Chapter 6

Lin Xixi was very surprised.

From the information she knew, Yan Lei’s original wife died in the provincial capital.

At that time, no one knew that she had actually eloped.

Many years later, Lin Xixi lived a miserable life. Once, when she met her aunt, her aunt sighed, “The Yan Lei I wanted to introduce to you back then, you stubbornly refused. Do you know what level he has reached now? You would regret it if I told you.”

At that time, she learned that the person she almost got introduced to years ago was now someone frequently mentioned on TV news and in newspapers.

Then, Lin Xixi’s aunt gossiped a bit more, talking about the death of Yan Lei’s lover back then. She mentioned that there were later rumors suggesting that she had actually eloped.

Her aunt slapped her thigh. “I knew something was off back then. We didn’t have a good relationship, and suddenly she entrusted her child to me. I felt something was wrong. Turns out, she had run away with someone.”

Yan Lei’s comrade-in-arms, Captain Zhao from the past, wanted to introduce Lin Xixi, his niece from the countryside, to Yan Lei after his wife’s death. However, when Lin Xixi heard that the other person was already in their late twenties, much older than her, and was a divorced man with a child, and also from a rural background like them, she was unwilling and never showed up.

Lin Xixi yearned for the city and chose a young intellectual as her husband. Luckily, she followed him back to the city and enjoyed some attention at that time. Little did she know that life would turn out to be tough. Her husband lacked ambition, led a mediocre life, and eventually faced unemployment. The entire family lived in poverty.

In a year, when she went to borrow money from her aunt, she heard her aunt mention the missed opportunity in her youth. She genuinely regretted it.

The man she rejected back then had become a high-ranking official, while her chosen husband turned out to be mediocre. Due to being a rural woman, her in-laws looked down on her. She worked like an ox all her life, and as she grew older, the entire family struggled even to put food on the table.

One day, while going to borrow money from her aunt, she got hit by a car and died. When she opened her eyes, she found herself reborn at the age of eighteen.

Her intellectual husband had not joined their production team yet, and she was still a charming village belle, the pride of the village.

After the rebirth, she had no intention of reliving the poverty of her past life. Looking around at the people she knew, the person who had the most success was the divorced man her uncle wanted to introduce to her.

About eight or nine months later, her uncle sent someone to ask her to come to the military district to meet him. However, being a village belle, she felt a bit arrogant after reading about Yan Lei’s various conditions in the letter. She wanted to find a true city man but didn’t go, thus missing the chance.

This time, without waiting for her uncle to write another letter, she came on her own.

She persuaded her mother to let her move in with her uncle. Her mother, who could barely write a few words, wrote a letter to her brother: “Find a city match for her.”

In this era, one person’s success meant bringing prosperity to the entire family or even the whole village. Captain Zhao, her uncle, welcomed his niece, who sought refuge, and wrote a letter to his sister in the countryside, assuring her that their niece was in good hands.

Coincidentally, Captain Zhao’s family had five children, and his wife was struggling alone. Lin Xixi, after arriving, worked exceptionally hard. Her uncle and aunt liked her a lot.

However, there were already six children in the house, and the extra boy was surnamed Yan. Lin Xixi, upon seeing the child, had a vague guess. Upon inquiry, she confirmed that the child named Yan Xiang was Yan Lei’s son, and Yan Lei’s wife had already run away.

Yan Lei would soon come to the provincial capital to find her. Then, discovering her severe illness, he would take her to the hospital but fail to save her.

After that, she could marry Yan Lei, and her life would be entirely different from the previous one.

Especially when she saw Yan Lei in person, she was utterly shocked.

The divorced man from the countryside that she had imagined turned out to be tall, handsome, and stylish.

Reflecting on her past life, she was filled with regret!

Luckily, she was reborn and could seize the opportunity.

She silently planned to wait for news of Yan Lei’s wife’s death before making her move. However, today Yan Lei came to pick up Yan Xiang and unexpectedly said his wife had returned.

Lin Xixi was a bit bewildered.

Sister Yang asked him about dinner plans. Yan Lei said he would grab something at the canteen later. Sister Yang, being kind-hearted, told him not to bother and offered to prepare extra portions for him. Lin Xixi took the chance to make an additional egg drop soup and volunteered to help carry the soup, wanting to witness the situation.

As soon as she entered, she saw a woman with partially dried hair.

The woman had fair skin and was wearing a man’s white shirt. Perhaps due to just taking a shower, her skin had a delicate rosy tint.

Alive and healthy.

Was this Yan Lei’s wife? Why wasn’t she dead?

Lin Xixi’s face was full of astonishment, intriguing to those who observed.

Qiao Wei pulled the towel down from her hair and asked Yan Lei, “Who is this little girl?”

Yan Lei didn’t know why Qiao Wei was wearing his shirt. He said, “This is Xiaolin, Old Zhao’s niece, who just arrived a few days ago. You happened to be away.”

