Speaking of this, Chu Wan couldn’t help but admire her cousin, Chen Lei.

The Chen family was local to the village. Their ancestors did not have much knowledge, but Chen Lei was very smart. She had played with Chu Wan since she was a child and learned some of the things Chu Wan’s Great-grandfather had taught her. She was curious and asked about many things. Chu Wan’s Great-grandfather did not hide anything and also taught Chen Lei a little.

Chen Lei, a young girl who has never left her village, felt that what Chu Wan’s Great-grandfather was teaching her was special, and she studied very hard. Later, she became even more determined to go to university, and she had a clear goal: to study history.

Chu Wan didn’t take it too seriously at the time. It was only later, when she and Chen Lei met several times in the antique circles, that she understood Chen Lei’s intentions.

Chen Lei was indeed a person with a lot of ideas. She studied in the History Department and followed the path of an orthodox archaeologist. Eventually, she stepped out of the institutional archaeologists circle and became a well-known ‘treasure appraisal expert’ in the market. She colluded with those cultural relics dealers and made a lot of benefits from it.

Looking back at all this, although Chu Wan was very disdainful of some of Chen Lei’s actions—and she also knew that Chen Lei’s eye for treasure appraisal was actually not very good and was somewhat of a fraud—she had to admit that Chen Lei was still a person with some ideas.

While she was traveling all over the country digging the land and practicing her eyesight, Chen Lei was already planning how to move up and how to give herself a legitimate background and a glorious reputation.

Chen Lei had always coveted the Nine Dragon Jade Cup.

Now, Chu Wan began to have vague doubts.

The woman that Lu Jianshi kept outside was Chen Lei’s maternal cousin, Meng Xiangyue. She was three years younger than Chen Lei.

How was Lu Jianshi able to open her safe and accurately find the Nine Dragon Jade Cup? Logically, Lu Jianshi should have known nothing about the Nine Dragon Jade Cup. Was it just a coincidence that he just happened to find this most important treasure among so many antiques?

He obviously knew the importance of the Nine Dragon Jade Cup to Chu Wan.

Therefore, Chu Wan couldn’t help but doubt the ‘Chen Lei-Meng Xiangyue-Lu Jianshi’ connection, and she even suspected that perhaps it was Chen Lei who set up Meng Xiangyue with Lu Jianshi.

But of course, that was all in the past life.

At this moment, Chu Wan looked at Chen Lei in front of her, seeing her wearing a floral, cotton jacket, and imagined the arrogant, elegant, and calm Associate Professor of Archaeology in the future. She couldn’t help but sigh. After fighting for more than ten years, she has returned to the original starting point, and Chen Lei was also still here.

That life passed in a daze.

20-year-old Chen Lei’s face was dark from being sunburned, working in the mountains. She walked to the door and said casually, “Can you lend me a few of your bowls? My Uncle is coming today.”

Chu Wan said, “Go to the kitchen and get it yourself. It’s in the cupboard.”

Chen Lei nodded and said, “Do you have any white flour here?”

“White flour? How can I have white flour here?”

Chen Lei hesitated for a moment, then said, “Our Chen Rong saw you coming in from outside on Grandpa Hu’s ox cart. Didn’t you come from the market?”

Chu Wan laughed when she heard this, “You’re overthinking it, jiejie. What’s wrong with going to the market? But where can I get the money to buy flour? Look at me, I’m so poor that I have nothing at home, and yet I still eat white flour?”

Chen Lei glanced at Chu Wan and said, “Forget it then. I was thinking that after borrowing your flour, I would return it to you with a few eggs later.”

Chu Wan ignored this with a calm expression.

Chen Lei had been very good at scheming since she was a child. She always found ways to get things from Chu Wan, and Chu Wan had been fooled by her many times when they were children.

Borrowing flour or whatever item, although it was called ‘borrowing’, in fact such items were never returned. Chu Wan was too shy to ask people to return it, nor could she find a reason to ‘borrow’ herself. As a result, she suffered a lot of losses over the years.

Of course, she ignored it now.

Chen Lei didn’t leave after hearing this. Instead, she smiled and said, “By the way, is your boyfriend, Teacher Su, also planning to go to college? From what I heard, it seems like he is.”

Su Yanjing was now a teacher at the primary school next to their village.

When Chu Wan heard this, she knew her intention.

She understood Chen Lei’s thoughts. Chen Lei always felt that Old Master Chu had left good things for Chu Wan, and subconsciously thought that Chu Wan would use them well. She kept an eye on Chu Wan in all matters.

Even if Chu Wan casually picked up a pair of chopsticks to eat, Chen Lei would have to look at them to see if the chopsticks were antique or not.

What more about men? A man that Chu Wan would date must be a good man, so Chen Lei actually had her eye Su Yanjing, thinking that he was a hot commodity.

Of course, later, Chen Lei was admitted to university and saw more. She immediately stopped caring about Su Yanjing, and her mind turned elsewhere.

