In the year 2005, in a high-end villa district in Yao City.
An old woman with messy white hair and a weather-beaten, wrinkled face stood dressed in patched clothes, her gaze empty and dull as she stared at the villa gate before her.
Her hands tightly clutched the hem of her clothes, her aged face clearly showing nervousness and apprehension.
Suddenly, the villa gate opened, and a stylishly dressed middle-aged woman with exquisite makeup and a designer bag walked out.
The two security guards at the gate called out respectfully, “Eldest Miss! You’re heading out. Be careful, there’s a beggar across the street who’s been standing here for a long time.”
Shen Qingyu walked straight toward the beggar.
Seeing Shen Qingyu about to approach Su Jiaojiao, one of the guards said, “Eldest Miss, this beggar is smelly and dirty. You should be careful about getting too close.”
Shen Qingyu waved her hand. “It’s fine.”
She walked up to Su Jiaojiao, crossed her arms, and sized her up with a sharp, contemptuous gaze. “Su Jiaojiao? I never thought you’d be able to find me after thirty years.”
When Su Jiaojiao’s dull eyes met her face, her expression suddenly became agitated. “You’re Shen Qingyu? Where’s Father? I want to see Father! How did you all end up in Yao City? Do you have any idea I’ve been looking for you for thirty whole years?”
“Heh heh…” Shen Qingyu laughed mockingly. “Su Jiaojiao, what kind of fantasy are you living in, still wanting to see Father?
“Looking for us for thirty years? Tsk, tsk, Su Jiaojiao, should I call you naive or foolish?
“Back then, when the Su family house was gone, the antiques and paintings inside vanished, and the money your own mother deposited in the bank for you also disappeared, did you never wonder why?”
Su Jiaojiao’s eyes widened abruptly, finding a certain guess utterly unbelievable.
Shen Qingyu leaned in and whispered into Su Jiaojiao’s ear, “It’s because we took all of it. Then we took all the Su family’s wealth and ran to Hong Kong City. Later, we returned to Yao City to settle down as Hong Kong merchants.
“And do you know how we managed to escape to Hong Kong City with all those things?”
As Shen Qingyu spoke, she held a translucent, sparkling jade pendant on her neck and said with a smile,
“I really have to thank you for this, my dear younger sister. Who would have thought that the jade pendant your mother left you was actually a spatial dimension? So, when we fled back then, all those antiques and paintings were stored inside the space.
“Look, for the past thirty years, we’ve relied on your Su family’s assets to establish ourselves in Yao City, becoming a top-tier wealthy family, enjoying endless glory and riches.
“Oh, and let me tell you one more thing. Before your mother passed away, Father had already started transferring assets and building another home on the side.
“After your mother died, my mother brought me into the family. To the public, I was the stepdaughter, but in reality, I am Shen Jianguo’s biological daughter. How about that, surprised?
“But the bigger surprise is yet to come. Your mother could have been saved back then, but Father, as her spouse, gave up on her treatment. Then my mother was the one who pulled the oxygen tube. And just like that, your mother trembled a few times in bed and was gone.”
After speaking, Shen Qingyu burst into loud laughter.
Su Jiaojiao’s pupils constricted, her face instantly filled with hatred. She roared in fury, “Ah, how dare you? You pack of animals!”
“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you…”
With that, she lunged forward to strangle Shen Qingyu. The two security guards who had been standing by immediately grabbed her by the arms, one on each side.
“Heh heh…” Shen Qingyu sneered. “Su Jiaojiao, you fool, you couldn’t win against me thirty years ago. And now, tsk, tsk, you’re as withered and old as a dead branch. You’re even less of a match for me.”
She then turned to the two guards and said, “You two, throw this lunatic out. This is a high-end villa district. Don’t let her run into any other distinguished residents. You can’t afford that responsibility.”
The two guards immediately understood her meaning.
They dragged Su Jiaojiao to the side of the road and began to punch and kick her.
“You crazy woman, daring to cause trouble here and frighten the distinguished residents. See if I don’t beat you to death.”
Su Jiaojiao didn’t make a sound, gritting her teeth with overwhelming hatred, her eyes fixed on Shen Qingyu’s retreating back.
The two guards beat Su Jiaojiao until she was on the verge of death. Fearing they had actually killed her, they panicked and dumped her by the roadside.
A month later, as she lay dying in a stinking gutter, she vaguely saw a tall figure running toward her, shouting as he ran.
“Su Jiaojiao, Su Jiaojiao…”
…
In the early spring of 1975, at the Su family’s century-old residence in Hu City.
A ray of sunlight shone through the window onto a girl tucked under a pink cotton quilt.
The girl’s head was half-hidden beneath the quilt, her fine hair scattered on the pillow. Her small face was fair and tender, her closed eyelashes thick and long.
Suddenly, her eyelids twitched. Her face was pale, her brow tightly furrowed, and her forehead was beaded with sweat. Her expression was one of struggle. All at once, her chest heaved, and she gasped for air, groaning,
“Shen Jianguo, Liu Dongmei, Shen Qingyu, if there is a next life, I will have my revenge and send you all to hell.”
“Ah!”
Su Jiaojiao awoke with a start and sat up, panting heavily.
Gradually, she came back to her senses.
“I… Didn’t I die?”
She lowered her head and looked at her hands—a pair of fair, tender, and slender hands.
“These… Why are these hands so beautiful?”
Her hands, after ten years of hardship and toil, had long become dark and rough. How could they be this fair and tender?
Su Jiaojiao looked around again. The walls were white. In the room was a desk with some cosmetics and daily necessities on it. There was also a wardrobe, a luxury for ordinary people, and on top of it sat one red leather suitcase and one red wooden chest.
“This… This looks like my room from over thirty years ago?”
Su Jiaojiao was bewildered. “But what’s going on?”
Her gaze suddenly fell on the calendar hanging on the wall.
The calendar read: 1975.
1975?!
Su Jiaojiao’s eyes flew wide open, her pupils shrinking in utter disbelief.
“Did I travel back thirty years?”
A single, crystal-clear tear slid from the corner of her eye, down her cheek, and onto the quilt, leaving a small, dark circle.
She was back. Back to thirty years ago, to the days when she was tricked by her scumbag father, stepmother, and stepsister into handing over all the Su family’s assets.
Just then, a knock came from the door, and a woman’s voice sounded from outside.
“Jiaojiao, are you up yet?” her stepmother, Liu Dongmei, asked gently. “I’ve steamed two brown sugar eggs for you. Get up and eat first.”
Upon hearing this strange yet familiar voice, Su Jiaojiao’s fair and beautiful face twisted with hatred, her eyes fixed deadly on the door.
She gritted her teeth and said, “Shen Jianguo, Liu Dongmei, Shen Qingyu, I’m back. In my last life, you harmed my mother, transferred our assets, swindled me out of my fortune, and even had me beaten to death and thrown in a gutter. This life, I will settle every single one of these debts with you.”