When Xia Wan first took over this body, she felt like her head was about to split.
“Hiss… wasn’t I stabbed in the back? Why does my head hurt?”
She struggled to open her eyes, feeling the room spin around her.
As her blurry vision focused, she saw two unfamiliar faces.
“You little brat! How dare you play dead in front of me? You unfilial wretch, trying to scare me to death, huh? Even if you agree to give the job to Lijuan today, I’ll still beat you to death!”
A rattan stick was raised again, but just as it came down, someone grabbed it.
Yang Shufen tried to yank it back with all her strength, but it didn’t budge.
She saw that Xia Wan’s hand was tightly gripping the stick and shouted angrily, “Let go of it! Are you trying to overturn the world today?”
Xia Wan’s eyes were bloodshot, staring fiercely at the shrew in front of her.
“Who gave you the guts to hit me? I, Xia Wan, haven’t even been hit by my own parents in all my life!”
She tugged lightly on the rattan stick, and using Yang Shufen’s momentum, kicked her in the stomach when they came close.
Yang Shufen flew backward, slamming heavily against the wall.
“Ah!”
She clutched her stomach, wailing in pain.
Beside her, Lu Hongmei’s eyes widened in shock.
What did she just see? Something… flew out?
She turned her head and realized it really was her mother who had been sent flying!
“How did you get so strong?”
Xia Wan withdrew her leg and stretched her stiff body before turning to the other girl.
“You’re in cahoots with her?”
Before Lu Hongmei could respond, Xia Wan slapped her across the face.
A sharp smack rang out, and Lu Hongmei collapsed to the ground, her eyes spinning with stars.
Xia Wan stood frozen, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings.
What’s going on?
She remembered just moments ago clearing all the zombies in the shelter with her teammates, only for one of them to suddenly stab her with a knife.
In this high-tech, weapon-filled era, she had been killed by a small cold weapon—by someone she trusted the most.
Had she transmigrated?
Where was this place?
Everything around looked so antiquated… like something out of an archaeological document.
Seeing the two wailing on the ground, a sharp pain shot through her head.
A flood of memories not her own rushed in.
After absorbing all the background information, Xia Wan’s gaze turned icy.
What kind of nonsense is this?
She had transmigrated into a book!
It was 1980.
The original owner was 18, a young widow.
Her husband, the male lead, had died on the front lines a year ago. Recently, she had regained her courage and passed the factory exam, landing a coveted office position.
But her mother-in-law, who favored Su Lijuan the male lead’s childhood crush—pressured the original owner to give up the job for Lijuan.
When she refused, Yang Shufen and Lu Hongmei beat her to death.
According to records, they concealed the truth of her death and even succeeded in transferring the job to Su Lijuan.
In reality, the male lead wasn’t dead. When he returned and discovered the widow’s death, he was heartbroken. Su Lijuan appeared to comfort him, and with the mother-in-law and Lu Hongmei’s interference, the two ended up together.
Xia Wan felt her stomach churn.
What kind of twisted author writes this?
A lazy, opportunistic woman gets to be the heroine? In the apocalypse, she wouldn’t survive a day!
As for the husband she had never met? She didn’t want him at all.
She just wanted to leave this cursed place.
Even if it was 1980, she could still thrive on her own!
The original owner had even served that mother-daughter pair for an entire year like a servant!
Xia Wan turned to the reflection in the mirror.
She looked exactly like her post-apocalyptic self.
Seeing the haggard face in the mirror, she felt a pang of pity for herself.
Since she had been chosen to take over this body, she would help the original owner get back her long-denied dignity.
By now, Yang Shufen and Lu Hongmei had gotten to their feet.
Yang Shufen glared angrily.
“How dare you hit me?”
Lu Hongmei, clutching her swollen face, spat, “Xia Wan! How dare you hit your aunt?”
“Mom! Today we absolutely cannot let her go! We have to beat this wretch to death!”
Xia Wan looked at her swollen face and said, “Weren’t you hitting me like this before? My strength isn’t weak. Hmph, I went easy because my body is still weak.”
Yang Shufen pointed at her angrily, “Even if the King of Heaven himself came, you’d have to give the job to Lijuan! Then kneel before me and let Hongmei slap you twice before you can get up!”
But then she noticed Xia Wan casually playing with the rattan stick.
“You used this to hit me before?” Xia Wan’s voice floated lightly.
Mother and daughter suddenly felt unease.
Xia Wan tapped the stick in her hands, curling her lips.
“Today, I, Xia Wan, will return everything you inflicted on me one by one!”
With that, she swung the rattan stick viciously. Screams filled the room.
“Someone help! The daughter-in-law is hitting the mother-in-law!”
Yang Shufen and Lu Hongmei screamed and scrambled away, holding their heads.
They never expected normally gentle Xia Wan to suddenly become so strong and skilled, almost as if she knew martial arts.
“What happened?”
“Sounds like Yang Shufen is calling for help says the daughter-in-law is hitting her?”
“Ha! Don’t make me laugh! Yang Shufen, the infamous shrew, beaten by her dainty daughter-in-law? Must be trying to call attention, thinking her status as mother-in-law will intimidate the daughter-in-law.”
Despite their doubts, neighbors gathered to watch the commotion.
As the first neighbor arrived, Xia Wan tossed the rattan stick to the ground and sat down, pretending to be weak.
Seeing this, Lu Hongmei assumed Xia Wan was scared and gleefully picked up the stick, ready to strike.
Yang Shufen quickly grabbed her arm and whispered, “Are you stupid? The neighbors are here don’t hit her in front of them!”
Reluctantly, Lu Hongmei put the stick down.
Yang Shufen squeezed her eyes tight, not shedding a single tear, and plopped down, acting pitiful before the onlookers.
“Oh, what misfortune in this household! Today, the daughter-in-law tried to beat me to death with a rattan stick! Poor me, my husband and son died young, leaving me to be bullied by this woman!”
Everyone noticed Yang Shufen stopping Lu Hongmei from striking, and now seeing her fake wailing without tears, they looked on with disdain.
Seeing the crowd not believing them, Yang Shufen yanked her daughter forward to show her face’s injuries.
“Daughter-in-law, I just wanted you to respect me as a mother-in-law, and you slapped her?”
“I felt sorry for her, and you hit me too?”
“Hongmei was hit by you at first, didn’t dare say a word. When she saw me being struck, she got mad and tried to teach you a lesson, but I stopped her. That’s how it is!”
“You should never behave like you!”
Hearing this, Lu Hongmei felt a sense of pride, tilting her head to show off her swollen face to the crowd.