“It’s so late and you’re still not up to make breakfast. Are you asking for a beating again?”
“How did I get so unlucky? How did I let Jianguo marry a lazy good-for-nothing like you?”
“If it weren’t for you, how could my Jianguo not come back for two years? You can’t even keep a man, all you know is how to freeload at home!”
Listening to the torrent of abuse from outside, Mingxi lay motionless in bed.
This was the second day since she had transmigrated, and she had been cursed at for two days straight.
In her twenty-some years of life, this was the first time she had ever been berated like this.
It was just her bad luck. She had casually read a period novel recommended by her niece, and then disaster struck.
On her way to a house call, she was hit by a car and sent flying. When she woke up, she was in this world.
Her current identity was not the female lead, nor was she an important supporting female character, but rather the original wife who was treated as cannon fodder.
The male lead, Lin Jianguo, detested this original wife, so he left on the first day of their marriage and had been gone for two years.
Moreover, the two had never even consummated their marriage.
The original owner of the body thus began to live the life of a widow with a living husband, taking care of her mother-in-law and her unmarriageable older sister-in-law.
But those two were no saints; they either beat or cursed the original owner daily.
Mingxi seriously suspected that the original owner had been tormented to death by them, which was why she had transmigrated here.
In the original novel, the original owner also died of illness in the countryside not long after. Meanwhile, Lin Jianguo happily married the daughter of a leader—the female lead—and began his meteoric rise.
The original owner’s father had also been a doctor, but he had passed away early, and her maternal family consisted only of distant relatives.
The original owner had a quiet temperament, bottling everything up inside. She had lost touch with her relatives, so no one came to speak up for her despite her long-suffering abuse.
Listening to the escalating curses and the clattering sounds of things being slammed outside, Mingxi heaved a deep sigh.
Staying here was definitely not an option. A divorce. She had to get a divorce.
Suddenly, the door was kicked open. Lin Jianguo’s mother, Liu Cuihua, stormed in carrying a basin of water and flung it toward Mingxi.
As she threw the water, she cursed with a ferocious expression, “You lazy slob, still not getting up, are you? Well, I’ll wake you up then!”
Lin Hongmei stood beside Liu Cuihua, watching Mingxi being bullied and occasionally chiming in with a couple of curses.
Lin Hongmei strongly resembled Liu Cuihua, with a gaunt, scrawny figure and a sharp, mean-looking face.
Their father had died young. Among the Lin family, only Lin Jianguo was handsome, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes—a very popular look for that era.
Lin Hongmei, on the other hand, was a spitting image of the ugly and shrewish Liu Cuihua, and she remained unmarried to this day.
She targeted Mingxi partly out of jealousy for her good looks.
Another reason was that she couldn’t gain any benefits from Mingxi.
If Mingxi’s family had been powerful and could have arranged a job for her or introduced her to a good match, she might have treated her a little better.
But now, Mingxi was all alone.
Mingxi agilely dodged the basin of water and snatched it, bringing it down on the heads of the mother-daughter duo.
“Ouch! You dare to lay a hand on me!”
Lin Hongmei reached out to grab Mingxi. Mingxi threw the basin at her and bolted outside, screaming for help as she ran.
“Help! Help! They’re hitting me! They’re trying to kill me!”
It was the time of day when everyone was heading out to work. Mingxi, with her hair in disarray and her feet bare, ran onto the village’s main road, attracting a lot of attention.
Since she wanted a divorce, she had to blow the matter up and pin all the blame on the Lin family. She, Mingxi, had to be the victim.
She was divorcing them because she couldn’t bear the abuse any longer. She had to make everyone see that if she didn’t get a divorce, she would surely be bullied to death.
Most of the villagers had been treated by her father and were relatively simple and kind-hearted. She had to make good use of this fact.
Mingxi ran up to a group of aunties, kowtowed, and begged them for help.
“Aunties, please, save me! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are trying to beat me to death! I can’t go on living like this.”
Mingxi secretly pinched her own thigh, crying with extreme sorrow.
Seeing Mingxi’s miserable and pitiful state, the surrounding people sighed in their hearts.
That Liu Cuihua and her daughter were truly wicked, bullying someone to this extent.
Jianguo’s reluctance to return had little to do with Mingxi. It was Liu Cuihua who had cried and fussed, wanting a grandson, and forced Jianguo to marry Mingxi.
The original Mingxi was timid and weak, and everyone knew that Liu Cuihua and her daughter had been bullying her.
Ever since Lin Jianguo had become successful, the mother-daughter pair had started looking down their noses at everyone, offending countless people.
The original Mingxi had never thought to ask others for help, silently swallowing all her grievances. Others who wanted to help didn’t even know where to start.
An aunty quickly helped Mingxi up. “Don’t be afraid, child. We’ll stand up for you.”
Mingxi wiped away a tear and nodded, sobbing.
Just then, Liu Cuihua and Lin Hongmei also rushed over.
Seeing Mingxi surrounded by the crowd, they immediately started spewing vulgarities.
The curses were so foul that people couldn’t bear to listen; even a latrine pit wasn’t as foul as their mouths.
“You two, shut up! Is this any way to treat your own daughter-in-law? Liu Cuihua, if word of you tormenting Mingxi gets to Jianguo and affects his career, we’ll see what you do then.”
The aunties pulled Mingxi behind them and sternly rebuked Liu Cuihua.
A flash of panic crossed Liu Cuihua’s face, but she shrieked in a shrill voice, “How could family matters possibly reach Jianguo? Besides, it’s perfectly natural for a mother-in-law to discipline her daughter-in-law.”
“Mingxi is my daughter-in-law. How I treat her is our Lin family’s business. It’s none of your concern.”
Many people couldn’t stand hearing this, especially the women who had been tormented by their own mothers-in-law.
The surrounding crowd began to criticize the mother and daughter one after another.
Lin Hongmei had a fiery temper. Being accused by so many people, she flew into a rage and lunged to grab Mingxi.
Mingxi feigned fear and shrank back, her eyes timid, like a bullied little rabbit.
People usually side with the one who appears weak and pitiful. Contrasting Mingxi’s aggrieved fear with Lin Hongmei’s arrogant aggression, it was obvious whose side to take.
An uncle grabbed Lin Hongmei’s hand and pulled her aside.
“Hongmei, you’re really going too far. A grown girl like you, still unmarried and bullying your sister-in-law at home every day. What kind of behavior is that?”
Lin Hongmei’s looks were one reason she couldn’t get married, but her personality was an even bigger problem.
Who would want to marry a wife who was not only unattractive but also vicious and arrogant?
Being called out by the uncle like this, Lin Hongmei’s eyes instantly reddened with anger.
Seeing her daughter being wronged, Liu Cuihua became even more agitated. She pointed at her own forehead, hands on her hips, and said, “You’ve all been fooled by this little hussy! She didn’t get up this morning, and when I kindly went to wake her, she hit me and Hongmei with the water basin. See this mark on my forehead? She did this.”
Mingxi defended herself in a tearful voice, “I didn’t! It wasn’t me! It was Mother-in-law who brought a basin of water to throw on me this morning. I dodged, and she slipped on the water on the floor and bumped into Big Sister. After they got hurt, they took it out on me.”
As Mingxi spoke, tears streamed down her face, making her look utterly pitiful.