“Yu Zhaozhao, hurry up and drink this bowl of egg soup, then get up and do some work. Don’t use feeling unwell as an excuse to be lazy. This family doesn’t support freeloaders.”
The cramped room was dimly lit. Old red propaganda posters were pasted on the walls, and a chipped wooden table stood beside the bed. On it rested half an inkstone, worn smooth from years of use the one Yu Zhaozhao usually used to practice calligraphy.
Yu Zhaozhao slowly sat up beneath a thin cotton quilt covered in patches and looked at the middle-aged woman standing beside her bed.
This was her stepmother, Wen Zhihua.
She wore a neat, brand-new outfit made of *dacron*. Her face was delicate and attractive, yet her features carried an unmistakable sharpness. Whenever she looked at others, her eyes always held the arrogant air of someone bestowing charity.
Seeing that Yu Zhaozhao remained motionless, Wen Zhihua slammed the porcelain bowl onto the wooden table beside the bed. Her face was full of impatience and contempt as she snapped:
“Stop looking like you’re half-dead. Your mother died a long time ago. In this family, I’m the one in charge now. I’ve raised you to this age and even let you finish high school. As a stepmother, I’ve done more than enough.
“Jobs are scarce and hard to come by—you know that perfectly well. The family has neither the money nor the connections to buy you a job. So go ahead and cry, throw tantrums, or starve yourself. It won’t do you any good. No one is falling for that nonsense.”
Yu Zhaozhao spoke calmly.
“Then give me the money you’d use to buy a job. I’ll find a way myself.”
Wen Zhihua rolled her eyes.
“In your dreams.”
Yu Zhaozhao looked at her mockingly.
“So you have money to buy jobs for you and your daughter, but not for me? Your daughter is my father’s illegitimate child, isn’t she?”
“You’re talking nonsense! I ought to tear that filthy mouth of yours apart!” Wen Zhihua snapped. “Your father wanted it. Whose fault is it that your mother died so early? If it weren’t for your marriage arrangement with the Zhou family, I wouldn’t even bother taking care of you. Eat it or don’t—it just means I’ll save an egg.”
She raised her hand as if to slap Yu Zhaozhao, but restrained herself and slowly lowered it again. Instead, she pushed the bowl of egg soup closer.
Yu Zhaozhao stared coldly at her movements.
“Then take it away.”
Wen Zhihua’s expression stiffened for a moment. She immediately suppressed her anger and changed tactics.
“You haven’t eaten anything since last night. You’re not seriously going to starve yourself just to spite me, are you? Look at you—your little face is practically green and yellow. Zhou Xiangyang will be coming back soon. I heard plenty of girls at university are interested in dating him. If you look like this, do you think he’ll still fancy you when he comes back?”
“Get out. I’ll drink the soup.”
Her goal accomplished, Wen Zhihua secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With a cold snort, she slammed the door shut and left.
Only then did Yu Zhaozhao slowly raise her head.
Her eyes were flooded with a deep, blood-red fury.
Her hands, hidden beneath the quilt, clenched tightly into fists. It took every ounce of self-control she possessed not to tear into that woman.
Her gaze fell upon the bowl of wild vegetable, mushroom, and egg soup sitting temptingly beside the bed. All she felt was icy ridicule.
In the past, if she so much as took an extra sip of egg soup, Wen Zhihua would mock and ridicule her for ages. Yet today, the woman had personally brought her a bowl and shown such concern.
Clearly, the weasel had come to pay New Year’s greetings with no good intentions.
In her previous life, Wen Zhihua had used this very bowl of drugged soup to set her up, conspiring with the local thug Wang Baogen to destroy her innocence.
Yu Zhaozhao had fought desperately and struck Wang Baogen with the soup bowl. In the end, she suffered broken legs and a disfigured face. Both sides were left badly injured, while her own life was ruined for half a lifetime.
A cold, desolate smile appeared on Yu Zhaozhao’s lips.
She picked up the bowl and deliberately turned her back toward the crack beneath the door, pretending to lower her head and drink.
Outside, Wen Zhihua had deliberately left a narrow gap in the door and was secretly watching.
When she saw Yu Zhaozhao make the motion of drinking, she finally let down her guard and quietly crept away.
Once all sounds outside had completely disappeared, Yu Zhaozhao immediately placed the untouched bowl back on the low stool. Then she lay down again and waited quietly for her prey to walk into the trap.
Bone-deep hatred churned within her heart.
Before long, faint footsteps stopped outside the door.
There was a soft knock.
“Yu Zhaozhao, are you finished drinking? I’m coming in to collect the bowl,” Wen Zhihua called.
Yu Zhaozhao deliberately lowered her voice, pretending to be weak and powerless.
“Get lost. Don’t come in.”
Outside, Wen Zhihua’s face immediately lit up with delight.
