2007, Hai City First People’s Hospital.
“Mrs. Xia, you’ve been behind on your payments for a week now. You kept saying your family would come to pay, but no one has shown up. This is very difficult for us. Besides, your illness can’t wait; if you don’t have surgery soon, I’m afraid it will be too late.”
“Look, we’ll hold your bed for one more day. Hurry home and get the money for the fees. If you can’t pay, we’ll have no choice but to give the bed to another patient in need.”
The nurse gave the elderly-looking woman before her a final ultimatum with a sigh of helplessness.
Though she was only forty-eight, Xia Xian looked as if she were in her sixties or seventies. Her face was covered in wrinkles and her complexion was ashen. Beyond the ravages of her illness, she had clearly been weathered by a lifetime of hardship.
“I understand, Nurse Liu. I’m sorry. I’ll find a way to pay the money. I won’t make things difficult for you.”
A flash of embarrassment crossed Xia Xian’s eyes, but she gave her apologetic guarantee nonetheless. She draped her coat over her shoulders and walked unsteadily toward home.
She had a malignant tumor. It hadn’t been discovered too early or too late—if treated properly, she could live for another three to five years, perhaps even longer. If not…
Ten days had passed since her diagnosis and hospitalization. She had only paid for the first three days. Her husband and daughter said they were going home to get money, but they never returned.
When she called them at first, they said they were busy and couldn’t come, telling her to hang in there. Later, they said they were raising money for her medical expenses. Eventually, they stopped answering her calls altogether.
But she believed that her daughter and husband didn’t mean it. They must have been held up by something, or perhaps they were too busy raising money to answer the phone.
Clutching onto that hope, she dragged her sickly body along for over an hour until she finally reached home, only to find it empty. She didn’t have her keys and couldn’t even get through the door.
Xia Xian lowered her head in disappointment. Suddenly remembering something, she walked toward the neighbor’s house, only to find their gate locked tight as well. No one was there.
For some reason, Xia Xian’s heart gave a sudden thud, as if she had a premonition. Just then, Sister Wang, who lived behind them, rode past on her motorcycle. Seeing Xia Xian standing there, she stopped her bike in surprise and called out.
“Xia Xian, what are you doing standing here looking like that? Today is Nannan and Xiao Jun’s wedding, and it’s also the housewarming day for your family’s new place. A double blessing! As the mistress of the house, why aren’t you there helping out instead of running back here? I was just about to head to your new house for the wedding feast.”
“Though I must say, you and Old Chu are truly generous. Xiao Jun and his mother didn’t have money to buy a house for the wedding, so you two bought one for them and even let his mother move in with them, leaving you to live in this shack. Sometimes I really don’t know what you’re thinking, marrying off your daughter and throwing in a house to boot.”
Sister Wang sighed with emotion, clearly unable to understand such a decision.
Xia Xian felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her heart. She clenched her fists so hard that her teeth sank into her parched lips, nearly drawing blood. Her expression went blank.
Chu Nannan was her daughter, and Xiao Jun was the neighbor’s son. But whether it was the wedding or the gift of a house, she knew absolutely nothing about it!
And of all people for Chu Nannan to marry, why did it have to be Xiao Jun! Xiao Jun’s mother, Bai Lian, had grown up with Xia Xian’s husband. She was five years his senior, married young, and divorced early, moving back to her parents’ home when her son was seven.
Xia Xian had originally married the eldest Chu brother, but he had hidden a sudden, acute illness from her. She married into the family, and he passed away just one week later.
The second son, Chu Sheng, was also of age to marry, but the Chu family was poor and couldn’t afford a bride. Back then, Xia Xian had agreed to marry the elder brother because he was handsome and honest, and she hadn’t asked for a dowry. If they had to provide a proper betrothal gift, neither of the Chu brothers would have ever found a wife!
