With a loud bang, Jiang Ling kicked the door open and grabbed Gou Dan by the ear, yanking him upward.

“Who are you calling an ungrateful brat?”

Gou Dan cried out in pain but still stubbornly shouted, “My mom said you are! You eat our Jiang family’s food, live in our house, and now you still want to cut ties with us!”

Live in the Jiang family’s house? If Jiang Ling remembered correctly, when the Jiang family house was renovated because it was falling apart, her father had paid a large portion of the money.

Every month, the money her father mailed back from the army had gone straight into Old Madam Jiang’s pocket.

The more Jiang Ling thought about it, the angrier she became. She kicked Gou Dan’s butt a few more times before returning to her room to grab something and head outside.

She wasn’t going to work in the fields anyway. Since she had already severed ties with the Jiang family, they had no right to control what she did.

Rubbing his sore backside, Gou Dan stared at Jiang Ling’s retreating figure and suddenly felt something was off.

Wait… why had that “ungrateful brat’s” face become fairer?

Her once dark, yellowish skin had become much paler, and somehow… she looked much prettier.

It was around two in the afternoon, the villagers’ usual working hours.

When Jiang Ling arrived at the fields and began searching for that tall figure, several gossip-loving aunties immediately surrounded her.

“Ling girl, we heard you and Jiang Yujiao switched marriages. Is it true?”

Everyone in the village knew Jiang Ling liked Zhou Zhiqing. When they heard the cousins had swapped fiancés, nobody could believe it.

Before Jiang Ling could answer, Aunt Guifen quickly said, “Zhou Zhiqing already kissed Jiang Yujiao mouth-to-mouth! I saw it with my own eyes! How could Ling girl marry a man like that? Of course they switched!”

Aunt Guifen clearly preferred Jiang Ling. Ling girl was hardworking and easy to talk to, unlike Jiang Yujiao, who was lazy, loved comfort, and acted arrogant.

When she first heard about the marriage switch, she had actually been happy for Jiang Ling.

Jiang Ling nodded. “It’s true.”

The aunties burst into chatter. So Ling girl was going to marry into the Shen family?

Everything about Shen family’s third son was good except for his crippled leg, but even so, he was still better than that poor educated youth.

Lowering her voice, Aunt Guifen added, “A few days ago I even saw Jiang Yujiao secretly meeting with Zhou Zhiqing. The two of them were all lovey-dovey. They were probably already fooling around.”

“Exactly! Yesterday I already found it strange. Doesn’t Jiang Yujiao know how to swim? Then why did she need Zhou Zhiqing to save her after falling into the river? Something’s definitely fishy between them!”

Jiang Ling frowned slightly.

In her previous life, Zhou Qianming had kept her completely in the dark. She had never noticed the hidden attraction between her husband and her cousin. So it turned out they had already started flirting before the marriage.

Jiang Yujiao had just arrived for work when she overheard the whispers. Grinding her teeth, she rushed toward them.

“I can swim! But at that time my leg got tangled in water weeds. Zhou Zhiqing only…”

She couldn’t continue. Her face flushed red and her eyes darted away shyly.

Jiang Ling found it amusing. “I also jumped into the river to save you. Why didn’t you let me save you?”

Jiang Yujiao choked on her words, suddenly unable to respond. She had deliberately waited for Zhou Qianming to pass by so he would rescue her. Who wanted Jiang Ling to save her?

Jiang Ling must still be bitter about the marriage switch and was deliberately targeting her.

Putting on a pitiful expression, she said softly, “Cousin, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I did it on purpose? Even if you still like Zhou Zhiqing, you can’t falsely accuse me like this.”

Aunt Guifen immediately spat at her.

“You still have the nerve to talk about Ling girl! A few days ago I personally saw you secretly meeting with Zhou Zhiqing. I haven’t even reported you to the production team leader for immoral relations yet!”

Jiang Yujiao’s face instantly turned pale.

In this era, a young woman’s reputation was extremely important. If Wang Guifen really reported her, how could she continue living in the village with any dignity?

“Wang Guifen!!”

Li Chunmei, who had just arrived to work in the fields, heard those words and charged at Aunt Guifen while brandishing a hoe.

“My daughter is innocent! Say one more word of nonsense and I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

Aunt Guifen wasn’t afraid at all. She snatched the hoe away and threw it aside before the two women began pulling each other’s hair.

“You think I’m scared of you? Your daughter kissed a man before marriage. If word spreads, it’ll disgrace everyone!”

“Ahhh! You still dare say that?!” Li Chunmei angrily slapped toward Wang Guifen’s face.

Fortunately, Wang Guifen had done enough farm work to stay agile. She dodged the slap and instead shoved Li Chunmei straight into a muddy pit nearby.

Standing to the side, Jiang Yujiao made no move to help. With reddened eyes, she cried,

“Please stop fighting! It’s all my fault. I accidentally fell into the river, and Zhou Zhiqing only saved me out of kindness.”

“Aunt Guifen, I’m still an unmarried virgin. Are you trying to ruin my life by saying such things?!”

Wang Guifen was too busy fighting to answer her, but Jiang Ling calmly said:

“Live or die, that’s your business.”

Laughter immediately erupted around them, and Jiang Yujiao’s face darkened.

“Enough! Stop arguing!”

Old Madam Jiang spoke with a gloomy expression and looked meaningfully at Jiang Ling.

“Ling girl, you already agreed to switch marriages, and you even took six hundred yuan from our family. Don’t stir up trouble here anymore!”

The moment the villagers heard “six hundred yuan,” their eyes widened in shock.

Jiang Ling was really asking for too much! Who demanded six hundred yuan just for switching marriages? Most people here were poor villagers who had never even seen that much money before.

The crowd began looking at Jiang Ling with both envy and disdain. What kind of bride demanded so much money before marriage?

“Ling girl, that’s where you’re wrong.”

Seeing everyone start criticizing Jiang Ling, Jiang Yujiao secretly felt pleased. As expected, Grandma still loved her the most.

Jiang Ling’s expression remained calm as she replied evenly,

“That six hundred yuan was my father’s compensation money after his death. Since when did it become your money?”

“Before my father died, the monthly money he sent home for my living expenses never reached me—not a single cent.”

“All that money was used to renovate the house, support the boys in the family, and buy Jiang Yujiao new clothes and pay for her schooling. I could only wear everyone else’s old hand-me-downs.”

“Among all the children in the family, I worked the hardest and earned the most work points, yet I ate the least. Have you Jiang family people ever shown any conscience toward my dead parents?”

“You only bully me because I’m an orphan!”

As she spoke, her eyes gradually reddened and her voice trembled with emotion.

Everyone present was moved.

They had watched Jiang Ling grow up. No wonder she had demanded so much money—there was a reason behind it.

“Your Jiang family really treated Ling girl too cruelly. Aren’t you afraid karma will come for you?”

“Exactly! If I were Ling girl, even six hundred yuan wouldn’t be enough! Logically speaking, the compensation money should’ve been much more than that. The Jiang family probably swallowed a lot of it!”

Surrounded by villagers pointing fingers and criticizing them, the Jiang family’s faces instantly became ugly.

That wretched Jiang Ling actually dared expose everything publicly. Was she trying to ruin the Jiang family’s reputation in the village?

Furious, Jiang Yujiao stormed up to Jiang Ling.

“Jiang Ling! You already got the money, so why are you still pretending to be pitiful? At least think about the Jiang family’s reputation!”

Jiang Ling’s eyes darkened. Without another word, she raised her hand and slapped Jiang Yujiao across the face.