“Big sister-in-law…”
“Pan Gao… quick, check your wife! Did she move just now?”
“No… it’s the bed that moved…”
The old wooden-frame bed shook violently, accompanied by creaks and groans.
Song Yizhen’s hands, hidden under the quilt, gripped her thighs tightly…
She didn’t dare open her eyes, and she definitely didn’t dare make a sound.
Finally, after a series of heavy breaths, the space beside her finally settled into silence.
Zhang Cuiyun immediately propped herself up and crawled next to Song Yizhen, flipping her eyelids.
“No response at all… Pan Gao, does this method even work? We’re stimulating her every day and every night, and she’s still not waking up? I’m exhausted…”
“Let me see.”
Xu Pan Gao leaned over, reaching out to slap Song Yizhen’s face twice.
“Smack! Smack!” The two loud slaps echoed in the room.
Song Yizhen’s pale, snow-white face instantly bore two red palm prints.
“Hehe, still not awake… probably we didn’t do enough. Let’s try again…”
“Ugh…” Zhang Cuiyun laughed breathlessly, “You’re really mean. If you don’t wake her up, she’ll die of anger…”
“Die of anger? Who cares, just seeing that deadpan face makes me sick…”
“That won’t do. I have to let her watch me sleep with you, spend her family’s money, live in her house…”
“Big sister-in-law… no wonder they say women can be the most vicious, you’re worse than me…”
“You don’t like…”
After another round of noises, Xu Pan Gao said he had other business and left.
Zhang Cuiyun took a step forward, grabbed a thick needle from the table, lifted the quilt, and began stabbing Song Yizhen’s thighs and body.
“You shameless woman, still sleeping?”
“Do you know your eldest brother fled in fear and was shot dead at the border?”
“Your second brother fell into the ditch and broke his neck.”
“Your parents coughed up a big bowl of blood in the cattle pen and died horribly.”
“Your entire family is dead… Aren’t you going to avenge them? You’re useless!”
“Wake up! Wake up, you bitch!!”
“If you don’t wake, I’ll stab you to pieces!”
“You shameless woman, how dare you marry Pan Gao? You even seduced him to bed!?”
“If you sleep with my man, I’ll stab you! I’ll stab you…”
With each curse, she stabbed a few times.
Finally, she got tired, threw the needle on the table, and stormed out cursing.
Song Yizhen, lying on the bed, still didn’t move.
If it weren’t for the faint breathing at her nostrils, one would think she was dead.
At last, the courtyard gate clanged shut, and she opened her eyes. Tears fell, instantly wetting her ears.
She waited quietly for a while longer. Hearing nothing, she slowly moved her arms, then her legs.
The spots where Zhang Cuiyun had stabbed her burned painfully; every movement felt like tearing.
She moved carefully, her heart swelling with immense hatred.
Years ago, her father, a medical professor, had been accused of “reactionary” research.
Her mother, from a lineage of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, was also reported.
Her maternal grandparents and two uncles had gone abroad years ago, and her family was accused of espionage.
Their entire family was branded as evil and sent for rural re-education.
Her parents learned of this in advance and found a way to save her: marriage.
As long as she married, she would be disconnected from the Song family, able to keep her dowry and property, and remain in Beijing.
Xu Pan Gao appeared at that time.
He was handsome and elegant, with an elder brother who had sacrificed for the country. Marrying him would bring no social reproach.
It seemed like the perfect choice.
But later she realized Xu Pan Gao’s family had long planned to destroy her lineage.
The Xu family had conspired with others to report her family and had deliberately arranged the marriage to seize her dowry and hidden wealth.
By the time she understood, it was too late.
Xu Pan Gao and Big Sister-in-law Zhang Cuiyun, caught in compromising situations, pushed her down the stairs, leaving her a vegetative state!
To cover up their misconduct, they kept her alive — bedridden for five years, enduring their abuse and humiliation, almost driving her insane.
Fortunately, fate gave her a chance, and she could finally move again.
Like in previous days, she carefully found the kerosene bottle in the kitchen, poured out two fingers’ width, and returned it to its place.
Back in her room, she placed the kerosene in the shadowed corner of the table.
It was enough.
She could wait no longer.
Tonight, she would send these two wretches to hell.
At midnight, all was silent.
Suddenly, flames shot up in the Xu family mansion, followed by the terrifying screams of a man and woman.
The two struggled in the fire and were ultimately consumed together.
Firefighters found that Song Yizhen, the vegetative girl, had passed away — though no one knew when exactly.
“Don’t worry, in-laws. My wife had a hard life and didn’t have a daughter. I’ll treat Zhenzhen like my own daughter.”
“Dad, Mom, don’t worry. Zhenzhen married me, and I won’t let her suffer a bit.”
“Uncle Song, Aunt Lin, don’t worry. Zhenzhen married into our family; we’ll treat her like a sister. I’m older, and I’ll take good care of her. You just take care of yourselves over there…”
Song Yizhen’s wide-open eyes welled up with bloody tears.
The Xu family matriarch, Li Zhaodi!
The scumbag, Xu Pan Gao!
The shameless Zhang Cuiyun!
Everyone responsible for her family’s downfall, except for the mastermind Xu Datong, was present!
She glanced at the calendar on the table: April 27, 1974.
On this day in her previous life, the two families had set the engagement. The next day, April 28, she married Xu Pan Gao — beginning an endless hell.
She quickly adjusted her makeup in the mirror, her fevered pale face now sharp and cold.
No — this time, she would rather follow her parents to the countryside, even if it meant dying in Xishuangbanna. She would never marry Xu Pan Gao again.
Downstairs, the marriage arrangements were being finalized.
Lin Jingqiu solemnly held a sandalwood box, looking at Li Zhaodi:
“Today, the marriage between our families is confirmed. From now on, we are one family…”
“Yes, one family,” Li Zhaodi said excitedly, looking at the shiny black necklace inside.
Though she didn’t know the material, both the Song and Lin families were prominent, so the item must be valuable.
Zhang Cuiyun, sitting nearby, burned with envy, planning to manipulate Xu Pan Gao to get the necklace later.
In the previous life, she had even tried to get it appraised; the asking price was 5 million yuan, with rumors it could fetch tens of millions if sold in Hong Kong.
It even seemed to react to thunder and lightning, glowing and heating up — perhaps a treasure!
“This is mine!” Zhang Cuiyun thought.