Her own sister had intercepted the marriage proposal that was meant for her, just to avoid being sent down to the countryside.
Even if she had been hesitant at the time and had not yet committed to the match, it did not change the fact that her sister had cut in front of her.
Looking back now, she still despised her sister for not being a good person, relying on a festive face that the elders all liked and a clever tongue to suppress her, the elder sister, ever since they were young, and even more so for hijacking the marriage proposal that the family had discussed with her at the end of last year.
Especially when she met the man, she almost died of regret, while simultaneously feeling angry and jealous of her sister.
The man was a divorced second-husband with three daughters, aged six, five, and three respectively.
He worked at a research institute, earning a good monthly salary.
Tall, good-looking, gentle and refined, he was obviously an intellectual.
She initially knew very little about these things and hadn't even seen the matchmaker, hearing only from her mother that the man was divorced with three daughters, but the rest of his conditions were very favorable.
Thinking that she, a high school graduate, a young woman of eighteen or nineteen, was to marry a man ten years her senior, already divorced and remarried, and would have to become a stepmother upon entering his house, she felt repulsed, even feeling that her mother was pushing her into a pit of fire.
She cried, saying she would rather be sent to the countryside than marry him.
Who knew that while she was expressing such attitudes, and as the matchmaker personally visited their home, her dear sister stepped forward and declared her willingness for this marriage.
In that moment, she was foolish and unaware, even congratulating her sister.
But then... when the man, along with his family and the matchmaker, came to formalize the engagement, she regretted it deeply the moment she saw him.
However, it seemed her sister knew she would regret it, not giving her a chance to do so and inadvertently preventing her from getting close to Wen Siyuan, even becoming friendly and laughing with Siyuan.
Wen Siyuan, that was the man's name.
He seemed quite satisfied with her sister as well, casually gifting her a ladies' watch worth nearly two hundred yuan before leaving.
Jealousy consumed her in an instant!
In front of her family, she cried and accused, claiming her mother was biased, that her sister had stolen her suitor.
What she got in return was—How can you blame anyone when you didn't agree yourself? And her sister's full-faced grievance.
"How can you blame anyone when you didn't agree yourself?"
That was what her mother said irritably.
Just one sentence, that one sentence, left her without a comeback.
Her sister showed grievance, saying she had only taken the marriage proposal that she didn't want, and that she had never thought of competing with her for anything.
In such a situation, she found herself at a loss for words, and ultimately had no choice but to pack her bags and travel from North City all the way to the Great Northwest, to Aoli Village to be sent down to the countryside.
The dust flew, the accommodations were basic, and the food was coarse wheat buns, salty vegetable lumps, and corn mush porridge, still not enough to fill her belly at every meal.
Day after day, it was nothing but work.
She had had enough!
Finally, after enduring for three months, she schemed to change her circumstances.
And it was at that time that Zhou Weimin entered the sphere of her vision.
A local youth, more specifically, the youngest son of the Zhou Family of Aoli Village, a high school graduate, working in the town's supply and marketing cooperative as a permanent employee, earning at least twenty to thirty yuan a month, and tall with long legs, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. Although he was not as handsome as Wen Siyuan and didn't have the same refined and cultured air, Zhou Weimin was considered a catch in the countryside.
In terms of looks, the two men were incomparable.
Zhou Weimin was the ruggedly handsome type.
Wen Siyuan had the look of a delicate scholar.
In terms of temperament, Zhou Weimin was sunny, and Wen Siyuan was gentle; there was no real basis for comparison there either.
After making such a comparison to herself, she was determined to marry Zhou Weimin, even if he was already engaged, even if his fiancée was the youngest daughter of the Team Leader's House and was as beautiful as a fairy, she was determined to win him over!