I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 9: The Imposter

After traversing most of the city, Yuan Xiu finally arrived at her destination. The old man dropped her off at the entrance of the military base, took the fare, and stopped by the roadside to see if anyone wanted to enter the city.

Carrying her luggage and holding her letter of introduction, Yuan Xiu mustered her courage and walked toward the young soldier standing guard at the gate.

"Comrade, I'm here to see Jiang Zhou. This is my letter of introduction."

"Are you looking for Battalion Commander Jiang?" the soldier asked. "May I ask your relationship to him?"

Yuan Xiu then realized that Jiang Zhou was actually a battalion commander. He was only twenty-five years old and had only been in the army for a few years. No wonder Yuan Xinmin's family was so eager to take him away.

"Yes, I'm looking for Battalion Commander Jiang. I'm his fiancée."

The soldier was stunned. Didn't Battalion Commander Jiang's fiancée just arrive a few days ago? Why is another one here today?

How many fiancées does Battalion Commander Jiang have?

The soldier then realized the person in front of him looked familiar, quite similar to the woman who had come a few days ago. He quickly flipped through the register from a few days ago, "...Why are they both Yuan Xiu? Two Yuan Xius?"

The soldier immediately called to report it.

Yuan Xiu wasn't in a hurry and stood at the door to wait.

After a while, an even younger soldier ran out from inside. "Comrade Yuan Xiu, please come with me."

As he spoke, he bent down and picked up the luggage that Yuan Xiu had placed at his feet.

"No need, I can do it myself."

The young soldier dodged her hand, carrying the quilt and rattan box, and walked quickly. Yuan Xiu didn't bother to be polite and hurriedly followed.

Not long after entering the army camp, Yuan Xiu and Yuan Juan ran into each other.

One moment, Yuan Juan was chatting with her only friend, Sister Chunmei, asking when Jiang Zhou would have time to see her. She was also enthusiastically helping Sister Chunmei carry canned goods, as she was going to visit her. The next moment, she saw Yuan Xiu.

Her face turned pale instantly, and she dropped the can, which crashed to the ground with a loud thud!

"...Tonight, you and Jiangzhou are coming to my house for dinner... Oh dear! What happened? How could you be so careless?" Sister Chunmei squatted down anxiously. The canned food jar in the mesh bag was smashed to pieces. The yellow canned meat and glass shards were lying in the mesh bag, and the sweet juice from the can had spilled all over the ground, emitting a sweet smell.

Yuan Xiu hadn't seen Yuan Juan before, but with that sound, even if she were blind, she should have seen her.

She was delighted to see Yuan Juan's ghost-like expression!

She stared intently at Yuan Juan, approaching her step by step, and asked with a smile, "What a coincidence, what are you doing here?"

Yuan Juan was so frightened that she was trembling all over and could not answer her.

She had only one thought on her mind: Why was Yuan Xiu here? What should she do?

When the young soldier who was leading the way saw that Yuan Xiu hadn't followed, he stopped and stood a short distance away to wait for her.

Chunmei's mind finally snapped out of the shattered can on the ground, and she realized that something was wrong with Yuan Xiu.

When Yuan Xiu asked the question, Chunmei's sister-in-law turned her gaze to her. What she saw was astonishing—the two looked so alike.

"Yuan Xiu, do you two know each other?" Chunmei asked, referring to Yuan Juan.

Yuan Juan's face turned even paler, and her gaze toward Yuan Xiu was pleading.

Unfortunately, Yuan Xiu did not get what she wanted.

"Yuan Xiu? Ha! You're Yuan Xiu? Then who am I?"

Yuan Juan instinctively retorted, "I don't know who you are. I am Yuan Xiu."

Even if Chunmei's sister-in-law was slow-witted, she would realize by now that there was a problem between the two of them.

"What's going on? Do you two know each other or not? From what you're saying, is she not Yuan Xiu?"

The last question she asked was about Yuan Xiu.

Yuan Juan grabbed Chunmei's hand and hurriedly said, "Don't listen to her! I am Yuan Xiu, I am the real Yuan Xiu, she's an imposter!"

How ridiculous that the imposter claims to be the real one.