She turned to the man beside her and whispered, “It worked. The medicine has definitely taken effect. Hurry up and go inside. Get it done.”
Wang Baogen looked both excited and nervous.
“Auntie Hua… Uncle won’t beat me to death, will he?”
“Relax. Yu Zhaozhao already has a marriage arrangement. Once you’ve had your way with her, she’ll have no choice but to marry you. Your uncle will only help you cover it up.”
Wang Baogen grinned and pulled out some cash and a bicycle coupon, handing them over.
“I knew Auntie Hua was looking out for me. Here’s the three hundred yuan and the bicycle coupon we agreed on. Take them.”
Wen Zhihua accepted them with satisfaction.
If Wang Baogen hadn’t been so generous, she truly wouldn’t have been willing to hand her stepdaughter over to him.
“Your mother and I are the best of sisters. Of course I’d look out for you. Now hurry up and go inside.”
Separated by only a thin door, every word of their disgusting conversation reached Yu Zhaozhao’s ears.
She could practically picture Wang Baogen’s lecherous face and Wen Zhihua’s ugly expression of calculating greed.
Birds of a feather.
A nest of snakes and rats.
Enjoy yourselves while you still can.
Soon enough, I’ll let you have a good taste of reaping what you sow.
The door slowly opened.
Yu Zhaozhao narrowed her eyes slightly, and a cold, razor-sharp smile curled her lips.
In the dimly lit room, Wen Zhihua poked her head inside, her triangular eyes filled with calculation.
Wang Baogen closed the door behind him. Rubbing his hands together, he approached the bed step by step. Unable to wait any longer, he began tearing at his clothes and lunged forward.
At the very moment he pounced, Yu Zhaozhao swiftly rolled to the side.
Thud!
Wang Baogen crashed heavily onto the wooden bed.
The old bed shook violently from the impact, as if it were about to fall apart.
The man groaned and tried to turn over and get up, still dazed.
Yu Zhaozhao quickly grabbed the bedsheet and wrapped it tightly around his bulky body, binding him firmly.
Wang Baogen struggled desperately, twisting and thrashing like a fat pig waiting for slaughter. He was incredibly strong.
But Yu Zhaozhao showed him no mercy.
She grabbed the heavy inkstone she used for practicing calligraphy and smashed it viciously onto the top of his head.
The man’s head immediately began to ring. His limbs grew sluggish and stiff.
Taking advantage of the moment, she picked up the bowl of drugged soup from the table, gripped his jaw tightly, and forcibly poured it down his throat.
The soup poured into his stomach in large gulps.
Yu Zhaozhao’s eyes were filled with savage fury. She wished she could shove the entire porcelain bowl down his throat along with the soup.
After more than half the bowl had gone down, the powerful drug quickly took effect.
Wang Baogen’s entire body burned with feverish heat. He curled up and rolled around on the bed, twisting desperately in agony.
Yu Zhaozhao picked up the inkstone and slowly walked toward the door.
Outside, Wen Zhihua listened to the sounds of struggling coming continuously from inside the room, a sinister smile on her lips.
She had deliberately increased the dosage.
As long as Yu Zhaozhao drank even a single mouthful, she would be unable to withstand the effects of the drug.
And even if she hadn’t drunk the soup, what could a slender young girl possibly do against a grown man?
Once the deed was done, Zhou Xiangyang would never want a woman whose purity had been ruined. And Yu Zhaozhao would have no good days ahead after marrying into the Wang family.
The more Wen Zhihua thought about it, the more secure she felt.
But suddenly, the sounds of struggling inside stopped.
Everything fell silent.
Wen Zhihua’s heart tightened.
She pressed her ear against the door and listened carefully.
Still nothing.
Growing anxious, she immediately reached out and pushed open the door.
The moment the door swung open, the heavy inkstone came flying straight at her.
Wen Zhihua’s vision went black.
She collapsed stiffly to the floor.
Yu Zhaozhao picked up the remaining drugged soup and pried open Wen Zhihua’s mouth, pouring every last drop inside.
After finishing everything, she used the bedsheet to bind the unconscious pair separately. Then, with great effort, she dragged them both into the master bedroom.
She still had to live in her own room.
She certainly wasn’t going to let those two filthy creatures dirty it.
The powerful drug surged through Wang Baogen’s body.
His eyes were red with feverish desire. When he touched the warm body beside him, instinct took over, and he lunged forward.
Before long, things spiraled completely out of control.
Yu Zhaozhao stood outside the doorway, holding the three hundred yuan and the bicycle coupon.
Watching the disgraceful scene inside the master bedroom, she raised a hand and wiped away the thin sheen of sweat on her forehead.
Then her gaze fell upon the yellowed paper calendar hanging on the wall.
July 1970.
A bone-chilling hatred rippled through Yu Zhaozhao’s clear, bright almond-shaped eyes.
She was back.
And this time, not a single person who had harmed her in her previous life would be allowed to escape.