In the autumn of 1983,
“Zhizhi, it’s time for your medicine!”
“I’ve already spoken with Matchmaker Wang. If you lose your baby, you can marry him right away. The dowry has already been negotiated for you.”
Xu Zhizhi has been having recurring dreams lately. She either dreams of being with a handsome and dashing man, or dreams of someone bringing her medicine to drink.
Tonight’s dream contained sounds she didn’t like.
With his eyes closed, he silently said, “Fast forward, next episode.”
In the past, whenever they did this, they would switch to the handsome, muscular man in military uniform. The two of them really came up with all sorts of tricks.
I’ve recited it to myself several times today, but this mouthwatering scene still hasn’t appeared.
At the same time, the woman with the raspy voice kept urging her to take her medicine, which hurt her eardrums. She had just opened her eyes when she saw the scene in front of her, so she quickly closed them again.
A cramped room, yellowed walls, and a huge portrait of a great man—the perfect setup for a period drama!
Could it be that I’ve gone through a trendy phase and ended up living in a book?
“Zhizhi, don’t close your eyes, I saw everything.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Zhizhi resignedly opened her eyes again, and the smile on the other person’s face instantly became gentle and kind.
Her appearance—short hair to her ears, beady eyes—really resembled the wicked stepmother character in a period drama I had recently read.
Xu Zhizhi pinched her palm hard, and the intense pain made her realize that this time she was really in trouble.
She transmigrated into the book!
She transmigrated into a male-oriented historical fiction novel written by Zhou Tian, a competitor in the same company. The male protagonist’s character is a bit special, with the common “heartthrob” trope in female-oriented fiction. The character with the same name is the male protagonist’s divorced and early-death white moonlight.
A complete idiot and a wicked beauty.
The female protagonist in the book is Zhou Tian, Li Wenzhu’s second wife, who is also the author of the synopsis.
This foolish beauty, seeking revenge, made the grandson of the family her grandfather had once saved marry her.
However, not long after the marriage, the original owner’s husband went on a mission and left. A few months later, news came from the northeastern border that he had sacrificed his life.
The day after receiving the sacrifice allowance, the original owner started going on blind dates. Under the instigation of her stepmother Liang Fenglan, she met a returned educated youth from the match factory.
The educated youth had a wife in the countryside whom he did not marry, and they had two sons.
But 77 years later, the educated youth was admitted to university and returned to the city with his son. After graduating from university, he was assigned to work in a match factory. He wanted to find a wife from the city, but he had two children to raise.
Through this process, they eventually found the original owner of the body. Since they were well-matched, they quickly began discussing marriage.
For the sake of this good-looking man and his long-term meal ticket, “Xu Zhizhi” aborted her unborn child without hesitation.
After having an abortion, she rested at home for half a month before eagerly marrying the educated youth accountant.
Not long after the marriage, her husband’s true colors were revealed. He would beat and verbally abuse Xu Zhizhi, and on the worst occasion, he kicked her so badly that her uterus ruptured and she bled profusely…
She asked her stepmother for help, but Liang Fenglan stood with her hands on her hips and wouldn’t let her in.
They say a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; the accountant is the most easy-going person in the factory, how could she possibly be a domestic abuser?
Even if you resort to violence, it’s because you, Xu Zhizhi, don’t know how to serve people. You don’t work and can’t even win over a man. What a waste of your vixen face.
With nowhere to turn for help, the original owner could only return to that dilapidated home, where he ultimately died a tragic death.
The female protagonist in the book, Zhou Tian, is Li Wenzhu’s second wife. She is a doctor at Li Wenzhu’s residence. She is beautiful, comes from a good family, and presents herself as a gentle, kind, and generous confidante.
During the time when Li Wenzhu was heartbroken, he took care of her closely and eventually won over her wounded heart. The two lived happily ever after after their marriage!
After recalling the plot, Xu Zhizhi speechlessly questioned the heavens.
Children should not be hit.
Even high-ranking military officers cannot be abandoned.
Right now, this should be the scene before Xu Zhizhi drank the abortion medicine. She took the bowl, stared at the hypocritical Liang Fenglan across from her, and smiled faintly.
