Chapter 240: Chapter 220: Bai Qingyue

No, she had returned to the very beginning.

Yang Liu’er found it all so incredible. She couldn’t tell if her previous life had been a dream, or if this was the dream.

But it didn’t feel like a dream at all. In both lives, every sensation had been completely, utterly real.

She remembered the old stories the village elders used to tell, about people having past and future lives. ’Does this mean I’ve already lived one life and am now starting a second?’

After a morning of cautious exploration and testing her reality, the tumultuous waves in her heart finally calmed. Yang Liu’er was beginning to believe it: this was real. She had come back to life.

She felt a surge of hope and joy. She was so young again. There were so many regrets from her last life, so many things she desperately wanted to change.

But there was also anxiety. She was only eighteen, after all—a girl from the countryside with no connections and no one to depend on. She could barely read, had no education and no skills. It was only natural that she lacked confidence. Faced with the imperious Bai family, especially the mercurial and passive-aggressive spinster, Bai Qingyue, she couldn’t help but feel timid and flustered. Yang Liu’er wrung her hands, her heart twisting in knots. She would never again suffer the Bai family’s contempt like she had before!

What right did they have to look down on her?

Back then, Aunt Shun had warned her, ’The Bai family is noble. We country folk can’t compare!’ A thought had crossed Yang Liu’er’s mind even then: ’Is my family so lowly? Brother Jun Fan lived with us for so many years. Before my parents died, they made him promise to marry me and take care of me for the rest of my life. He agreed, right to their faces. He even told me I was part of the Bai family now. Shouldn’t we be equals?’

But she had been too young back then, clumsy and quiet. With Aunt Shun holding her back, her thoughts remained unspoken. Brother Jun Fan had called home and asked his family to arrange for her to go to school. "No hurry, no hurry," Aunt Shun had said. "Let’s get familiar with Beijing first." And Liu’er had let it slide. So, in a muddle-headed daze, she spent her days following Aunt Shun—washing, cooking, sweeping, and scrubbing. Just as Bai Qingyue wanted, she was being trained by Miss Shun to become the next diligent and capable housekeeper.

Brother Jun Fan was in the military and rarely returned to Beijing. The marriage her parents had arranged was never mentioned again. But his feelings for her seemed unchanged. In the old Bai family residence, they shared a room and lived like husband and wife. They even had a son. The only thing missing was a marriage certificate.

At first, Yang Liu’er was happy and content. She wasn’t worried. Back in the countryside, many couples lived their whole lives together, perfectly happy, without ever getting a marriage certificate.

Then, Brother Jun Fan was finally transferred back to Beijing. But he bought another property, a wedding home, and married a woman from the Tang family.

The wedding was magnificent. When the newlyweds returned to the old residence to bow to the elders and ancestral tablets, she and her son were locked away in a side courtyard. They weren’t allowed to show their faces for the entire day.

Liu’er’s heart shattered, but Brother Jun Fan consoled her, "It’s just for appearances, a superficial marriage for others to see. We already have a son. We’re the real husband and wife."

She believed him. She had to believe him. He was her entire world, the one she and her son depended on.

The only time she ever set foot in that luxurious villa was the day she died. Before that, her son had already been murdered by that vicious woman, Tang Yaxuan. She died right in front of Brother Jun Fan, at that woman’s hands. She didn’t know if he would still protect that woman after watching her die too, or if he would avenge his son and her.

Yang Liu’er bit her lip and closed her eyes, forcing herself to recall the moments before her death. She had to admit, she hated reliving that scene. Because all she had felt from Brother Jun Fan was sadness—not a single trace of anger.

’No anger... Does that mean he didn’t resent that woman?’

Tears streamed down Yang Liu’er’s face, her fair cheeks flushing crimson like a sunset cloud. She was heartbroken, and she was furious.

She loved Bai Junfan. For him, she had been willing to be meek and obedient her whole life, to be buried away in the vast Bai estate, never stepping outside. To put it nicely, she held the status of the wife of the family’s eldest son. In reality, outsiders just saw her as a nanny or housekeeper. Even Brother Heng, the son she bore, didn’t call her "Mom." He just called her "Mrs. Liu." And in the end, that was the fate she met.

’How could I have been so stupid!’

Now that she was reborn, perhaps because she had suddenly returned to her youth, her heart still held love for Bai Junfan. She couldn’t bring herself to truly hate him. But to live like she had in her past life? That was absolutely impossible.

’I have to live differently. But I can’t leave the Bai family, at least not right now. How would a girl from the countryside like me survive otherwise?’

Yang Liu’er wiped the tears from her face and walked out of the side room. She saw Shun Ma come in carrying a basin of fresh water, which she set on the floor. Shun Ma handed her a few rags and said, "Here. Let me teach you how to polish the furniture. These cabinets and tables are all mahogany, they’re very valuable. You have to be careful. First the wet rag, then the dry one, and finally..."

Yang Liu’er took the rags but didn’t do as she was told. Instead, she started walking away. "Aunt Shun, you can take your time polishing," she said. "I need to go tidy up my own room. I don’t have any mahogany furniture in there, so I can wipe things down however I please. No need to be so particular."

Shun Ma froze, then quickly called after her. "Liu’er! We’re not the real masters of this house. If we’re going to live here, we have to earn our keep!"

Yang Liu’er smiled. "Aunt Shun, you just told me this was my home. So how am I not a master here?"

"Well... Ugh! You child, why are you being so difficult today?"

"How am I being difficult? In what way?" Yang Liu’er’s smile vanished. Her expression turned serious. "I’m speaking to you plainly, Aunt Shun. This is the Bai Family, that’s true. And my surname is Yang, that’s also true. But you know perfectly well that right now, Brother Jun Fan’s surname is also Yang! And yet, he’s also the eldest grandson of this family. He’s the one who brought me through these doors and told me to just focus on eating well and living comfortably here. He even said he would arrange for me to go to school! So, if you say I’m not a master of the house, then I’m at least a guest, aren’t I? And not just any guest—one that Brother Jun Fan personally invited to stay. Does it make any sense to put a guest to work?"

Shun Ma was speechless. She didn’t know how to respond. She just stared at Liu’er, unable to comprehend how this gentle, obedient little girl had suddenly transformed into a completely different person.

Bai Qingyue walked in, a faint smile on her lips. "What are you two discussing? I overheard something about masters and guests."

"Ah, Miss Bai, you’re here!" Shun Ma said with a laugh. "It’s nothing, nothing at all! We were just joking around!"

Faced with Bai Qingyue’s gentle smile and cold eyes, Yang Liu’er instinctively flinched. She couldn’t be blamed for being timid; this enchanting, ageless spinster was truly terrifying.

’Bai Qingyue must be thirty-five now, right?’ Liu’er thought. ’But she looks like she’s barely in her twenties.’ She knew how to take care of herself and enjoy life. Liu’er didn’t know how she managed it, but Bai Qingyue had always been able to keep herself above the fray, avoiding any real hardship while secretly aiding and supporting members of the Bai family who had fallen on hard times. In her past life, Bai Qingyue had never married, but she was never short of male companions. And her status in the Bai Family was on par with Second Uncle Bai’s—her word was law.

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