Leng Zhiwen really wanted to talk to this young man named Huang He again, to hear his voice. Both of them had been sent to the same hospital, so a reunion was quite possible.
However, Leng Zhiwen later learned that on the first night of his hospitalization, Huang He was transferred by his parents to a hospital in Hangzhou for emergency treatment. It was said that his leg was fractured, a serious injury, which made Leng Zhiwen very disappointed.
Even more disheartening was that Leng Zhiwen only knew Huang He's name and that his family dealt in leather shoes; she knew nothing else. Leng Zhiwen hadn't given Huang He her address, nor her phone number. Without any unexpected intervention, they would likely be permanently out of touch.
Perhaps many years later, a thirty or forty-year-old Leng Zhiwen would go on a CCTV program called "Waiting for You," share her story, and with the help of Aunt Ni Ping, find Huang He, who would also be in his thirties or forties.
This kept Leng Zhiwen quiet for a long time. She used to visit the vicinity of the manhole she had fallen into every single day for a month, hoping to encounter that man again.
Alas, the manhole had already been fitted with a new cover, and the nearby shops were being renovated, apparently to open a very trendy internet café. But Huang He was never seen again.
Time passed, and half a year went by. Leng Zhiwen was preparing to take her college entrance exams, and as her eldest sister, Leng Zhiqing, was about to graduate, she suddenly announced happily one day that she was bringing her boyfriend home.
Leng Zhiwen had no reaction to this; her heart belonged only to Huang He. That evening, she saw Huang He, carrying over a dozen bags of things, followed by two drivers, filling their originally small home to the brim.
Leng Zhiwen couldn't recall how she got through that day. She didn't remember it now. The only thing she clearly remembered was the heart-wrenching pain she felt.
Though the lighting was dim that day, Leng Zhiwen remembered Huang He's voice and his appearance perfectly. The first moment she saw Huang He, even before he announced his name, she recognized him.
But Huang He, on the other hand, didn't recognize her at all. He merely greeted her politely and gave her a vibrant green dress as a gift.
Leng Zhiwen couldn't remember where that dress was. It was likely shredded with scissors and thrown into the trash that very night.
Later, Huang He began to happily recount his and her sister's love story to their mother, explaining that he met Leng Zhiqing shortly after returning to the country. They had a dramatic encounter filled with hardship, but parted ways without exchanging contact information.
Huang He only knew that she was a classmate at Wenzhou University, just like him. However, he couldn't find her anywhere on campus. Then, a few months prior, he encountered Leng Zhiqing at his family's factory.
It turned out that her sister went to Huang He's family factory every day after school to work and earn money, which was why Huang He couldn't find Leng Zhiqing.
Huang He completely fell in love with her sister, and they quickly decided to get married. Today was just a visit to formally meet the aunt.
After that day, their lives changed. First, they moved from their old, dilapidated house to Wenzhou's first large-tier flat, boasting five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two living rooms, two studies, and even two kitchens, perfectly accommodating the needs of the six sisters.
There was no longer a need to be frugal and live a meager life. Her sister brought home many things every day. Later, right after graduating, her sister became Huang He's secretary, earning a salary of over ten thousand yuan a month.
Huang He's parents also liked Leng Zhiqing very much. His mother even gifted Leng Zhiqing a jade bracelet worth over a million yuan, calling it a family heirloom passed down for over 200 years, specifically for their daughter-in-law.
In any case, the Leng family's life underwent a tremendous transformation. Because of this, Zhang Yali never dared to act like a condescending mother-in-law in front of Huang He. Instead, she treated him better than her own sons. After Leng Zhiqing's death, she even actively encouraged her other daughters to marry Huang He. This was all born from their past poverty.
However, Leng Zhiwen sank into endless despair. Using her clever mind and piecing together certain events, she discovered the truth: her sister, Leng Zhiqing, was an abominable liar, a despicable thief who had stolen everything from her.
As for the claim that Huang He experienced hardships upon returning to the country, that was entirely false.
The one who experienced hardships was not Leng Zhiqing, but Leng Zhiwen herself. She and Huang He had fallen into the manhole together and were separated, losing all contact.
Huang He must not have forgotten her and had been trying to find her. But fate played a cruel trick. Because Leng Zhiwen had initially, out of pride, claimed to be a student at Wenzhou University, Huang He would naturally search for her among her classmates there.
Therefore, Leng Zhiqing, her own sister, who looked most similar to her among the six sisters, with long hair that made them almost identical, and a student at Wenzhou University, was naturally mistaken by Huang He for her.
After all, it was nighttime, the lighting was dim, she was wearing makeup, and she was in costume, making it difficult to discern her true age. Huang He's mistake was understandable. When he found Leng Zhiqing, he naturally assumed that Leng Zhiqing was the one who had fallen in with him.
