Chapter 2: Only One Mistake in a Lifetime

Ye Siran’s sudden change left He Hongwen bewildered, accompanied by an inexplicable dread that made his heart race uncontrollably. Every beat was punctuated by a sensation akin to ants gnawing at his heart, a true realization of what it meant to be torn apart by agony. He closed his eyes, lacking the strength to chase after her through the window, and instead lay on the floor, enduring the torment.

Ye Siran hurried home to change, only to run into her younger half-brother at the corner. "Second sister, aren't you supposed to be cooking? Why are you coming from outside?" Ye Weiguo asked, his tone unfriendly.

"I went out to take out the trash. Where are you running off to in such a rush?"

"Big sister said there are rats in your room. She’s terrified and told me to call some of the aunts from the tenement building to help catch them." The ten-year-old boy finished his sentence and bolted. There was less than twenty minutes until the workday ended.

So that was it. In her previous life, she and He Hongwen had been cornered by a crowd of those very aunts. It hadn't been a coincidence; it was a calculated scheme by her stepsister. Her life of humiliation in that past existence had not been without cause. Ye Ruyue was truly a capitalist’s daughter—intelligent, calculating, and ruthless. She had been willing to use a man as exceptional as He Hongwen to secure the future she coveted. Yet, Ruyue could never have dreamed that He Hongwen, who had intended to break his engagement to marry her, would resign himself to marrying Ye Siran instead.

In that past life, Ruyue had successfully secured the recommendation for the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers University, while Siran had married the man she secretly loved, remaining eternally grateful to her stepsister. It was no wonder she had played the doting, submissive fool for thirty years; on the surface, He Hongwen had been a decent husband. His care and affection seemed genuine, provided that Ye Ruyue was not involved.

Ye Siran took a deep breath. After the heart-wrenching pain subsided, a wave of relief washed over her. The relentless favoritism she had endured in her past life had exhausted her love; reborn, she only wanted to do things that mattered.

Her front door was wide open. She walked inside and gathered her dry clothes from the bamboo pole in the courtyard, intending to change in her room. After all these years, she had forgotten that she and Ruyue shared a room. Just as she turned, she saw Ruyue peeking through the doorway. Driven by a surge of resentment, she rushed forward, catching Ruyue just as she was inserting her key into the lock. Siran shoved her inside and slammed the door shut, her movements fluid and swift.

Soon, a crowd would gather to watch, and the man inside must have reached his limit. Even if it weren't the woman he had been obsessed with, he would not have let any woman pass at this point.

Having done this, Siran went to Ye Weiguo’s room to change before heading to the kitchen to start the fire. It wasn't that she wanted to cook for her stepfather and mother; she was simply hungry and needed a hot meal to steady her nerves. Although she had been raised to believe that one didn't eat if one didn't work, she was reborn now—she had no need to endure it any longer. Her mother favored Ruyue and Weiguo, and her stepfather turned a blind eye, but Siran never ate less meat or vegetables than the other two. She had always quietly eaten her share before serving the rest—this had been her only motivation for cooking and cleaning.

Before long, Ye Weiguo arrived with a group of aunts and several elderly women in tow, marching straight toward their room. Watching their retreating backs, Siran thought to herself: "Ye Ruyue, He Hongwen, I will grant you your wish in this life. I want to see if you two miserable lovebirds, who admire each other so much, will still be as 'deeply in love' as you were in the past."

In her previous life, Ruyue had studied nursing and worked at the same hospital as He Hongwen. She had married well, but her first child was a daughter. Whether it was He Hongwen or her mother who orchestrated it, they had secretly swapped their son for Ruyue’s daughter to ensure Ruyue’s status in her in-laws' home. The daughter Siran had raised through such hardship was actually Ruyue’s biological child. It wasn't until Ruyue's daughter threatened suicide to marry Siran’s own son—and Siran adamantly refused, threatening divorce—that He Hongwen finally confessed the truth. The shock had been so great she had vomited blood.

On her deathbed, she had heard He Hongwen ask, bewildered, "Ranran, I’ve only done one thing to wrong you in this life—can't you be more magnanimous?" That word, "magnanimous," which she had heard for decades, had only hastened her death. Only at the end did she realize her entire life had been a joke.

Inside the room, as Siran had predicted, He Hongwen had lost all restraint. Seeing Ruyue, he lunged at her. "Brother Hongwen, have you lost your mind? We’re still on the floor..." Ruyue stared in terror at the man who had gone mad. Her answer was the sound of tearing fabric and his desperate, reckless possession.

She had always dreamed of marrying He Hongwen, but the He family was a powerful, elite household. If not for the fact that Siran’s father had saved He’s father, she would never have met the second son of the He family. Her stepmother treated her better than her own daughter; last year, when the He family offered a spot in the textile mill, the stepmother had forcefully given it to her instead of Siran. While Siran slaved away at home, fearing the mandatory rural labor upon turning eighteen, He’s father had offered Siran a university recommendation.

How could she allow that? She already had a job; if she tried to seize the spot, her spineless stepmother would have given it to her, but her reputation would have been ruined. Thus, she devised a perfect plan: let He Hongwen and Siran have an encounter for everyone to see. He had wanted to break his engagement to marry her, but his father had refused. She knew she couldn't marry into the He family, but she could certainly steal Siran’s university spot. She didn't want to be a factory worker for life; she wanted an education, as that was the only path to a higher station. If she could make Hongwen feel guilty, he would be hers forever. Even if he ended up marrying Siran, he would only feel indebted to her for having ruined her reputation. Siran, in turn, would be forever grateful. Everything was calculated for her own benefit.