Chapter 2

Third Brother’s expression remained calm, and the passersby behaved as usual.

Ye Manzhi hesitated for a moment, finding the fleeting golden text too absurd to be real. She decided she must have imagined it.

“Sis-in-law, I actually understand how you feel.”

“What feeling?”

“You can’t bear to be apart from my third brother! You’ve only been married for less than a year, so it’s normal to feel reluctant to be separated.”

Huang Li raised an eyebrow.

Had this little sister-in-law suddenly changed her personality?

Ye Manzhi was the sixth child in the family, the only child born after her parents remarried.

By the time she was born, Chang Yue’e had already brought the eldest sister and fifth brother into the family, while Ye Shouxin’s side had the second sister, third brother, and fourth brother—all of whom were already old enough to understand things.

As the crucial link between the remarried couple, this little sister-in-law had been doted on and spoiled by the Ye family since birth.

From both the author’s descriptions and her own experience, Huang Li knew that Ye Manzhi was an incredibly self-centered person.

For her to suddenly be considerate of someone else? That was downright bizarre!

“Sis-in-law, being sent abroad for studies is such an honor! My brother is honored, and as his family, we also share in the glory. Besides, he’ll only be gone for three years.” Ye Manzhi, trying to ease the situation, even brought up her own regret. “Just look at Zhou Mu! He’s leaving for five years, and I still fully support him going!”

In addition to major state-owned factories, the Ministry of Education also selected high school and university graduates for further studies in the Soviet Union.

Ye Manzhi had attended a kindergarten run by the ‘Soviet Expatriate Association’ as a child, which gave her a strong foundation in Russian. She had always excelled in the language.

As soon as the selection announcement was made, she and Zhou Mu had planned to go to the Soviet Union together, and she had even helped him with his Russian-speaking skills for two months in preparation.

But fate had other plans. Zhou Mu was successfully selected, while she failed the medical examination and was disqualified!

Hearing her mention Zhou Mu, Huang Li’s expression turned unreadable. “You’re really fine with Zhou Mu leaving for five years?”

“Of course,” Ye Manzhi said, blushing slightly. “I’m only eighteen. Getting married five years later sounds just fine.”

Huang Li gave a small, knowing smile but thought to herself—

[That Zhou Mu isn’t a good guy either. During his time abroad, he got entangled with Xu Yingxue, and after returning home, he even cheated on Ye Manzhi while she was pregnant. Total scumbag!]

[Like attracts like. None of these three are any good. But poor Ye Mantang—such a decent young man, both in looks and personality, and the male lead no less. Yet because of his scheming stepmother and troublemaking sister, he ended up divorced three times!]

[It wasn’t until Ye Manzhi was locked away for intentional assault—finally quieting down for good—that he was able to remarry the female lead and enjoy a few peaceful days…]

Huang Li’s mind raced with these thoughts, while Ye Manzhi stood there, utterly stunned by the sudden appearance of floating text. She couldn’t speak for a long moment.

Zhou Mu was her childhood fiancé—outstanding in academics, a bit of a spoiled young master, and occasionally a clueless fool. His selection for state-sponsored studies was proof that he had passed multiple layers of scrutiny. The idea that he would have moral failings was something Ye Manzhi absolutely refused to believe.

And as for Third Brother, she had always wanted him to have a happy marriage—why would she ever wish for him to divorce, let alone three times?

Most importantly—she couldn’t even bring herself to kill a chicken! How could she possibly commit intentional assault?

Ye Manzhi pondered the matter all night but still couldn’t figure out whether she had simply imagined things or if her third sister-in-law’s newspaper had somehow gained sentience and actually sprouted words on her forehead.

After the previous day’s experience, she had grown a little wary of this sister-in-law.

So, when her third brother and his wife started arguing about divorce early in the morning, she had absolutely no desire to get involved. Instead, she slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and slipped out the door as quickly as possible.

At the time, many schools operated under a “dual-shift system”—

Due to limited classrooms and teachers, first- and second-year high school students attended school in shifts, with one group taking classes in the morning and the other in the afternoon while self-studying at home for the remainder of the day.

That semester, all of Ye Manzhi’s classes were scheduled for the afternoon.

Before heading to school, she stopped by the factory hospital for an eye exam. After confirming that her bright, wide eyes were perfectly fine, she left with mixed feelings and continued on her way.

Just as she was nearing the school gates, Lin Qingmei caught up from behind, looping her arm through Ye Manzhi’s and teasing, “Why are you coming to school alone today? Didn’t Zhou Mu have Russian lessons with you?”

