“Mom, don’t blame me… who told you to insist on breaking me and my cousin up, sob sob…” a choking sobbing voice came.
“It’s okay, baby, don’t be afraid. You didn’t mean it. We’ll burn more paper money for Mom in the future…” the young man hugged the girl and comforted her softly.
Song Xuezhi’s soul floated in the air, staring fiercely at the scene inside the car, her eyes red with rage.
Not far away, her body lay on the ground, already torn apart, blood spreading everywhere.
Song Xuezhi had been tricked into getting out of the car and was brutally bitten to death by tigers in a wildlife park.
And the one who proposed this self-driving trip to the wildlife park was her own daughter and nephew. Their forbidden relationship—she had always firmly opposed them being together and even said that if her daughter insisted on marrying him, it would only be over her dead body!
She never expected that what came instead was a bloody murder.
She could only watch helplessly after her funeral as her husband Zhou Weidong took a large compensation payout from the wildlife park and bought two villas respectively for her sister-in-law Zhou Yuwei and her nephew.
“Mom!” Hearing her daughter sweetly call Zhou Yuwei “Mom,” Song Xuezhi was even more furious, her eyes splitting with rage.
But the conversation that followed between Zhou Weidong and Zhou Yuwei happily was what made her realize that this “Mom” had a different meaning.
It wasn’t because Zhou Yuwei was her daughter’s mother-in-law—it was because Zhou Yuwei was about to marry Zhou Weidong as well.
A double celebration for the Zhou family.
It turned out Zhou Weidong and Zhou Yuwei were not biological siblings… they had no blood relation at all.
They weren’t even registered in the same household.
They had been deceiving her all along…
Yuwei was the woman Zhou Weidong had protected all his life, loving her even more than his wife.
Their intense love had long surpassed familial bonds.
After going through three generations of “no close blood relation” certificates, her daughter and Zhou Yuwei’s son also successfully obtained their marriage certificates.
Two newlywed couples with decades of age difference held grand wedding banquets on the same day.
At the wedding, her daughter tearfully held Zhou Weidong’s hand and said: “Dad, from now on, our family of four can finally live happily together! I’ve always wanted Auntie to be my real mother…”
Song Xuezhi could not swallow her rage, her resentment soaring to the sky.
She had worked herself to the bone her whole life, yet this family stepped on her flesh and blood to reach happiness.
Even the daughter she raised with great effort had become the daughter-in-law of the mistress.
It all felt like a horrifying nightmare.
The next second, Song Xuezhi suddenly woke up from the hospital bed. Looking down at her intact, youthful body, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank God… it was just a dream!”
Fortunately, fortunately it was only a dream!
It was still 1979. She was twenty years old. In the county clinic, Zhou Weidong was still in his youth—wearing a military uniform, tall and handsome, with wheat-colored skin and strong masculine presence, exactly her ideal type.
Seeing her slightly dazed expression, Zhou Weidong frowned slightly.
“You’re awake?”
Song Xuezhi moved slightly, feeling weak all over and a dull pain in her head.
“What’s wrong with you? Yuwei is my sister. How could you push her into the water?” Zhou Weidong looked her over and said in an unquestionable tone, “Since you’re fine, go apologize to her right away.”
This sounded familiar, as if it had appeared countless times in her dream.
Song Xuezhi couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality for a moment. Looking at his protective attitude, a surge of anger rose in her chest, and she blurted out sarcastically, “Is she your real sister, or your lover?”
“SONG XUEZHI!!” Zhou Weidong’s face darkened.
In over three years of dating, he rarely called her full name like this.
Whenever he did, it meant he was truly angry.
Zhou Weidong was quite chauvinistic, but otherwise he treated her well.
If it were before, Song Xuezhi would have softened first and given him an out.
But thinking of that terrifying dream… she said coldly, “Why should I apologize? She was the one who pushed me into the water first.”
Zhou Weidong’s sharp, defined face showed a trace of anger: “At a time like this, you’re still lying! Is it so hard to admit the truth?”
“No, why would I randomly push her?” Song Xuezhi felt speechless. “Tell me, why would I push your ‘sister’ into the river the night before our engagement?”
