Qin Jiao looked at Shen Yi, who was like a completely different person from their last life. Finally, she couldn’t hold back any longer. "I was starting to think you’d been replaced by someone else," she said. "The difference between you now and in our last life is just huge."

"So are you."

The two exchanged a look and decided to drop it. They were in the same boat—both of them, freed from the invisible shackles of their past, now just wanted to live well and protect their families.

This was also why Qin Jiao was willing to enter a fake marriage with Shen Yi.

When the pair returned home and announced their agreement to the fake marriage, Du Liya and the others were overjoyed. Du Liya was particularly ecstatic. "Oh, that’s right! A few shops recently imported some wedding dresses from abroad. Xiao Jiao, I’ll take you to try them on tomorrow!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

In those days, wedding dresses were a real rarity.

Qin Zhonghui and his wife wore complicated expressions, wondering why their daughter had suddenly agreed after just being out for a short while.

It wasn’t that they disliked Shen Yi; it was just that the couple found it hard to accept their daughter getting married so suddenly.

Qin Jiao was quite open about it, telling everyone what had happened with Li Xiaomei earlier that day.

After hearing the story, Du Liya was the first to fly into a rage.

"That Li Xiaomei! I’m going to go rip her face off! How dare she falsely accuse my Xiao Yi of having..." Du Liya glanced at Shen Yi, a little worried. She remembered that just mentioning the words "mental illness" used to be enough to set Xiao Yi off.

’But why is my son wearing such an enigmatic smile right now?’

Beidou, however, pulled Du Liya back. "The priority right now isn’t dealing with that Li Xiaomei," he said. "It’s preparing for the kids’ wedding!"

"Oh, right." Du Liya’s attention was immediately diverted, and she began to think about how to plan her son’s wedding.

Beidou leaned closer and whispered, "How about we get married at the same time, too?"

’The two of them were still just boyfriend and girlfriend, though. But a mother and son getting married at the same time... wouldn’t that make Shen Zhengfeng die of anger?’

Meanwhile, the Qin family of four had returned to their rooms. Su Yun was still a little worried. "Xiao Jiao, didn’t you say you didn’t like Shen Yi?"

"But I don’t hate him, either. Besides, that Li Xiaomei is just awful. And another thing—Li Xiaomei’s son, Shen Feng, has a crush on me."

This was just a guess on Qin Jiao’s part. Her main goal was to stop her parents from agonizing over the issue; after all, she couldn’t exactly explain the concept of a "forced plot" to them.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Su Yun searched her memory for a moment. "You mean that Chen Feng?" she asked.

"He changed his name around the time of the college entrance exam. He goes by Shen Feng now. He’s actually Shen Yi’s half-brother."

Su Yun said with disgust, "Isn’t that boy with the girl from the Old Lin Family? The one who abducted your sister, Lin Nian? I heard Lin Nian had a miscarriage before she went to prison, is that right?"

"Mhm."

Su Yun already thought that Shen Yi was a good kid. When compared to someone like Shen Feng, he seemed even better.

She nodded. "Well, in that case, that Xiao Yi seems much more reliable."

With Su Yun having no more objections, Qin Zhonghui had none either. Xiao Shi was even happier, as she had wanted Shen Yi to be her brother-in-law all along.

As for the wedding, Qin Jiao’s wish was to keep it simple—no big celebration, just a family meal and a small ceremony would be fine. Besides, they weren’t even getting a marriage certificate.

Then again, it was common for couples not to get a marriage certificate in those days.

Su Yun was a little upset. "That’s too rushed. It’s your wedding, after all. You’d be selling yourself short."

But Qin Jiao didn’t mind. "This one is fake, anyway, so there’s no need for a big to-do. We’ll wait for the next time. We’ll do it properly next time."

Shen Yi, who had just reached the doorway, raised an eyebrow.

’Next time?’