C2 She Was Already Married

Before Qian Duojing's father passed away, he had someone pen a letter, revealing that he had a daughter and expressing his fear that he wouldn't live much longer. He hoped that his old friend would look after his widow and orphaned child out of the kindness they once shared. Sadly, just days later, Qian Duojing's father died.

Amidst the chaos of the funeral preparations, her mother fell ill. With Qian Duojing's mother illiterate and Duojing herself uneducated, the letter remained unsent.

Thankfully, her mother, in a moment of lucidity before her passing, remembered the letter and urged Duojing to send it, hoping the Xue family would honor their promise to care for her daughter.

Duojing was a proud and haughty girl. Once she learned she was to marry into a wealthy family, she looked down on everyone in her village. She spent her days waiting for the Xue family people to arrive in their car to take her away. However, for reasons unknown, it took the Xue family two years to come for her.

Xue Zhengqing, the youngest son of the Xue family, had always claimed to be too busy to attend the wedding. He sent his identification ahead with friends who accompanied Duojing to the city to register their marriage.

On the wedding day, Zhengqing finally appeared. Duojing's only glimpse of him was from a distance, through a broken window, as he stepped out of an off-road vehicle. She could see he was tall, but his features were unclear. Under a bridal veil, they held a village feast without ever having a proper conversation.

After completing the first round of toasts, news came that Zhengqing had received an urgent message. He left immediately, without even lifting her veil. In a rage, Duojing threw a tantrum in front of the remaining male guests. She wailed about her misfortune, having waited years for Zhengqing, only to be abandoned by the heartless man without even seeing his face.

She cried out against the Xue family's ingratitude, reminding them that her family had saved Zhengqing's father. Without her parents' care, Old Xue would have perished in the wilderness, never living to see his days of prosperity as a boss. And yet, this was how his son repaid them.

The individuals who had accompanied Xue Zhengqing to the wedding remained silent. Qian Duojing lacked the courage to make a dramatic exit by jumping into the river or hanging herself, so instead, she resorted to a hunger strike. Whenever someone came to see her, she would erupt into loud protests, effectively scaring them off. Eventually, she collapsed from hunger. Full of regret yet devoid of the strength to seek out food, she inadvertently took her own life.

By a twist of fate, the contemporary Qian Duojing, having been struck by a truck while saving a child, found herself transported to the body of the 1970s Qian Duojing in Small Mountain Village, C Country.

Overwhelmed, Qian Duojing was at a loss for words as she pieced together the memories that were not her own. The concept of reincarnation was something she had never imagined happening to her, especially to find that the original Qian Duojing had died from starvation. It was an absurd way to die.

Desperately, Qian Duojing croaked, "Water... Water..."

Ms. Lan, one of the women caring for her and dressed in a blue floral blouse, immediately fetched a bowl of water and gently helped her drink.

With the water soothing her parched throat, Qian Duojing felt a surge of energy and expressed her gratitude, "Ms. Lan, thank you, and thank you to third aunt-in-law and Erya's mother for looking after me so well."

Ms. Lan set the bowl aside and took Qian Duojing's hand, which peeked out from under the blanket, and counseled her, "Don't be so headstrong. Whether or not the veil was lifted, he is your husband now."

Third aunt-in-law chimed in, "Exactly. The whole village can vouch for him; he's toasted with us. The village chief witnessed the marriage certificate. Remember when you were taken to the city to get that official marriage certificate? No matter what, he can't escape that."

Erya's mother added with fervor, "Indeed, big sister, you can relax. He's an educated man who's been abroad. If he truly abandons you here, we'll accuse him of marriage fraud and indecency. I've heard that they're cracking down hard on such crimes nowadays—they're even imposing the death penalty!"

Little did anyone know, Qian Duojing secretly hoped that her legally wedded husband would never come looking for her. In her past life, she was a maiden who had never experienced love, and now, in a bewildering turn of events, she found herself inexplicably married.