Rebirth to Save Myself

But Lulu couldn't understand why her mother, who had experienced such a life herself, demanded that her daughter do the same.

This is probably a mother's jealousy. She envies Lulu for being able to study, go to the big city, and escape her impoverished village, yet she's also resentful, feeling that after experiencing such a life, why should her daughter have it so good? This is actually similar to the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. Every mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law; they too experienced being mistreated by their mothers-in-law, but the moment they become mothers-in-law themselves, they become their own mothers-in-law. They vow that their daughters-in-law will suffer the same hardships they endured, only then can they quell their resentment.

Not long after Lu's parents returned home, Lu's mother told Lu Lu that the wealthy man had ultimately married her cousin, her uncle's daughter. Lu's mother, who had acted as the matchmaker, received tens of thousands of yuan. Although Lu's father was unhappy, he felt that having money was better than having none. Lu's mother comforted him, saying that once Lu Lu graduated from university, she would definitely find someone better than him, and they should wait a little longer.

So Lu Lu's parents stopped pressuring her and instead gave her two thousand yuan, the money they had received from the wealthy person. Lu Lu's mother told her, "This money is something I gave you secretly. Your father doesn't know, so don't let him find out."

Lu Lu secretly told Su Xia about this, and Su Xia thought for a while and said, "If you urgently need the money, then take it and spend it. If you're not in a hurry, either return it or leave it there untouched."

"Well, I see."

It seemed Lu's mother wanted to make Lu Lu regret her decision, to make her feel like she had missed out on a perfect match. She would frequently send Lu Lu WeChat messages praising how wonderful her cousin's marriage was now. For example, she'd mention that her cousin's family had given a dowry of 660,000 yuan, and her uncle had bought a large apartment in the city for her cousin's wedding. She'd also mention that her cousin would often give her brother pocket money, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of yuan at a time, saying it was from a wealthy family and that she didn't use money often, so she gave it all to her brother. And she'd also mention how the wealthy family treated her incredibly well, with a large villa in the mountains and a nanny to serve her.

Lu Lu refused to reply, letting her mother continue her monologue. In her mind, something was amiss. Truly wealthy men wouldn't just marry any woman; there must be some hidden story her mother didn't know. As for whether her cousin's marriage would be a blessing or a curse, only Lu Lu herself could truly know.

During a conversation with Chen Chunqi and Chen Yuan, Su Xia revealed some information about Lu Lu, which made Chen Chunqi nervously ask Su Xia if she needed Chen Jianguo to threaten the Su family. Su Xia shook her head, indicating that it wasn't necessary. At least now, if the Su family wanted to cause trouble in front of her, they would need to know where Su Xia was. But in this vast sea of ​​people, who could possibly know where Su Xia was?

Chen Jianguo and Chen Chunqi kept Su Xia's school a secret, not even revealing it to Chen Chunqi's family. Chen Meili only knew that Su Xia got into a top-tier university, but she didn't know the specifics. Chen Wenwei had also been instructed by Chen Yuan to keep quiet, so the Su family had no way of finding out anything.

When Su's father returned home intending to use the household registration information to blackmail Su Xia, Su Xia had already transferred her registration. As for where she transferred it, the police station, having been bribed by Chen Jianguo, directly refused his request, even threatening that investigating ordinary citizens was suspicious and questioned their motives. This illustrates the advantage of money; Chen Jianguo paid, and people would help out because of the money. If Su's father hadn't paid, or hadn't paid as much as Chen Jianguo, he wouldn't have been able to find out from the police station where Su Xia's registration had been transferred.

Su Xia felt very lucky. She and Lu Lu had similar pasts, and she was able to meet Chen Jianguo and the others. It must have been the luck she hadn't used up in her past life! Or perhaps she was too unlucky in her past life, so it was God's way of compensating her.

Lu Lu's situation brought the four of them closer together once again. Ye Zhenzhen rejected those boring and time-consuming club activities, and tried going out for part-time jobs with Lu Lu, experiencing the joy of earning money, although she was only inconsistent in her efforts!

Chen Wanying unexpectedly revealed that she got engaged to Lin Zhe during the winter break!

"What? You're engaged? Is that what I think it means?" Ye Zhenzhen screamed at a high decibel, unable to believe it.

"Yes, that's what you mean." Chen Wanying nodded shyly.

