"Brother Felix said it himself—he’ll marry nobody but me. Grandpa, Grandma, you can’t just break us up, can you? I’m not marrying that rough soldier."

"It’s only a switch in marriage, that’s all. Jade Holloway isn’t losing out. Ethan Mercer is a proper army officer. Plenty of girls would fight tooth and nail for a match like that. Letting her marry him is doing her a favor."

A dull throb hammered at the back of Jade Holloway’s head, sharp as needles boring into her nerves. The dry, bitter smell of yellow dirt rushed into her throat and made her choke. She snapped her eyes open.

The first thing she saw was a mud-brick wall, smoked so long it had turned black. By her ear, a shrill, smug female voice kept rattling on without pause, buzzing around her like a fly that wouldn’t leave.

Jade braced one hand on the cold earthen floor and pushed herself upright. Her palm came away gritty with dust. Blood from her temple slid down along her brow bone and dripped onto her faded coarse-cloth jacket, spreading into a small dark brown stain.

Then, all at once, a flood of jumbled memories crashed into her mind—she had transmigrated into a book, into a story set in the 1970s, and become the cannon-fodder supporting girl who happened to share her name: Jade Holloway.

Today was the very day the Holloway family was forcing her to swap engagements with her cousin, Lana Holloway. The original Jade had refused to back down. In the middle of the struggle, Lana had shoved her hard into the corner of the table. She’d split her head open, failed to hold on, and that was when Jade took her place.

She sorted through the whole mess fast enough: this Lana Holloway was probably reborn.

In her last life, the original Jade had made a bad match and married the wrong man, Felix Quinn. Only after the wedding did she learn the truth—the man was not only violent, he was also impotent. Later, when reform and opening-up began, she went into business herself and, by sheer grit, built a real name for herself.

As for Felix Quinn, he had it easy. He did nothing at all and still ended up enjoying the title of richest man.

Lana Holloway, on the other hand, had married the officer Ethan Mercer, and her life had gone completely downhill. The two of them couldn’t get along, their marriage existed in name only, and in the end she came to a miserable finish.

Now that she had a second chance, Lana had made up her mind to snatch Felix Quinn away and shove Ethan Mercer—the so-called "fire pit"—straight onto the original Jade.

This time around, the woman standing beside the future richest man had to be her. As for Ethan Mercer, well, let Jade Holloway marry him instead.

Watching Lana act this shameless just to marry Felix Quinn, Jade found it downright laughable.

And the people in this room—every one of them had simply stood there and watched while the original Jade got bullied. The more Jade thought about it, the angrier she got.

Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway had always favored the second branch of the family. Since their precious granddaughter had already spoken, to them this was nothing more than changing one marriage arrangement.

"Jade, then you’ll marry Ethan Mercer."

Just one sentence, and her whole life was decided. If it had been the original Jade, she probably would have swallowed it and obeyed.

But she was not the original Jade, and she was not that easy to push around. She first lifted a hand and lightly touched her injured head. Then she spoke slowly, "I can agree to the marriage swap. But I have three conditions."

The moment she heard Jade relent, Lana’s heart leapt with joy. In her head, she was already picturing her future life as the wife of a rich man. The excitement inside her was almost too much to hold down.

Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway were both caught off guard for a second, though Mr. Holloway still managed to keep a straight face.

Mrs. Holloway was a different story. She was used to ordering the original Jade Holloway around and barking at her whenever she pleased, so the moment she opened her mouth, the scolding came flying out.

"You wretched girl, all we asked was for you to swap the marriage, and now you’ve even learned to make demands? We’ve clearly spoiled you rotten. This marriage will be swapped whether you agree or not."

"Fine. Then I won’t swap."

"Grandma."

Lana Holloway was so anxious she nearly stamped a hole in the floor. For her granddaughter’s sake, Mrs. Holloway finally swallowed back the harsher words sitting on the tip of her tongue.

"Go on, then. What do you want?"

"First, if the marriages are being swapped, then the bride price should be swapped too. The betrothal money from the Mercer family goes to me."

"Second, when I get married, I want one thousand yuan in dowry."

"Third, the money my father left behind has to be returned to me."

The second she finished, nobody in the room could stay seated anymore. They had looked calm before only because none of this had touched their own pockets.

Especially Lana Holloway’s parents, Dwight Holloway and Diana Holloway.

The Mercer family had offered a full two thousand yuan as bride price. With that amount in hand, people in the village would look at their daughter in a whole new light. If anyone expected them to cough that money back up, they were dreaming.

"Mom, I think we’d better forget about swapping this marriage."

The one who spoke was the eldest son of the Holloway family, Ernest Holloway. Ever since the army had delivered that sum of money, the whole family had been leaning on it to get by.

His own son still hadn’t even taken a wife yet. If they handed that money over now, how was his son supposed to get married?

"That’s right, Mom. We shouldn’t swap it."

