Li Shu searched around the woodshed and found a firewood chopper.
The blade was rusty, but still usable. Holding it, she walked to the tightly barred door and began hacking at it again and again.
The movement pulled at her wounds, and the pain made her curse nonstop under her breath.
Fortunately, the Qi family had never taken the original owner seriously. They had never imagined she would dare to run, so the door wasn’t very sturdy. Even though Li Shu was weak all over, she still managed to break it open without too much difficulty.
As soon as she stepped out, she came face-to-face with Qi Yanfeng, who had come to deliver food.
Qi Yanfeng looked quite good—tall and well-built. His facial features were upright and well-defined, with a straight nose bridge and a somewhat cold, stern aura. He looked like one of those tragic yet handsome male leads from the pay-to-win games she used to play in her previous life—the poor boy with a miserable background who grows up into a tall and striking man.
Too bad his brain was damaged. Truly damaged.
Li Shu slipped the firewood chopper behind her back and stowed it into her space.
The man was tall, and when he went mad, he was like a wild beast. Though she had learned some self-defense in her previous life, this body was far too weak—hungry, injured, young, and thin. Head-on confrontation was not her strength.
“How did you get out? My mother asked you to stay in the woodshed. It’s not that we’re bullying you—it’s mainly because you just arrived and might not be used to things. Miss Ah Li, don’t overthink…” Qi Yanfeng began.
Li Shu withdrew the devouring glare in her eyes. “My body hurts terribly. My legs don’t have much strength. You must have hit too hard yesterday—perhaps you even broke a bone. And I’m very hungry. If I stay in the woodshed any longer, I’ll die. I assume you don’t want to spend so much money only to marry a corpse, do you?”
Qi Yanfeng looked her over carefully.
When he had an episode, he didn’t recognize kin and never held back his strength.
He knew very well that he had beaten her badly. He claimed to be delivering food, but in truth he was worried she might not survive the night and that it would be troublesome to explain.
“You shouldn’t have cried and made a fuss yesterday. It was irritating. I’m usually easy to talk to—as long as you don’t deliberately provoke me.” As he spoke, he led Li Shu into the main hall and seated her. He shoved a simple steamed corn bun into her hand. “My mother’s out selling lamp oil. Since she’s not here, eat a little first. Once she comes back, you won’t get to eat.”
“Selling lamp oil?” Li Shu wasn’t worried about poison. She had no strength and needed energy, so she quietly ate, moving slowly as she asked, “What are people outside saying?”
A newlywed mother-in-law wouldn’t normally have the leisure to sell oil the day after her son’s wedding. It was clearly an excuse. Most likely she had gone out to test the waters—spreading word about the bride mix-up and also thinking about the betrothal gifts given to the Yao family. After all, if they didn’t get the bride, the money shouldn’t just vanish.
The corn bun with cold water tasted unpleasant, mixed with the faint metallic sweetness of blood in her mouth.
After a while, although she still ached all over, her limbs no longer felt so weak—as if she had just crawled back from the gates of hell.
The original owner’s injuries were truly severe. And truly pitiful.
Now that she had taken over this body, Li Shu decided it wasn’t enough for her alone to be pitiful.
She needed company.
Qi Yanfeng felt the woman was talking too much and didn’t really want to respond. But since they were supposed to live together from now on, it wouldn’t do to be too cold, so he patiently said, “Once heaven and earth have been bowed to, husband and wife are set. Neither family wants to switch back, nor can they. Naturally, people think it’s no big deal.”
“I know my Qi family’s conditions are worse than the Ma family’s. But Miss Ah Li, you know your own situation. Your birth mother is gone, you’ve been scraping by under your stepmother, and your father doesn’t care about you. If you married into the Ma family and were wronged, you’d have no one to stand up for you. You might as well live more freely in my home.” His tone grew gentler as he looked at her face.
She was just too thin—but her features were pleasing.
His mood relaxed. He didn’t believe the woman before him had the right to resist.
After all, in the Li family… who could stand up for her?
Li Shu lowered her brows slightly, a trace of disgust flashing across her face.
“You’re right. Someone like me—how could I possibly marry into the Ma family? Only Yao Ah Ning would have such fortune…” she echoed softly.
After speaking, she removed the silver bracelet from her wrist as if intending to hand it to him. “My stepmother didn’t prepare any valuable dowry for me. This bracelet is worth a little—it was left by my birth mother. I’m worried my mother-in-law bears some resentment toward me, so I thought to ask you to give this to her. Perhaps she’ll like me a little more…”
When the original owner married, her stepmother had prepared a few items for appearance’s sake, but they were all flashy and worthless.
The bracelet looked heavy, but it was only plated with a thin layer of silver. That was why her stepmother had let her keep it.
Qi Yanfeng looked at the bracelet and instinctively reached out.
“Ah—my hand slipped—” Li Shu suddenly exclaimed.
The bracelet fell to the ground, rolled twice, and came to rest by Qi Yanfeng’s foot.
Qi Yanfeng felt slightly annoyed, thinking women were useless—but the silver bracelet was innocent. Still seated, he bent down to pick it up—
At that instant, Li Shu pulled the firewood chopper from her space. Without the slightest hesitation, she aimed at the side of Qi Yanfeng’s neck and hacked down with all her strength.
The blade wasn’t very sharp, but she used every ounce of force she had.
Blood sprayed instantly.
Overwhelming pain engulfed him. Qi Yanfeng clutched his neck in shock and turned to look at her. On Li Shu’s face bloomed a fierce, unrestrained malice—mocking and frenzied as she stared at him.
“Crying and whining was irritating? If you’re dead, isn’t that no longer irritating?” Li Shu let out a breath, wiping the blood that seeped from the corner of her own mouth, gripping the chopper tightly. “I thought your illness was incurable? That the slightest stimulation would trigger it? Isn’t this stimulation enough? Why aren’t you having an episode?”
“Oh, I see—you’re the one who’s done for.”
“You said something wrong earlier. I may indeed have no one to rely on. If I’m wronged, no one will stand up for me. But… I have hands and feet. I’ll stand up for myself.”
“Go on, yell again. Hm?” She stood and kicked him.
Qi Yanfeng felt his blood draining rapidly. He wanted to say something, but the agony robbed him of all words. Like a shattered statue, he crashed to the ground with a heavy thud—broken cleanly, eyes wide open as if unwilling to die.
In her previous life, Li Shu had never been entirely normal inside. She had always felt less fear than most people. But the people around her had been law-abiding and reasonable—no one had been foolish enough to provoke her to this extent. So she had grown up into a model citizen.
Now that she was here…
In this world, just to survive, who didn’t carry a little madness inside?
Qi Yanfeng lay on the ground, blood flowing along the stone cracks. Li Shu watched quietly for a moment, then began scanning the surroundings.
The Qi family wasn’t wealthy, but they had basic daily necessities.
Qi’s mother might return at any moment, so Li Shu moved quickly. Dragging her battered body, she searched the house at once.
She picked out several clean pots and bowls. In Qi’s mother’s room, she found eight taels of broken silver and two strings of copper coins. In their storage room were tung seeds and tung oil, along with many unfinished oil lamps and wicks. She showed no courtesy—everything went into her space.
After she finished, Qi’s mother still hadn’t returned.
Qi Yanfeng had completely stopped breathing.
Li Shu coughed twice, letting blood spill from her mouth. The next moment, gripping the chopper, she hurriedly ran out.