Back to the 1980s: Transmigrated as the Bigshot's Pampered Wife-Chapter 84: A Lifetime or a Stranger

Everyone in the Sheng family stared at Sheng Yueyue, their eyes wide with disbelief. What on earth was she saying?

Sheng Shiwu was so angry he slammed his chopsticks down. A few strands of his hair stood on end, and he demanded in short, quick breaths,

"Yueyue, in what way is my eldest brother not as good as that pretty boy Song Zijin?"

"He can’t compare in any way. That guy is..." Sheng Yueyue continued to munch on her meat bun, speaking without thinking.

’Huh? Wait, what are these three idiots so angry about?’ She looked up in confusion.

Barely contained fury flickered across the faces of the three idiots, like a brewing thunderstorm. The skin at the corners of their eyes was pulled so tight it looked like it might split.

Their eyes were wide and round, like two small balls, glaring at her with disgust. The look was sharper than any knife.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen her third brother look this way before. Back when Gu Jiaojiao was still living at home, he used to glower at that bitch just like this.

Back then, she had been thrilled to see it. But having that glare directed at her was unbearable.

Especially with her parents also staring wide-eyed at her. Faced with everyone’s intense scrutiny, Sheng Yueyue couldn’t get the rest of her words out.

She squeezed out a few tears, letting them cling to her eyelashes without falling. It was an expression she had practiced in the mirror, the one that made her look most pitiable.

"Third Brother... how could you compare Eldest Brother to Zijin? SOB SOB... You’re so mean... SOB SOB..."

The more Sheng Yueyue spoke, the more aggrieved she felt. In her past life, she had lived such a repressed existence, yet the Sheng family had never stared at her so intensely.

She pouted and sobbed, looking wronged, frail, and utterly pitiful.

But Sheng Shiwu felt no pity for her. Instead, he questioned her with uncontrollable rage, looking as if he wanted to tear her to pieces.

"You were the one who said my eldest brother couldn’t compare to Song Zijin, so what are you crying for? What did I do to you?"

"Dad... Mom... Eldest Brother... Look, Third Brother is going to eat me! SOB SOB... I’m so scared..."

Seeing her woeful act, Sheng Shiwen felt none of his usual sympathy. Instead, he felt a flicker of annoyance.

"Dad, Mom, Eldest Brother, I’m leaving for work." With that, he left without a backward glance.

"Yueyue, stop crying. Xiao Wu isn’t wrong. No matter how you look at it, Shi Jing is much better than Song Zijin."

Mr. Sheng didn’t want to coddle his daughter anymore. ’The hardships she’s faced are nothing compared to what Eldest Brother Gu has gone through!’

The man was nothing but skin and bones, yet he was still clinging stubbornly to life. And Jiaojiao didn’t even cry when she married a disabled man.

"Mom... Dad and my brothers don’t love me anymore... SOB SOB... What did I even say wrong?"

Sheng Yueyue was crying for real now. Her family just didn’t understand. How could her eldest brother possibly compare to Song Zijin, the future head of the Song Family?

In a few years, after the Reform and Opening-Up, the Song Family would become the richest in Qing City. Song Zijin would be as high and unattainable as the moon.

’In my past life, didn’t the second and third idiots get rich by following Zijin?’

"Why would you need our love? Having Song Zijin is enough for you. Now hurry up and get out. Song Zijin is already waiting for you at the gate."

Just as Mrs. Sheng was struggling to answer her daughter, Sheng Shiwu’s sarcastic voice cut in.

"Zijin is here? Then I’m leaving. Dad, Mom, in the future, your daughter will..." ’...help you all rise.’

Sheng Yueyue didn’t finish her sentence. She just grabbed her schoolbag and hurried off, leaving the heartbroken Sheng family behind.

When she reached the gate, she saw Song Zijin standing there with a dark expression, just as expected.

"Zijin... I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Don’t be mad... My eldest brother came home, so I talked with him for a bit..."

Song Zijin: "..."

