What was Qin Jiao’s dream?

In her past life, there was a time when she was torn between a deep-seated insecurity and sky-high ambitions.

When the path to the college entrance exam was blocked, her world came crashing down. After so many other things happened, Qin Jiao lost any chance of realizing her dreams.

Now that she had a second chance, Qin Jiao’s first thought was to retake the college entrance exam and give her family a better life.

But the exam wasn’t the end; it was the beginning of her dream.

A soft light shone in Qin Jiao’s eyes as she said gently, "I’m going to be a great lawyer."

In her past life, Qin Jiao hadn’t known how to protect herself. That was why she was framed by Lin Nian, made one mistake after another, and ultimately strayed further and further down the wrong path.

Whether it was the disputes, the frame-ups, Xiao Shi being abducted, or everything involving the Shen Group later on—if she had understood the law, there might have been a better way to handle it all.

Qin Jiao had thought it through. In this life, her parents were going to open a restaurant, and Xiao Shi was going to study finance. If she studied law, she could protect her family and herself.

If possible, she also wanted to use her abilities to protect more people like the her from her past life, who had suffered so much misfortune.

Xiao Shi didn’t really understand law, but she still thought her sister was amazing. Her eyes shone with adoration. "Sis, just do whatever you want to do! I’ll definitely make lots and lots of money in the future anyway!"

A wide smile spread across Qin Jiao’s face. "Okay."

Actually, besides law, Qin Jiao had also been very interested in programming in her past life. Of course, she wouldn’t mention this to Xiao Shi for now; her sister was too young to understand.

’And I don’t even have a computer right now. Everything will have to wait until I’m in college.’

**

In the Du family’s house, just a wall away, Mr. Du had already gone to bed, but the light in Shen Yi’s room upstairs was still on.

The young man under the lamp finished a practice test, then reached up to gently touch the corner of his mouth. He smiled silently for a moment before continuing with his work.

After finishing all the practice tests and correcting his mistakes for the day, Shen Yi took a shower. By the time he got into bed, it was already one-thirty in the morning.

He replaced the batteries in the cassette player that held an English tape. Before turning off the light, Shen Yi looked at the person in the photo frame on his nightstand.

It was a photo of him and Qin Jiao.

Shen Yi remembered when it was taken. Qin Jiao had been sitting in a chair while he stood beside her, one hand resting on the back of the chair. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

But in the instant the photographer pressed the shutter, Shen Yi had extended his arm slightly, making it look as though he were embracing Qin Jiao in a protective gesture.

"Jiao Jiao, good night." He touched the corner of his lips again, put his headphones in, and turned off the lamp.

In the pitch-black night, listening to the English audio from the cassette, Shen Yi closed his eyes and whispered, "I hope it keeps snowing heavily tomorrow."

’If it does, this whole winter will be a happy one.’

Contrary to Shen Yi’s wish, the first thing Qin Jiao did early the next morning was push open her window. Seeing a fresh layer of snow on the ground she had swept clean yesterday, she grew even more frustrated. It seemed to have snowed again last night.

Another month flowed by like water. Christmas was just around the corner, and with it came Qin Jiao and the others’ fourth monthly exam.

During this time, Qin Zhonghui drove the three children to and from school every day, and business at their breakfast stall slowly started to pick up.

There were two reasons for this. The first was that many people had initially bought breakfast from the other stall because it was cheaper and looked the same on the outside.

But after eating it, they realized it truly wasn’t the same.

The buns from Qin Jiao’s family were exceptionally fragrant and left you wanting more.

Their fried dough sticks were perfectly crispy and soft, with an excellent texture.

And as for the congee, savory tofu pudding, and soy milk—in this cold weather, not only did they keep everything well-insulated, but drinking them also warmed the stomach and revitalized the spirit.

The second reason was that the other stall owners saw that even after selling at low prices for so long, they hadn’t managed to drive Qin Zhonghui’s family out of business. On top of that, the weather was freezing, and they were no longer willing to lose money while suffering in the cold.

So, in less than half a month, they gave up on their own and never appeared in that area again.