“You’re not dead after all? Nan Zhu, I warn you, if you dare trouble Yu Rou again, I won’t let you off.”
Yuan Limei, seeing her open her eyes, was filled with rage, her eyes wide open. “A worthless girl—gone is gone. Hurry up and sign the divorce papers. Don’t hold Yu Rou back.”
Nan Jin’s gaze fell upon her. The woman’s appearance wasn’t particularly harsh; in fact, she looked like a fortunate, well-off lady. In the past, she hadn’t been this spiteful toward the original host. From the original host’s memories, Nan Jin knew that everything had changed with the arrival of that Liang Yu Rou.
Liang Yu Rou had suddenly appeared, and no one knew what she had said to them, but overnight, everyone had taken her side. Even the man who had once been relatively kind to the original host now sided with Liang Yu Rou, insisting on a fake divorce. It was all very strange.
But those were the experiences of the original host.
The original host had been brought to the Gu family by Gu’s father at the age of ten and raised there. A year ago, she had married Gu Shaoxuan and was now three months pregnant. Now, with two lives lost—mother and child—it could be considered repayment for the kindness she had received.
Gu Shaoxuan reached out to pull her up, asking with concern, “Xiao Zhu, how are you feeling? Is there anywhere you’re still uncomfortable?”
Nan Jin withdrew her hand and carefully assessed her body. Every part of her ached. In just a few days in prison, her body had accumulated numerous bruises and internal injuries.
“I’m not dead yet,” she said coldly, turning to lie on her side with her back to them. “I’ll sign the divorce papers, but I want a thousand yuan in compensation.”
From the original host’s memories, she knew it was May 4th, 1979, Youth Day, in Leshi City, Hunan Province. The weather was gradually warming up. In 1979, a thousand yuan was a huge sum, but the Gu family could afford it. Her body was injured, she had miscarried, and she needed to recuperate. For the life of her child, a thousand yuan was truly not too much.
When Yuan Limei heard her demand for a thousand yuan, she was so furious she wanted to drag her up and beat her. “You wretch, why don’t you just rob us? For the past ten years, you’ve eaten our food and lived in our house. I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet!”
“Mom!” Gu Shaoxuan stopped her, his tone stiff. “Go back first. I need to talk properly with Xiao Zhu.”
Not wanting to embarrass her son, Yuan Limei coldly retorted, “Xuan’er, don’t indulge her too much. She’s becoming more and more lawless.” With that, she turned and left without looking back.
Gu Shaoxuan stared at Nan Zhu’s back, his heart heavy with suppressed emotions. “Xiao Zhu, I told you, it’s just a temporary divorce. We’ll remarry in six months. What do you need so much money for?”
“I know you’re angry, but I promise, it’s only for six months. After that, my heart and body will belong to you entirely.”
“The child is gone, and that’s that. Use these six months to recover properly. We can have another child in the future.”
Nan Jin felt a pang of sorrow for the original host. How could someone say it didn’t matter that their child had been killed? Coldly, she replied, “No matter what you say, my condition stands. Without a thousand yuan, I won’t sign the divorce papers.”
“I wonder if your dear childhood sweetheart’s pregnancy can wait that long?”
Gu Shaoxuan’s face stiffened, and his voice lost its earlier gentleness. “Xiao Zhu, I told you, my relationship with Liang Yu Rou is unavoidable. Her father saved my life back then, and I have to take care of her.”
“It’s just a six-month marriage of convenience. I won’t lay a finger on her. Once her child is born and registered, I’ll divorce her.”
Nan Jin abruptly sat up and turned around, choking out angrily, “Her father saved your life—why should I and the child be the ones to repay that debt?”
“Gu Shaoxuan, is the child’s life not a life either?” And what about the original host’s life—was that not a life too?
Gu Shaoxuan’s breath hitched, his gaze growing complex as he looked at her.
Since they were children, Nan Zhu had never spoken to him so harshly.
He stood up, disappointment written all over his face as he looked at her. “Xiao Zhu, I’ve truly spoiled you too much, to the point where you now dare to lose your temper with me.”
“Reflect carefully. When you’ve sorted out your thoughts, have someone inform me.”
With that, he turned and left without looking back.
Only when the sound of his footsteps faded into the distance did Nan Jin’s tense body finally relax, and she slumped weakly back onto the bed.
She had only been celebrating a little too enthusiastically and had a few extra drinks—how had she ended up inexplicably crossing over into another world?
Had she traveled back to the 1970s, or was this just a parallel universe? Could she still return?
Thinking of the shopping mall she had worked nearly half her life to build, only to cross over before she could even enjoy the fruits of her labor, her heart ached with a sharp, twisting pain.
What made it even more unbearable was that in her previous life, she had remained unmarried and childless into her forties. And now, after crossing over, she had to face a scumbag and a miscarriage?
What had she done wrong? Why was heaven punishing her like this?
As her thoughts spiraled, footsteps sounded outside the door—somewhat hurried and chaotic, clearly more than one person.
She slowly turned her head to look. Two women walked in, dressed in white dacron blouses, black bell-bottom pants, and thick platform shoes.
This was the height of fashion in the 1970s: dacron, bell-bottoms, and platform shoes.
One of the women had a slightly swollen belly—no need to ask, she was the other woman who had wrecked the original host’s marriage, Liang Yourou.
“Nan Zhu, it really is you? I thought I must have misheard.”
Liang Yourou entered arm-in-arm with Gu Qingya, her eyes scanning Nan Jin like searchlights. When they landed on her flat stomach, a flicker of excitement flashed in her eyes.
Gu Qingya’s voice was dripping with disgust, as if even looking directly at her was beneath her.
“Nan Zhu, I heard you failed to protect the child and had a miscarriage?”
Nan Jin didn’t answer, struggling to sit up instead. From the original host’s memories, this sister-in-law had always been at odds with her.
The Gu family had two sons and one daughter. Gu Qingya had always been the little princess of the household—until Nan Zhu arrived.
Although her parents undoubtedly loved their biological daughter the most, Nan Zhu’s presence had still diverted too much of the family’s attention, leaving Gu Qingya deeply resentful and constantly at odds with the original host.
So, without even asking, Nan Jin knew that Gu Qingya wasn’t here out of genuine concern. She was here to seize the opportunity to mock and belittle her.
Liang Yourou exaggeratedly covered her mouth, her watery eyes fixed on Nan Jin, her tone dripping with feigned heartache.
“What? Nan Zhu, you had a miscarriage? How could you be so careless? Was it very painful?”
Nan Jin watched her theatrical performance coldly, saying nothing.
Her silence made the two women feel as though they were punching cotton—all their force met with emptiness, leaving them frustrated and powerless.
Gu Qingya rushed to the bedside, raising her hand to slap Nan Jin across the face as she screamed angrily, “You bitch, have you gone mute? We’re talking to you!”
Nan Jin’s expression turned stern as she tried to raise her hand to block, but her body ached all over, leaving her too weak to effectively defend herself even if she tried.
Instinctively, she leaned sideways on the bed, barely avoiding the strike, though the force of the slap still made her face pale.
Because of her evasion, Gu Qingya’s slap landed on empty air.
Driven by rage, she had swung with all her might, and missing caused her to stumble forward, nearly collapsing onto the bed.
Regaining her composure, Gu Qingya grew even more furious. She climbed halfway onto the bed, grabbing at Nan Jin’s hair while shouting, “You wretch! How dare you dodge?”
“You’re about to be thrown out by my brother, and you’ve lost your child. I just wanted to hit you a couple of times—you should have obediently taken it. How dare you avoid me?”