[This story takes place in an alternate historical setting. Please do not compare it too closely with real history.]
In the winter of 2004, the capital was gripped by the bitterest cold of the year. Heavy snow filled the sky.
“Cold…”
“So cold…”
“Dad, Mom, Ah Ying… save me… please save me…”
A bloated figure crawled through the thick snow, leaving a long trail of blood behind her.
Tears gathered in the corners of Meng Yao’s eyes. She weakly reached toward the people standing before her, murmuring feebly.
“Well, look who came crawling back.”
Meng Ying approached Meng Yao in the latest mink coat and a pair of towering high heels, her eyes filled with contempt.
She bent down smugly, leaned close to Meng Yao’s ear, and whispered provocatively,
“You fake. You didn’t honestly think we would save you, did you?
“If we hadn’t needed to use you to save the factory back then, I would have arranged for you to die in an accident long ago—just like I poisoned your biological parents…”
W-What?!
Her biological parents, who had supposedly died in a car accident, had not died accidentally at all.
Meng Ying had killed them with her own hands.
Meng Yao’s eyes widened in horror as she stared at the vicious members of the Meng family. Her trembling, powerless fingers froze in midair, unable to do anything.
Li Yuqin planted both hands on her hips. Raising her eyebrows in disgust, she sharply scolded,
“You’re already married, yet you still dared to run back here. Are you trying to turn our Meng family into a joke and make your in-laws accuse us of failing to raise our daughter properly?”
“That’s right, Sis. You’re already a member of the Qi family, and we severed our relationship with you a long time ago. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to come back now?”
Meng Yu glanced around. When he saw the Qi family rushing over from a short distance away, a mocking smile appeared on his face.
Meng Liangcai snorted coldly.
“Hurry and send her back. It would be troublesome if the Qi family misunderstood and thought we allowed her to return.”
When she saw them walking toward her, the helpless Meng Yao struggled desperately.
“No… don’t! They really will beat me to death! I’m begging you—please don’t send me back…”
Tears of despair silently slid down her pale, emaciated face.
The Meng family was her final lifeline. If even they refused to help her, she would not survive the night.
She truly did not want to die!
Back then, the Meng family had drugged her food and personally delivered her to Qi Yunhai’s bed. Her reputation was destroyed, leaving her with no choice but to marry into the Qi family.
They had exchanged her for the Qi family’s connections and money, using them to save the Meng family’s struggling little factory.
In the end, the Meng family had grown their business by feeding on Meng Yao’s blood until they became one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in the capital.
Not only that, but before Meng Yao’s wedding, Meng Ying had forcibly given her own son—whose father was unknown—to Meng Yao for adoption and demanded that she raise him as her own.
Meng Yao had worked tirelessly and endured every hardship for twenty years.
Yet in the end…
“Grandpa, Grandma, we’re late.”
Qi Qinghe, who had finally caught up, revealed a sinister smile. He raised his foot and stomped hard on Meng Yao’s back.
“I’m sorry. I failed to keep an eye on Mom and allowed her to run here and embarrass everyone.”
Qi Yunhai arrived a step behind him, his face dark with rage. Without any restraint, he repeatedly kicked Meng Yao in the abdomen.
“You worthless hen who can’t lay eggs! You actually dared to resist and run away? I’ll beat you to death today!”
Amid the Meng family’s gleeful laughter, Qi Yunhai and Qi Qinghe dragged Meng Yao away like a dead dog.
It was an unbearably dark night.
For Meng Yao, no night had ever felt so long.
From the excruciating pain throughout her body to the moment she finally lost all sensation, six full hours passed.
The light completely faded from her hate-filled eyes beneath the Qi family’s curses and brutal beatings.
She hated them.
She truly hated them so much!
If she could start over, she would never allow anyone to trample on her again.
She would take control of her own life with her own hands!
Meng Yao jolted awake from the nightmare and sucked in a sharp breath. She sat upright, hugging her cold, trembling body in terror.
She unconsciously murmured,
“Stop hitting me… please, stop hitting me. I was wrong. I really know I was wrong…”
Suddenly, a sharp and piercing female voice sounded beside her.
“Meng Yao, hurry and come out. We have guests downstairs.”
“This is a wonderful marriage Mom and Dad carefully arranged for you. If you dare ruin it, we won’t forgive you.”
That voice…
What was going on?
A marriage arrangement?
Meng Yao immediately rushed to the table and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Her old, weathered face had become young again.
She looked up at the old-fashioned illustrated calendar hanging on the wall.
September 5, 1984.
She had been reborn.
She had returned to the very day she was forced into a marriage meeting!
This so-called marriage alliance was nothing more than a complete and utter scam.
Qi Yunhai was the only son of Qi Shuai, the director of the steel factory.
The Qi family was wealthy and powerful, far beyond the reach of the Meng family, who owned only a small private factory.
Such a “wonderful opportunity” would never have fallen into the Meng family’s hands if Qi Yunhai had not been injured and disabled during a military mission two years earlier, leaving him infertile.