Ernest Holloway’s wife, Mildred Holloway, was flustered too. Money that had already landed in her hands was not coming back out, no matter what.

"That’s fine. Then don’t swap it."

Jade Holloway said it in an even tone, but Lana Holloway was so frantic she looked ready to burst into tears.

Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway both felt she was asking for the moon.

"Keep dreaming. The Holloway family raised you all these years, and who would've thought we'd end up with such an ungrateful wretch? Don't even think about taking a single cent from us."

Jade Holloway didn't panic in the slightest. She had no intention of letting this family off easy. Bit by bit, she would settle every score and make them pay back all the bullying and humiliation they had dumped on the original Jade.

The second Lana Holloway thought about losing the chance to marry Felix Quinn, the anger in her chest shot straight up. She lifted her hand and lunged at Jade.

The others nearby acted like they saw nothing at all. It had always been like this. In this house, the original Jade had been nothing but a punching bag, someone they could hit if they wanted, curse if they pleased.

Jade's lips curved a little. She wasn't stupid enough to stand there and let herself be beaten. She spun around and bolted outside, shouting at the top of her lungs as she ran.

"Everybody, come look! The Holloways are bullying people! Lana Holloway is trying to beat me to death!"

As she shouted, Jade reached up and yanked her hair loose, exposing the wound on her head.

It was just about quitting time from the fields, and the moment people heard the commotion, they all came crowding over to watch.

When Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway saw Jade run out, both their hearts skipped. By the time they snapped out of it, Jade was already standing in the middle of the crowd.

"Jade, what happened to your head?"

"Auntie, Lana Holloway insisted on swapping marriages with me. I refused, so she shoved me down. The whole family just stood there and watched me bleed without doing a thing."

Everyone stared at the gash on Jade's head. Blood was still seeping out.

Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway opened their mouths, wanting to say something, but it was too late. Someone had already run off to fetch the brigade leader.

Usually, Jade gave people the impression that she was honest, quiet, soft, the kind who didn't dare talk back.

After her father died in the army, the villagers had all felt sorry for her, so most of them treated her with a bit of pity.

Seeing things blow up like this, Mr. Holloway shot Lana Holloway a vicious glare. At the same time, a thought kept turning in his mind: Jade wasn't acting right today. She'd been beaten before, more than once, but today she had actually known to run outside.

The brigade leader arrived soon enough. The moment he saw the injury on Jade's head, he turned and looked at the Holloway family.

"Jade Holloway is a martyr's daughter, and you still dared to lay hands on her?"

The second those words came out, the Holloways lost their nerve. If they got branded as a family that bullied a martyr's child, they were finished.

"Captain, the two girls were just fooling around."

Before Mr. Holloway could even finish covering for them, Jade Holloway cut in cold and clear. "Captain, Lana Holloway and Felix Quinn have been carrying on for a long while. Now she wants to switch marriages with me."

The second those words landed, everybody turned to stare at Lana Holloway. No one had expected her to dare something like that. Someone in the crowd couldn't hold it in and blurted out,

"Captain, this kind of mess needs dealing with. If word gets out, it'll sound downright shameful."

Lana Holloway's legs nearly gave way on the spot. Every face in the Holloway family turned ugly. Diana Holloway was terrified her daughter's name would be ruined, so she hurried to speak. "Captain, don't listen to that girl's nonsense. The marriage swap hasn't even been settled. Lana and Felix are both decent young people. They'd never do such a thing."

Before Diana Holloway could even finish, Tommy Langford from the village sprang out and pointed straight at Lana Holloway.

"I saw it with my own eyes. She was wrapped up with Brother Felix. His hands were all over her, the two of them were kissing too, and she was making those soft little sounds."

That one sentence shut Diana Holloway up completely. Mr. Holloway understood at once that if he didn't hand over the money today, this matter was never going to end.

"Qing girl, the three things you asked for—we agree to all of them. So stop making a scene now."

As soon as he said it, Mr. Holloway hurried Mrs. Holloway into the house to fetch the money.

When the villagers saw that thick stack of bills, their eyes practically popped out. Right there in front of everyone, Jade Holloway explained exactly where the money had come from.

Once they heard it was the bride price, her dowry money, and the martyr's compensation, nobody spoke for a moment.

Especially the compensation money. This was the first time everyone had learned the army had paid five thousand yuan.

If Jade Holloway hadn't made such a fuss today, wouldn't the Holloway family have kept that money hidden forever?

The captain had clearly thought of that too. He looked at Jade Holloway and said, "From now on, you keep this money yourself. If anyone dares get ideas, come straight to me."

"Thank you, Captain."

Seeing her like this, the captain felt a little heavy in his heart.

When Lana Holloway saw the money had already been handed over, she figured Jade Holloway had to agree to the marriage swap now.

"Jade Holloway, you've got the money. Then the switch is settled."

Jade Holloway nodded. Lana Holloway was just about to breathe easy when she heard Jade speak again.