Chu Wan, upon hearing this, raised her eyelids, glanced at her cousin, and said, “Who knows? It’s up to him to take the exam or not.

Chen Lei was puzzled. “That’s your boyfriend, and you don’t know? Have you never talked about it?”

“Why should I talk about this? If you are interested, go and ask him.”

This made Chen Lei blush, “Why would I ask him?”

After saying that, she turned and left.

Chu Wan looked at Chen Lei’s back, was silent for a while, and continued her work.

She took a rag and cleaned the house thoroughly, sweat dripping down her face. In fact, the old tables and chairs could not be cleaned any more because they were too old and the paint was mottled. But she felt better after cleaning them.

After cleaning up, she boiled some hot water, took a bath for herself, then went to soak her great-grandfather’s feet.

Great-grandfather was smoking tobacco from his big pipe, wondering, “What’s wrong with Wanwan today?”

“Great-grandpa, your great-granddaughter is so filial to you, but you don’t appreciate it?”

Great-grandfather laughed and knocked his pipe against the kang. “What’s going on between you and Yanjing?”

Chu Wan helped Great-grandfather wipe his feet and carefully put on socks for him. Then she smiled and said, “I was at the market today and heard people gossiping about Su Yanjing and someone else having an affair. I was upset to hear that and wanted to break up with him as soon as possible.”

She added, “I don’t think he’s reliable!”

Great-grandfather restrained his smile and looked down at his great-granddaughter, “Do you really want to break up?”

“Well… dating is really boring!”

Great-grandfather sighed, “You… You are just impulsive, wanting to get along with someone. You look for a partner just for the sake of dating. In fact, your brain is still that of a child!”

Chu Wan was silent for a moment, “Great-grandpa, you can’t say that.”

Great-grandfather took a puff of tobacco and said slowly, “I think you should listen to me and get in touch with the grandson of the Lu family. No matter what time, this engagement between our families is there. As long as we raise it, they will have to recognize it. Only if you marry into their family will I dare to swallow my anger.”

Chu Wan stopped talking.

Whether to marry into the Lu family, or which member of the Lu family to marry, she had to carefully weigh the pros and cons.

After all, she was still thinking about the broken Nine Dragon Jade Cup and have had no time to think about anything else.

Great-grandfather sighed, “Wanwan, I’ve been through so much trouble in my life, and now that I’m old, you’re the only one left behind. I’ve passed on everything I’ve learned in this life to you. There’s an old saying that goes, ‘It’s a crime to possess a treasure.’ 

“You’re still too young, an orphan with no power or influence. Besides, who knows what those people I offended in the past are thinking! It’ll be fine if you just keep hiding your identity from now on, but if you stand out, won’t people target you? If you’re all alone, I won’t believe they wouldn’t dare. 

“The Lu family, no matter whether you like it or not, if you marry into their family, they’ll protect you as long as they themselves don’t fall.”

He blew a puff of smoke and said slowly, “If you don’t marry into the Lu family, their Old Man would protect you as long as he is still alive. But once he’s gone, even if the next generation still remembered this connection, you won’t be able to go back to them when you encounter any problems. The affection between people is cultivated through interaction. If you don’t keep in touch for a few years, it will fade.

“Besides, there’s nothing good in the villages around here. I personally raised you, my great-granddaughter. If times get better, you’ll be able to make a name for yourself with your skills. I can’t let you marry a farmer and end up with nothing. You’ll still have a miserable life in the end. If we’re going to find a husband for you, we should find the best family in the city. That way, they won’t be unworthy of you in the future.”

Chu Wan smiled and said, “Who can predict the future? Maybe I can find a good one myself in the city!”

As she said this, she quickly went through all the people she had known in her previous life, and realized there was not a single one she liked.

This could not be blamed on her. In her previous life, she was so focused on her beloved old things that she didn’t even care about Lu Jianshi, let alone other men. How could she have had such thoughts?

Now, suddenly picking up a former rival or friend and imagining him as her husband… it just didn’t make sense to her no matter how she thought about it.

Great-grandfather glanced at his great-granddaughter and said, “Wanwan, I’m not saying anything bad about you. If you go to the antique market and pick something out, your taste is definitely impeccable, but if you want to pick a man—”

He shook his head, looking helpless.

Chu Wan was stunned when she heard this.

But then she thought to herself that her great-grandfather was right after all.

She picked two men in her last life, and neither of them was very good.

Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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Chapter 4 — The Origin of the Marriage Agreement
Chapter 5.1 — Thick Skin is a Must
Chapter 5.2 — Thick Skin is a Must
Chapter 6.1 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 6.2 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 6.3 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 7.1 — There Must be Compatibility Between Husband and Wife
Chapter 7.2 — There Must be Compatibility Between Husband and Wife
Chapter 8 — The Beauty of Line Carving
Chapter 9 — In My Eyes, This Is 200 Yuan