Later, when she wanted to return to her natal home, Mother Chu had begged and pleaded for her to stay, forcing her to live with the second brother instead. She told Xia Xian to just make do and at least give them two children—one to follow the eldest brother’s lineage and one for the second brother’s. She claimed that Jian-xiao was an age-old tradition. Xia Xian, soft-hearted at the time, had agreed.
Unfortunately, in all these years, she had only given birth to one daughter, Chu Nannan. But she believed she had never once failed the Chu family!
She had worked to earn money, cared for the child, showed filial piety to her mother-in-law, and handled all the cooking and laundry without fail. The household expenses were paid from her wages, while Chu Sheng kept his own salary. Sometimes his money wasn’t even enough, and she had to supplement him! He didn’t care for the household, but every now and then he would provide relief to the family next door, saying that Bai Lian was a sister he grew up with, that she was pitiful, and that the child was innocent—he couldn’t bear to ignore them.
The two of them fought every time the subject came up, but after so many years and having a daughter together, she could only muddle through life.
Even as a child, Xiao Jun was no good—instigating trouble, framing others, and engaging in petty theft. She had warned her daughter repeatedly to stay away from him. How could she be marrying him in the blink of an eye!
What had those two been doing behind her back!
Even though there was no breeze, Xia Xian felt as if she were standing on a street in the dead of winter, shivering uncontrollably.
For a moment, she didn’t know whether to feel more chilled by her husband’s actions or her daughter’s.
“Xia Xian? Are you okay? Why are you—”
“Sister Wang, please take me there!”
Before Sister Wang could finish, Xia Xian lunged forward and grabbed her arm, her eyes brimming with tears and a desperate plea.
“Alright.”
Sister Wang realized something was wrong and silently took her there.
Xia Xian rushed over, arriving just in time to witness the bride and groom bowing to the parents and serving tea!
How ironic. In the bright, new house, Chu Sheng and Xiao Jun’s mother, Bai Lian, sat side-by-side, accepting the tea ceremony from her daughter. The two of them even smiled at each other intimately. Anyone who didn’t know better would think they were the actual couple! And her daughter was an ungrateful wolf!
Seeing this, Xia Xian’s blood pressure spiked so high she felt she might have a stroke. Years of grievances and resentment exploded in an instant. Reckless and desperate, she rushed forward, snatched the teacup from Chu Sheng’s hand, and smashed it directly into his face with a loud clack. His nose immediately began to bleed. She only wanted to vent her rage!
“Fuck!”
“Ah! Mom! Why are you here!”
“Xia Xian! Have you gone mad!”
“You bitch!”
“How can Xia Xian be so senseless, causing a scene on such a big day!”
Xia Xian no longer cared about anyone’s reaction. With madness in her eyes, she grabbed Bai Lian’s hair and raised her hand, wanting nothing more than to slap this shameless woman. But her hand was caught mid-air—it was Xiao Jun!
“You dare hit my mother! Get out!”
Xiao Jun was incensed. Before Xia Xian could break free, he raised his foot and kicked her away. The back of her head slammed heavily against the wall before she slid to the floor.
Xia Xian was already at the end of her rope, her body weak and her heart overwhelmed by fury. Between the kick and the impact, her breath simply stopped! Her eyes remained wide open, as if her eyeballs were about to fall out, and tears of blood even leaked from them. She died with her eyes open in resentment!
She hated them! She hated them so much! Why hadn’t she recognized these people for who they were sooner? Why wasn’t she given a chance for revenge? Why, why, why!
Even as a ghost, she would not let these people go!
Xia Xian was unwilling, but her life faded away with the wind, and her consciousness sank into pitch darkness.
Hearing is the last sense to go after death. She heard her daughter’s disgust, complaining that she had ruined her big day. She heard Bai Lian’s victimized sobbing, and Chu Sheng cursing her as he comforted the other woman, saying he never should have married a piece of trash, a crazy woman like Xia Xian…
She wondered when they would finally realize that she was dead.
The moment Xia Xian’s hearing vanished, she should have been completely gone. But her body twitched twice, and she suddenly snapped her eyes open!