“The province arranged a preparatory Russian course for the exchange students. He’s got Soviet teachers now.”

Lin Qingmei sighed with envy. “I heard that once they get to Moscow, they’ll live in apartments, watch ballet, and drink milk and eat bread every day…”

“Yeah, and apparently, they’ll also receive tiger-skin coats, suits, leather shoes, and socks.”

“My math scores weren’t great, so it’s no surprise I didn’t get in. But how did you fail, too?” Lin Qingmei playfully pinched her fair cheek. “You don’t look malnourished at all! Even Xu Yingxue from the next class managed to pass the physical exam, but you didn’t?”

Ye Manzhi and Lin Qingmei had grown up together, catching fish and playing in the water. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of “classified secrets,” making Xu Yingxue’s case seem trivial in comparison.

So, Ye Manzhi didn’t bother holding back. “I suspect she used all those sick leave requests as an excuse to skip class! That whole ‘delicate beauty’ act? It’s all fake!”

Moscow’s winters were long and freezing, so when selecting students for overseas study, the government not only considered political background and academic performance but also placed great emphasis on physical health.

Common issues like malnutrition, anemia, high blood pressure, and hypoglycemia would all result in automatic disqualification.

Xu Yingxue was famous at school for being a fragile beauty, yet she had somehow passed such a rigorous health check. That could only mean one thing—she was perfectly healthy, and her sickly demeanor was nothing but an act!

Lin Qingmei scoffed sourly, “Good thing at least one working-class student, Liu Guoqing, got selected. Otherwise, those precious study-abroad slots would have gone to the deputy factory director’s son, Zhou Mu, and the deputy chief engineer’s stepdaughter, Xu Yingxue. Can you imagine the outrage?”

Years of friendship made it easy for Ye Manzhi to pick up on the hidden implication—the selection process might not have been entirely fair.

Since she hadn’t even passed the physical exam, she had never concerned herself with how others got selected.

But once an idea took root, it was hard not to overthink it.

The unease she had felt since last night only worsened, and she became increasingly restless, eager to confirm some suspicions with Zhou Mu.

However, before she could act, he came to confront her first!

The preparatory course had recently started training students in foreign etiquette, so Zhou Mu showed up in a neatly tailored suit, his hair slicked back with pomade.

The moment he saw her, he stormed up in a fury. “Did you register Xu Yingxue’s family business as a tailor shop? What were you thinking?! That’s just hurting others without benefiting yourself! We’re all classmates—how are we supposed to get along after this?”

It took Manzhi a moment to recall that her second sister-in-law’s husband, Xu Dajun, was actually Xu Yingxue’s cousin.

She frowned and said, “Xu Yingxue has long since followed her mother’s remarriage. What does the Xu family’s tailor shop have to do with her? When Xu Dajun wrote a complaint against my family, I didn’t see you speaking up for me.”

“That’s a completely different matter! You not making clothes doesn’t affect you much, but if her uncle’s family gets labeled as small business owners, it could very well jeopardize her eligibility for the study-abroad program!”

When selecting students for overseas studies, political reliability was a key criterion.

Manzhi rolled her eyes. “Do you even have any common sense? The Xu family doesn’t employ any workers, so how could they be considered small business owners? Even if they were labeled as such, that would be her cousin’s fault. Who told him to secretly write a complaint about my family? Besides, this is between our two families—what does it have to do with you?”

Zhou Mu huffed angrily. “Because we’re betrothed!”

Manzhi let out an exaggerated “Oh?” and smirked. “The way you’re acting all worked up, anyone who didn’t know better would think Xu Yingxue was your actual fiancée…”

“I’m doing this for your sake! You two are both classmates and relatives, and you’ll have to interact often in the future…” Zhou Mu’s tone softened as he shoved a cloth bag forward, changing the subject. “Forget it. Your family’s business isn’t mine to handle. Here, this is for you.”

Manzhi opened the bag and found a large brown loaf of bread, nearly 30 centimeters in diameter.

“This is black rye bread from the Friendship Store. It’s only sold to people with Soviet passports. I asked my Russian teacher to buy it for me as a thank-you for helping me practice Russian.”

Manzhi broke off a small piece of crust and chewed it. The rich, roasted aroma of rye filled her mouth, but her thoughts weren’t on the bread.

Other arranged marriages were about childhood sweethearts, growing up side by side. Hers with Zhou Mu, however, was more of a lifetime rivalry.

Every argument between them was sharp-edged, with neither willing to back down.

But just now—when she mentioned Xu Yingxue’s connection to him—he backed off.

