he could already stand, but due to long-term medication, his internal organs—especially his liver and kidneys—had suffered severe damage.  

It was also then that she learned his injury wasn’t an accident—there was more to the story.  

Lin Min got off the kang and went to draw the curtains. Sunlight streamed in through the glass windows adorned with red “囍” (double happiness) paper cuts, casting a warm glow over the simple yet lovingly decorated room.  

She paced around the room a couple of times, taking in their bridal chamber. Though the space wasn’t large, it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into its arrangement.  

Sitting at the edge of the kang, she gazed thoughtfully at the peacefully sleeping man.  

His skin was pale, almost cold in tone, and he was very thin. His hair was cropped short in a neat crew cut. Despite his gaunt face, his features were sharp and strikingly handsome.  

Outside, the Gu family, unable to hear any movement from inside the room, stood by the door, restless with worry.  

“Why is it so quiet in there? She’s not crying or making a scene—could she be plotting something against Second Brother?”  

“This…” Old Man Gu’s expression darkened.  

“Should I go in and check?”  

“Let’s wait a little longer.”  

“Sigh… What a sin we’ve committed. If we’d known she was so against marrying Jingchuan, we should’ve called off the engagement earlier.”  

Gu Decheng squatted by the wall, puffing on his tobacco pipe, his face etched with worry.  

He admitted that when the Lin family claimed they had consulted a fortune-teller and found Lin Min and Gu Jingchuan’s birth dates to be highly compatible—and that Lin Min was willing to marry their son—they had been tempted.  

They had even sought out another fortune-teller to verify.  

To their surprise, Gu Jingchuan and Lin Min’s birth dates were indeed a perfect match.  

They even began to wonder if the reason Gu Jingchuan had met with misfortune so soon after his engagement to Lin Jiao was because their birth dates had been incompatible.