Those eight heavy words hit the room like lead weights, leaving behind a suffocating silence. Grandma Lu swayed, nearly pitching backward onto the floor.

Instinct kicked in. I lunged forward and caught her just in time, saving the poor woman from taking a nasty fall right in the middle of the living room. She spun around and seized my hands, her eyes rimmed with red, full of desperate pleading.

“My girl… are you still willing to marry my Ah Zhan? Don’t you worry, this old woman keeps her word. The second you step through the Lu family door, I swear I’ll treat you like my own flesh-and-blood granddaughter…”

“She’s willing! Of course she’s willing!” My aunt cut in before I could even open my mouth, her voice sharp and eager. “She’s a penniless orphan! Marrying into the Lu family is more luck than she deserves—what right does she have to be picky?”

With that, she planted a palm squarely between my shoulder blades and gave me a harsh shove, silently ordering me to nod and get it over with. The push sent me stumbling forward, and I had to clutch Grandma Lu’s arm to keep my footing.

Yet, I didn’t say a word to defend myself.

Because once upon a time… I had a real home, too.

My father had been a renowned doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. He used to tell me that an educated girl needed a trade to stand on her own two feet so she’d never have to bow her head and rely on the charity of others. He taught me to recognize herbs and read pulses. The time I spent by his side was the only true warmth I’d ever known in this world.

Tragically, a political storm swept over us. Someone reported him for treating a “politically compromised” patient, and he was dragged out for public humiliation. My father… ultimately didn’t survive that bitter winter.

The moment he passed, my aunt swept through our house like a locust, seizing every single item of value and the house deed. Then, without batting an eye, she shipped me off to the countryside to take my cousin’s place in the labor program.

Down in the rural village, I met Chen Jianjun. During a land reclamation project, he was bitten by a venomous snake, and I used the techniques my father had taught me to save his life. Delirious with fever, he’d squeezed my hand tightly, promising he’d devote his whole life to repaying me. For the few years we spent in the countryside, he did treat me with gentle care.

And yet, the second we returned to the city… he drew a line between us faster than the turning of the tide, pivoting immediately to pursue my cousin—a girl with far better family prospects.

It didn’t take me long to learn a bitter truth: a man’s promises in the heat of a fever are more fictitious than a dime-store romance novel.

Later, I secretly studied for the college entrance exams. My aunt caught me, ripped my textbooks to shreds, and jabbed a finger right at my nose, spitting, “What’s the point of all this reading? With a fox-like face like yours, your only job is to marry off quickly and bring some profit to this family!”

She refused to let me take the exam, and she refused to let me get a job. She simply kept me locked away in that tiny courtyard, itching to wring every last drop of value out of me.

Rebel? How could I possibly rebel?

The haze of memory drifted away, snapping me back to reality. On one side, Grandma Lu was quietly weeping; on the other, my aunt’s face practically glowed with unsuppressed glee.

To anyone else, those words would have been a bolt out of the blue. But to me, they were a sudden ray of light piercing through a pitch-black life.

At the very least… I wouldn’t be forced into becoming a glorified breeding machine. And I wouldn’t have to spend my days guarding against men staring at my chest and hips as if I were a piece of meat at the market.

I quietly smoothed out the crumpled hem of my shirt where my aunt had yanked it. For the first time, I lifted my chin and looked Grandma Lu straight in the eye.

“Grandma Lu. I’m willing. I’m willing to marry Lu Zhan to bring him good fortune… and I’m willing to be your granddaughter.”

Grandma Lu was a woman of her word. She arranged all the traditional wedding gifts—the “Three Wheels and One Ring”—and even picked me up in a brand-new Forever bicycle. That day, the entire street watched us pass with eyes full of envy and curiosity.

Before I stepped out the door, my aunt was counting the bride price the Lu family had brought over, grinning so wide her mouth practically split open. My cousin came over, taking my hand with a look of insincere concern.

“He might be useless down there, but at least you won’t suffer through childbirth. Count your blessings.”

The smug triumph in her eyes was practically overflowing. I looked at her, and a sudden, quiet laugh escaped my lips.

“You’re right. How I live my life from now on is completely up to me. Unlike some people… who have to walk on eggshells around a man just to bear his children.”

Wen Xiu’s smile instantly froze. She let out a cold sneer and yanked her hand away.

The bicycle clattered smoothly down the narrow lane, carrying me toward the Lu home. Since Lu Zhan was still bedridden, the wedding ceremony was kept simple.

I served tea to Grandma Lu. She took my hands in hers and slipped a smooth, warm jade bangle onto my wrist.

“Good girl,” she murmured softly. “This is your home now.”

That single word—home—sent a sharp sting to the back of my nose.

In the bridal chamber, Lu Zhan was leaning against the headboard, wearing a crisp white shirt and dark trousers. A half-read book lay beside him. Hearing me step inside, he closed it.

“Brother… Brother Lu,” I called out softly, terrified of aggravating his injuries.

He turned to look at me. His face was breathtakingly handsome—so striking it made my breath hitch—though his complexion was terribly pale, bearing the distant, icy aura of someone who had been sick for a long time.

“Grandma told me about your situation,” he said, his voice surprisingly calm. “Since we’re living under the same roof, just address me naturally as a friend or sibling. If you ever want to leave in the future, just tell me. You’re free to go whenever you wish.”

He gestured toward a neatly made military cot set up in the corner of the room.

“You can sleep there tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll have Grandma clear out the west room for you.”

He arranged everything with flawless efficiency, so polite and distant he seemed more like a courteous host than a new husband on his wedding night. And with that, the heaviest stone crushing my heart finally tumbled away.

I let out a long, quiet sigh of relief.

“Okay.”