Chapter 2

As Lin Yilan gazed out with curiosity, a small crowd gradually gathered beneath the large cypress tree.

“Xiao Lin, do you know which family they belong to?”

Lin Yilan glanced at Aunt Zhang standing just outside the door; she had no idea when the woman had appeared there.

Their relationship was somewhat amusing, and thinking of this, Lin Yilan reluctantly replied to her.

“No idea.”

Aunt Zhang raised her eyebrows and snorted, “I thought you knew everything.”

“Looks like having such a good spot doesn’t help much.”

Lin Yilan rolled her eyes. “Auntie, if you want to say something, go ahead. If not, never mind.”

With that, she turned to head back inside.

One, two, three—

Lin Yilan counted silently to herself.

“Hey, hey, hey, Xiao Lin, wait a moment.”

“You really don’t take a joke, do you? Young people these days are so narrow-minded.”

Aunt Zhang muttered a few words.

On the surface, Lin Yilan appeared reluctant, but inside she was secretly chuckling.

It seemed Aunt Zhang truly couldn’t hide her expressions; the slight twitch at the corners of her eyes and lips betrayed her true feelings in an instant.

When Lin Yilan returned, Aunt Zhang excitedly pointed toward a group of people who had just gotten off a car nearby and whispered, “They’re here, they’re here.”

“Sure enough, it’s the second son from Commander Li’s family.”

“Didn’t expect he’d come back by car, and even brought along his rural wife and the child she had before marrying into the family to visit the old master.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk...”

“Oh right, Xiao Lin, this is your dad’s childhood friend, Professor Li.”

Lin Yilan was momentarily stunned, lifting her eyes to look at the group not far off.

The man walking in the middle must be Professor Li. He wore glasses and a white short-sleeved shirt, buttoned all the way to the top even in the heat. Compared to the military officers she had seen in the compound, he looked much leaner, but carried a scholarly air rarely seen among them.

In short, Professor Li possessed the refined demeanor of an old-fashioned intellectual.

Such a presence was rare these days.

The woman he was holding hands with was presumably the wife he married later—rumored to have met during the years of reassignment.

As for the young girl following behind, she looked about the same age as Lin Yilan, but unlike her short hair, this girl sported a ponytail.

Lin Yilan stroked her chin thoughtfully.

However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something odd about the girl at the very end.

Just as she pondered this, Aunt Zhang’s voice whispered in her ear, “Hey, Xiao Lin, did you see that little girl at the back?”

“She looks quite a bit like you when you first came to the compound.”

Lin Yilan looked at Aunt Zhang blankly, speechless for a moment. “How so? I’m taller than her, though not as fair.”

Aunt Zhang waved her hand dismissively. “Not appearance—temperament!”

Lin Yilan tilted her head with a doubtful smile. “Oh? You’re learning to read people’s aura now?”

Aunt Zhang gave her a knowing look, then calmly said, “The first time you came to the compound, you resembled her a lot.”

“Maybe kids your age just grow up faster.”

“But—” Aunt Zhang clicked her tongue, recalling her earlier conversation with that family nearby, “Du YaTou somehow always gives off a lifeless vibe.”

“Not like you. Once we got close, I realized you’re just a simple, straightforward kid.”

Lin Yilan pouted, muttering, “I’m not simple-minded.”

“What did you say? Speak up!” Aunt Zhang looked at her suspiciously.

Lin Yilan shook her head. “Nothing.”

Aunt Zhang regarded her skeptically, suspecting she had just been muttering behind her back.

Well, at her age, she could forgive this little girl. She was quite magnanimous, after all.

“All right, whether you said something or not, I’ll believe you this once.”

Feigning generosity, Aunt Zhang continued, “But you’re still smarter than Du YaTou.”

“She won’t be able to get into college like you. I heard from Professor Li’s mother that the girl is always focused on doing business with her mom.”

Lin Yilan was a bit confused. “Who’s Du YaTou?”

Aunt Zhang glanced at her, pointing toward the group, “See that girl brought by Professor Li’s wife? I think her name is Du Ronglan.”

“She’s working with her mother selling marinated meat now, talks big too—said she wants to sell their marinated meat all over the country.”

“Honestly, in that regard, she’s more like a capitalist than you.”

“Ahem, ahem...” Aunt Zhang patted her mouth and glanced cautiously at Lin Yilan, afraid she’d take offense like before.

But Lin Yilan wasn’t angry; she seemed lost in thought, staring blankly at the group.