Urgent footsteps came from the corridor, and a nurse peeked in: “Captain Zhou, your sister is trying to pull out her IV again…”
Zhou Weidong gave Song Xuezhi a deep, disappointed look: “You know what you did.”
With that, he turned and hurried away.
Song Xuezhi knew he was referring to their previous argument.
Zhou Weidong had always believed she held strong hostility toward his sister Zhou Yuwei.
But he never considered the things he himself had done—anyone who could endure it would truly be a saint.
Song Xuezhi felt like she had been that “turtle” before—and a green one at that.
Zhou Yuwei had divorced a sent-down youth, and as a woman with a child she couldn’t survive in the countryside, so she traveled thousands of miles to seek refuge with her brother Zhou Weidong in the military.
She had nowhere to live, so Zhou Weidong gave her the house originally meant for him and Song Xuezhi, while he squeezed into the military dormitory and made Song Xuezhi rent a place.
The military unit had good benefits, and recently there was a policy assigning jobs to military wives. Although she and Zhou Weidong weren’t officially married yet, their military marriage application was already under approval, so she was also assigned a job in the cultural troupe.
Zhou Yuwei cried, saying she was looked down upon for having no job and no one to take care of her child. Zhou Weidong immediately asked Song Xuezhi to give up her job to her.
She refused at the time, they had a huge fight, and she ran to the river to clear her mind—only to run into Zhou Yuwei, argue with her, and be pushed into the water.
She couldn’t swim and kept choking. Zhou Yuwei jumped in as well, shouting for help.
Zhou Weidong arrived just then and, without hesitation, jumped into the river—swimming straight toward Zhou Yuwei.
As the freezing river water swallowed her, Song Xuezhi saw Zhou Yuwei cling tightly to Zhou Weidong’s chest, smiling triumphantly at her.
It perfectly matched her nightmare.
Wait… thinking of this, Song Xuezhi suddenly wondered who saved her when she was about to drown.
Definitely not Zhou Weidong…
She shook her head and set that thought aside.
The most important thing now was that dream.
She had a vague feeling it wasn’t just a nightmare, but a glimpse of her future after marrying Zhou Weidong…
The ward door was open, and in the corridor she heard Zhou Yuwei’s tearful voice: “Brother, my hand is bruised by sister-in-law…”
“Don’t be afraid, I’ll warm it for you.” Zhou Weidong’s deep voice was unusually gentle, followed by a sigh: “Sigh, your sister-in-law is being unreasonable. Don’t take it to heart.”
Song Xuezhi suddenly lifted the blanket. Her military shoes stepped onto the cold cement floor. Supporting herself against the wall, she staggered to the door and peered through the crack.
From this angle, she saw Zhou Weidong sitting by the bed, peeling an apple for Zhou Yuwei.
Only then did she realize that the two of them indeed bore no resemblance at all.
She should have realized it earlier. Song Xuezhi gave a self-mocking smile.
At this moment, she believed the dream nine-tenths of the way.
Thinking of her future miserable self, her eyes stung, tears almost falling—but she forced them back.
No. Since heaven had given her a warning, she would never walk that destined tragic path again.
Zhou Weidong, that scumbag—she didn’t want him anymore.
If Zhou Yuwei liked him, she could have the trash. They might as well be locked together for life.
As for her, she would never endure again.
Whoever made her suffer, she would go crazy and repay them tenfold, releasing it all—so she wouldn’t end up with a stress-induced illness like in the dream.
Thinking this, Song Xuezhi rolled up her sleeves and strode in, directly pulling out Zhou Yuwei’s IV and fiercely pinching her arm—
“Ah!” Zhou Yuwei screamed, her face pale as she looked to Zhou Weidong for help.
“Song Xuezhi! What are you doing?!” Zhou Weidong roared, stepping forward to pull her away.
Song Xuezhi knew she couldn’t match his strength and quickly dodged. Looking at them both, she sneered: “Didn’t she say I pinched her? I’ll make it real so I won’t be falsely accused again.”
“Sister-in-law, I know you dislike me.” Zhou Yuwei said tearfully, extending her arm as she sobbed, “If hitting me can make you feel better, then hit me. I’m willing. Just don’t fight with my brother anymore.”