“Good grief, Zhou Xiulan, how dare you commit adultery! If you don’t give our Chen family an explanation today, see if I don’t rip you to shreds, you little bitch!”
Chen mother rolled up her sleeves and charged straight at Zhou Xiulan.
She had to make her cough up that bride price no matter what.
Back then, they had spent two hundred yuan on the bride price, plus a wristwatch.
She couldn’t let this cheap woman off easy.
“Grandma, don’t hit Mom! She’s still sick!” A little boy rushed over to block Chen mother.
When the little girl saw her older brother hugging their grandmother’s leg to stop her from hitting their mother, she copied him and dove onto Chen mother’s other leg.
“Don’t hit Mom, sob, sob…”
The two children didn’t want to lose their mother again.
For the past few days while their mother was sick, they had lived in constant fear.
They were terrified that their mother would leave them.
The two little dumplings, their eyes wet with tears, tightly hugged their grandmother’s legs.
“You two ungrateful little brutes, get off me right now!”
Chen mother didn’t hold back her strength at all, directly knocking the two children to the ground.
“Sob, sob…”
“Older brother…”
“Little sister!”
Seeing her so-called mother-in-law treat her own grandchildren with such heavy hands, Zhou Xiulan’s face instantly turned cold.
The Chen family and this old hag could be said to be the main culprits behind why the original body fell ill and ultimately lost her life.
Of course, the original body’s overly weak personality was also a contributing factor.
Zhou Xiulan was a kind-hearted girl. Although she was from the city, had never done farm work, and was a bit delicate, she didn’t complain and actively tried to adapt to life here.
The original body was also quite unlucky. While doing laundry, she accidentally fell into the river and was saved by Chen Weiguo, who was home visiting family.
Gossip immediately spread through the village, vividly embellishing and passing around what had happened between the two of them.
Just as Chen mother was looking to arrange a match for Chen Weiguo, Chen Weiguo took the initiative to find Zhou Xiulan.
As a grown man, he didn’t care about such reputations.
At worst, he would just visit home less often in the future; over time, people would forget about it.
But for a female comrade like Zhou Xiulan, the impact was huge.
Since he had to marry someone anyway, they might as well just get married.
Zhou Xiulan nodded and agreed, but asked for a bride price of two hundred yuan, plus a women’s wristwatch.
Chen Weiguo agreed.
Naturally, the Chen family was unwilling.
In this day and age, who would want to marry an educated youth?
They couldn’t lift anything with their hands or carry anything on their shoulders; marrying one home meant having a mere decorative piece that just wasted food.
Besides, with such a high bride price demanded, both Chen father and Chen mother, as well as the various sisters-in-law, strongly opposed it.
However, no one could change a decision once Chen Weiguo made up his mind.
In the end, the two of them successfully married.
Yet the very next day after the wedding, Chen Weiguo was called back to the military unit.
After that, there was no further news, and no allowances were sent back.
At first, things were fine, but as time went on, all sorts of rumors spread through the village.
The Chen family also tacitly accepted that this son had most likely sacrificed his life.
Otherwise, how could there be no news for so long, with no money sent back either? In the past, that hadn’t been the case—he used to send an allowance home like clockwork every month.
Chen mother vented all her dissatisfaction and anger onto Zhou Xiulan, claiming that she had cursed her son to death.
All the dirty and exhausting chores around the house were dumped on Zhou Xiulan.
Even knowing that Zhou Xiulan was pregnant, her treatment didn’t improve at all.
Zhou Xiulan had to take care of the children, work the fields to earn work points, and handle all kinds of housework. She had been a lively girl, but was driven into clinical depression.
This illness was also caused by the original body overworking herself in the rain while doing chores for the Chen family.
She ran a high fever for several days without receiving any medical treatment and died.
The two children went to the front courtyard to beg their grandfather and grandmother to find a doctor for their mother.
The Chen family was unwilling to spend the money, saying she would pull through on her own—who hadn’t lived through that? Only she was so delicate.
Accumulated exhaustion and pent-up grief caused her to run a fever for several consecutive days.
And just like that, the original body was gone.
From now on, she, Zhou Shengnan, was Zhou Xiulan.
Her name alone showed that her family favored boys over girls.
Her childhood hadn’t been very happy either, which was why she had originally harbored the idea of being a DINK (Double Income, No Kids)—she was afraid she wouldn’t know how to be a good mother and that her children would be as unfortunate as she was.
Who would have thought she would transmigrate just like that?
Transmigrate, then so be it.
Anyway, she didn’t have much to leave behind.
She suddenly became a mother without any of the painful labor, instantly acquiring a pair of children.
From now on, she was Zhou Xiulan.
In the future, she would protect these two kids.
She directly helped the two children up, shielded them behind her, and looked coldly at Chen mother.
“If you dare push them again, just try it!”
Seeing her second daughter-in-law not only dare to glare at her, but actually threaten her!
This was truly like an old star-goddess hanging herself—tired of living.
If she didn’t teach her a lesson, she’d start a dye mill next.
“Oh my, you little bitch, your courage has grown fat!”
With that, a rough hand swung toward Zhou Xiulan.
A hint of coldness flashed in the depths of Zhou Xiulan’s eyes; she was not the original body.
She wasn’t just going to stand there and take a beating without fighting back.
With a loud thud,
Chen mother was caught off guard and kicked square in the center.
She landed squarely on her bottom.
Dust flew everywhere, and her trousers instantly changed color.
“I’ve worked like an ox and a horse for your Chen family for three years, and that’s still not enough? You still want to keep bullying me and the kids? In your dreams!”
Chen mother had never seen Zhou Xiulan acting like this.
Anger filled her eyes.
“You… you little slut, if I don’t beat you into submission today, write the name Li Guiying backwards!”
Having said that, she got up and lunged straight at Zhou Xiulan.
The two of them instantly started brawling.
“Mom!”
“Sob, sob…”
“Grandma, stop hitting!”
After all, Zhou Xiulan had just taken over this body and was still sick, while the old woman was an old hand at farm work. After just a few pulls and slashes, Zhou Xiulan was starting to lose the upper hand.
Though she couldn’t win on physical strength alone, Zhou Xiulan refused to admit defeat.
If the fair fight didn’t work, she’d resort to underhanded tactics.
She aimed a punch right at the bridge of the nose, and taking advantage of the old woman’s distraction, viciously pinched those two fleshy spots—using whatever method hurt the most.
“Ouch, you little slut!”
“Mom! Xiulan! What are you two doing?”
“Stop it right now!”
From the crowd, a figure rushed forward and pulled the two of them apart.
“You… Weiguo!”
“Weren’t you dead?”