"Rongrong, don't be afraid. The bond from raising a child is stronger than the bond from giving birth. You're the little princess I raised with my own hands. How could I ever let you marry Lu Shijing, who's been missing for three years, to ward off bad luck?"
"If this marriage contract weren't impossible to get out of, your father and I would never have gone to the countryside to bring that country bumpkin back. The way she looks will only get me ridiculed!"
"You've always been so frail. How could your mother bear to let you suffer?"
"..."
In front of her, Guan Wutian and Song Shuhua lovingly wiped their daughter's tears, assuring her they wouldn't grow distant just because their biological daughter had arrived.
Gu Shengsheng, who her own biological mother had just called a "country bumpkin," stood at the doorway. She clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms, the pain the only thing that felt real.
She had been a cultural artifact Appraiser, but now she had transmigrated into the body of a girl named Gu Shengsheng in a parallel world.
At that moment, a set of memories that didn't belong to her flooded her mind.
The original Gu Shengsheng had grown up in the countryside with her grandmother. Later, she and her grandmother were brought over by the Gu family, who told her she was their child who had been switched at birth many years ago—the Gu family's true daughter.
The original owner thought coming to the Gu family meant her life would get better. But not only was she forbidden from seeing her grandmother, the Gu family now wanted her to marry the Lu Family's son, who had been missing for three years, to ward off bad luck.
The Gu family had only sought out their biological daughter so she could marry in their adopted daughter's place.
Having grasped the gist of the situation, she was about to turn and go back to her room to rest when Gu Rongrong suddenly ran over.
She threw her arms around her. "Sister... I'm so sorry for taking over your life for all these years, but please don't make me leave, okay? I love Mom and Dad too, and I want to stay by their side forever."
Then, tears started rolling down her cheeks, making it look as if Gu Shengsheng had been bullying her.
Before Gu Shengsheng could respond, Song Shuhua pulled Gu Rongrong away.
She quickly wiped her daughter's hands with alcohol. "Rongrong, sweetie, you can't touch your sister right now. Her clothes have germs, you know. You might get an infection."
Gu Shengsheng glanced down at her own worn, wrinkled shirt and shorts. They certainly looked out of place here. Fortunately, she didn't care.
"What is it?" she asked.
Guan Wutian sighed. "Shengsheng, you've suffered all these years. We originally wanted to let you rest for a few days, but the Lu Family is pressing us about the marriage contract. So, after only a few days with us, you'll have to get married."
'If Gu Shengsheng hadn't overheard their earlier conversation, she might have actually believed he was reluctant to let her go.'
Then, Song Shuhua chimed in, "Shengsheng, you're the older sister, so you should give way to the younger one. Your sister is frail; she'd never get used to marrying into that family. It's perfect that you're back now. How about you marry in your sister's place?"
As she spoke, Song Shuhua's eyes reddened. "I watched your sister grow up. She's always been so sweet and obedient. She definitely couldn't handle the gloomy atmosphere of another family's home."
"You're a tough kid. You can handle hardship. And you'll still be marrying into a rich family. You should consider yourself lucky to be marrying up."
Gu Shengsheng found it laughable. 'They were pushing their own biological daughter out the door and acting as if it were perfectly natural.'
"And if I refuse to marry?" she asked.
Song Shuhua had never even considered this possibility. She simply pretended not to have heard.
"Shengsheng, can you really bear to watch your weak little sister marry into that family and be mistreated?"
"Alright, don't say anything about refusing. I don't want to hear it."
Then, Guan Wutian added, "Once you're married, just live your life over there quietly. Don't cause any trouble and bring misfortune upon this family."
"If anything happens to you, it won't just affect the family's stocks; it will also impact your sister's future marriage prospects."
Gu Shengsheng sneered. 'Who would want a family like this? Every word they said was nauseating enough to make her want to vomit.'
'Maybe marrying to ward off bad luck isn't such a bad option. If my husband dies young, I'll be a rich widow in a family with few relatives. That's much better than this horrible home.'
"I can marry him to ward off bad luck, but I have one condition. After I'm married, you and I will sever all ties. I don't want to have anything to do with you ever again."
