“Jiang Zhen, you’re home. I wanted to discuss something with you.”  

Jiang Zhen had taken marriage leave and was preparing for the wedding at home. Gu Liancheng’s elder sister had enlisted friends and neighbors to handle most of the arrangements, so Jiang Zhen didn’t have much to do. She was just packing her belongings, ready to move in after the wedding.  

She had visited the new house just yesterday—it was Gu Liancheng’s family’s old home. His elder brother had married there, his sister had left from there as a bride, and now Gu Liancheng would also marry there.  

The Gu family’s property was next to Dr. Qi’s house. Jiang Zhen lingered for over an hour but didn’t catch a glimpse of Qi Junhai’s one-eyed elder brother.  

Gu Jiaoxia had said this: “We’ve worked together at the hospital, so I know him well. Qi Junhai’s character is decent, but that elder brother of his ran away in his teens. I’ve only seen him a handful of times since, and I always found him rather sinister. Now that we’re liberated, not all businesses from the past are acceptable. If he’s home, don’t engage with him too much.”  

Jiang Zhen wanted to see for herself and confirm whether he was the fugitive bandit.  

Ironically, the moment she and Gu Liancheng had set their wedding date, the Qi family had scheduled their wedding with the An family for the very next day.  

Jiang Zhen would be leaving from her dormitory, while An Xiuqing would be leaving from her sister’s home—meaning they’d be setting off from the same building.  

Gu Liancheng had asked Jiang Zhen if she wanted to change the date, but she refused. “I booked it first. If anyone should change, it should be them.”  

……  

She didn’t care, but An Qihui did. After all, her sister had just broken off the engagement with Gu Liancheng. Now that Gu Liancheng was coming to marry Jiang Zhen, Gu Jiaoxia was pulling out all the stops to make the wedding as grand as possible, which infuriated her.  

Seeing Jiang Zhen alone at home, she came to negotiate. “Jiang Zhen, here’s the thing—everyone outside is waiting to see our two families make fools of ourselves. I suggest you and my sister adjust your wedding dates to avoid a clash.”  

Jiang Zhen was indifferent. “If your family wants to change, discuss it with the Qis. Why come to me? Oh, I see—you want me to change? That’s hilarious. You stole my ex-husband, and now you want to negotiate with me? Elder Sister An, what gives you the nerve?”  

“My father gives me the nerve!”  

An Qihui couldn’t hold back. “You’re marrying Gu Liancheng—do you even know that my father sacrificed his life to save his parents? If my father were still alive, I wouldn’t have to act as both elder sister and mother, exhausting myself like this. The Gu family owes my sister and me a debt they can never repay!”  

Jiang Zhen crossed her arms, growing disgusted. “An Qihui, Gu Liancheng told me he’s spent years investigating. Your father might not even be dead. Whether this so-called debt even exists is still up for debate.”  

An Qihui trembled with anger. “I never thought Gu Liancheng would stoop so low as to deny the life-saving debt he owes my father.”  

Jiang Zhen said, “And if your father really isn’t dead, how do you account for all these years of extorting the Gu family in his name?”  

“That…” An Qihui was momentarily speechless. “That can’t be possible.”  

……

The cold wind snapped An Qihui back to her senses. *Jiang Zhen must be lying.* If her father were still alive, how could he have stayed away all these years?  

When she returned home, her younger sister seemed troubled. An Qihui quickly asked, “What’s wrong? Did your future mother-in-law make another demand?”  

An Xiuqing hastily shook her head. “No, it’s just… now that the wedding’s approaching, I feel uneasy about leaving you, Sister. I don’t want to go.”  

An Qihui chuckled. “If living with your mother-in-law becomes unbearable, don’t worry. Dr. Qi’s qualifications will soon earn him a separate apartment.”  

But that wasn’t what troubled An Xiuqing. Earlier, while shopping for wedding supplies with Dr. Qi at the department store, she’d found an anonymous letter slipped into her bag. After reading it, she burned it immediately—she refused to believe its contents.  

The letter was signed with a tiny green sprout—a secret symbol she and her father had used when exchanging notes in her childhood. *Who sent this? One of Father’s old friends?*  

The letter warned: *Do not marry into the Qi family.* But why?  

An Qihui scoffed as she recounted Jiang Zhen’s “ridiculous lie” to her sister. “Now I’m glad you didn’t marry Gu Liancheng. To deny our family’s sacrifice, he actually claimed our father might still be alive! How absurd!”  

An Xiuqing frowned. *Could that letter have been from Gu Liancheng?* Had he, after being reborn, retained lingering feelings for her and didn’t want her to marry Dr. Qi?  

Her cheeks flushed. *No matter what, I’m marrying Dr. Qi.* If this really was Gu Liancheng’s doing, then he was just being presumptuous.  

—  

**Meanwhile, at Jiang Zhen’s place…**  

“You told An Qihui?” Gu Liancheng asked. Their wedding was in two days, and yesterday, his elder sister had kicked him out to accompany Jiang Zhen on a shopping trip. At the department store, Jiang Zhen had spotted An Xiuqing and Dr. Qi—along with a plain-looking woman trailing them.  

Curious, Jiang Zhen had insisted on following them. She watched as the woman discreetly slipped a letter into An Xiuqing’s bag. Pretending to bump into them, Jiang Zhen stole a peek at the letter before slipping it back.  

Gu Liancheng tailed the woman. Outside, she removed her disguise—a wig and fake scars—before vanishing into the crowd with a hat and mask.  

After comparing notes, they suspected the “woman” might actually be the long-lost An father.  

“I only mentioned it because the conversation led there,” Jiang Zhen said. “You’ve already tracked his hideout in a day. With his wife and kids there, he won’t disappear again.”  

Gu Liancheng had initially hesitated to bring this up. But if An Qihui had been exploiting a false debt all these years, it was unforgivable.  

“Qi’s family scheduled the bridal pickup for 8:08 AM. Should we go earlier?”  

“Let’s push ours to 9:08,” Jiang Zhen said. “If both processions clash in the stairwell, it’ll be a mess.”  

—  

Truthfully, Jiang Zhen just wanted an extra hour to watch the drama unfold between the An and Qi families. She had a hunch that Dr. Qi’s mother and elder brother were plotting something.  

*And that warning letter?* An Xiuqing had ignored it completely. *How reckless.*  

Her calculations were precise—Gu Liancheng’s sister, determined to outshine the An and Qi families, had arranged for their own procession to arrive before 8:08 AM. *If both brides are leaving at the same time, won’t the stairwell turn into a battleground?*  

But strangely, murmurs spread outside:  

“Why didn’t Dr. Qi come for the bride? That one-eyed man is his elder brother, right? Why is *he* here instead?”  

Jiang Zhen’s heart raced. She scrambled off the bed, eager to see—*Was Qi Junhai’s one-eyed brother the killer who murdered Jiang Tang and Jiang Zhao’s mother?*