1987, Autumn
“According to the examination, you’ve had an IUD inserted for a long time. That’s why you’ve been married for ten years and still haven’t had a child!”
At the county hospital, the doctor looked at the scan results and gave a definite diagnosis.
Zhou Yu was stunned. “But I’ve never had an IUD inserted. How could that be?”
“That’s something you’ll have to ask your family,” the doctor said sympathetically.
Her family?
Bitterness filled Zhou Yu’s heart.
She had grown up in Niuniu Village. But when she was thirteen, it was suddenly revealed that she wasn’t her parents’ biological daughter.
Years ago, her parents had offended someone from a neighboring village. Out of spite, that person had stolen their child, abused her as revenge, and casually picked up an abandoned baby to replace her.
The Zhou family quickly found their real daughter, naming her Zhou Rulan, and from then on they resented Zhou Yu.
If she hadn’t been able to work and earn work points, they would have thrown her out long ago.
At eighteen, she married into the Zhao family. Because she couldn’t bear children for ten years, her husband’s family treated her with nothing but coldness and insults.
Neither the Zhou family nor the Zhao family had ever truly been her home.
Yet the doctor pointed at the scan and said there was no mistake—she had an IUD.
Zhou Yu could only go home and ask.
Her husband’s family had always pressured her to have children. Surely they knew nothing about this.
When she arrived home, she found the door slightly ajar. A sweet female voice drifted from inside.
“Ziming, I heard Sister went to the hospital again. You haven’t told her about the IUD, have you?”
Zhou Yu froze, her hand on the door.
She recognized the voice immediately.
It was Zhou Rulan!
The Zhao family had three sons. Zhou Yu had married the youngest, Zhao Ziming.
Before their marriage discussions, however, Zhou Rulan had set her sights on the second son, Zhao Mengmin. Unfortunately, just two months after their wedding, Zhao Mengmin died in an accident, and Zhou Rulan had been a widow ever since.
But what did she mean by that?
The next moment, her husband Zhao Ziming spoke.
“Of course I haven’t told her. If she found out that we took advantage of her being exhausted and running a high fever from work, sent her to the hospital, and had an IUD inserted so she’d never be able to have children, how could we keep using her guilt over being infertile to make her work for us?”
Zhou Yu’s eyes widened in shock.
Zhao Ziming sneered.
“That woman is obsessed with having children. Every time I touch her, I feel disgusted. The only way I can go through with it is by pretending she’s you.”
Zhou Rulan sounded shy yet pleased.
“Oh my, Ziming, how can you say something like that?”
“I’m serious, Rulan. If I hadn’t been worried about damaging your reputation, I would’ve broken off my engagement and married you after my second brother died. But things are fine now. Both families approve of us being together, and Zhou Yu works for us and takes care of us. Isn’t that comfortable?”
Outside the door, Zhou Yu felt as though she had fallen into an icy abyss.
Ten years ago, she had worked herself to exhaustion day and night until she collapsed with a high fever.
When she woke up in the hospital, both her husband’s family and her own family had been gathered around her bedside, showing concern. She had foolishly believed that if she worked hard enough, she could earn her family’s affection.
For ten years, she had endured everything without complaint.
Yet it had all been a scheme?!
Even worse, her husband and her younger sister had long been involved with each other, and both families had silently approved!
Inside, the two continued their sweet exchanges.
Overcome with rage and pain, Zhou Yu shoved the door open.
“Zhao Ziming! Zhou Rulan! What have I ever done to you? How could you deceive and ruin me like this?!”
The pair, their clothes disheveled, hurriedly stood up and straightened themselves.
Seeing her, Zhao Ziming looked startled for a moment before immediately shielding the woman he loved behind him.
“Who told you to insist on marrying me and ruin any chance of me being with Rulan? Zhou Yu, I never liked you. You brought this on yourself!”
Zhou Yu stared at him in disbelief.
“Your family was the one that wanted me because I was hardworking! And when they asked if you’d marry me, you agreed!”
