Absolutely Must Not Let Jiang Xia Find It

Wen Wan looked at the Seine Net on the beach and the small piles of shrimp Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had gathered, her eyes turning red.

Today, her father and stepmother had once again pressured her to give up her studies, saying they had no money to pay her tuition when school started and telling her to find a job to earn money and help support the family.

She had been waiting for this typhoon, waiting to gather shrimp and sell them to earn her tuition. She did not want to walk the same old road as in her previous life.

In her previous life, she had not finished high school because she had failed to earn enough tuition over that summer and had been forced to drop out.

Her stepmother believed that girls would marry sooner or later, so there was no use in studying too much. It was better to start working early and help support the family; otherwise, once she married, they would have raised her for nothing. Since they refused to pay for her education, she had always earned her own high school tuition.

Father Wen had no biological sons, only two biological daughters: her and the younger sister he later had with her stepmother. So he had raised the son her stepmother brought with her as if he were his own, planning to rely on this adopted son to support him in his old age and see him through to the end. All the money in the family was spent on this adopted son!

Moreover, Father Wen also believed that no matter how much a woman studied, it was not as good as finding a good husband. Marrying well was better than any good job.

So in her previous life, she had not finished her senior year of high school before going out to earn money and supplement the household income.

The money she earned working supported her stepbrother and Stepsister through school.

She got married not long after starting work.

Her marriage in her previous life had been no better than Jiang Xia's. The man she married was a gambler.

That man had also been found by her stepmother. Although he was a divorcee, he worked at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, which was a respectable job. His previous wife had divorced him because they had been married for several years without having children.

The man had a good job and had even said that after they married, he could get her into the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to work. He had also offered a generous amount of Betrothal Gifts.

Her stepmother had said, "Isn't the point of studying to find a good job? Working at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative means having an iron rice bowl. Even your stepbrother might not find such a good job after graduating from university."

At the time, she had thought her stepmother made sense. After all, a job at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was indeed excellent—how many people wanted to get in? Besides, that man genuinely liked her and treated her well. Every time he visited, he brought her plenty of things, and he had even promised that after they married, if she did not want to work at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she could continue attending university. He would support her.

So she married him! She even passed the university entrance exam, but she discovered she was pregnant as soon as school began and ultimately failed to graduate.

That man had revealed his true colors after she became pregnant. He was a terrible gambler. Every month, as soon as he received his wages, he took the money to gamble and did not come home until he had lost it all. Later, he was even arrested for gambling and lost his job.

After giving birth, she still had to earn money to support him and their child. But he would secretly take the money she earned to gamble as well. After losing it all, he would come home, kneel, and beg for forgiveness. Because of her daughter—and because she became pregnant with a second child—she forgave him time and again...

Later, that man stubbornly gambled away even their house, and their daughter went astray too...

The past was too painful to look back on. Wen Wan cut off that train of thought. In this life, she absolutely would not walk the old road again. She would not support her stepbrother and Stepsister through school, and she would not marry that man again. She would get into university on her own and break free of the fate she had suffered in her previous life! University students were highly valued in this era!

Her stepbrother and Stepsister had both attended university. After graduating, they had found excellent jobs and lived far better lives than she did! They had spent their whole lives safe and secure, and even in old age they had tens of thousands in retirement pension.

Wen Wan looked at the Seine Net, as well as the little piles of shrimp.

Since Jiang Xia had also been reborn and was blocking her path to earning money for tuition and changing her fate,

she had no need to be polite anymore. From now on, they would each rely on their own abilities!

Let's see who could change her own fate.

Originally, she had thought that if Jiang Xia was also reborn and refused to divorce Zhou Chenglei, then she could not become a mistress either.

But now that she thought about it, Zhou Chenglei did not like Jiang Xia anyway.

Besides, her dreams were far too real. They were all omens, and everything she dreamed about came true. So Zhou Chenglei was destined to become her husband.

Jiang Xia was occupying the magpie's nest.

Some time ago, she had dreamed that Zhou Chenglei rescued her after she was swept away by the waves. She faintly felt that today was the moment her and Zhou Chenglei's fates would begin.

Wen Wan hurried over to Zhou Chenglei's side and smiled. "Brother Zhou, you're here so early?"

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had split up, each gathering shrimp in an area where they were densely clustered.

Zhou Chenglei only replied, "Mm." He did not even lift his head or glance at her, keeping his head lowered as he raked the shrimp together.

Wen Wan felt she could not rush things. In a while, he would rescue her.

For now, earning money by gathering shrimp was more important, or she would not have enough money to pay her tuition.

The waves were still fairly strong. She had not expected Jiang Xia to be so clever as to use a Seine Net to block the shrimp and stop those carried in by the waves.

But she had come prepared too. She had specifically brought the push board used to gather grain. However, each scrape of the board collected more mud and sand than shrimp, which would be troublesome to clean later. Besides, the beach was not flat, making it difficult to scrape.

She saw the improved bamboo rakes Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia were using. With a light pull, they hooked only the shrimp, while the sand and mud drained through the gaps, leaving one shrimp after another behind. Since the rakes had teeth, uneven ground was no problem. They were much more convenient!

How had she not thought of using a rake?

Wen Wan had no choice but to give up on the push board and start picking the shrimp up by hand.

Besides shrimp, Wen Wan had dreamed again the previous night. She had dreamed of two sea conches. Someone had picked up those two sea conches, and they had produced pearls.

Those two sea conches were also her target today!

Wen Wan glanced at the Bamboo Basket beside Zhou Chenglei. There were no sea conches inside, and she relaxed.

She quickly gathered shrimp while searching for sea conches.

There was no one around while it was raining. Once the rain stopped, the villagers would come out.

Before long, Father Zhou arrived.

He had seen that Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had been gone for so long and guessed that there must be something worthwhile on the beach, so he had hurried over. Of course, he was even more worried that something had happened to them and had come to check.

Father Zhou spotted the unusual scene on the beach from a distance and ran over.

When Zhou Chenglei saw him, he said, "Dad, help shovel these piles of shrimp into the Bamboo Basket first."

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had already gathered several piles of shrimp with their rakes.

Although each was only a small pile, each one weighed several pounds.

"Good!" Father Zhou hurried over, took the Winnowing Basket, loaded the piles of shrimp into it, and poured them into the Bamboo Basket.

He grinned from ear to ear. "Luckily, Xiao Xia prepared everything so thoroughly!"

If they had not brought enough things and had needed to run back for more, the time spent going back and forth would have been enough to gather two or three pounds of shrimp!

That was right—they were gathering shrimp. The beach now looked like a grain-drying yard, covered with shrimp!

All right, that was a slight exaggeration! But there really were shrimp scattered everywhere.

When Wen Wan saw Father Zhou arrive, she grew even more anxious. This proved that more and more people would be coming.

She had only gathered one basket so far.

And she still had not found the two sea conches from her dream that would produce pearls.

But the beach was vast. How easy would it be to find them? She looked around. Where exactly were the Pearl Conches?

Wen Wan's gaze suddenly stopped, landing on the sleeve guards Jiang Xia was wearing.

In her dream, the hand that picked up the sea conches had been slender and pearly white, delicate and plump—a hand clearly accustomed to a life of luxury. Yet, in sharp contrast, it had been wearing sleeve guards.

They were exactly the same as Jiang Xia's sleeve guards.

Wen Wan's heart pounded wildly.

She absolutely must not let Jiang Xia find her Pearl Conches!

One more update—thank you to everyone for your support~