Chapter Two: Iron Resolve and Tenderness Entwined at the Fingertips (2)

From now on, you are not to have any further involvement with that woman. If I find out the two of you are still in contact, you will be in serious trouble.

She spoke with complete seriousness, the threat plain in every word.

The little fist she shook looked soft and harmless, with no real force behind it, yet Gao Dagui felt a chill rise from the bottom of his heart.

He was a soldier known as an iron-willed giant. He had always been the one to frighten enemies into disgrace and panic. That crawling, prickling sensation all over his body was something he had only ever felt when he was still a raw recruit.

"My father thinks very highly of you. He feels you are a perfect match for me, so I trust his judgment too. I hope you won't disappoint the old man."

"I will absolutely not disappoint the leadership!" Gao Dagui snapped to attention on the spot.

Fan Sijin wanted to roll her eyes.

She clasped her hands behind her back and walked ahead, while Gao Dagui followed closely behind. The whole thing felt as though she had somehow raised a giant Tibetan mastiff that everyone else feared.

She had neither the time nor the energy to play coy games with him.

Because at this very moment, Chen Chuchu had already been reborn. Most amusing of all, her rebirth had taken place just after she called off the engagement and knelt before the Gao family, begging them to let her go.

The next step, probably, would be to break up with her senior and then come to the city to look for Gao Dagui, who had already retired, wouldn't it?

By now Gao Dagui had no intention of staying in the army. He did not think he was suited for politics, and besides, the battalion command post held by Fan Jinguo, Fan Sijin's father, was already enough. Following the course of the story, he would later marry into the Fan family, and there would be no need for another formidable son-in-law in that household.

Chen Chuchu knew this very well, and so did Fan Sijin.

Later on, with the Fan family's support, Gao Dagui would try his hand at business and discover that he had genuine talent in that arena. His judgment was sharp and accurate, his decisions bold and decisive, and before long he would achieve success. In just a few short years, he would become a prominent magnate in the capital.

How could Chen Chuchu possibly let go of such a lifeline?

The greatest problem in her life before college had been money.

As a young, beautiful, energetic freshman and the only college student ever to leave her village, she had still had to pretend to agree to the Gao family's marriage arrangement because of her poverty, relying on the money the Gao family gave her to finish her studies.

During college, she had not had enough money to spend recklessly and could only depend on herself. After finally shaking off Gao Dagui and marrying the man she had her eye on, she had thought she would gain control over the household finances, only to discover that her mother-in-law and younger sister-in-law were terribly difficult to deal with. After the divorce, she had again had to rely on her meager wages to support her son and cover daily expenses...

It could be said that Chen Chuchu's foremost goal after rebirth was to become wealthy.

After finally getting a second chance at life, she really had been searching for ways to make money, but many things are easier said than done.

She had wanted to change her fate by buying lottery tickets, only to find that she could not remember a single winning number.

She knew that in the future televisions, phones, cars, and all sorts of things would become commonplace, but right now she had neither connections nor capital.

She only possessed knowledge of the future, and that alone was nowhere near enough to transform her circumstances.

So she remembered the former fiancé she had abandoned in her previous life, Gao Dagui.

Even though she later fell out with the Gao family entirely, she could hardly help hearing news of Gao Dagui.

That man had no remarkable qualities to speak of, yet through sheer luck he had latched onto the distinguished Fan family, married their heiress, and then used their wealth and connections to transform himself into a hot new star of the business world.

His stern face appeared on many magazine covers.

Chen Chuchu simply could not connect the rustic figure in her memory with the impeccably dressed man on those glossy pages.

Since Gao Dagui was certain to rise to great heights in the end, she naturally could not afford to quarrel with the Gao family this time. She might even use her identity as a country fiancée to extract a fortune from the Fan family, or perhaps, after that short-lived wretch Fan Sijin died, she could walk in through the front door herself.

Even without the system by her side, Fan Sijin could guess her intentions with fair accuracy. Fixing the loophole, in plain terms, meant guiding the reborn person back onto the same path as in her previous life, so as to avoid butterfly effects.

But it was still early. It was not yet time to intervene.

The Fan family had originally been a house of great wealth and prestige. Fan Jinguo and his wife had spent their entire lives with only Fan Sijin as their precious daughter. He had picked through the soldiers under his command and immediately taken a fancy to Gao Dagui's character and talent. The man was shrewd beneath his rough exterior, possessed drive, and was willing to take risks, but most important of all was the loyalty and discipline of a soldier.

The thing Fan Jinguo worried about most was his beloved daughter. Yet he would not live forever; after he was gone, who would take care of her?

Fan Sijin loved the arts and knew nothing about business or politics. She had never had to lift a finger to do housework and was even less suited to serving others. After careful consideration, Fan Jinguo ultimately chose Gao Dagui.

Fortunately, the term "gold digger" had not yet come into use at that time; otherwise, Fan Jinguo might have thought even more carefully about it.

After learning that the two were together, Fan Jinguo was overjoyed.

Not long after retiring from the army, Gao Dagui eagerly threw himself into the studies arranged for him by the Fan family: all kinds of corporate management courses.

Day after day, they were dull and monotonous.

Yet Gao Dagui studied with utter seriousness. He could hardly wait to master this knowledge.

He knew full well that he was still not worthy of Fan Sijin, but he truly, deeply liked her. Now that he had retired, if he did not have a way to make a living, how could he let a young girl follow him into hardship?

In Gao Dagui's heart, a girl like Fan Sijin ought to be cherished. She should do no housework at all, like a carefree princess kept in a castle.

For now, the Fan family looked after her. In the future, once the two of them married, he would have to shoulder the responsibility of supporting the family.

Just imagining Fan Sijin washing his clothes, cooking his meals, and doing housework—imagining that girl, who seemed almost celestial, becoming ordinary—caused him pain.

He had to work harder, much harder, to repay the opportunity his superior had given him and also for the family he would one day have.

Fan Sijin understood his thoughts very well. Though he looked rough, he was in fact meticulous, gentle, and kind.

She had arrived in this world a year ago, and this body was now eighteen. After returning to the country, she entered the music department at Capital University, studied under a renowned old professor, and also worked as a teaching assistant.

Although their relationship had already been settled, both of them were busy, and they did not often have the chance to meet.

Even so, Gao Dagui quickly obtained his driver's license. Whenever he had time, he would pick Fan Sijin up at the gates of Capital University after class. They would wander around the capital, enjoy dinner together, or return to the Fan residence.

Fan Jinguo was busy every day and still in the prime of his life; it would be at least several decades before he could step back.

With no son to inherit and no son-in-law following that path either, one could say he had no worries and no reason to fear any problems with the future handover.