Chapter 39: May Your Face Light Up When You Talk About Your Man!

"Long‑term? Steady?"

Jiang Ran furrowed his brows, thinking hard.

In his surroundings, the majority were idle job‑seeking youths like him, or workers who had taken over their parents' factory jobs; people who truly had a long‑term vision and wanted to build a solid career were far too few.

Does his father's diligent factory work count? But he seemed not to want to repeat that life.

"For example?"

He asked earnestly, his eyes full of dependence and trust.

He thought his future wife was sharp, saw things clearly, and surely had ideas.

Su Ruan did not give a direct answer.

She knew that mentioning the internet or real estate outright now would be like a fairy tale, and would make her seem unrealistic.

She looked at the noisy Game Hall around them, thoughtful, and said, "It's like here—Game Halls are booming now, but have you ever wondered why they're so popular?"

"Besides being fun, it's because people have little other entertainment."

"But if in the future the economy grows and technology advances, and every household gets more convenient, better entertainment—say, being able to take the arcade machine home—would anyone still spend money daily at a Game Hall?"

Jiang Ran was completely stunned.

He had never considered the issue from this angle.

He only thought the Game Hall was lively, profitable, a good spot for the guys to gather, and never wondered whether it might become obsolete or whether this way of making money could last.

His future wife's words opened a new window in his mind.

Su Ruan continued softly, her voice brushing his heart like a feather, "The way to earn money isn't always about how lively things look now or how quickly you can make cash, but about spotting opportunities others haven't seen and being able to settle down to do something that builds up value."

"It may require learning new things, maybe enduring hardship, but once done, that's the true foundation for a secure life, allowing our little home to stay steady no matter how times change."

Her words were like a stone tossed into a calm lake, sending ripples through Jiang Ran's heart that grew larger and larger.

For the first time, he began to truly contemplate the weight of the word "future."

Not for his own aimless drifting, but for the woman beside him he wants to protect for a lifetime, for the "home" they will soon build together.

He gazed at Su Ruan's calm, beautiful profile; her clear eyes seemed to hold a galaxy, possessing wisdom and foresight beyond his grasp, making him feel ashamed and unworthy, yet also stirring an unprecedented surge of drive and resolve.

He must work hard!

He must become better!

He must become a man she can rely on and be proud of!

He suddenly seized Su Ruan's hand, gripping it tightly; his gaze, no longer vague and playful, now blazed with a fire of determination, ambition, and fierce responsibility.

"Wife‑to‑be, you're right!"

His voice was low but unusually firm, each word sounding as if forced out of his chest.

"I can't keep aimlessly drifting! I have to do something proper, something lasting and steady!"

"I must make it so that when you talk about your man later, it's not just that he can play, but that his face shines! I must make our home warm and steady!"

He looked around the noisy Game Hall, his gaze taking on a different tone.

It was no longer merely a place for diversion, but a symbol urging him to change, to strive, to take responsibility for the future.

"Come on, wife‑to‑be, let's go home!" he tugged Su Ruan, his tone urgent yet solemn, "I need to think this through! You have to help me think! Let's ponder together how the road ahead should be taken!"

Jiang Ran clutched Su Ruan's hand tightly, his heart no longer empty with aimless idleness, but filled with a heavy weight called responsibility and future, hot and fulfilling.

Su Ruan, watching the taut line of his profile, knew the seed of change had already broken ground in this young husband's heart, growing silently.

She believed that with proper guidance, she would never repeat the lonely ending described in the book.

Their future would be different.

In stark contrast to the tender newlywed bliss in the Jiangjia XiaoLou, Liu Wen Bin and Su Yanhua's wedding night was nothing short of a disaster.

The Liu family's means were modest; the marital room was a tiny partitioned chamber off Liu Wen Bin's parents' house—cramped, walls mottled, and the few pieces of furniture were old.

The humiliation of having the Fake Ring exposed publicly by Jiang Ran at the Su family's doorstep yesterday burned like a red‑hot branding iron on Su Yanhua's heart.

She was pointed at, surrounded by mocking gazes, and eventually fainted from anger—it was the most mortifying moment of her two lives combined!

She blamed it all on the useless Liu Wen Bin!

After being taken back to the Liu home, no matter how Liu Wen Bin's parents tried to console her, Su Yanhua remained sullen and silent.

That night, after Liu Wen Bin finished washing up, he entered the new room with a hint of nervousness and lingering hope, only to be met by Su Yanhua's icy stare and a pillow hurled at his head.

"Get out!" Su Yanhua's voice was as sharp as glass scraping, "Liu Wen Bin, you liar! Poor scoundrel! You've ruined my face! You still want to touch me? Dream on!"

Liu Wen Bin, stunned by the pillow, his face turning pale, stammered, "Yan… Hua, listen to me, I… I had no choice at the time, money was short, and I just wanted to make you happy…"

"No choice? No choice, so you bought a fake thing to fool me?!"

Su Yanhua sprang up from the bed, pointing at his nose while cursing, her features twisted with anger.

"Do you know how many people are laughing at me today? Do you know how that slut Su Ruan feels smug about it? You've thrown my face to my grandma's house! Get out! Seeing you makes me sick!"

She kept swearing while hurling the other pillow and the blanket at Liu Wen Bin, as if to fling him away together with the nauseating disgrace.

Liu Wen Bin scrambled to dodge, feeling both shame and guilt, plus an indescribable humiliation.

He knew he was in the wrong, yet Su Yanhua's relentless insults and expulsion cut his pride like a knife.

"Yanhua, don't… today is our wedding night…" he tried to close the distance, his voice pleading.

"Wedding night? Pah!" Su Yanhua spat, "Take your Fake Ring and go! Go back to school and sleep on your hard board bed! Don't block my view here!"

Her attitude was resolute, her disdain unmistakable.

The Liu parents, hearing the commotion from outside, sighed and paced, yet dared not intervene forcibly.

Finally, under Su Yanhua's continued yelling and shoving, Liu Wen Bin, clutching a thin blanket, his face dirty, trudged to the Hongxing Elementary School dormitory.

The teachers' dormitory was icy cold, the hard board bed aching to the bone.

Liu Wen Bin curled up in the thin blanket, listening to the howling wind outside, his heart a frozen chill.

Is this the long‑awaited wedding night he had imagined?

There is no tenderness, no joy, only endless humiliation, quarrels, and this bone‑piercing cold.

In the new house, Su Yanhua, after driving Liu Wen Bin away, flopped onto the bed, covered her head with a blanket, and began to sob.

She cried about her own miserable fate, about Liu Wen Bin's cowardice, and even about Su Ruan's glory.

Intense jealousy and resentment gnawed at her heart like a poisonous snake.

Why?

Why, even with a Rebirth of a Lifetime, does she still fare worse than Su Ruan?

She clearly knows how the future will unfold, clearly chose the promising Liu Wen Bin, yet why does the beginning turn out so hopelessly chaotic?