Chapter 46

Niuniu tried to speak through her mother’s hand.
Bai Xinmei thought for a moment, realizing she hadn’t done anything wrong. That made her feel a bit guilty.
She then started introducing the men boldly.
“Jinping, this is Yuanzheng, my… my husband, Niuniu’s dad.”
“Yuanzheng, this is Song Jinping…”
Before she could finish, Song Jinping interrupted, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses. Polished and scholarly, he extended a hand, smiling brightly, white teeth showing. Yet his words cut like a knife:
“Hello, I’m Song Jinping, a sent-down youth. I’m Meimei’s current partner. We didn’t know you were… alive, so we fell in love and plan to move to Beijing together next year. Qin Yuanzheng, I hope you understand, these past years have been very hard for Meimei.”
Every word felt like a blade to Qin Yuanzheng, as Song Jinping grasped Bai Xinmei’s hand ever tighter.
“Ah!”
Bai Xinmei cried out, drawing everyone’s attention. Niuniu started tugging Qin Yuanzheng’s hand, shouting, “You bad man, let go of my ma!”
The scene was surreal yet strangely familiar. Earlier, there were similar situations, and a crowd had gathered outside.
A car at the village entrance was already a huge deal in Lotus Village. And now, hearing that the supposedly dead Third Brother Qin returned as a high official, and his beautiful widow had found someone else, the villagers rushed to see the car… or rather, to see Qin’s Third Brother.
Bai Xinmei swallowed, noticing the aunts and cousins outside, already guessing tomorrow’s village gossip under the locust tree would once again center on her.
“Niuniu, this is Daddy, your real dad. How can you hit him? Didn’t I tell you Daddy went to be a great hero?”
Seeing Niuniu about to cause trouble with that ghost, Bai Xinmei didn’t care about her own headache and quickly scolded her daughter, lest Qin Yuanzheng think that during all these years, she had never mentioned him in front of their child.
This ghost seemed to have returned as some high-ranking officer. Heaven help her, wasn’t that asking for trouble? What if he scolded her for not being faithful… the thought made her even more fearful.
“Yuanzheng, maybe we should go inside first… this is all a misunderstanding…”
Bai Xinmei’s voice grew smaller and smaller. She looked at Qin Yuanzheng pitifully, but met a pair of eyes full of sorrow. That look froze her, he seemed deeply pained.
With the scar on his face, it gave him a fractured, almost tragic aura. He was a warrior adorned with honors. Was she going too far? She began to reflect.
Beside them, Song Jinping, unable to bear the intimate exchange between the two, muttered sourly like spilled decades-old vinegar, “I guess I’m the extra one here. Wang Shuisheng’s gone, Qin Yuanzheng’s back. If this were before liberation, I, Song Jinping, wouldn’t even get the position of a second husband.”
Bai Xinmei, already mired in self-guilt, now felt a wave of disbelief. How had she never noticed that Song Jinping was so prone to jealousy? Who would’ve thought her supposedly dead husband would come back?
Second husband? She was about to faint. The room spun, and as she staggered, both men reached out to steady her.
Suddenly, she heard murmurs.
“See? Most likely she’s pregnant. Pregnant women get dizzy easily.”
“What should we do about this?”
“Of course, get rid of the baby and live happily with Third Brother Qin.”
“Hey, Song Jinping’s not bad either. Break up with Third Brother Qin and be with Song Jinping. She’s already got a child, can’t go back now.”
Bai Xinmei suddenly felt alert, no longer dizzy. What a bunch of gossips.
“Meimei, you really…”
The news struck Qin Yuanzheng like a thunderbolt, leaving him dazed. Before he returned, Weimin had been evasive, hinting some things couldn’t go back to how they were. He hadn’t expected there was already a child. He had thought that as long as Meimei could accept him, even if another man had… it would be fine. After all, it was his fault for leaving all those years.
“No! No!”
A few days ago, Bai Xinmei had heard this rumor and hadn’t taken it seriously, even feeling a bit smug, thinking that by the time it got around, Song Jinping couldn’t even change his mind.
Who knew Qin Yuanzheng would return today, making her feel as though she had lifted a rock only to hit her own foot.
“They’re talking nonsense, Yuanzheng! Don’t believe them! Song Jinping and I are perfectly innocent. We haven’t even touched each other.”
