In September, most parts of the country have already entered autumn, but Jiangcheng in the south was still hot and humid.
The night was without moonlight, a thick layer of dark clouds shrouded the night sky. A heavy downpour was about to fall, but the tightly drawn curtains blocked everything from outside.
On the bed, there was a bulge under the soft, thin quilt.
Slender, soft fingertips tugged at the pillow revealing a pretty face. The sweat on her forehead made her black hair cling to her fair skin. Her eyelashes were trembling, and her sleep-dazed eyes were unfocused. She looked as if she was about to shed tears at any time.
“Young Uncle1, I was wrong.”
… …
“Please, no.”
The sound of police sirens filled the sky like thunder, covering everything else, and the handcuffs on her wrists were icy cold, biting to the bone.
A crowd of people surrounded her. They whispered in audible voices.
[That is Gou An.]
[So Miss Gou also has this day of comeuppance.]
[What can I say, she deserves it. I don’t even dare to think, if it wasn’t for Mr. He… Miss Lu, such a kind person, would have been ruined by her for the rest of her life.]
… …
[An’an!] The figure of her mother desperately trying to reach her but was held away with the crowd.
… …
[Miss.] The strong, restrained figure stood in front of her parents. The man had an indifferent expression. He was Gou An’s personal bodyguard, Ye Lang.
… …
[Mom, please just let her be. She is not the An’an you thought she was, nor is she my sister!] Another slender figure pulled her mother back. Her younger brother, Gou Xun—who had lived together with her under the same roof for eighteen years—looked disdainful. [I don’t have such a vicious and mean sister.]
… …
[Gou An, originally for the sake of the deep friendship between grandfathers Gou and He, I was willing to ignore your lies. You pretended to be Lu Wan and claimed that you had saved me back then so that we could be together.] It was a familiar voice again. Standing next to Gou An’s father, supporting him, was Gou An’s former fiancé, He Ran.
[But what’s wrong with Lu Wan that you would target her like this? All these years, she could have lived a good life with the support of the He family, but you took her place as my savior for so many years. She has always been hardworking, motivated, and kind, but because of you… If she hadn’t been lucky enough, you really would have killed her!]
[Gou An, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.]
… …
[I’m sorry, An’an, I can’t be on your side this time… Although… Although we have known each other for many years and have been friends for many years, your method of dealing with Lu Wan was so vicious, I also feel scared. Who knows, if this continues, I could be the next person to suffer from your anger.]
… …
[For a scum like Gou An, prison is the most suitable place.]
[Apologise to Lu Wan and Mr. He quickly!]
… …
The noise in the crowd amidst all kinds of familiar voices was like an explosion—it gave Gou An a splitting headache. She raised her hands to cover her ears.
However, there was someone at the front of the crowd who always remained silent.
The tall man in a suit stood there like a god, looking down at her with contempt, his cold eyes piercing clear to her bones.
He didn’t seem to see that Gou An’s always pampered and delicate wrists had red welts from the handcuffs. He just raised his chin in her direction and said to the policeman behind him in a calm and indifferent tone, [What are you waiting for? Take her away.]
“No, no, Young Uncle…”
The young woman muttered softly, her voice full grievance, and a large bead of sweat rolled down from her forehead.
“Young Uncle… He Jinxing!”
Real thunder exploded in the sky, and Gou An suddenly opened her eyes, freed from the horrible nightmare.
… …
The rain that had been simmering all evening finally started pouring down.
Sitting in the middle of the big, soft bed, Gou An had a splitting headache. Her dark round eyes glanced around with fright… A four-piece, soft, white coral, velvet bed set; a thick duvet; and luxurious bedroom furnishings.
The crystal chandelier overhead had never been turned on in her memory but was still kept spotlessly clean. It hung quietly in the center of the room. This was her own room at the Gou’s family home.
After confirming that she was indeed in her room at this moment, her violently heaving chest calmed down a little.
It was just a nightmare.
Just now, fragments from the nightmare rushed into her mind——
It was all related to a girl named Lu Wan who she met just last week.
As the jewel of the eye of Jiangcheng tycoon Gou Yu, she who was engaged to be married to the He family, Gou An had always been the most dazzling presence in Jiangcheng’s upper-class social circle.
