QTIMP -Chapter 17 Character Persona – Greedy (Part 17)

Was her rebirth for nothing?

She had wanted to take Old Fourth’s university spot, but that plan had failed. Even if she might not have been able to graduate in the future, she clearly remembered that Old Fourth had been recommended by her teacher to a military hospital.

During the summer vacation, she met Xing Huai’en. The two reunited in that military district, fell in love, got married, and eventually grew old together.

Old Fourth also achieved great success in the medical field and was widely respected.

She had wanted to replace Old Fourth and replicate her life. But who knew whether her own provocation had pushed Old Fourth too far—because that person had suddenly stopped following the expected script.

She directly collected her graduation certificate and found a job.

What future could a minor clerk at a neighborhood committee possibly have?

Since she couldn’t intercept her university path, she could only make a move on her future husband instead. But after pestering their eldest brother for so long, she still hadn’t even seen the man.

And this time, she had let such a good opportunity slip away. Could it be that history truly couldn’t be changed? No, no—she refused. She didn’t want to live such a miserable life again.

In her previous life, to avoid being sent to the countryside, she married Qin Nan from East Main Street Alley. There were four brothers in that family. Qin Nan was the third son—neither favored like the eldest nor as scheming as the second and fourth.

For the first ten years, she fought constantly with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, and life was utter chaos. After ten years, she began struggling just to make ends meet. Although her natal family helped her, she felt deeply humiliated.

Every time Old Fourth returned, she had to look up at her, flattering and ingratiating herself. Though they were twins, when they met again more than a decade later, it felt as if a lifetime separated them.

She wanted to experience what it felt like to be the one others looked up to and flattered. As long as she married Xing Huai’en, in the future it would be Si Qiu—the insignificant little clerk—who would look up at her.

“Answer me.”

The cold voice made her shiver, snapping her out of her strange reverie. Countless excuses flashed through her mind, but in the end, the image of Old Fourth’s glamorous life overcame her fear.

“I—I once saw you with a man who was a little taller than you and very good-looking. So I wanted to ask if he was your comrade-in-arms.”

As she spoke, her face suddenly flushed red. She lowered her head shyly and tugged at her sleeve.

Feng Fan’s gaze swept over her carefully.

“Don’t entertain such unrealistic thoughts. Focus on your studies. Some people are not within your reach. Getting into university in the future is more important than anything.”

Feng Fan thought that although his third sister was somewhat vain, she wouldn’t go so far as to do anything traitorous. After a warning, he returned to the room he shared with his second brother to sleep.

As for Xing Huai’en, from their interactions he could already tell that the man’s family background was anything but ordinary. He was simply not someone his third sister could aspire to.

Feng Yu bit her lip, holding back tears. It was always like this—always like this. Whatever Si Qiu did was right; whatever she did was wrong.

Xing Huai’en’s family background was excellent, yes—but she and Si Qiu were twins. Why was it that in her previous life Si Qiu could marry him and live well, yet in this life her own desire was dismissed as foolish fantasy?

She refused to accept it. Since she couldn’t rely on her eldest brother, she would have to fight for it herself.

As soon as Si Qiu returned, she saw Aunt Liu carrying a large basin of wet clothes, with her granddaughter following behind. Upon seeing Si Qiu, auntie first curled her lips in disdain, then smiled and said:

“Si girl, you’re back. It’s really quite late today. Even though it gets dark later these days, you still shouldn’t come home too late—otherwise, if you run into some cats or dogs, you might get frightened.”

“It’s fine, Auntie. My eldest brother brought me back. He’s been in the army six or seven years now. If he can rise to company commander, he must have some real skills. Forget cats and dogs—even three or five grown men wouldn’t be able to get close to him.”

Even though no one had come out of their houses, Si Qiu was certain there were people listening behind every door. Everyone knew her relationship with her parents wasn’t good.

But no one truly believed she had completely severed ties with her biological parents. In this day and age, a simple line like ‘I gave birth to you’ wasn’t something you could easily cut off.

So when she invoked the Feng family’s name as her banner, no one found it abrupt.

“Oh my, your big brother is really promising! If you ask me, there’s no one in your family who isn’t capable. Right now it’s only your twin sister who doesn’t have a job, right? But even at her worst, she’s still a high school graduate. Unlike the kids in my family—they’re just not cut out for studying. Who knows what’ll become of them!”

Aunt Liu had a loose tongue and said whatever came to mind.

She had two grandsons and a granddaughter. The eldest grandson was already fourteen, only two years younger than Si Qiu, but he had already dropped out of school.

Though he hadn’t gotten to the point of bullying cats and teasing dogs, he wasn’t exactly worry-free either. So whenever she saw Si Qiu, who was about the same age, she genuinely wanted to show concern at first—but as she talked, she couldn’t help throwing in a few sour remarks.

Yet after being retorted by Si Qiu, she grew a bit timid. Muttering as she scolded her granddaughter, she hurried back home.

Si Qiu treated sparring with her as a daily task she had completed, then happily returned to her own room and stored all the pastries back into her space.

Even though these things couldn’t be taken to the next life, the space kept them warm and fresh. Being able to eat them whenever she wanted, still fresh, was good enough.

Then she sorted and stored all the food she had received today.

The day after tomorrow was Sunday—there would be a special gift pack. She was rather looking forward to it.

Sure enough, early Sunday morning, before even getting out of bed, Si Qiu opened the gift pack. A pile of items scattered across the ground inside her space.

There was a sewing kit, a set of underwear, socks—these appeared every week and weren’t surprising. But this time there was also prepared food: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Si Qiu took it out specially to smell it. It wasn’t that she had never eaten it before—precisely because she had, she was craving it badly now.

Other people couldn’t eat it because they couldn’t gather all the ingredients or find a skilled cook. In her case, the space provided all the ingredients—but she couldn’t find a masterful chef.

Even if she did find one, she wouldn’t dare bring things out too often to have someone cook them. It would draw too much attention. If only she had a personal chef of her own.

This wasn’t the small single-serving pot people usually ate. Once portioned out, it could last her several meals. Si Qiu carefully stored it away.

She also glanced at the ingredients she had accumulated. “It’s about time to find a master to make some food in advance for myself.” But as always, such a person wouldn’t be easy to find—and she’d have to be cautious.

The remaining items were even more precious: two colors of woolen fabric, ten chi of each. Two pairs of cotton-padded shoes—one low-cut, one high-cut. And pure wool yarn in five colors, four jin of each.

Last week’s distribution had been daily necessities—soap, toothpaste, skincare products, and the like.

Autumn had just begun, and winter supplies were already being issued.

As expected of a survival system—most of what it distributed were things she urgently needed.

In three days, at the end of the month, she wondered what kind of gift pack would be given.

As for the daily food distributions, her level of anticipation was gradually decreasing.