"Family members, who understands this! You're still single and no one's pursuing you, and she's already engaged!" Ye Zhenzhen grabbed Su Xia and shook her frantically.

"I understand, I understand, but let me go now." Su Xia was a little dizzy from being shaken, and she was afraid she would throw up if this continued.

"Lin Zhe and I grew up together, we're childhood sweethearts. We found out we liked each other in high school and started dating. Our families knew about it, so when we went home for Chinese New Year, both families suggested we get engaged first and then get married after graduation," Chen Wanying explained patiently.

"Heavens above, please grant me a childhood sweetheart!" Ye Zhenzhen looked towards the balcony and clasped her hands together.

"I remember Wanying is an only child, right? What about Lin Zhe?" Su Xia asked.

“He is also an only child. Our two families have discussed cooperating together. I will take care of my family, and he will take care of his family,” Chen Wanying said with a nod.

"Yingying, what does your company do? Do you need civil engineering? Or is it okay if it's not civil engineering?" Ye Zhenzhen moved closer to Chen Wanying, took her hand, and looked at her affectionately.

“Well, neither of our companies needs civil engineering. Besides, Zhenzhen, aren’t you planning to take the civil service exam?” Chen Wanying stepped back a little and asked.

"Forget it, taking the civil service exam is too difficult. Besides, there are too many rules within the system, I don't like it." Ye Zhenzhen waved her hand. She grew up in a government compound, so she didn't really want to follow in her parents' footsteps.

"The end of the universe is the civil service exam, Zhenzhen!" Su Xia sighed. If she had Ye Zhenzhen's family background, she would definitely focus on passing the civil service exam.

"I still want to give it a shot, but Lu Lu, have you considered going abroad?" Ye Zhenzhen asked.

"Go abroad?" Lu Lu had never really thought about it before. Before her parents forced her to get married, her only thought was to study hard and leave the mountain village.

“Yes, I talked to the class advisor the other day and found out that our major allows for government-funded overseas studies. If you can take this route, it will be difficult for your parents to find you.” Ye Zhenzhen thought this suggestion was very good, and then continued, “I talked to the class advisor about it, and with your current grades, it is possible to apply. As long as you keep up the good work, you can build a relationship with the class advisor later.”

"Thank you. I never thought about going abroad before, but now I think it's worth a try." Lu Lu nodded. If going abroad could free her from her parents' entanglement and arrangements, then the hardships of living abroad would be nothing compared to that.

“Yes, I just checked the requirements for government-funded overseas study. Basically, you have to return to China after you finish your studies. But by then, your parents will have lost contact with you for so many years. No matter how big the world is, the motherland is the most important, and they won’t be able to find you.” Su Xia handed the search results on her phone to Lu Lu.

Lu Lu looked down and examined it carefully, then said to the group, "Thank you, I am truly grateful for your concern and for helping me find a solution."

"Lulu, you're too kind. Do you think we could get another serving of spicy hot pot?" Ye Zhenzhen leaned close to Su Xia and asked her in a voice loud enough for all four of them to hear.

"Hmm, I think she'll be polite later on. How about we just let her run the spicy hot pot business for a semester?" Su Xia asked, pretending to be deep in thought.

"Then we might as well clean up." Chen Wanying joined in, and the three of them looked at Lu Lu and then whispered among themselves.

Lu Lu had gotten used to the way the three of them were. At first, she thought Ye Zhenzhen was the only one in the dorm who was outgoing, but she didn't expect Su Xiaqing to be even more outspoken. She even led the well-behaved and gentle Chen Wanying astray. This semester, the incident of her parents coming to cause trouble further solidified the three of them's erratic path.

Su Xia sometimes felt that Chen Wanying was like Chen Yuan, both dating their childhood sweethearts, but Chen Wanying's relationships were very stable. When Lin Zhe first started university, a girl confessed to him, and he said directly, "I have a girlfriend, I love her very much, and I will marry her as soon as I graduate."

His words effectively blocked all paths for the girls behind him, and he truly kept his word. Every day, besides his roommates, he would spend time with Chen Wanying during and after class. If Chen Wanying was unavailable, he would busy himself with his own things in the dorm. He would always inform Chen Wanying of his whereabouts and take photos to check in at each location, even though Chen Wanying never asked him to do any of this.