Every family with a daughter in the surrounding villages had refused to marry her into the Qi family.
Aside from Qi Yunhai’s domineering mother, he also had a physical disability.
For a man, being unable to continue the family line was not merely a physical torment. Over time, the frustration could twist him into something deeply disturbed.
Carelessly marrying a daughter to him would be no different from throwing a sheep into a tiger’s den.
Any family with a conscience would never do such a thing.
Only the Meng family could be so heartless.
“What are you hiding in there for?”
“The guests have already arrived. Aren’t you ashamed to make everyone wait for you?”
Outside the door, Meng Ying stood with her hands on her hips, her face dark and sinister as she shouted rudely at Meng Yao.
Thinking about how miserably the Meng family had ruined her in her previous life made Meng Yao grind her teeth in hatred.
In this life, she would not only seek justice for herself and her parents—
she would personally send both the Meng family and the Qi family to hell!
Meng Yao clenched her fists tightly, desperately restraining the urge to beat someone. Then she suddenly pulled the door open.
Meng Ying had been enthusiastically pounding on the door. Caught completely off guard, she lost her balance and stumbled forward.
Meng Yao swiftly stepped aside.
Meng Ying immediately fell onto the floor beside her feet in an extremely miserable state.
“Ah!”
“Are you trying to kill me? Couldn’t you warn me before opening the door? You made me fall! Ouch…”
Meng Ying painfully clutched her backside. A sharp, piercing pain shot through her lower body, making her gasp repeatedly.
She looked resentfully at Meng Yao and stretched out her hand in dissatisfaction.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry and help me up!”
“I’m in a hurry to attend my marriage meeting. I don’t have time.”
Before leaving, Meng Yao glanced at her coldly. The disgust in her eyes made it seem as though she were looking at something filthy.
Meng Ying was so furious that she could hardly believe what had happened.
She shouted at Meng Yao’s retreating figure,
“You ignored me when I called you earlier, so why are you in such a hurry now? Get back here and help me up!”
“You wretched bitch…”
Meanwhile, the conversation in the living room downstairs was lively and harmonious.
“Even setting aside her appearance, my daughter is educated, sensible, and very obedient. Although she may be slightly beneath your family, you certainly won’t suffer any loss by marrying her.”
Li Yuqin nervously rubbed the teacup in her hands as she looked ingratiatingly at the couple sitting opposite her.
She feared that Meng Yao would fail to win their approval and ruin the marriage arrangement.
Meng Liangcai quickly added,
“Yaoyao has been treasured in our palms since she was little. We always gave her the best of everything and spent a great deal of effort raising her.
“If you don’t believe us, you can ask anyone in the neighborhood.”
Qi Shuai and Lin Xiuzhu repeatedly nodded. After exchanging a glance, they smiled knowingly.
Before coming, the couple had worried that the Meng family would use the rumors surrounding Qi Yunhai to make excessive demands.
However, judging by how eager the Meng family seemed to practically give their daughter away, their concerns had been unnecessary.
Still, this marriage was ultimately nothing more than a bargaining chip through which both families intended to exploit each other.
No matter how generous the Meng family appeared, they would never give their daughter away for nothing.
Qi Shuai had not become the director of the steel factory through ability alone.
More importantly, he was cautious, steady, and smooth in his dealings. He was skilled at reading people and offering them exactly what they wanted.
Before visiting the Meng family, he had already conducted a detailed investigation into them.
He gave Lin Xiuzhu a meaningful look, signaling for her to present the Qi family’s “sincerity.”
Understanding immediately, Lin Xiuzhu opened the leather bag she carried. She removed a thick envelope and handed it to Li Yuqin.
She smiled sweetly.
“Since everyone believes there are no problems, why don’t we strike while the iron is hot and finalize the marriage?”
They were all intelligent people.
How could Li Yuqin not know what was inside the envelope?
Seeing that the marriage was about to be settled, she smiled so broadly that she could not close her mouth.
She politely pushed the envelope back once before accepting it.
“Oh, my dear future in-law, you’re far too courteous. We’re about to become one family. We couldn’t be happier.”
“It’s only right. Raising a daughter is not easy. We are parents too, so of course we understand.”
Lin Xiuzhu wore a false smile, but inwardly, she mocked the Meng family for greedily and shamelessly selling their daughter.
“But don’t worry. Once she enters the Qi family, we will treat her exactly like our own daughter.”
Li Yuqin tightened her grip on the envelope and smiled ingratiatingly.
“That would be wonderful.”
Meng Yao stood at the staircase and listened for quite some time, a mocking smile curling at the corners of her lips.
Treat her like their own daughter?
They had practically tortured her to death.
Hypocritical, cold-blooded, and selfish—
even those words were far too mild to describe the Qi family.
Meng Yao gritted her back teeth and suppressed her emotions as she slowly walked toward them.
“Well, everyone’s here?”