Squeezing into the temple, Xia Ziyu’s pounding heart gradually calmed down.

From that fleeting glimpse, Xia Xiaolan seemed even more beautiful, not just in her fresh new attire, but with an indescribable quality. Wasn’t Xia Xiaolan supposed to have a hole in her forehead from attempting suicide by running into a wall? At first glance just now, her forehead appeared smooth and unblemished, without even a mark.

“Ziyu, I’ll get you some water. Rest here for a while.”

Wang Jianhua’s preoccupied manner made Xia Ziyu feel suffocated. After calming down, she realized she’d made a serious mistake – they shouldn’t have avoided Xia Xiaolan. A person’s character doesn’t change overnight; she should have held Wang Jianhua’s arm and graciously greeted Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan was petty and quick-tempered; just a few provocative words would make her explode.

Each time Xia Xiaolan acted out, she lost points in Wang Jianhua’s eyes, while Xia Ziyu only needed to display contrasting gentleness and grace to make Wang Jianhua appreciate their differences more.

This had always worked well – just moments ago while burning incense, Xia Ziyu even had the impression Wang Jianhua was about to “propose.”

If only Xia Xiaolan hadn’t appeared!

Even if she had to appear, it shouldn’t have been at this moment, and not looking so radiant and beautiful.

Xia Ziyu bit her lip. Meeting Xia Xiaolan “by chance” now seemed to have lost its impact. Had Xia Xiaolan seen her and Wang Jianhua earlier? With so many pilgrims around, perhaps she hadn’t.

They couldn’t let Xia Xiaolan roam freely outside the Xia family’s influence – those not from the Xia family couldn’t be controlled by them.

With Xia Xiaolan’s grades, her chances of getting into university in the July college entrance exam were almost 100%, unless something unforeseeable happened. What if Xia Xiaolan performed poorly during the exam, or better yet, couldn’t take it at all?

Anyone else’s success was fine, but Xia Xiaolan’s “success” made her wary.

Because what she had now was stolen from Xia Xiaolan – without her interference, Wang Jianhua would surely have ended up with Xia Xiaolan! Xia Ziyu could be tolerant of others, but she had to be harsh with her cousin. Seeing Wang Jianhua return with a bowl of water, she flashed an extremely gentle smile:

“Jianhua, you’re so good to me!”

Wang Jianhua was taken aback.

Was he good to Xia Ziyu?

Xia Ziyu had given more.

At first, he had even resisted this relationship. When Xia Ziyu asked him what they should do, he only felt obligated to take responsibility. Xia Ziyu had asked if they were dating, and Wang Jianhua had nodded in agreement. Then Xia Ziyu truly treated him as a lover, while Wang Jianhua mostly passively accepted, contributing very little to the relationship.

Thinking about this made Wang Jianhua feel guilty again.

This guilt made him feel his earlier thoughts were despicable. After Xia Ziyu finished drinking the water, he stammered:

“Ziyu, I think I just saw Xiaolan at Bai Xi Temple too.”

Wang Jianhua saw surprise and joy flash across Xia Ziyu’s face, quickly turning to uncertainty:

“Should… should we go see her?”

Bai Xi Temple’s popularity had only resurged two years ago.

Xia Xiaolan was inherently non-religious; even after experiencing the inexplicable event of “rebirth,” she firmly believed destiny was in one’s own hands. Only those powerless to change reality would place their faith and hope in intangible gods and Buddhas. Li Fengmei and Liu Fen weren’t particularly devout either, just following the crowd in burning incense.

Chen Dasao was truly devout, not only burning incense but also dropping money in the donation box. Undoubtedly, she was praying for Chen Qing to successfully enter university.

Chen Qing felt embarrassed by his mother’s feudalistic superstitious behavior – if praying could get you into university, every temple in the country would be overwhelmed with pilgrims. After burning incense, they were heading down the mountain when two young people squeezed out of the temple – the woman had large eyes and thick eyebrows, and the man was tall and handsome, holding hands they made a matching pair.

But the woman looked about to cry, trembling as she called out “Xiaolan,” unable to say more.

The man patted her back, their behavior leaving Chen Qing bewildered.

What was going on? Did they know Xia Xiaolan?

Though the Liu and Xia families were once related by marriage, Li Fengmei had little contact with the Xia family. Later, when Xia Ziyu attended school in the county, Li Fengmei rarely even saw her niece Xia Xiaolan, let alone Xia Xiaolan’s cousin.

But Li Fengmei knew Zhang Cui, and Xia Ziyu resembled Zhang Cui somewhat, while also having Xia family features.

Before Xia Xiaolan could speak, Li Fengmei exploded:

“Who are you showing that dead person’s face to on New Year’s? Did someone in your family die? Looking like you’re about to cry, bringing bad luck!”

Li Fengmei’s words came from her heart.

If they’d known they’d run into the Xia family’s mess at Bai Xi Temple, they should have stayed home by the fire. The temple fair’s joy had vanished upon seeing these unlucky Xia people.

Wang Jianhua’s brows furrowed – this woman’s words were so unpleasant. Only rural women would display such crudeness and harshness so openly. Despite spending several years in Dahe Village, Wang Jianhua still couldn’t get used to it.

Well, these two came to say hello.

So this was Xia Ziyu… how to put it? She was both similar to and different from what Xia Xiaolan had imagined. Not that she was ugly – she had a plain, dignified look, but why did she seem artificially coy and affected?

Xia Xiaolan had thought she was the one reborn to play the pure, innocent role, with a face that could evoke sympathy with just a furrowed brow.

Now she realized she was wrong!

Because her cousin Xia Ziyu had already taken that path. Her aunt’s sarcasm only highlighted Xia Ziyu’s pitifulness and innocence, while her future brother-in-law’s face showed almost tangible accusation and condemnation.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t sure if Wang Jianhua would hit women, after all, her “memories” of Wang only showed what he had wanted her to see. Young couples in early love instinctively hide their flaws.

Noticing Chen Dasao’s gossipy expression, Xia Xiaolan decisively said to Chen Qing:

“This is my cousin. I see she has something to say to me. Why don’t you and Auntie take Taotao to that candy-spinning stall we saw earlier?”

Chen Qing’s gaze changed too.

He had a strong impression of the Xia family, having been present when Xia Dajun and Liu Fen divorced. Xia Xiaolan’s aunts were quite disagreeable.

Even more frustrating was Xiaolan’s cousin… this suddenly appearing elder cousin probably wasn’t any better.

Chen Qing’s judgment was simple – side with family, not reason.

He didn’t want to leave, but being considerate and seeing his mother’s gossipy expression, he had no choice.

“Taotao, let’s go watch the candy spinning with brother.”

Chen Dasao left reluctantly. Chen Qing figured that being so close, with four people against two, Xiaolan’s group couldn’t be at a disadvantage.

Such quarrels weren’t good for children to see. Xia Xiaolan felt her inner fighting spirit burning, boiling, and raging! The anger should have been the original owner’s emotion. The couple before her were inseparable from the original owner’s suicide attempt:

“Xia Ziyu, did you stop me here to apologize?”