However, Miss Gou refused to live a good life but instead bullied and suppressed the heroine, Lu Wan.
Lu Wan, who was as far from her exalted existence as mud were to clouds and lived in the lower city.
Just because, years ago, Lu Wan accidentally saved the life of He Ran, the young master of the He family—and this Young Master He happened to be Gou An’s fiancé.
Because, in a moment of greed, in order to firmly establish her status as He Ran’s fiancé, Gou An lied that she was the one who saved him.
From then on, it was like a harbinger of something terrible—or the first episode of a dog blood TV series. In short, all kinds of bad things happened…
She was vicious.
She was cunning.
She tried every means to bully Lu Wan.
Her fiancé fell in love with Lu Wan; her family and friends saw through her ugly face (?)2 and her relationships started to fall apart until it all ended in betrayal.
The worst part was that because of Lu Wan, Gou An didn’t even know how she offended that exalted person—He Jinxing, the head of the He family and He Ran’s young uncle.
…
In the end, because she hated Lu Wan, she went so crazy that she drugged her, causing her to lose her purity to He Jinxing through some strange combination of circumstances…
After learning the truth, Guo An’s jealousy burned brighter than the fire clouds on a midsummer evening, and she grew so crazed that she tried to hire a hitman to run over Lu Wan with his car.
In the end, who knew whether it was her crazed brain or the hired hitman’s slow brain— that guy rented a ride-sharing electric scooter and bumped Lu Wan with it.
What was supposed to be an earth-shattering murder ended with Lu Wan falling down because she lost her footing, and her knee got scraped.
When everything came to light, Gou An ended up in jail. The person who personally sent her to jail was the man who headed the powerful He family of Jiangcheng.
In the end, Gou An’s parents were devastated because of what happened to their daughter.
The Gou family’s nearly seventy-year-old foundation, three-generations of history and hard work, was almost destroyed. He Jinxing took matters over and annexed the Gou family’s business …
Gou An’s mother was left distraught, and her hair turned white overnight.
Her father was in his prime and should have been high-spirited. He had always been a model husband in the eyes of Jiangcheng’s upper class ladies and was a successful and enviable figure in their circle.
In one stroke, he lost everything.
… …
Everything stemmed from Gou An’s jealousy of Lu Wan.
Her mind was still dazed. The feeling of the ice-cold handcuffs against her skin was so real that Gou An couldn’t help but shiver.
Raising her soft hands to push aside her sweat-soaked bangs, she comforted herself that it was just a dream. She was Gou An, the eldest daughter of the Gou family of Jiangcheng. How could she go to jail?
Yes, everything that happened in the dream couldn’t be real.
Only two things were true.
One: It was indeed Lu Wan who had saved He Ran back then.
Two: Gou An had poured a glass of red wine over Lu Wan’s head.
The second thing was the beginning.
Last week, Lu Wan, a student from the same university, worked part time on the yacht where the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Gou family’s business was held. She was assigned to take care of Gou An’s pet—a pampered, country cat that just knew how to eat and sleep.
As a part-time worker, Lu Wan lacked the common sense to provide special services. That night, because she was temporarily transferred by her supervisor to serve dishes, she put Gou An’s cat in a lounge filled with lilies…
The cat died of acute renal failure before he could be rescued.
Gou An had naturally gone berserk.
In front of everyone, she poured a whole glass of red wine over Lu Wan’s head….
Then, He Ran, who was there and knew about this incident, somehow realized—because of some details that had come to light—that the person who saved his life back then was the poor girl Lu Wan in front of him and not the fiancée Gou An as he had always thought.
So one evening when it was pouring hard with rain, Young Master He came to the Gou’s house alone to ask to break off the engagement.
There was another clap of lightning and thunder, and the heavy sound of rain outside the window seemed to remind Gou An of something.
She turned her head and gazed blankly at the heavy rain that was sheeting outside against the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“…”
Logically speaking, it shouldn’t happen, right?
At this time, there was a ‘creak’ and the bedroom door was slowly pushed open.
Ade, the long-time maid at home, poked her round-faced head in. The middle-aged woman was wearing a black and white official maid outfit, and her hair was neatly tied back in a bun. She stood behind the door and met Gou An’s eyes, who was still huddled in bed clutching the quilt.