Like the pure love warrior he later became known for, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to Chen Wanying. Even his family knew that Chen Wanying was his betrothed, so with the approval of both families, their engagement was arranged long ago.

Su Xia asked Chen Wanying, "Are you confused about getting engaged?"

Chen Wanying shook her head and said, "I've wanted to be with Lin Zhe from the very beginning, and I've never changed my mind."

Su Xia couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "What an amazing love story! They love each other, and their parents approve of their relationship—it's truly blissful! If nothing unexpected happens, they'll walk down the aisle. Without financial worries, their life together will be unbelievable!"

Su Xia had asked Chen Yuan if Chen Wenwei had changed this semester. Chen Yuan replied, "He has changed, but some of his bad habits are really annoying."

"Isn't that what relationships are all about? It's about tolerating each other's bad habits that they can't change, and finding common ground while respecting differences."

"Yes, but he has indeed changed a lot. I guess it's the sense of crisis that our dad instilled in him that makes him feel he has to work hard."

“I think our dad’s height is something that not just anyone can catch up to.”

"That's right, our dad is awesome."

Chen Jianguo, who was far away in the provincial capital, suddenly sneezed twice. Chen Chunqi saw this and said, "I told you to wear an extra layer, but you wouldn't listen. The weather isn't very hot yet, and there's a big temperature difference between day and night."

"Maybe it's just our daughter missing me," Chen Jianguo said dismissively.

"If you get sick, you can sleep in the guest room," Chen Chunqi said directly.

"No, honey! I'll wear it, I'll do whatever you say, just don't make me sleep in the guest room." Chen Jianguo quickly moved closer, looking pitifully at Chen Chunqi.

"Okay, if you behave, you don't have to sleep in the study." Chen Chunqi was really helpless. Ever since the children went to study in another city, Chen Jianguo had let himself go! Sometimes she really couldn't keep up with Chen Jianguo's antics. Sometimes they would even act affectionately in front of the nanny. No wonder Chen Yuan said that her parents had become more affectionate since they left.

Su Xia had just finished her call with Chen Yuan when Lu Jingnian's video call popped up. Seeing it was morning on his end, she answered and asked, "Don't you have classes or a part-time job today?"

“People need rest. I’m not a machine, right?” Lu Jingnian smiled.

"Oh, right. It's my fault for asking." Su Xia sighed, feigning a pitiful expression.

"No, I didn't mean to blame you. I just thought it was a rare weekend without my part-time job, and I missed you, so I video-called you." Lu Jingnian panicked and quickly explained, afraid that Su Xia would get angry and hang up the phone.

"Okay, okay, I'm not angry, I was just kidding!" Su Xia waved her hand and then said, "I received your birthday present."

"Do you like it?" Lu Jingnian was a little nervous. He had spent a long time choosing the gift in private and even asked Chen Yuan for her opinion, just in case Su Xia didn't like it after he sent it to her. Although he knew that Su Xia wouldn't say she didn't like it, he was also afraid that she would pretend to like it because he was giving her a gift.

"I love it! It's perfect since it hasn't been released in China yet, so I'm one of the first to get one. Let me show you how I assembled it; it looks great. I even added an acrylic cover." Su Xia held up her phone to show the pictures on it.

"It's really beautiful. Is it displayed at home?" Lu Jingnian looked at the photo carefully. He had given Su Xia a Lego set.

"Yes, I definitely want to keep it at home as a keepsake!" Su Xia nodded. This thing was too precious to be taken out and damaged.

"Then next time I go back to China, could you invite me to visit?" Lu Jingnian asked cautiously.

“Sure, why not?” Su Xia felt that letting Lu Jingnian visit her bedroom wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t the kind of bedroom that no one else could enter. Sometimes she would even leave the door open to air it out at home. Besides, they were all family, and Chen Chunqi would occasionally go into her room to clean. What was wrong with that?

"Then it's settled. I'll take you to visit next time I go back to China."

"it is good."

The two chatted for a while longer until it was Su Xia's bedtime, at which point Lu Jingnian reluctantly hung up the phone. Sometimes he wondered if, had he not gone abroad, he could have been like Chen Yuan, attending the same university as the person he loved and strolling together on campus. And if someone confessed their feelings to her, he could have promptly stepped forward to tell the suitor, "She has a boyfriend, and we're very much in love."