Chunmei was also confused. Yuan Xiu's face was as white as paper, and the girl who suddenly appeared didn't seem to be lying. Upon closer inspection, she thought the girl looked more like the person in the photo.

"Shameless!" Yuan Juan's words ignited the anger that Yuan Xiu had been suppressing for two lifetimes. She stepped forward, raised her arm, and slapped her across the face.

Sister-in-law Chunmei instinctively tried to stop her, "Hey, why are you hitting someone?"

"Because she deserves to be hit!"

Yuan Xiu stared at Yuan Juan and sneered, "I've truly witnessed the meaning of the saying 'Shamelessness knows no bounds' today! Coming from your mouth, you can turn white into black. How could I have been so blind to believe that your whole family were good people!"

"What have I, Yuan Xiu, ever done to wrong you? When my father passed away, your father took his job in the commune, securing a stable position so your family could move to town and live a better life. I carried the chickens and vegetables I raised in the countryside to your house time and time again, only to be rewarded with a family of ungrateful wretches!"

"You intercepted my letter halfway through, and now that you know the man is so well-off, your whole family must be overjoyed, right? Aren't you especially happy that you look like me? You, Yuan Juan, not only have no shame, but you've even abandoned your own name, using my name, Yuan Xiu, to travel all this way to steal my fiancé. Do you feel particularly accomplished? Do you think you've finally climbed the social ladder?"

"Pah! You think you're Yuan Xiu just because you say you are? You've been exposed, and you're still being stubborn! You're truly shameless."

Chunmei's sister-in-law: "..." Is she deaf? Her gaze towards Yuan Juan changed.

Yuan Juan's face flushed red and then turned pale as she was scolded. She wasn't stupid; if she were truly an idiot, she wouldn't dare to travel so far alone to steal her cousin's fiancé.

She reached for Yuan Xiu's hand, and seeing people gathering around, she pleaded pitifully, "Sister, let's find a more intimate place to talk, how about the guesthouse where I'm staying? Please don't talk here, I beg you."

Yuan Xiu shook off her hand. "So you still have any shame? I thought you didn't."

She didn't want to go to a quiet place; she just wanted more people to see Yuan Juan's true colors.

She was so glamorous in her past life, surrounded by everyone. Of course, she has to follow the same path in this life.

Chunmei's sister-in-law was pulled aside. "What's going on? Isn't this Battalion Commander Jiang's fiancée? And who is this girl? Why did she slap Battalion Commander Jiang's fiancée?"

Sister Chunmei, who was nearby and had witnessed the whole thing, naturally knew more than those who came later. She patted her chest and said, "It seems that the one who came before was a fake, and this girl is the real one?" She pointed at Yuan Xiu.

"What? It was a fake?" Most military wives are straightforward, and upon hearing this, one of them asked loudly.

"Someone actually impersonated someone in our unit! That's incredibly audacious! Does she think we won't recognize her?"

Yuan Xiu glanced back and saw that the military wife who was speaking was tall, probably around 1.75 meters, and had a cheerful demeanor, so she smiled at her.

The military wife smiled at her and stepped forward to stand beside Yuan Xiu. "Is she really an imposter?"

Yuan Xiu nodded. "I am Yuan Xiu, Jiang Zhou's fiancée. This is my cousin Yuan Juan. Their family intercepted the letter Jiang Zhou wrote to me and made Yuan Juan take the letter and use my name to meet Jiang Zhou."

Yuan Xiu explained the reason in a few words, and everyone looked at Yuan Juan with contempt. Those with fiery tempers pointed at her and cursed her.

Among the military dependents, most were women from rural areas, and their insults were quite harsh, causing Yuan Juan to stumble back several steps.

Yuan Juan was completely flustered and could only mutter to herself, "That's not how it is. Don't believe her. I'm real. I am Yuan Xiu. I have a letter of introduction."

She was stubborn, but the guilty look on her face betrayed her lies, making people despise her even more.

Comparing them again with Yuan Xiu, I initially thought the two looked quite alike, but now I see they don't look alike at all.

One is timid and hesitant, while the other is natural and outgoing; their temperaments are quite different.