Aunt Zhang patted her chest, relieved. She didn’t dare upset this girl; then she mentally scolded herself for her loose tongue.

“Xiao Lin? Miss Lin?” Aunt Zhang poked Lin Yilan’s arm. “What are you thinking about?”

Lin Yilan rubbed her arm where she was poked. “Auntie, what did you say the name of Professor Li’s stepdaughter was again?”

Aunt Zhang looked baffled. “Stepdaughter? What do you mean?”

Lin Yilan explained, “The daughter that the wife he married brought with her—what’s her name?”

Aunt Zhang suddenly understood and teased, “The young lady’s name is Du Ronglan.”

Hearing the name Du Ronglan again, Lin Yilan sank deeper into thought.

It sounded so familiar—where had she heard it before?

Why did it feel so familiar?

Du Ronglan, marinated meat, Professor Li, rural wife...

These words circled in Lin Yilan’s mind like a key she held but couldn’t find the lock for.

“Du Ronglan... Du Ronglan...”

Seeing Lin Yilan become mysterious, Aunt Zhang nervously poked her again. “Xiao Lin, what are you mumbling about?”

“Ow!” Lin Yilan flinched and grabbed Aunt Zhang’s finger, locking her eyes onto hers. “Auntie, is the marinated meat they sell called Zhang’s Marinated Meat?”

“Is it sold in the alley near Jing University?”

Aunt Zhang became anxious at Lin Yilan’s intense gaze. After thinking carefully, she nodded uncertainly. “I think so. I don’t remember exactly where, but it’s near Jing City University.”

“As for whether it’s called Zhang’s…I really don’t know. But Professor Li’s current wife’s surname is Zhang.”

She glanced at Lin Yilan cautiously, sensing something fierce in her eyes, as if she were about to devour someone.

With a sharp smack, Lin Yilan slapped her own forehead.

“I remember now! I remember!” Her eyes were wide and fixed on the group that had already disappeared outside the gate.

Without hesitation, Lin Yilan turned and rushed back inside.

Outside the door, Aunt Zhang stood bewildered, even tiptoeing to peek through the crack in the gate to see into the Lin family home.

“Ow, why’d the girl slap herself like that? It must have hurt.”

—

Midnight, beneath a clear night sky scattered with countless twinkling stars—so clear that even the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars shone distinctly.

In the profound silence, save for the rustling of leaves in the wind and distant barking dogs, the compound lay dark and still, as if all its residents were deep in sleep.

Only one person tossed and turned in bed, seemingly unable to fall asleep.

Damn it!

She had transmigrated into a book!

Seventeen years after her original life, Lin Yilan realized she had crossed into a novel.

Really, heavens, must you play tricks on her like this?

Opening her eyes, Lin Yilan let out a heavy sigh.

The moment she grasped her situation, she would wake from sleep immediately.

Realizing she wouldn’t be able to sleep soon, Lin Yilan sat up, slipped on her slippers, and got out of bed.

In the pitch-black bedroom, she paced frantically, like a cat trapped in a cage, endlessly circling.

This sudden change shattered the peaceful life she had known for seventeen years.

She tugged at her pajamas, trying to cool herself down.

The hum of the electric fan finally broke the silence.

The stale air, stirred by the fan’s breeze, became somewhat cooler.

Lin Yilan sat at her desk, lit a lamp, and calmed herself.

Taking out a blank sheet of paper, she needed to confirm the storyline about her and her family in the book she had transmigrated into.

Perhaps as some sort of compensation from fate, her memories from her previous life—once blurred by time—had suddenly all returned vividly the moment she realized she was inside a novel.

Not only the plot but all the knowledge and experience from her studies and work came back crystal clear.

She now fully understood she had transmigrated into a female-oriented rebirth novel.

Her family’s role in the story was that of a mere background character, a very tragic one at that.

Counting her grandparents, the eight family members suffered death, disability, or disappearance, leaving only her father alive by the novel’s end.

Why was one missing?

Because in the original story, she wasn’t even born yet—she was simply dead and gone.

Recalling the details, Lin Yilan listed all the family’s plot points on the paper.

Her third brother died in an accident, her fourth brother was disabled, and this accident seemed connected to her second sister’s and fourth brother’s biological father.

That biological father was now a somewhat well-known wealthy businessman in Harbor City—not among the very top, but still a respectable figure.

If she remembered correctly, the novel mentioned he already had three wives.

And the accident that killed her third brother was linked to the eldest branch of the family.

You might wonder why Lin Yilan remembered all this so clearly?