Keeping her expression neutral, Manzhi observed him carefully. She casually broke off another piece of bread and handed it to him, then asked in an offhanded manner, “The whole thing about the Xu family’s tailor shop being registered—Xu Yingxue was the one who told you about it, right?”

“Yeah, we talked about it during break today.”

“You two sure talk a lot.” Manzhi let out a soft snort. Then, just as he was about to take a bite of bread, she suddenly asked, “So, you must know about her physical exam results too, right?”

Caught completely off guard, Zhou Mu instinctively started to nod—but halfway through, he froze, suddenly wary. “What about her physical exam?”

“You tell me. The news has already spread, so why are you pretending to be clueless?”

Manzhi actually had no idea what had happened with Xu Yingxue’s physical exam.

But she could keep a straight face.

Her small face was taut, her gaze sharp, her silence heavy with pressure—she looked like a Red Guard interrogating a suspected spy.

Zhou Mu hated seeing that look on her face. After a few minutes of silent confrontation, realizing that she wasn’t backing down, he hesitated and asked, “Where did you hear that rumor?”

Manzhi, keeping her expression unreadable, said, “That’s not important. What matters is—you knew about this, so why didn’t you tell me?”

“How was I supposed to tell you?” Zhou Mu averted his gaze. “Xu Yingxue begged me not to say anything. If people found out she faked her medical exam, she’d be done for. She was crying so pitifully at the time…”

“Oh, so because she cried, you decided to ignore right and wrong?”

“What benefits did she give you?!”

Manzhi used to think that Zhou Mu’s soft-heartedness and sympathy for the weak were rare and admirable qualities.

But right now, all she saw was a man with no backbone—someone too easily swayed!

“What benefits could she possibly give me?! I just felt sorry for her. She followed her mother after remarriage, and life hasn’t been easy for her. I didn’t want to push her into a dead end.”

Zhou Mu was trying to gain her understanding, but unfortunately, Manzhi couldn’t care less. She simply stared at him with an icy, unwavering gaze.

When they were kids playing “fight the invaders,” Manzhi was always the commander, and Zhou Mu was always the little Japanese soldier.

He knew that look all too well. The one that meant she was about to open fire on him.

Under the unbearable pressure, Zhou Mu hesitated for a long time before finally muttering, “I kept her secret because it was the lesser of two evils. You didn’t pass the medical exam or even take the later tests. Even if she got kicked out, they wouldn’t have considered you. They’d just give the spot to the next person on the list.”

Manzhi’s heartbeat skipped several beats. She was confused—what exactly was he implying? She wanted to ask but was afraid of alerting him too soon. So, she kept glaring at him instead.

Zhou Mu, already feeling guilty, got flustered by her silence. He assumed she already knew everything and was just here to settle the score.

So, when he spoke next, his guard was slightly lowered—he just wanted to calm her down.

“What’s done is done. Xu Yingxue is already figuring out a way to compensate you. Your family isn’t really losing out. I already talked to my dad—after graduation, you’ll get an office job at the factory union, and your brother will be sent to the Stalin Auto Plant for an internship.”

Manzhi felt like she’d been struck by lightning. Her eyes widened in shock.

She had assumed the worst that could happen was that Vice Chief Engineer Zhang pulled some strings to get his stepdaughter through the medical exam.

But now, with just a casual bluff, she had uncovered an even bigger conspiracy.

Her chest burned with fury. She couldn’t believe it.

“Are you saying that the medical exam results Xu Yingxue used… were actually mine?”

Zhou Mu, too nervous to notice the flaw in her question, dodged the point and said, “Look, this way, two of your family’s biggest concerns are solved in one go. Isn’t that a good deal?”

It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over Manzhi’s head.

Even her fingertips turned cold.

How did Xu Yingxue dare to do this? The medical exams were so strict—where did she get the confidence to pull off such a stunt?

And Zhou Mu—he had known all along! Not only did he say nothing, but he even worked with her to deceive Manzhi!

A surge of rage and disbelief rose in her throat. Her eyes turned red almost instantly.

She shoved Zhou Mu’s hand away.

For a long moment, she just stood there, frozen. Then, she forced herself to start thinking again.

There was a lot of information in their conversation—but also a lot of holes.

Some things didn’t quite add up.

She narrowed her eyes and asked suspiciously, “Xu Yingxue was the one who stole my medical report, right? So why is your family compensating me? Not only giving me a job but also arranging for my brother to go to the Soviet Union?”

“Does it really matter who compensates you—”

“It does matter!” Manzhi cut him off sharply. “Tell me the truth. What the hell is going on?!”