’I just got here and haven’t even gotten off my bike. With which eye did you see me waiting for a long time?’

He was indeed unhappy, but not because he had been waiting. It was because on his way over, he had seen Gu Jiaojiao from a distance.

She had a smile like a blooming flower as she pushed her disabled husband, and when she passed by him, she didn’t even spare him a glance.

He couldn’t resist greeting her first, but she had only given him a cold "mhm" in response.

’She married a disabled man, so why does she still have such a radiant, peachy complexion? Why is she still so charming and gorgeous, as beautiful as a fairy descended to earth?’

"Jiaojiao, are you mad at me for neglecting you? Is that why you married a disabled man out of spite?"

Song Zijin stared at her face—beautiful without being gaudy, brilliant as a spring blossom. In the morning light, she looked all the more fragrant and enchanting.

A tempting aura emanated from her, especially from those red lips that were speaking to the disabled man. They glistened like a pair of ripe peaches.

It made his throat suddenly feel dry and itchy, and he questioned her in a harsh tone.

"Who are you? You got some kind of problem? Ruining the mood for my husband and me first thing in the morning."

Song Zijin: "..."

He wanted to believe Gu Jiaojiao was just playing hard to get, trying to grab his attention, but she was already far in the distance.

She left without a backward glance, her silvery laughter drifting through the air. Her laugh, her anger, her scolding...

She was like a wild, untamed cat, constantly scratching at him, tearing his heart to shreds until it was a bloody mess.

She was a sharp knife digging into his mind, impossible to dislodge no matter how hard he tried.

She had branded herself into his mind, an image he couldn’t erase.

In the world of love between two people, there is nothing more painful than when the one who was abandoned has already forgotten the one who abandoned them. How was Song Zijin supposed to bear that?

Only now did he realize that Jiaojiao had taken up residence in his heart, becoming someone he loved but couldn’t have, someone he couldn’t forget and was unwilling to let go of.

He had no right to take a step forward, yet he was reluctant to take a step back. Any ill-timed appearance was a regret that made his heart ache with despair.

He wanted to avoid disrupting her peaceful life, but how could he be content to become a stranger to the person he had liked since childhood?

That was why he was so unhappy, why he had ridden his bike to the Sheng family’s gate full of resentment.

But Song Zijin didn’t know that this Gu Jiaojiao was not the same Gu Jiaojiao as before. She had no feelings for him whatsoever.

Besides, love was an extreme thing—it was either for a lifetime or for strangers.

"Zijin... Are you really not going to forgive me?" Sheng Yueyue prompted again when Song Zijin ignored her.

"I’m going to be late for school. I’m leaving." After saying that, Song Zijin got on his bike, turned, and left.

"Zijin! Zijin! Wait for me! Can we skip class today?"

SCREECH! Song Zijin stopped his bike, planting a long leg on the ground. An inexplicable anger burned within him.

Sheng Yueyue hopped onto the back seat and wrapped her arms tightly around Song Zijin’s waist. "Zijin... let’s go to the woods, okay?"

"Fine."

When Sheng Shiwu came out, he saw his little sister chasing after Song Zijin’s bike, running for a long way before she finally managed to get on.

A sweet smile hung on Yueyue’s face, visible in profile.

’Hah! So this is the person she claims treats her so well!’

He, their dad, mom, and brothers all spoiled her and doted on her, yet she cried at the drop of a hat, claiming they didn’t love her anymore.

’So Yueyue likes men who don’t know how to be tender with a woman. Sheng Shiwu had learned his lesson. From now on, that was how he would treat Yueyue.’

Meanwhile, Gu Jiaojiao, having rebuffed Song Zijin, found her good mood completely unaffected. She found a deserted spot and sent Su Shuochi into the space.

"If you get hungry, just eat something. There’s some open land over there, so you can relieve yourself wherever..."

It was the first time Gu Jiaojiao had ever fussed over Su Shuochi like this. She had no idea if it would be comfortable to stay in the space for a whole morning.

She had never stayed inside for that long herself.