“An’an,” the maid called Gou An by her nickname, her chubby and kind face full of hesitation. “The young master of the He family is here, will you see him?”
A few seconds of silence.
Gou An blinked slowly and said, “Ah”.
No, no, no, no…
I won’t! I won’t! I won’t!
“An’an, my little ancestor,” Ade looked hesitant, “The young master of the He family doesn’t look very good. He is soaked by the rain. Did you two… have a fight?”
“…”
“An’an?”
“I’m here.”
“Uh, that—”
“Forget it, I’m not here.” Gou An took a deep breath and said expressionlessly, “Go and tell He Ran that I am dead. If he needs me for anything, then please wait until the Qingming Festival3 in half a year’s time and communicate with me then by burning joss paper.”
“…”
From the Day the Engagement Was Broken translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
T/N: I live under the ‘Broken Engagement’ tag of Novel Updates. Regretful, groveling, despairing, stupid male characters are my jam. Whether the FL takes them back or find a better ML is secondary—it’s the regret and repentance that does it for me. And boy there’s a boatload of it in this story—as the summary said ‘everyone ends up in the crematorium‘.
So is this story full of cliche and tropes? Hell, yes. Is it wonderfully written despite that? Very much so. The author is quite obviously poking fun at the genre. Gou An, as the awakened character, questions the state of everyone’s brains and berates the author even as the plot of a ruthless, domineering CEO romance novel unfolds before her. She really wants to avoid the life-behind-bars that is awaiting her but it’s quite difficult to avoid pitfalls when one is actually lawless and vicious haha.
Yes, it’s funny. But the author is also really skilled. The character’s emotions are written in such a way that punches you in the gut. Subtle but powerful. So you’re cackling one moment, and swallowing hard over the lump in your throat the next.
The author wrote notes for most (all?) of the chapters. I’m not inclined to translate them verbatim because they often refer to comments made by the original readers and sometimes even gives spoilers. But I can refer to them when it’s particularly important.
If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi and get access to advance chapters as reward. Thank you for your support! ☺️
Chapter 2.1 — My System, My Cat
Chapter 2.2 — My System, My Cat
Chapter 3.1 — I’m Sorry, Please Punish Me
Chapter 3.2 — I’m Sorry, Please Punish Me
Chapter 4.1 — Focusing on Crazy Point Deductions
Chapter 4.2 — Focusing on Crazy Point Deductions
Chapter 5.1 — A Bottle of Mineral Water He Didn’t Want
Chapter 5.2 — A Bottle of Mineral Water He Didn’t Want
Chapter 5.3 — A Bottle of Mineral Water He Didn’t Want
Chapter 6.1 — Blessing 99
Chapter 6.2 — Blessing 99
Chapter 7.1 — Apologize to Her
Chapter 7.2 — Apologize to Her
Chapter 7.3 — Apologize to Her
Chapter 8.1— Reluctant
Chapter 8.2 — Reluctant
Chapter 9.1 — The Hero and Heroine Meet
Chapter 9.2 — The Hero and Heroine Meet
Chapter 9.3 — The Hero and Heroine Meet
Chapter 9.4 — The Hero and Heroine Meet
Chapter 10.1 — Don’t Use Honorifics
Chapter 10.2 — Don’t Use Honorifics
Chapter 10.3 — Don’t Use Honorifics
Chapter 11.1 — Young Uncle
Chapter 11.2 — Young Uncle
Chapter 11.3 — Young Uncle
Chapter 12.1 — Conflict During the Welcome Speech
Chapter 12.2 — Conflict During the Welcome Speech
FOOTNOTE:
- The term is xiao uncle—so it’s little, young, small. He’s the youngest uncle and there is a considerable age gap between the other siblings and the xiao uncle. In this case, Young Uncle He is only 28, and his nephew He Ran is already 22. ↩︎
- This isn’t me. It’s Gou An questioning the narration that she’s ugly haha. Parenthesis in the text is always Gou An arguing with the narration. ↩︎
- Qingming Festival or Tomb-Sweeping Day, when people visit their ancestor’s graves and make ritual offerings. They burn joss paper representing money and other material things in the belief that these would reach the dead. ↩︎
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