“Aunt Liang, is this for me to drink?”
Seeing her radiant smile, Liang Fenglan was stunned into silence. She took a deep breath and nodded hastily.
“Yes, it’s for you!”
The book provides a brief description of the original owner’s appearance, saying that she was an absolute beauty with eyebrows like distant mountains, and every frown and smile was full of charm, the kind that would shock even women for three seconds.
Judging from Liang Fenglan’s reaction, it is indeed true.
“Abortion pills?” Xu Zhizhi asked with a smile.
“right.”
Ever since she married Xu Zhizhi’s father with her son, that brat has never smiled at her. What’s gotten into her today? Liang Fenglan became suspicious.
“Bamboo sacrificed herself, and you’ll be a single mother after the child is born. I don’t want you to follow in my footsteps, do you understand?”
“I understand, Aunt Liang is doing this for my own good.”
Xu Zhizhi knew that the Wenzhu the woman mentioned was the handsome and fierce man in her dream.
There were scenes of the two of us together in my dream, and it was truly delicious!
Li Wenzhu was not killed at this time, but was injured and hospitalized.
“Good to know. Drink it while it’s hot, the medicine won’t be as effective if it gets cold.” Liang Fenglan gently nudged Xu Zhizhi’s arm, her gaze fixed on the bowl of medicine.
Xu Zhizhi furrowed her beautiful willow-leaf eyebrows and raised the medicine bowl to her lips. From this angle, she could just see Liang Fenglan’s barely suppressed smile through the rising steam.
She deliberately moved the medicine bowl away a little.
“Aunt Liang, I’m scared.”
Liang Fenglan’s breath, which she had been holding in, deflated instantly when interrupted, and she said anxiously,
“What are you afraid of? It’s just a little thing, it won’t hurt at all, and it won’t harm your body. Just listen to me, pinch your nose and swallow it all at once, and you’ll never have to worry about food and drink if you work with the accountant.”
This statement did indeed fool the naive beauty in the book. The original owner of the book was so eager to secure that long-term meal ticket that she drank the medicine without saying a word.
Xu Zhizhi had only read this description of abortion, and she could feel the cruelty and bloodshed of the time just from the brief text.
After drinking the medicine, the original owner did not react immediately, but waited until the next day.
On the night of the attack, the original owner screamed in pain on the bed and fainted several times. The indifferent Xu father not only did not take her to the hospital, but also cursed Xu Zhizhi as a jinx who would kill men and children!
The stepmother, Liang Fenglan, played the role of a kind-hearted person, persuading Xu’s father to return to his room and instructing her son not to meddle in other people’s business before taking a rolling pin and entering the original owner’s room.
Fearing that Xu Zhizhi’s shouts would attract the neighbors, Liang Fenglan gagged the original owner with a towel, tied her hands and feet with hemp rope, jumped onto the bed, and pressed hard on the original owner’s stomach with a rolling pin.
The original owner was only pressed down a few times before collapsing, covered in sweat, with bright red blood dripping continuously from his body.
Liang Fenglan did not stop at this moment. She woke up the original owner, who had fainted from the pain, with cold water and continued to use the rolling pin.
When the original owner regained consciousness, her eyes were in so much pain they felt like they were going to pop out. She craned her neck, wanting to scream but unable to, wanting to move but unable to, and could only cling tightly to the bed board, letting Liang Fenglan exert herself on her.
The book uses ellipses to fast-forward through this painful night.
The next day, the original owner’s child was gone.
While reading this description, the reader, Xu Zhizhi, projected her own experience onto the character. Having experienced the pain of kidney stones, she could imagine the original owner’s despair at the time.
Therefore, she hated the role of a stepmother with a passion, and when the opportunity presented itself, she wouldn’t let it slip by.
Life is all about getting revenge; it’s only satisfying when you retaliate in kind.
Looking at Liang Fenglan, Xu Zhizhi stretched out her slender fingers, grabbed her chin, and poured the medicine into her mouth before she could react.
“Aunt Liang, drink it while it’s hot, the medicine will be more effective.”