So Leng Zhiwen hated him. She detested her sister, Leng Zhiqing. Leng Zhiwen had met Huang He first; she was supposed to be the bride marrying Huang He.
But Leng Zhiqing, the thief, knew from the very beginning that Huang He was not looking for her. She had never had any connection with Huang He, nor had they watched stars together in the manhole.
The real person was herself, who, afraid of incurring medical expenses, had refused to stay in the hospital the next day, enduring the pain and applying liniment for a month. Leng Zhiqing knew all of this clearly.
Yet Leng Zhiqing, the eldest sister, shamelessly stole her sister's destiny, her sister's beloved. She became the wife of the prestigious Chairman of Jiangnan Group, becoming a person worth hundreds of millions.
She even came over, supposedly out of care for her sisters, and bestowed upon her sisters what rightfully belonged to Leng Zhiwen. None of them realized this. Everyone in the family was grateful to Leng Zhiqing, praising her as a good sister.
At that time, Leng Zhiwen had repeatedly felt the urge to go to Huang He, her brother-in-law, and tell him the truth, telling him that it was she who had been in the manhole that day, that it was she who was the impulsive girl in the ancient long dress they chatted with.
But Leng Zhiwen eventually gave up. She thought about their family, remembering that her eldest sister had truly shouldered the responsibility of raising them. She remembered that their father had just passed away, and their mother was still in confinement.
While doing their homework, they cooked for their middle-school-aged sister and carried the other younger sisters on their backs, singing them lullabies.
She saw the entire family immersed in laughter and joy. If she revealed the truth, all of this would likely vanish, the sisterly bond would cease to exist, and the family would break apart.
Ultimately, Leng Zhiwen gave up. She decided to keep the secret, but at the same time, she began to resent Huang He.
It was understandable that Huang He was blind and couldn't recognize her that day. But after a year, hadn't he discovered that her sister was a fake? Hadn't he thought to ask about the details of that day, such as the color of the clothes her sister wore, whether it was a dress or sweatpants!
He had no idea that her sister never wore dresses because they were expensive and inconvenient. Her sister only wore sweatpants, which were practical and did not hinder her movements. She was a woman who never wore dresses.
Only after becoming Huang He's girlfriend did she maliciously discard her usual pants and start wearing various beautiful dresses, feigning a pitiable appearance.
But Huang He hadn't noticed any of this until their wedding, the banquet, and the bridal chamber games.
On that day, Leng Zhiwen tearfully attended the wedding. Afterward, she cut her long hair short. Except for performing on stage, she never wore dresses again, opting only for sweatpants and jeans, transforming her appearance into something completely different from before, becoming the former Leng Zhiqing.
Simultaneously, Leng Zhiwen never smiled at Huang He. Partly out of hatred for him, and partly out of fear that a smile might betray her feelings.
Leng Zhiwen tried to forget the past this way. She believed she might find a good man to marry in the future, and her life would be thus.
However, fate continued to play tricks on her. Who would have thought that just as Leng Zhiwen was letting go of everything, her despicable sister, the thief who had stolen her man, Leng Zhiqing, would be killed in a car accident?
When she first heard the news, Leng Zhiwen felt a trace of pleasure, a sense of divine retribution.
Of course, this trace of pleasure was quickly overshadowed by her sisterly affection. For a long time afterward, Leng Zhiwen agonized over whether to tell her brother-in-law the truth, so that she and her brother-in-law could legitimately be together again.
But the prolonged coldness she had shown her brother-in-law had created almost no interaction between them. Leng Zhiwen was afraid that Huang He no longer loved her, and she would become the biggest fool in the world.
Not to mention that later, when Huang He's business fell into a deadlock and the entire enterprise was on the brink of bankruptcy, Leng Zhiwen was actually at her most relaxed. She had already decided that if Huang He failed and was abandoned by everyone, she would appear by his side, offer him comfort, and remain devoted. Then Huang He would surely love her again, and they would elope to a place no one could find them. She would leave with Huang He, and they would live a simple life of plain food and coarse clothes.
As for dreams, they didn't matter. As long as she had Huang He, that was enough.
But who could predict the cruel humor of fate? Huang He did not collapse; he came back from the brink of death.
Thus, she didn't get to witness Huang He's abandonment and desperate moments. Instead, Leng Zhiruo, her good second sister, took advantage of the situation and developed feelings for Huang He.
When Leng Zhiwen saw Huang He and Leng Zhiruo returning home together, carrying shopping bags, she felt a shadow of her eldest sister with Huang He. Leng Zhiwen was plunged into immense despair once more.
Therefore, Leng Zhiwen's expression toward Huang He became even colder.
Leng Zhiwen despairingly realized that the more she loved Huang He, the further he drifted away from her.