The timing was just right. The day after Qiao Wei entrusted Yan Xiang to Captain Zhao’s wife, Lin Xixi arrived.

Although Lin Xixi was still suspicious, she quickly came to her senses. Having experienced rebirth once, she immediately called out, “Sister-in-law.”

Unexpectedly, Qiao Wei smiled slightly. “You called the wrong person. You should call me Aunt and him Uncle.”

She smiled meaningfully at Yan Lei.

Yan Lei was currently placing two lunch boxes on the small table in the yard. Upon hearing this, he glanced at her.

Quite strange, clearly a couple who had been married for several years, but today, his wife looked particularly beautiful?

Appearance reflects the heart.

Qiao Wei and Qiao Weiwei shared the same face. When he married the original owner, half of it was because she was educated, and the other half was because she was good-looking. But later, the original owner and he couldn’t communicate mentally, leading to an unhappy marriage. A woman’s unhappiness could really show on her face, with lifeless eyes and a downturned mouth, directly lowering her attractiveness.

Qiao Wei regained a new life, and her whole being exuded joy. Just having taken a shower made her look even more radiant from the inside out, making her appear attractive.

Lin Xixi’s eyes flickered. “Captain Yan is still so young; how can I call him uncle?”

Is she trying to be on equal terms with Captain Yan? So, the female lead has already decided to cling to the male lead?

Qiao Wei smiled ambiguously and asked her, “How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

Qiao Wei turned to look at Yan Lei and asked, “Old Yan, how old are you?”

What’s with the ‘Old Yan’? Didn’t she usually call him Yan Lei?

Yan Lei silently thought, answering, “I’m twenty-seven.”

He was used to reporting his nominal age.

“You see, he’s ten years older than you. He’s already an old man,” Qiao Wei said lovingly. “Moreover, you’re Old Zhao’s niece, and there’s a generational gap between us. Old Yan, don’t people in the countryside pay a lot of attention to generations?”

She deliberately emphasized the words ‘in the countryside.’

Yan Lei felt that Qiao Wei was looking down on his rural background again. He coldly retorted, “That’s called manners. If the generations are messed up, it’s a lack of manners.”

Lin Xixi blushed at being scolded.

Because the countryside places great importance on generational hierarchy, Even if the uncle is only ten years old and the nephew is already thirty, the nephew still has to call him grandfather and cannot call him casually. Otherwise, it would be considered rude.

Lin Xixi, harboring selfish motives, wanted to be on equal footing with Yan Lei. If she married Yan Lei, that would be fine, but currently, she hasn’t married him yet. From Captain Zhao’s perspective, she was indeed of a lower status, and calling her “sister-in-law” without proper etiquette showed her lack of manners.

She didn’t expect to be rebuked by Yan Lei face-to-face.

Qiao Wei said with a serious tone, “Hurry up and take the things from Xiaolin’s hands.”

Yan Lei turned around and saw Lin Xixi still standing there, holding the enamel basin. She could have easily walked a couple of steps to put it on the table, but for some reason, she stood there waiting for him to take it.

Yan Lei felt that his niece from Old Zhao’s family seemed a bit… not very bright.

He went over to take the enamel basin and said, “Thanks. Remember to thank my wife for me.”

Qiao Wei deliberately suggested, “Why not have Xiaolin sit down and eat together?”

This sentence woke Lin Xixi up. She awkwardly said, “No, I need to go home for dinner.”

Qiao Wei immediately said, “Then take care on your way.”

Now she had to leave.

Lin Xixi glanced at Qiao Wei, and the woman who should have died already looked back at her without any guilt, as if her gaze could see through something. It was Lin Xixi who, due to the significant secret of her rebirth, felt uneasy. She moved her gaze away first, turned around, and left.

On the way back, she was still in shock. How could the person who should be dead still be alive? Could it be…

She thought of a possibility: Could Yan Lei’s wife also have been reborn?

Yan Lei completely ignored Lin Xixi, considering her just as a relative’s niece helping to carry a soup. He had no idea that Qiao Wei and Lin Xixi had already engaged in a subtle conflict.

Qiao Wei, looking at him, felt somewhat relieved.

After all, this was a world transmigrated from a book. She was afraid that Yan Lei’s life might be controlled by the plot and that he would be irresistibly attracted to Lin Xixi. Now it seemed that this wasn’t the case.

Having been reborn from an unhappy past life, Lin Xixi wanted to live a carefree life. Qiao Wei understood that.

However, after finally having a family, Qiao Wei didn’t want to become cannon fodder. She didn’t want to get involved in a love rivalry, but both of them knew that the upcoming decade would be a turbulent one, and they were well aware of the potential future of the male lead.

Even if she didn’t want a love rivalry, Qiao Wei couldn’t let the benefits already in her hands be taken away by someone else.

The female lead wanted a carefree life, but that shouldn’t come at the cost of sacrificing Qiao Wei.