Chapter 16

At first, Xu Shaojun had even wanted her to finish all five of the meat buns. If she hadn’t been truly too full—eyes brimming with tears from almost choking—he probably would’ve insisted she eat the rest.

She suspected that Xu Shaojun might really force her to eat them all. After she told him she couldn’t eat any more, he let out a deep sigh, full of disappointment, as if saying “you’re letting me down.”

Then, without a word, he ate the rest of the buns in one bite each. After finishing, he casually said, “Comrade Jiang doesn’t eat much. No wonder you’re so skinny. You’d better eat more in the future.”

The tension that Jiang Yun had carefully built up was completely disrupted by the affectionate interaction between grandmother and granddaughter. She and Jiang Zhu stood there awkwardly, staring at each other in silence.

“It’s nothing serious—just a little squabble between sisters.”

“Yao Yao, are you tired? Go rest now.”

Li Guihua didn’t want Jiang Yao involved in such matters and tried to send her off to rest in her room.

Upon hearing that, both Jiang Zhu and Jiang Yun nearly lost control of their expressions. They were practically on the verge of a fistfight, and yet in their grandmother’s eyes, it was just a minor issue?

Jiang Zhu felt uncomfortable seeing all of Li Guihua’s attention focused on Jiang Yao. But she quickly consoled herself.

It wasn’t a bad thing that Grandma favored Jiang Yao—after all, she had her father’s affection. As long as Grandma didn’t favor Jiang Yun, that little wretch, she’d be fine.

If Grandma stayed neutral between the two of them, then she’d definitely help Jiang Zhu get justice.

“Big sister, there’s something you don’t know. Third Sister… she…” Jiang Zhu bit her lip, “she set her sights on my fiancé. I even found a love letter she wrote to him.”

“She even tried to convince my mother to pressure me into giving up the engagement, so I wouldn’t fight her for the man.”

“How does that make me look, as her older sister? If she gets her way, what happens to my reputation?”

Seeing that Li Guihua seemed ready to let the issue slide with a few words, Jiang Zhu was unwilling. She started repeating the story for Jiang Yao—who had just arrived and didn’t know the full situation—accusing Jiang Yun of shamelessly coveting her future husband.

That way, even the eavesdropping neighbors outside would know exactly who was in the wrong.

“The moment I overheard them, my heart turned cold. My own sister scheming against me, and my own mother choosing to side with her.”

“I’ve already compromised—just asking for a little compensation. After all, I was the one engaged, and now it’s my younger sister who’s marrying him. Of course that affects me.”

“But then my mother went too far. Not only did she take the marriage from me, she even wants to give my dowry to my sister.”

At this moment, Jiang Zhu had completely lost hope in her mother, Kang Qing. In her mother’s eyes, Jiang Yun would always be more important.

Sure, she was the one who rejected Li Yuan and tried to pass him off to Jiang Yun. But her mother—getting what she wanted—was still playing innocent, even trying to protect her darling daughter’s reputation by throwing her under the bus.

She didn’t know why Jiang Yun suddenly didn’t want to marry Li Yuan anymore. But it didn’t matter. After today, whether Jiang Yun wanted to or not—she was marrying Li Yuan.

Jiang Yun was starting to feel overwhelmed. Jiang Zhu wasn’t wrong: the original Jiang Yun did harbor feelings for Li Yuan. Just last night, before the current Jiang Yun transmigrated into this body, she had confided in her mother Kang Qing, expressing her longing for her sister’s fiancé and asking her mother to help fulfill this “unattainable love.”

That very conversation was what Jiang Zhu had overheard. Later that evening, Kang Qing had come into her room, speaking mysteriously about a way to help her marry her “future brother-in-law.”

The moment she said that, the newly-transmigrated Jiang Yun had nearly panicked. Before she could respond, Jiang Zhu had burst in, heartbroken, and ran out crying.

Jiang Yun snapped out of the memory, once again cursing the original owner of her body. If she’d just waited one more day to express her feelings, none of this would’ve happened.

Now Jiang Yun was stuck. If she let Jiang Zhu keep adding fuel to the fire, she’d be the one everyone looked down on.

She hadn’t done anything, but now she had to suffer the consequences of someone else’s actions. It was maddening.

“Sister, you’re falsely accusing me. How could I possibly covet a man who’s already engaged to you? Besides, I’m still young—how could I be so desperate to find a husband?”

This body was only seventeen, far from the legal marriage age, and Jiang Yun had no intention of marrying so soon.

“You can’t just convict me based on a few words. My mother and I were simply talking about how Big Sister was about to start seeing suitors. I just said how envious I was—not only that she’s a high school graduate, but that her match was such an outstanding man.”

Jiang Yun looked wounded, as if saying: “How could my own sister say such slanderous things about me?” She looked genuinely hurt by her older sister’s accusations.

“Mother, isn’t that right?” Jiang Yun turned to Kang Qing, hoping she’d help clear her name.

“Yes, yes, Yun Yun and I were clearly talking about Yao Yao. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, girl—how could you misunderstand what you overheard?”

The onlookers gathered outside the Jiang house hadn’t expected to hear two sisters tear each other apart over a man. But to their surprise, they now learned that Jiang Yao might be seeing a suitor soon.

Tsk. Wasn’t the eldest Jiang girl just dead set against matchmaking a while ago? Why the sudden change? They’d thought she’d hold out for at least another year or two before she’d agree to get married.

“Second Aunt, where did you hear that? How come I don’t know I’m being set up for matchmaking?”

Jiang Yao had been minding her own business, watching the drama unfold between the other two girls, when suddenly she was dragged into it. What did Jiang Yun bring her into this mess for?

“Oh, Yao Yao, what are you being so shy about? Every girl goes through this eventually.”

“You’re old enough now. I saw Sister-in-law Meng talking to someone yesterday—saying that you’ll soon be seeing Deng Hongda from the neighboring brigade.”

“Your mother probably just hasn’t had a chance to tell you yet. But it’s happening. You’ll be marrying into the county soon, living the good life.”

“You really are the most accomplished girl in the Jiang family. Not only are you pretty, but smart too. Even men with proper jobs like you.”

If only her own children—Zhi Jun or Yun Yun—had even half of Jiang Yao’s cleverness, had stayed in school… then she wouldn’t be so worried about their future.

If her Yun Yun had Jiang Yao’s looks and her education, she could’ve found a match even better than the one Yao Yao’s getting—maybe even a family where everyone had government jobs in the city.

“Second Aunt, how is something not yet decided suddenly something you speak of with such certainty?”

From Jiang Yao’s tone, she didn’t seem happy at all. Kang Qing secretly scoffed. As if she’s some kind of celestial beauty. Now that someone from a good family’s interested in her, why was she acting so stuck-up?