I woke up to find that I had become Qin Jingru from Love in the Courtyard, the woman the whole courtyard schemed against until she finally returned to her hometown, sick and broken.
I looked at the First Uncle before me, enthusiastically arranging a match for me; my cousin Qin Huairu, wearing a "simple, honest" expression as she waited to suck me dry; and all the neighbors in the courtyard, their eyes darting about as they plotted for their own benefit...
I smiled.
Marry Xu Damao? Wait on Silly Zhu? Make all your dreams of "love in the courtyard" come true?
This time around, I have finally gotten all the water out of my head.
First, I'll use your schemes to secure my footing, then quietly earn my first fortune with my "knowledge of what's to come." When the storm hits, I'll turn around, report you, and walk away with a flourish. Not one of you who wants to suck me dry is getting away.
Years later, the spring winds of reform swept across the land. People discovered that the businesswoman who had been among the first to go into business for herself, open a private restaurant, and buy up an entire hutong of courtyard houses looked strangely familiar.
The courtyard's villains came knocking, their eyes red: "Jingru, we're all family. Give us a hand..."
I stood at the doorway of my tastefully renovated courtyard house, holding hands with my handsome husband and cradling my adorable child, and smiled faintly.
"Who's family with you? Please call me President Qin."
