Autumn, 1976.
Tian Xiang's matchmaking partner was snatched by her cousin.
That day, the matchmaker arranged for the two youngsters, who had never met, to meet at the entrance of People's Park.
The girl was dressed in a white skirt, a red cardigan sweater, and carried a small blue floral cloth bag. She was beautiful and kind-hearted, known as the most beautiful girl in Sanli Lane.
As for the man, Lu Feng, he met all the conditions. Who would've thought it was not him who came, but Tian Xiang's cousin Tian Chuying.
Tian Chuying was quite shrewd. To secure this marriage, she didn't stroll around the park with Lu Feng. Instead, she dragged him to "accidentally meet" Lu's mother.
Lu's mother saw the girl was cheerful and well-built, thinking she'd bear children well. She spoke sweetly, calling her aunty this and aunty that, making her joyful. She immediately told the matchmaker that their family agreed to the match.
Upon hearing the young couple had hit it off, Tian Xiang's mother, Hu Honglian, was overjoyed. She was planning to have the child's father get something nice after work to thank the matchmaker. Unexpectedly, the neighbor lady rushed over.
Tian Xiang didn't go to any matchmaking; she had entered the neighborhood clinic!!
Hu Honglian was stunned. She went to the clinic and found out her daughter's marriage had been snatched.
Tian Chuying, that little troublemaker, actually gave her daughter laxatives to steal the match.
This was a disaster!
Hu Honglian took a pail of sewage from the public restroom, waiting to douse it on Tian Chuying when she returned.
The two families argued in the courtyard until nearly dark. It wasn't until Director Wu from the neighborhood committee arrived that things slowly calmed down.
Stealing your sister's matchmaking partner...
Director Wu looked at Tian Chuying with undisguised contempt.
But now the man's side had already agreed, what to do?
Hu Honglian was red with anger. She had worked so hard to find this for her daughter.
Lu Feng was an officer at the Red Fifth Street Mechanical Factory, an advanced worker. She had seen him; he was neatly dressed, wore glasses, cultured, and had a high salary. The key was he was from Red Fifth Street. Her daughter could live in an apartment, get a good job by marrying him.
Director Wu took a sip of the big leaf tea, thought for a while, and said to Hu Honglian, "Why don't you ask Xiangxiang what she means now? If she still has feelings for the Lu boy, I'll put aside my old face to speak with the Lu family and see if they can arrange another meeting."
This matchmaking isn't like buying vegetables at the market, looking at the younger sister and then the elder sister???
Hu Honglian felt awkward inside.
Lu Feng was her ideal son-in-law, but not to the point of picking and choosing among the Tian daughters!
But...
Thinking about how rare Lu Feng was and unwilling to be outdone, Hu Honglian planned to go into the house to ask her daughter's opinion.
However, just as she had this intention, a foul-smelling Tian Chuying rushed into the room, right in front of Tian Xiang's bed, fell to her knees.
"Sister, I can give you anything you want, except Lu Feng, I won't let go!"
In the rundown brick house, Tian Xiang, half-lying on the bed, turned to look at her.
Tian Chuying's hair was disheveled, her face bore scratch marks from Hu Honglian's nails, looking extremely miserable.
But her eyes were filled with unprecedented decisiveness and malice.
Tian Xiang couldn't quite understand. Although her cousin was a bit spoiled, she still had her wits about her. How could she do such a foolish thing?
Just yesterday, upon hearing she was going to meet Lu Feng, Tian Chuying had laughed and said, once sister married, she'd also like to meet someone from Red Fifth Street, live in an apartment, work in a big factory, and live a good life.
But then, she turned around and fed her a bowl of laxatives, utterly insane.
Tian Xiang's father, Tian Weibing, and elder brother, Tian Weijun, were both workers at the lumber factory. The two families lived in the same yard, separated by a wall.
Each brother had two sons and a daughter. Tian Xiang and Tian Chuying were the youngest daughters in their families, only two months apart in age. When they were young, they'd share a bed, and grown-up they lived in the same courtyard, doing everything together, like true sisters despite being cousins.
Because of this, when Tian Chuying brought over a bowl of tofu pudding this morning, insisting Tian Xiang try it, she had a taste.
And because of that one bite, Tian Xiang nearly had diarrhea until she fainted. If it weren't for the neighbor lady finding her collapsed at the restroom door, who knows what could've happened.
Tian Xiang: "Why?"
The two of them had never seen Lu, no matter how appealing his conditions were, it simply wasn't worth doing such a thing!
A sister snatching her sister's match was like dragging the Old Tian Family's reputation through the mud.
Weak and feeble, Tian Xiang's voice was so soft it could drip water.
The last rays of the setting sun shone through the glass window onto her pale face, fragile and gentle, beautiful enough to incite envy.
"Sister, don't ask so many questions. In short, we've liked each other for a long time now."
Of course, Tian Chuying couldn't reveal that she had been reborn!
In her previous life, she had met several men, none any good. She finally picked a decent one, but before they could marry, he got arrested.
During the days her fiancé was detained, Tian Chuying became a laughingstock.
It was Lu Feng who reopened her heart with a book, a silk scarf.
Tian Chuying knew Lu Feng was a passionate, responsible man. Once he chose her sister, he'd marry her.
She wasn't willing to trouble him, so she watched from the shadows.
But each time she saw him being good to her sister, saw her get into college, become more outstanding, praised and envied by others, Tian Chuying couldn't help but feel resentful and jealous.
If it was her who had gone to meet Lu Feng at the beginning, would she be the one admired now?
With this thought, Tian Chuying was reborn last night.
Rebirth was great!
It meant she could seize and fight, she could marry Lu Feng.
Tian Chuying's eyes gleamed with pride, and she laughed softly.
What did it mean, they've liked each other?
Tian Xiang didn't understand and sighed, "Chuying, you should make things clear."
It's just a man. If you really like him, take him.
I'm a perfectly eligible young woman; it's not like I can't find anyone else. There's Chen Feng, Li Feng.
Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere.
Is it really worth tearing the two families apart over a man?
"Since things are like this, your family should compensate. In the future..."
You two should just live your lives well.
Tian Xiang didn't finish her sentence before she saw mist rising from Tian Chuying's forehead, forming words.
— Rebirth Female Protagonist.
Rebirth Female Protagonist?
What is this?
Tian Xiang's words were stuck in her throat, her eyes widened, and she rubbed them.
My goodness, the words were still there, incredibly clear.
"Wow!"
Tian Xiang, disregarding her frail body, threw off the quilt and went to Tian Chuying, reaching out to touch the words formed from the mist above her head, but was stopped halfway by Tian Chuying.
Tian Chuying looked at her grimly, "Sister, do you want to hit me?"
Outside, Hu Honglian shook off Director Wu's hand, wanting to rush in, "So what if I hit you? After doing such shameful things, hitting you is light; you should be drowned in a pig cage!"
"Mom, don't talk."
Tian Xiang was already captivated by the big words, paying no mind to anything else.
She withdrew her hand, and while Tian Chuying was distracted, she tried to grasp the air with her left hand above her head, only to catch nothing but air.
But the words were still there!
Tian Xiang was bewildered and asked Hu Honglian at the door, "Mom, do you see some words above her head?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, mist rose from the foreheads of Hu Honglian, Director Wu, and the neighbor lady, quickly forming, Villain 1, Supporting Character 46, Onlooker 1.
Tian Xiang: "???"
She hurriedly grabbed the mirror from the cabinet and looked at her own head.
At this time, the words condensed from the mist had just formed.
"Silly, Naive, Blind!!!"