Chapter One: What I Disagree With Is That I Am the One Breaking Off the Engagement with You!
The howling wind and sudden snowstorm ravaged the quiet mountain village.
“This—this isn’t my fault! I didn’t force her! Don’t blame this on me!”
“You little brat, what are you trying to do? I told you it’s none of my business! Let go of me!”
A heavy thud.
“Sister! Sister!”
“Bah, your sister’s already gone to meet the King of Hell!”
Jiang Yuan opened her eyes in a daze, her head splitting with pain, the figures before her blurred and overlapping.
[SSS Sign-In System at your service! Host, please say ‘sign in’!]
Her mind was still clouded, but she muttered reflexively, “Sign in.”
Something cold was suddenly pressed into her hand. Before she could see what it was, a childish voice beside her cried out, “Sister!”
A small figure threw itself at her. On the child’s tiny face, dark eyes reflected her current state, full of worry.
In the next moment, the pale and frail man before her looked stunned, then visibly relaxed.
[Congratulations, Host! You have received a silver ingot and a ten-slot storage space. Each slot can hold up to 999 identical items. Please continue to sign in elsewhere!]
“Jiang Yuan, stop making a scene. I’ll tell you plainly this time. I’ve only ever treated you as a sister. I’ll speak to your mother and withdraw the engagement. Let’s part on good terms, alright?”
The mechanical voice of the system overlapped with Lu Bai’s impatient tone.
By now, Jiang Yuan had absorbed all the memories of this body’s original owner.
The man before her, feigning righteous patience yet clearly annoyed, was the scholar Lu Bai, the village chief’s nephew.
“Part on good terms? Easy for you to say! Our engagement was arranged since childhood. My family scraped together nearly all their silver for your studies. Now, with a single ‘part on good terms,’ you want to wipe away everything I’ve done for you all these years?”
Jiang Yuan looked at him coldly. Perhaps it was because she had just entered this body, but the grief and indignation left by the original owner’s death still lingered within her.
Lu Bai’s expression flickered with discomfort.
“I’ve always seen you as a sister. I haven’t forgotten the kindness of your parents. In the future, I will—”
“There’s no need to wait for the future! Even if everything I did in the past was for nothing! Hand over my father’s compensation money!”
The family had once lived harmoniously, but a month ago, her father was crushed to death while unloading goods at the dock. The employer had paid a large sum in compensation.
Lu Bai had begged to borrow the money two days ago, but after he got it, never mentioned repayment.
Instead, he came knocking to break off the engagement!
The original owner, overwhelmed by grief and anger, had bashed her head and died.
Lu Bai’s face turned ashen, then pale, and he tried to deflect. “I can’t pay back the silver right now. Don’t try to change the subject! I’m here today to end the engagement!”
Jiang Yuan quietly slipped the silver ingot into her sleeve, then steadied Jiang Hu and stood up.
She patted his head and nudged him toward the door. “Hu’er, go find Mother.”
Jiang Hu looked back at every step, reluctant to leave. Lu Bai was left baffled by her silence and stony face.
Had she discovered his affair with the magistrate’s daughter? Lu Bai felt uneasy.
Forcing himself to look stern, he put on his usual air. Whenever Jiang Yuan saw this face in the past, she’d sulk for a moment before coyly admitting her fault.
“Jiang Yuan? Even if you disagree, it’s settled! I’ll speak to your mother about breaking the engagement. Don’t cling to me. A forced marriage brings no happiness, and I will never marry you!”
Jiang Yuan tilted her head slightly. “But what if I don’t agree?”
A flicker of disgust appeared in Lu Bai’s eyes, but he was relieved. As expected, Jiang Yuan was still obsessed with him.
“Even if you don’t agree—”
A flurry of crisp slaps.
“Jiang Yuan! You’ve gone too far!”
It wasn’t until she finished that Lu Bai snapped out of his shock, retreating several steps, eyes wide and red at the corners, a small mole at his eye’s edge.
On an ordinary day, this sickly scholar might have inspired pity. But now, after receiving Jiang Yuan’s powerful slaps, his cheeks were swollen and red, like an angry steamed bun.
Jiang Yuan’s lips curled in a half-smile. “What’s the rush? I said I don’t agree—you think I don’t agree to you breaking the engagement with my mother. In truth, it’s I who want to break the engagement with your family!”
Lu Bai, his face puffed like a bee-stung dog, squinted in disbelief as if hearing nonsense.
“What did you say? You want to break the engagement?”
Before Jiang Yuan could reply, he snorted in derision, looking her up and down.
“Jiang Yuan, stop this nonsense. Even if you’re trying to get my attention, it’s pointless. To be honest, next year I’ll become a certified scholar. If my wife is just a farmer’s daughter, won’t I become a laughingstock? If you truly care for me, you’d want what’s best for me. Once my career is secure, I won’t forget your kindness.”
Jiang Yuan raised her brow, her eyes full of mockery.
“Who in their right mind still loves you? Are you deaf?”
She raised her hand high, and Lu Bai’s forced calm faded, his expression trembling.
“Auntie!!” he shouted, making Jiang Yuan pause and look back.
Jiang Yuan’s mother appeared, holding Jiang Hu’s hand, her face a mix of panic and confusion.
Behind them stood a man and a woman—her uncle and aunt. Their darting eyes betrayed scheming minds.
“Yuan’er, what’s going on? Why is your face bloody? Good heavens! Lu Scholar, what happened to your face?” her aunt shrieked, her voice loud enough to shake the rafters when she saw Lu Bai’s swollen cheeks.
Lu Bai turned away in embarrassment. “It’s nothing!”
Jiang Yuan’s mother ignored him, hurrying to her daughter’s side, her gaze full of worry as she focused on the wound on Jiang Yuan’s forehead.
“What happened? Does it hurt? My silly child!”
She reached out, then hesitated. Only then did Jiang Yuan remember the gash on her forehead, the pain now a dull throb.
She touched the spot; it seemed to have scabbed over since her arrival. “I’m fine, Mother.”
Turning to Lu Bai, she said, “Mother, I want to break off the engagement.”
Lu Bai’s face darkened, and her mother and aunt and uncle all looked stunned.
“Break off the engagement?”
“Break off the engagement?!”
Her aunt nearly lost control of her excitement under Jiang Yuan’s watchful gaze.
Her mother’s face was etched with worry. “Yuan’er, isn’t this too—”
“Auntie, there’s no affection between Jiang Yuan and me. This engagement was just a childhood promise,” Lu Bai interrupted, a hint of urgency in his voice. He didn’t even bother to challenge Jiang Yuan’s words, agreeing to break the engagement immediately.
Her mother hesitated.
Her aunt hurried forward. “Sister-in-law! Both Lu Scholar and Yuan’er have made it clear. You should agree. There’s no need to be old-fashioned. Let the children decide for themselves!”
Seeing her mother’s uncertainty, her aunt pressed on, “Sister-in-law, do you not trust me? I watched Yuan’er grow up. How could I ever harm her?”
Jiang Yuan’s lips curved in a cold, ambiguous smile at her aunt, making the woman shiver involuntarily.