"No!"
The girl in the wedding dress on the bed suddenly let out a sharp cry and shot upright.
Song Yao was still reeling from the shock, her body seemingly retaining the phantom pain of being tortured!
Her vision slowly came into focus as she heard the sputtering of a candle in the corner.
Dazed, she glanced around.
The room was falling apart. Several red candles had been lit, and a faded red paper calendar was pasted on the wall. Black characters on it read: June 16, 1982.
Before she could sort out her thoughts, she heard footsteps outside.
Song Yao’s heart tightened, and she immediately lay back down, pretending to be asleep.
CREAK—
The door was pushed open, and a dark-skinned woman peeked her head in.
"I told you she wasn’t awake, but you just had to see for yourself."
A young man followed behind her, his tone aggressive.
The woman lowered her voice. "Be careful. This damn girl was dead set against marrying. It took a hell of a lot of effort to drug her unconscious. Once Zhang Laosan comes to carry her away, the money’s in the bag. We can’t have any slip-ups!"
"You keep an eye on her. I’ll go see if Zhang Laosan is here yet."
Hearing their conversation, a thrill shot through Song Yao, and the hand by her side began to tremble.
’I’m actually back!’
’It’s 1982, the day I was drugged and about to be forcibly given to Zhang Laosan as his wife!’
"After raising you for so long, I just ask you to marry someone, and you throw a tantrum? You marry a chicken, you follow the chicken; you marry a dog, you follow the dog. Once you enter the Zhang Family’s door, you’d better give up any other ideas and stop staring at my daughter’s things all day!"
Thinking Song Yao couldn’t hear, she kept muttering curses as she shuffled toward the door.
But the moment Liu Yumin turned, Song Yao shot out of bed, grabbed the old wooden box from the bedside, and rushed barefoot behind her.
The woman had just sensed something was wrong and was turning her head to look when Song Yao gritted her teeth, swung the box, and smashed it viciously against the back of her head.
THUD!
The woman’s knees buckled, and she collapsed, unconscious.
Song Yao stared intently at the crumpled body.
’This was the woman who had completely ruined her life!’
’Eighteen years ago, this wicked hag had swapped her own daughter with her!’
’Because Song Yao’s biological father was a high-ranking official!’
Back then, her grandmother had been chatting idly in the hospital, mentioning that her son was a minor official and doing very well for himself.
This woman’s husband was a drunkard, and her in-laws valued boys over girls. Afraid her daughter would suffer, she had simply swapped the two infants!
She sent Song Yao to her home to suffer and toil, while her own flesh and blood got to enjoy a comfortable life with an official for a father!
"Pah!"
The more she thought about it, the more her chest tightened with rage. Song Yao spat right at the "mother" before her.
’If she were truly her biological mother, she might have just accepted it. After all, blood is thicker than water.’
’But from the moment she was born, she had never once been treated like a human being!’
’Ever since a boy was born into the family, she had been treated like a workhorse.’
’The cruelest thing happened the year she turned eighteen. After a drinking session with her ’mother’, she was dazedly carried to a bed.’
’The man was Zhang Laosan, the old bachelor butcher from the village!’
’After that, Liu Yumin did many more things to ruin Song Yao’s life!’
’In her past life, she died without ever understanding why Liu Yumin could be so cruel to her.’
’It was only after she died and her soul was left to drift in the air that she learned she was nothing more than a villainous side character in some trashy book!’
’And the female lead of that book was none other than Liu Yumin’s biological daughter, Shen Shuangshuang.’
’Shen... that should have been her surname!’
’Her name should have been Shen Yao.’
Shen Shuangshuang grew up pure and innocent in a wealthy compound.
Her only stain was her biological mother, Liu Yumin.
But in the end, everyone just had to go and forgive Liu Yumin!
Meanwhile, she, the victim who had been tormented until her very bones had rotted, was still lying six feet under.
But that family was having a happy reunion dinner together.
How ridiculous was that!
At that time, Song Yao’s soul had watched that scene, so angry she was about to explode.
Suddenly, her vision went black, and she felt a force pulling her backward.