Zhao Ziming sneered.
“You deliberately let the whole village know we were seeing each other. Did I have any choice but to agree?”
Only then did Zhou Rulan peek out from behind him and gasp dramatically.
“My goodness, Sister, I never imagined you were that kind of person!”
“I am not!” Zhou Yu gritted out.
“Zhao Ziming, if you’d told me from the start that you loved Zhou Rulan, I never would’ve married you!”
The man didn’t believe her.
“Good. Now that you know, Rulan and I won’t have to hide anymore. You’d better learn your place and stay out of our way. Otherwise, don’t blame me if I divorce you!”
With that, he wrapped an arm around Zhou Rulan and prepared to leave.
Zhou Rulan shot Zhou Yu a smug look.
Trembling with anger, Zhou Yu rushed forward to block them.
“You can’t leave! What happened today can’t just be forgotten!”
“Zhou Yu, are you done yet?!”
Enraged, Zhao Ziming shoved her hard.
Caught off guard, Zhou Yu fell backward.
The back of her head struck a sharp stone.
Pain blurred her vision.
The last thing she saw was the pair walking away without a single glance back…
…
“You worthless girl, why are you still lying there? The Zhao family is coming today to discuss marriage! If they don’t want you, I’ll make your life miserable!”
The shouting rang in her ears.
At the same time, someone viciously pinched her arm.
The pain made Zhou Yu sit upright instantly.
What greeted her was a peeling gray wall and a room piled high with firewood and junk.
She froze.
This…
Wasn’t this the tiny shack she lived in when she still lived with the Zhou family?
And the middle-aged woman who had just pinched and cursed at her was none other than her foster mother, Li Juying!
Wait.
What had she just said?
The Zhao family was coming to propose marriage?
At that moment, Zhou Yu noticed the large-character poster on the wall.
It clearly showed April 1977!
Zhou Yu: “!!!”
She had been reborn ten years into the past?!
“Didn’t you hear me?!” Li Juying raised her hand to hit her again.
This time, Zhou Yu quickly dodged.
Thinking of everything she had heard before her death, hatred flashed through her eyes.
She had once believed there was still some family affection left between them.
In the end, they had all joined forces to torment her!
“Don’t think I don’t know. You’re marrying me into the Zhao family so I can work like a servant and spare Zhou Rulan from hardship after becoming a widow!”
Not long after Zhou Rulan’s husband died, Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei felt guilty and treated her exceptionally well.
But Zhou Rulan was still young and could remarry someday. The Zhao family might not always care for her.
The Zhao family also had an eldest son in the military. Although he had been brought home two months ago after a severe injury and was now in a vegetative state, his service had allowed the family to accumulate considerable savings. They were the wealthiest family in Niuniu Village.
Li Juying couldn’t bear to lose her daughter from the Zhao family. That’s why she shamelessly wanted Zhou Yu to marry in and serve them, strengthening ties between the families.
“If you hit me again, I’ll tell the Zhao family that Zhou Rulan doesn’t want to stay a widow at all, and that she even said her husband died young because he was useless. Let’s see if the Zhao family still keeps her around then!”
Li Juying’s face immediately changed.
“You dare! I’ll break your legs!”
“Then try it.”
“You—!”
Furious, Li Juying grabbed a piece of firewood to hit her.
Zhou Yu mentally calculated the timing.
Right on schedule.
The next second, Zhou Dajun’s voice rang out from the courtyard.
“Oh my, in-laws, you really didn’t need to bring so many gifts!”
Zhou Yu immediately turned and ran outside.
Afraid she would really expose everything, Li Juying hurried after her.
But Zhou Yu wanted to break off the engagement.
She would never marry Zhao Ziming again!
Yet just as she reached the doorway, before she could speak, a firm male voice rang out first.
“Uncle Zhou, I’ve actually come today to cancel the engagement!”
“I don’t like Zhou Yu. I want to marry Rulan instead!”