Chapter 6: Whether We Borrow or She Does, She’ll Be the One to Repay It Anyway

Gu Qiangwei had already gone into her room, but Wang Shufen was still outside shouting loudly.

Qiangwei let out a soft chuckle. “I’ve been out all day, I want to get to bed early.”

With that, she closed the door and lay down to sleep. The elderly couple stayed outside, muttering to each other.

Gu Qiangwei couldn’t hear them—and even if she could, she had no interest in what they were saying.

Only after the two elders returned to their room and the house fell silent did she finally enter the space.

The space was still quite large. Other than the area where she had piled all the random stuff from home, there was still a large empty patch of land.

Right now, it was just a barren area.

Could it really only be used for storage?

In her previous life, she had somehow unlocked farmland within the space, but she never figured out how it happened.

If it really could only be used for storing things, then when the two of them started their business, it could serve as their personal warehouse.

Thinking of Su Qingshuang, Gu Qiangwei was reminded of her past life.

Back then, the two of them had run a fairly successful business and were preparing to discuss a new clothing wholesale deal.

They had thought their business would keep growing, but on their way back from sourcing inventory, someone had targeted them—assuming they had money from the trip.

They were ambushed by thieves trying to steal their goods and cash.

The thieves were armed with knives. The two of them were just young women, no match for those men, even though they shouted for help and tried to resist.

But the thieves were determined to rob them.

One of the thieves raised a knife and aimed it at Gu Qiangwei’s chest. At that critical moment, Su Qingshuang stepped forward and took the fatal blow for her.

Because someone died, the thieves panicked and fled.

Gu Qiangwei had clutched Su Qingshuang’s chest tightly, trying to stop the bleeding, but the blood just kept pouring out. Eventually, the noise and wailing sirens could be heard.

By the time Su Qingshuang was rushed to the hospital, she had already lost too much blood, and the wound had struck a vital spot—she died.

After everything was settled and the thieves were caught and punished, Su Qingshuang’s family didn’t blame her.

She fell into a long period of depression—until one day, Su Qingshuang’s brother delivered a journal.

Inside the journal were Su Qingshuang’s thoughts after meeting Gu Qiangwei.

She had written about how much she liked being friends with Gu Qiangwei.

She said the two of them had once made a vow to grow their business big—to build a thriving clothing company.

From that day on, Gu Qiangwei pulled herself together and threw herself into the fashion business with full dedication.

Eventually, she became a leader in the field.

But around that time, she was diagnosed with cancer.

And then… everything that happened after began.

Thinking of Su Qingshuang’s family, Gu Qiangwei recalled that her friend had an older brother who was a company commander.

During the time they were running the business, she had met him several times.

And as time went on, Gu Qiangwei had sensed that Su Qingshuang’s brother had developed feelings for her—he even confessed.

Su Qingshuang even tried to play matchmaker for them.

But at the time, Gu Qiangwei had only been thinking about being a devoted daughter-in-law, since her husband had died. She was determined to take care of her in-laws, and if she found another partner, she feared it would mean neglecting them.

So she gently turned him down.

Still, despite the rejection, he continued to help them often.

Thinking about it now, Su Qingshuang’s whole family had truly been good to her. She wondered if fate would bring them together again in this life.

Gu Qiangwei could still vaguely remember what Su Qingshuang’s brother looked like, but she quickly shook her head.

She had been reborn—she wouldn’t be as foolish as she was in her past life.

She would no longer sacrifice herself for those in-laws.

She would no longer concern herself with the Lu family’s affairs.

As for whether or not fate would repeat itself—that was for the future to decide.

She wouldn’t force it.

Since this space didn’t seem to have any other use for now, she figured when their business truly took off and they needed a warehouse, she would tell Su Qingshuang about the space.

In her past life, Su Qingshuang had treated her with sincere kindness. In this life, she wouldn’t keep anything from her.

With her thoughts clear, Gu Qiangwei went to check that strange little box from earlier in the morning.

When she opened it, it was filled with all sorts of odds and ends—a jade bracelet, a golden hairpin.

These were the kinds of things that weren’t supposed to be kept back then, yet Wang Shufen clearly had hidden them away, probably in preparation for something down the road.

No wonder she was so distressed when they were lost.

Hmph.

Wang Shufen clearly hadn’t been all that righteous herself. These were items she’d clearly stashed away secretly, knowing they weren’t allowed.

Since Gu Qiangwei had taken them, they were hers now. Gold and jade were worth a lot in the future.

If she could collect more of them later, she could set a few aside for herself—they were bound to increase in value over time.

The truth was, Wang Shufen and Zhao Minghua had saved up quite a bit over the years—they weren’t short on money.

But so what? What they had could never compare to what she gave them in her past life.

This was what they owed her.

After letting her thoughts wander for a while, Gu Qiangwei exited the space. She washed up and finally went to bed.

The Next Morning

Gu Qiangwei woke up early and used the leftover vegetables from yesterday to make some vegetable porridge with rice.

The elderly couple woke up to the smell of food.

Gu Qiangwei looked at them and said, “Mom, Dad, if you’re not going to look for work, then we at least need to figure out how we’re going to keep eating. You should be willing to swallow your pride and ask the neighbors to lend us a few things.”

“What are we supposed to do without pots or bowls?”

She quickly finished eating as she spoke. The two elders exchanged a glance—they didn’t want to borrow anything.

What if someone came later to ask for repayment? They wouldn’t be able to pay.

“You go ask them for now,” Gu Qiangwei said, guessing what they were thinking. “I’ll pay them back once I have money.”

“But when you go ask, don’t say it’s for me. I’ve only just married into the family, I don’t carry much weight around here. They probably won’t believe me!”

“At the very least, borrow a pot. We need that.”

“I’ll figure out the rest.”

After speaking, Gu Qiangwei finished the last of her porridge quickly.

“I’m going out again today to look for work. I’m heading off now.”

She grabbed her things and left.

By the time Wang Shufen realized what was going on, she was already gone. She stayed behind, cursing under her breath.

“Not washing the dishes again?”

There weren’t even dishes to wash in the house—none had been done since the previous afternoon, and she wasn’t doing them now either.

Zhao Minghua, after eating, just set his bowl on the table. “Qiangwei’s right. Later, go borrow some things from a few of the neighbor ladies you’re on good terms with.”

“Whether we borrow them or she does—it doesn’t matter. She’ll be the one to repay it in the end anyway!”