She thought she was being dragged into the underworld and screamed in terror, "I won’t go! I haven’t gotten my justice yet!"
But she didn’t end up in the King of Hell Hall. Instead, she opened her eyes and found herself back on the day before her forced wedding!
This time, she calmly knocked Liu Yumin unconscious, swiftly changed into her clothes, helped the woman onto the bed, and covered her head with the red bridal veil.
She put on Liu Yumin’s dusty gray jacket, messed up her hair, and, hunching over to imitate the woman’s gait, quickly walked out.
In this era, it was impossible to get anywhere without a letter of introduction, so she had no plans to run away.
Her enemies were all here. If she didn’t make their family taste the meaning of ruin and death, she would have lived two lives in vain!
Before long, Zhang Laosan arrived, humming a little tune, followed by her brother, Song Bowen.
"Brother-in-law, oh, my dear brother-in-law! Spare a little more cash, will you? I have a date with Xiao Juan and want to take her into town for a good meal tomorrow—"
Song Bowen called out with sickening sweetness to a man older than his own father.
Zhang Laosan grinned, revealing a set of crooked, yellow teeth.
"Once I’ve picked up your sister, everything will be settled!"
Just then, Song Yao emerged slowly from the shadows. Pinching her voice, she mimicked Liu Yumin’s usual tone.
"Aiyo, my dear son-in-law, we’ve been waiting for you! Bowen, hurry inside and carry your sister out. Remember, the red veil can’t be lifted! Only your brother-in-law can do that!"
All these years of living in the Song Family, having to read people’s expressions to survive, had taught her many skills. Her best one was imitating Liu Yumin.
She had used this trick to fool Song Bowen more than a few times.
Honestly, it was mainly thanks to Liu Yumin’s voice.
Her tone was actually quite similar to Song Yao’s.
No wonder Song Yao had never been suspicious in her past life.
The lamps were dim at night, and Zhang Laosan and Song Bowen, stumbling around in the dark, didn’t get a good look.
Song Bowen, thinking only of getting his money and leaving, gave a quick reply and charged into the room.
But before he entered, Song Yao had already snuffed out one of the candles in the room.
He just glanced at the person on the bed, and without a second thought, he bent down and hoisted them onto his back.
The moment the person was off the bed, Song Yao immediately reached out and grabbed Zhang Laosan’s arm.
"Aiyo, my good son-in-law, you’ve got the bride on your back now. What about the one hundred yuan betrothal gift we agreed on? Isn’t it time to pay up?"
Zhang Laosan was no fool.
Afraid of being cheated, he had already agreed with Song Shunqiang and Liu Yumin that he would only pay after he had the bride.
Now, seeing Song Bowen emerge from the room carrying his "daughter," he finally let out a cheerful sigh of relief and pulled a gray cloth pouch from his jacket.
He had just counted the third bill when, to his surprise, "Liu Yumin" suddenly reached out and—SWOOSH—snatched the entire stack of cash!
Zhang Laosan’s face instantly darkened.
He snapped his head up and roared, "What the hell are you doing—"
"Oh-ho?"
Song Yao sneered, clutching the wad of cash and stuffing it into her clothes.
"Zhang Laosan, take a good long look in the mirror! Have you no idea what you’re worth? I’m giving you a perfectly good, capable virgin, and you think you can just get away with a hundred yuan? Dream on! A city wedding requires the ’three turns and a sound,’ and even a thousand or eight hundred yuan might not be enough! Your hundred yuan isn’t even enough to buy a coffin, and you have the gall to yell?"
She dared to be so aggressive because she had long since figured these people out, down to their very underwear.
Don’t be fooled by Zhang Laosan’s brutish face; deep down, he was a total coward.
Sure enough, the moment she raised her voice, Zhang Laosan immediately deflated.
He knew it himself. With his reputation, wanting to marry a decent girl for just one hundred yuan was pure fantasy.
What family in the village with a daughter would dare marry her off to his family?
If it weren’t for Liu Yumin being dead set on nailing Song Yao down in this poor, remote valley, she wouldn’t have agreed to such a low price.
"Here comes the bride!"
Just then, Song Bowen came staggering out, carrying the "bride" on his back.