“Miss Xia, I’m willing to offer thirty million for your ancestral house.”
“Sorry, not for sale.”
As one of the top cultural relic restoration experts, Xia Jinxiu had long achieved financial freedom.
Money to her was nothing more than a string of digits.
But the ancestral home left by her grandfather carried her best childhood memories. No matter how much money was offered—she would never sell it.
Just thinking about the old house stirred an impulse in her—maybe she should go back and have a look.
After studying and working away for all these years, she hadn’t returned in a long time.
Xia Jinxiu was the straightforward and decisive type—once she made up her mind, she acted immediately. That same day, she drove back to the rural village.
Pushing open the long-unused, dust-covered gate, she stepped into the main room. Just as she entered, the old beam—rotted and unstable after years of neglect—suddenly snapped and fell, striking her squarely.
She only felt darkness swallow her vision.
When she opened her eyes again—her clothes were half-undone, and beside her stood a wooden bath barrel.
Xia Jinxiu’s eyes widened.
This was her family’s woodshed.
Except—everything that used to be stored here had long been cleared out…
She quickly leaned over the water to look at her reflection.
The face staring back was young—still holding traces of innocence.
Before she could feel thrilled by this discovery, a memory from her previous life struck her—
Back then, a village delinquent had taken advantage of her bath time to sneak inside.
Although she fought desperately and prevented him from succeeding, her stepmother’s relatives ended up seeing the delinquent in the woodshed.
Once that kind of thing happened, the truth no longer mattered—her reputation was completely ruined.
Knowing her name was tainted, her stepmother forced her to marry the delinquent.
She had always been strong-willed; unless they truly cornered her to death, she would never compromise.
Unable to make her give in, the stepmother eventually gave her money to leave the village.
Otherwise, not only would she become the daily subject of scorn, but she would also be humiliated by shameless men.
Back then, Xia Jinxiu was deeply grateful to her stepmother and left with the money.
Later—she discovered the truth.
The delinquent had been paid by her stepmother’s biological son to ruin her reputation.
The goal was to seize her grandfather’s ancestral home.
Ridiculous, wasn’t it?
Live in another person’s house long enough, and they began to believe it belonged to them.
Li Chunfen wasn’t even her real stepmother—her father never registered marriage with Li Chunfen; he hadn’t even touched her.
He simply rescued her when she was unable to support her three children.
While her father was alive, Li Chunfen treated her well.
Less than two years after her father passed, the woman grew greedy and wanted the house.
In her previous life, Xia Jinxiu thought that was all there was to it.
Later, she learned the real reason Xia Lao’er had hired the delinquent—to destroy her innocence—was because Xia Yashu had set her sights on her fiancé.
Not only that—Xia Yashu had a secret.
She was reborn.
She knew that Jinxiu’s fiancé, Zhou Zhiming, would become successful in the future. That was why she wanted to ruin Jinxiu and be with him herself.
When Jinxiu first heard this, she thought Xia Yashu was drunk and spouting nonsense.
But unexpectedly—it was true.
Because she, too, had been reborn.
This lifetime—she would repay every bit of the stepmother’s family’s scheming, and let them experience what it meant to be completely destroyed.
But for now—she needed to handle the delinquent who was about to break in.
Pushing aside the tangled emotions, Xia Jinxiu quickly secured her clothes.
She picked up a wooden stick as thick as a bowl from the corner of the woodshed, testing its weight—at least twenty to thirty pounds—good enough.
Just as she found the perfect weapon—
A heavy thud sounded from the courtyard.
She hadn’t noticed this detail in her previous life, but this time, she remained alert and immediately sensed something was off.
She moved to the bath barrel and splashed the water.
The man climbed over the wall in the dark. Hearing the sound of water splashing in the woodshed, excitement rushed through him.
So Xia Lao’er hadn’t lied.
He approached the window to peek but saw nothing—the cloth curtains blocked his view.
Hu Lai swallowed hard.
The youngest daughter of the Xia family—the prettiest girl in the village. What luck for him.
Taking advantage of the empty yard, he quietly pushed the door open. Seeing the slender figure inside with her back to him, he lunged without hesitation.
Just as he pounced—
Xia Jinxiu spun around and swung the stick downward with force—smashing it onto his head.
Pain exploded in Hu Lai’s skull as warm liquid trickled down his face. He wiped at it instinctively—and saw red.
Dizziness swallowed him, and he collapsed.
Jinxiu stood over the scoundrel and kicked him repeatedly—venting the rage that had burned in her for two lifetimes.
This bastard ruined her life in her previous life.
With that thought, she lifted the stick and slammed it brutally onto his “third leg.”
His body jerked twice before his head lulled to the side.
Jinxiu stared silently at him.
She couldn’t drag him out.
Last lifetime, she thought no one was home, but Xia Lao’er had been secretly watching.
She hadn’t begun making them pay yet—she couldn’t alert the snakes.
In this era, a girl’s reputation couldn’t withstand even the slightest scandal—especially if they grasped the chance to spread rumors.
Even if nothing happened, she would still have to explain herself endlessly.
She scanned the woodshed.
She remembered—when she was young, her grandfather dug a secret passage together with her.
He had fought in the tunnel warfare—so after returning home, he built a tunnel that led directly out of the village.
Following her memories, she found the spot, dug up the soil, revealed a stone slab, lifted it—and a dark passageway appeared.
Her heart leaped—there it was.
The tunnel was two meters below ground; the passage itself was about one to one and a half meters high—even she had to bend to get through.
Jinxiu bound the man with hemp rope, stuffed his mouth with a sack, and shoved him into the secret passage.
Then she restored the entrance.
The ground was just soil—she couldn’t erase every trace, but unless someone was a professional—no one would notice.
Hiding him settled her nerves.
She washed the dirt off her hands at the bath barrel.
Just as she finished, voices of women drifted from the courtyard.
At that moment, Xia Lao’er rushed out of the house.
“Mom, I heard strange noises in the woodshed—Little Sis isn’t in good health. What if she fainted?”
“But she’s bathing—I’m a man. I can’t go in. It’s perfect now that you’re back, go check.”
Everyone knew Jinxiu was frail. Hearing this, they grew concerned.
What if she fainted and no one knew?
Inside, Li Chunfen was thrilled—thinking everything had gone according to plan.
Outwardly, she wore the mask of a worried mother. She told Xia Lao’er to step aside, then kicked open the door and barged in with the aunts.
Seeing Jinxiu’s fair shoulders exposed, she jumped in surprise and quickly pulled her clothes tight.
“Auntie Li, why did you suddenly barge in—and with so many people?”
Jinxiu frowned with displeasure, while Li Chunfen stood dumbfounded.
Wasn’t it supposed to be done?
Where was the man?
She blurted out instinctively:
“There’s only you in here?”
Jinxiu’s expression darkened. “Auntie Li, what nonsense are you talking about? I’m bathing—of course I’m alone.”