"And of course, any money I make in the future will have nothing to do with you either."
With that, Gu Shengsheng took out a kinship severance agreement she had drafted earlier, placed it on the table, and waited for them to sign.
Song Shuhua and Guan Wutian signed their names without a second thought. They couldn't wait to draw a clear line between themselves and Gu Shengsheng.
'They were just surprised. How did this country bumpkin daughter know about things like this?'
But Song Shuhua didn't dwell on it. She took a bracelet from a box and put it on Gu Shengsheng's wrist. "The Lu Family will come to pick you up in about a week."
The moment Gu Shengsheng's skin touched the jadeite bracelet, a mechanical voice sounded in her head.
[System]: Ding! The Appraisal and Recycling System has been bound.
Newbie Gift Pack x1. Jadeite Attribute Panel bound.
Item: Jadeite Bracelet
Description: Type C jadeite. Acid-washed, polymer-filled, and subjected to multiple treatments. Summary: Garbage.
Era: Modern.
Market Value: 200 yuan
Recycle Value: 180 yuan
Emotion Value Collected: 0
Gu Shengsheng: 'Huh? It's just like in those novels. Transmigrate and get a system!'
She took a closer look. All the attributes on the panel were about this piece of jadeite.
'Is the Lu Family so poor that they'd give their future daughter-in-law a 200-yuan piece of junk from a street stall?'
When she looked up at Gu Rongrong, she noticed an identical bracelet on her wrist. 'So the Gu family swapped them? They kept the real one and left me with this cheap knock-off.'
The bracelet on Gu Rongrong's wrist looked to be Type A jadeite. Its color and luster were good. Based on her previous experience, its market value was probably around several hundred thousand yuan.
The price wasn't particularly high or low—just average.
So she wasn't impressed by it either.
'Still... the Gu family was truly so "good" to their biological daughter. They even dared to swap the engagement gift!'
She wasn't bothered by such a petty trick. Not to mention, with her abilities, she could buy a much better jadeite bracelet for the same price.
Besides, when the time came, if she showed up with this trashy bracelet for the Lu Family to see, it would only be Gu Rongrong's family that lost face.
Arguing with them would just be a waste of time she could be using to make money. She had no time to deal with such a brainless, two-faced schemer; it would just lower her own IQ.
She was just thinking that she had to go to the Lu Family's house in one week. If she didn't have her own capital by then, her fate would still be to get pushed around.
And the capital a person needed to establish themselves was money.
She searched herself and found only forty yuan on her, a gift from her grandmother when she came for the family reunion.
Helpless and dirt poor, she knew she had to go out and earn some money.
'It's perfect. Before transmigrating, I was a jewelry Appraiser, and now I have a system like this. I have to get back into my old line of work!'
---
She did a quick search on her phone. The nearest place, Rui City, had a booming jewelry and jadeite business.
Rui City was home to the largest stone gambling market, a place where all sorts of people gathered. Some made enough money to buy a house, while others lost enough to ruin their lives...
Seeing that it wasn't too far, Gu Shengsheng spent thirty yuan on a taxi to get there.
Standing at the entrance to the stone gambling market, she registered for a streaming account and started a live broadcast.
With zero followers, she gave her stream an eye-catching title: Stone Gambling Challenge: Earning Ten Million in One Week.
Sure enough, a few people trickled in, drawn by her clickbait title.
"What the hell? Is this streamer dreaming? Ten million in one week?"
"Whoa, from her figure, it looks like a woman. A woman gambling on stones? I've never seen or heard of such a thing!"
"Can't see her face. Wonder if she's hot."
"Can't tell if her body is any good either. Otherwise, she'd make more money as one of those thirst-trap streamers!"
Gu Shengsheng completely ignored the vulgar comments online.
She walked inside and saw piles upon piles of jade stones. A stall owner called out to her, "Come take a look, little lady! Are you here as a tourist? Why not pick a stone and have it cut open for fun?"
She swept her gaze over them.
She touched them one by one.
Item: Jadeite rough stone (common granite)
Description: A common rock. No jadeite, nothing special.
Market Value: Recommended to be returned to the mountains.
Recycle Value: Not recyclable
Emotion Value Reclaimed: -5
...