Bai Xinmei’s desperate attempt to clarify nearly enraged Song Jinping. How could he fall for someone so opportunistic, calculating, yet seemingly innocent? But when he thought of his future without her bright smile and her small schemes written plainly on her face, he couldn’t bear it.
Fine, let her be shameless. His father had once taken someone else’s fiancée, he was just slightly more troublesome, with a husband in the picture.
Qin Yuanzheng noticed Bai Xinmei’s urgent denials and Song Jinping’s flustered expression. It seemed the situation wasn’t beyond saving…
A glimmer passed through his eyes. If the two were truly in love to the point of being inseparable, he would step back, no matter the heartbreak.
But it didn’t seem so. Hehe, Meimei had always been a cold-hearted type; it was impossible in just four years for her to grow deeply attached to another man.
After all, he had risked being criticized to bring her back, a gesture that had warmed her for four or five years, but she had mostly used him. She stayed with him out of nowhere to go, not genuine affection.
With that realization, Qin Yuanzheng shifted from the heaviness he felt when first seeing Song Jinping and started assessing his rival. Regarding his wife having looked for another man during his absence, he didn’t care. As long as in the end, the one standing next to her was him, it was enough.
The tension between the two men was palpable. Bai Xinmei glanced at the villagers outside, then ushered them inside.
Song Jinping, clearly annoyed, snorted and said coolly, “No, I’ll stay here. I’ll probably end up serving the elders. Better to return to my own place.”
“Song Jinping, what are you saying? Don’t talk nonsense!”
Bai Xinmei wanted him to shut up, but Song Jinping’s cold gaze intimidated her. This wasn’t her fault… right? Not her fault!
Qin Yuanzheng, however, was magnanimous. He tried to persuade him to eat together; even after being refused, he invited him to the state-run hotel in a few days.
This wasn’t just an invitation, it was a declaration of authority.
As for Niuniu, when Qin Yuanzheng said she could sit in the small car at the village entrance, she had forgotten her earlier displeasure, talking only about the car. As for Uncle Song who could braid her hair, she would remember him in a few days when needed.
After returning, Song Jinping remained calm outwardly, but at night he went out and meticulously cleared the weeds around the small river connected to Shizi Gou at the village edge.
Immersed in pulling weeds, a rustling sound arose.
Someone following him? He frowned.
“Come out.”
A familiar figure emerged from the bushes, Wang Lanhua.
Why her? This woman was truly strange. Earlier in town, she had blocked him, clearly identifying him as a sent-down youth and even knowing his preferences. It sent a chill down his spine.
Even after he later had Fifth Uncle investigate, he remained wary of her.
If Song Jinping could see things from a creator’s perspective, he would know that if he had first met Wang Lanhua and fallen for her, someone wholeheartedly waiting for him, what he now saw as strange would instead become: how could a woman match my heart so perfectly?
But he had first fallen for Bai Xinmei. Naturally, he directed all that impulsive love toward her, even if she was shallow, fickle, and inconsistent.
Clearly, he was no creator, so he found Wang Lanhua’s repeated disturbances annoying.
“Song Jinping, I… I just wanted to see you. I’ll start school in September.”
“Hmm, congratulations.”
He had no interest in Wang Lanhua, planning to return to his place. What was meant to be a quiet riverside moment was now noisy.
“I applied to the Imperial Capital University.”
Hearing this, Song Jinping paused. Imperial Capital University? Wang Lanhua’s confidence surprised him.
Previously, a rumor had circulated about her dating a sent-down youth named Hao Jianguo, a high-ranking factory kid, who had gone to prison. This woman was not simple.
“Congratulations.”
He responded lightly.
Wang Lanhua’s eyes darkened. She wanted to say she would wait for him at the Imperial Capital University, but to Jinping, it didn’t matter anymore. Perhaps not even as important as the widow’s casual remark.
Things had truly changed. Jinping had already fallen for that widow, the woman he had despised in a past life. Today, he witnessed a scene involving the once-unseen Third Brother Qin at the Qin family home, now vividly gossiped about.
Qin Yuanzheng, he had never appeared in the past life… or had he returned and she hadn’t known? Wang Lanhua realized the world had shifted off track.