Chapter 1: Marriage by Proxy

“Li Luo, you want to marry Qi Liancheng? In your next life! He belongs to me! You can only marry that old man; it's what you deserve!”

The woman laughed maniacally. Amidst their struggle, both tumbled down the stairs.

...

“Li Luo, can you live with yourself after doing this? Xiao Ge is our biological daughter. She has suffered so much injustice in the Lin family all these years, and now you’re even trying to frame her. You have truly broken our hearts.”

“If you’re awake, give us an explanation! What kind of behavior is this, playing dead!”

Listening to the noisy shouting and cursing in her ears, Li Luo covered her head in pain, thinking: *This beautiful woman in front of me is so loud. Doesn't she know that shouting isn't allowed in a hospital? How unrefined!*

She half-opened her eyes to see a beautiful woman in a traditional Chinese qipao standing before her, pointing at her nose and cursing furiously. Beside her stood a timid young girl, huddling in the woman's arms.

Li Luo narrowed her eyes slightly, recalling the words just spoken.

*Biological daughter?*

*Suffering injustice?*

Instantly, memories flooded in.

She had transmigrated into the 1980s, sharing the same name as the original owner of this body.

However, her transmigration was different from others; she had transmigrated directly into the body of a "fake heiress."

The original owner had been swapped at birth. Eighteen years had passed, and now the real heiress, Lin Ge, had been found and brought back to the Li family. Upon returning home, Lin Ge immediately demanded that the original owner go to the countryside to marry an old man with a family, claiming it was an arrangement made by the original owner's biological parents.

The original owner had refused, thinking that her adoptive mother, Yu Shulan, would surely favor her.

But she never expected Yu Shulan to be such a shallow person.

Snobbish and narrow-minded!

With just a few words, the real heiress, Lin Ge, had completely manipulated her, leading Yu Shulan to agree to let the original owner marry in her place.

After learning that the original owner had a childhood betrothal to Qi Liancheng, Lin Ge had intentionally provoked her, saying she would take her place in the marriage while the original owner would be forced to marry the old man. This triggered the argument on the stairs, causing both to fall, resulting in the current situation.

There were no other memories; it was as if there was a gap in her consciousness.

Having understood everything, the corners of Li Luo's mouth curled up slightly.

Returning like for like—that was what she was best at.

*If you want to be a shrew, I'll be even more of a shrew than you.*

Li Luo struggled to sit up. "Excuse me, ma'am, are you alright? Can't you see the large word 'Quiet' on this wall? You don't look like someone who is illiterate, so why are you acting as coarse as a peasant woman from the countryside?"

Lin Ge, who had been in Yu Shulan's arms, saw the mocking smirk on Li Luo's face and shouted in anger, "Li Luo! How dare you speak to my mother like that? My mother has raised you, an outsider, for eighteen years! Do you have no respect for your elders at all!"

*Respect?*

*Why show respect to a villain?*

"Hiss, I didn't expect that if the elder is illiterate, the younger is the same. Truly mother and daughter—you both display that 'peasant woman' temperament to perfection."

Li Luo emphasized the words "peasant woman" heavily, giving the mother and daughter a look that was meant to infuriate them.

"You... I'll kill you!" The term "peasant woman" seemed to strike a nerve with Lin Ge, who lunged forward, intending to attack Li Luo.

Li Luo's eyes darted to the side, and she immediately feigned weakness. "Oh! Doctor, quick! My head hurts so much!"

"What's all this noise? Hospitals require silence!" A doctor happened to pass by and saw Lin Ge about to strike. With quick reflexes, he grabbed Lin Ge's wrist and shoved her away.

Yu Shulan hurriedly supported Lin Ge, feeling resentful toward the doctor's attitude, but since they were in a hospital, she had no way to lash out.

"Doctor, my head hurts so much. They've been acting like this since the moment I opened my eyes. What should I do? I'm not going to die, am I?"

Li Luo covered her head, looking completely distraught.

The doctor performed a comprehensive examination on Li Luo and found nothing serious, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Miss Li, there is nothing wrong with your body. The headache is likely a stress reaction from just now."

After speaking, the doctor turned to Yu Shulan and her daughter. "And you, Mrs. Yu, how can you be so unruly? Miss Li is your daughter after all. If you don't care for her, who will?"

"Who is this lady? Did she come to the wrong department? She's quite ill; she's talking about killing people the moment she opens her mouth. I suggest she goes to the psychiatric department for a check-up."

Lin Ge exploded with rage upon hearing this. She pointed at the doctor's nose and cursed, "I am the real heiress of the Li family now! Li Luo has usurped my position. How can you be a doctor?"

The doctor frowned. "Do you need me to help you transfer to another department?"

Seeing this, Lin Ge stomped her feet in frustration and stopped talking.

The doctor turned back to see Li Luo clutching the quilt tightly, her eyes blinking like those of a startled deer. His voice softened slightly. "Miss Li, don't worry, your body is fine. After two hours of observation, you can complete the discharge procedures."

As the doctor left, he shot a glare at Lin Ge.

Once the doctor had completely left, Lin Ge looked at Li Luo's provocative gaze and raised her hand, intending to slap her.

"Enough, stop making a scene."

Yu Shulan's mood was not much better after being scolded by the doctor, and she now felt the need to maintain her image as a kind mother.

Otherwise, if people saw a slap mark on Li Luo's face when she was discharged, wouldn't it give people ammunition to say the two of them were bullies?

Seeing this, Lin Ge withdrew her hand awkwardly and immediately put on a fragile expression, weeping bitterly. "Mom, you don't know how cruel Li Luo's biological parents are. For the sake of five thousand yuan, they sold me to an old man with a family in the countryside. A few days ago, I was even pushed down the stairs by Li Luo. What am I going to do with my life..."

"Hmph, dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes, and the son of a rat knows how to dig holes. It seems this ungrateful wolf and the Lin family are birds of a feather!"

Lin Ge's words finally provided an outlet for Yu Shulan's resentment.

Watching Lin Ge's dramatic performance, Li Luo couldn't help but clap.

*What a masterful performance of a "White Lotus"!*

If the original owner had truly intended to harm her, why wasn't she the one in the hospital?

The cause of the argument between the original owner and Lin Ge was that Lin Ge had intentionally provoked her, saying she would take her place in marrying Qi Liancheng. He was Li Luo's fiancé, from a family of scholars for generations, a perfect match for the Li family, and they had been betrothed since childhood.

Although the original owner had been raised a bit spoiled, she was well-bred and would never harm an innocent person; moreover, she was extremely sensitive to pain.

She was the type of person who would cry and fuss for a long time over a tiny scratch on her hand and then nurse it with extreme care. How could such a person have rolled down the stairs with Lin Ge?

Furthermore, according to her memories, it was Lin Ge who had pinned the original owner down, causing her to faint from the pressure.

Li Luo did not believe for a second that Lin Ge was a "sweet and innocent" girl.

"Li Luo, you are the biological daughter of the Lin family. A daughter must pay her father's debts, so you are the one who should marry that thirty-year-old man! My parents raised you for eighteen years; I don't ask for repayment, I only ask that you stop upsetting them."

Lin Ge's tearful words made Yu Shulan feel nothing but heartache.

(End of Chapter)