Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Three bows!” The funeral officiant’s deep, grief-laden voice echoed through the hall.

I froze.

Sensing an unmistakable stare from beside me, I turned my head and saw Qi Zheng bent halfway over, glaring at me in fury.

Two seconds later, he lowered his voice and snapped, “Jiang Manyu, could you show a little respect?!”

Mechanically, I bent at the waist, my mind in chaos.

“Now, please bid farewell to the remains of Comrade Qi Weiyang…”

The officiant’s voice rang in my ears.

This was… Grandpa’s funeral.

What was going on? Hadn’t I fallen off a cliff?

Was this my life flashing before my eyes?

But in my memory, Qi Zheng hadn’t spoken to me at the funeral.

While I was still dazed, someone seized my wrist.

Qi Zheng leaned close to my ear and said sarcastically, “You’re spacing out at a time like this?! The second Grandpa’s gone, you can’t even be bothered to pretend you have any filial piety?”

The distinct heat and pain around my wrist made me realize that everything happening right now was real.

I had been reborn.

Silently taking three deep breaths, I shook off his hand, stepped to the side, and put some distance between us.

Then, solemnly and properly, I bowed three times again.

Grandpa, I’m sorry. I don’t have the courage to marry Qi Zheng again.

The two of us stood on the steps outside the funeral parlor, waiting for Qi Zheng’s parents.

The early spring sunlight was gentle.

The terror and heartbreak I had experienced before my death truly felt like another lifetime.

“Jiang Manyu, you really think you’ve got nothing to fear, don’t you?” Qi Zheng’s cold voice came from beside me.

I turned my head and took another look at the man who had lived in my heart since my teenage years.

Compared to the especially cold, stern air he would have years later, he seemed a little more restrained now.

After knowing him for so many years, I had never understood why he hated me so much.

“Grandpa wanted me to marry you. Are you feeling very pleased with yourself? You-”

I cut him off. “There’s no need.”

“What?” His brows drew together.

That night when I was abandoned in the woods, it had been so cold. The pain in my lower abdomen had ridden the chill wind, lashing again and again at my temples. By the time I was rescued the next day, my legs had gone so numb I couldn’t stand. As I lay collapsed on the ground waiting for the blood to flow back into them, the conversation from when our hidden marriage had been exposed kept rolling through my mind. Only then did I finally understand: Qi Zheng was a block of ice I could never melt.

“I said, we won’t be getting married.” I looked into his eyes. “Qi Zheng, I won’t chase after you anymore. I’ll find a new place too and move out as soon as possible.”

He abruptly took a step toward me. “Jiang Manyu, what are you trying to pull now?”

“For both our sakes, I’ll do my best to stay far away from you from now on.”

Qi Zheng was stunned for a moment. Then his lips curved in a mocking sneer. “Playing hard to get?”

I shook my head, but before I could say anything, I saw Qi Zheng’s parents hurrying over.

Both of their eyes were still rimmed red, and they kept turning back to look at the farewell hall.

At last, they sighed and waved us on.

“Come on. We’ll take you two home.”

After we got in the car, Auntie reached over and poked my cheek, then said to Qi Zheng in the passenger seat, “How many times have I told you? You need to take good care of Man Yu. How has she gotten so thin lately?”

Qi Zheng was staring out the window, lost in thought.

I took Auntie’s hand. “I haven’t lost weight, and it has nothing to do with him.”

She ignored me and patted Qi Zheng on the shoulder. “I’m talking to you!”

“What?” Qi Zheng turned back to look.

“I said, treat your future wife better.”

The impatience in Qi Zheng’s eyes was unmistakable.

I quickly tugged at Auntie. “Qi Zheng and I won’t be getting married.”

Her eyes widened. “Why not?”

I glanced at Qi Zheng. For some reason, he looked even angrier.

“Well… people are free to choose who they love. He doesn’t like me, and I… don’t like him either. We wouldn’t be happy if we got married,” I said quietly.

Auntie looked utterly doubtful. After all, even the family dog could tell I liked Qi Zheng.

She probed, “Did you two have a fight?”

“No, no.”

“You’ve lived together for so many years and know each other inside out. Why not give it a try?” Auntie refused to give up.

“There’s no need to try.”

I had already tried with everything I had in my previous life.

There was a loud clatter from the front seat. Qi Zheng had thrown his bottle of mineral water into the storage compartment beside him.