As Qin Yuan recalled everything that had happened in her previous life, hatred surged through her chest. The veins on the hand gripping the scissors bulged, while her nails dug deep into her palm.
She wanted nothing more than to plunge the scissors straight into Hu Yinglian’s heart and tear apart Fourth Aunt Mao’s gossiping mouth. Only then could she vent the hatred burning inside her!
But she couldn’t.
Reason washed over her like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing her murderous rage.
If she died together with them, then her rebirth in this life would have been completely wasted.
Heaven had allowed her to come back to life on the darkest, most hopeless day of her existence—not so she could waste herself fighting with rotten people, but so she could take revenge, atone for her regrets, and reclaim everything she had lost.
She absolutely could not squander this opportunity on people like Hu Yinglian and Fourth Aunt Mao.
Besides, in her previous life, she had been young and naive, completely deceived by Xia Junsheng’s handsome face and gentle demeanor.
He had said his frostbite left him unable to do heavy work, so she took on all the exhausting chores herself. He had said the cold had damaged his body and made him infertile, so she had blamed herself endlessly.
But after living to nearly forty, she had long since seen through him.
Xia Junsheng was selfish, lazy, cowardly, and vain. Those flaws were deeply ingrained in his very bones.
How could a man like that possibly risk his life by jumping into an icy hole to save her?
How could someone like him save a person and then keep quiet about it for an entire month?
And after returning home, how could he possibly resist boasting about his heroic deed?
Impossible!
Clarity returned to Qin Yuan’s eyes.
Having been given another chance at life, she was no longer the foolish girl who could be deceived by appearances.
She gripped the scissors tightly, as though clinging to the last thread of her reason, while a thought she had never considered in her previous life emerged in her mind.
The person who saved her had to be someone else!
There had only been Xia Junsheng’s padded jacket and trousers on the frozen river, with no trace of anyone else…
Then what had happened to her real rescuer?
Had that person safely left afterward?
Or had they exhausted all their strength saving her and sunk into the freezing depths of the river?
Qin Yuan’s heart clenched violently.
In her previous life, she had never questioned what happened. But looking back now, everything about the ice hole and Xia Junsheng’s strange behavior was riddled with inconsistencies.
No matter what, she had to find her true savior!
If that person had died saving her, only to remain nameless and forgotten, how could she ever live with herself?
And if Xia Junsheng was allowed to continue taking credit for someone else’s sacrifice, then what was the point of her rebirth?
Qin Yuan suppressed the turbulent emotions inside her and raised her eyes toward Fourth Aunt Mao, her expression filled with contempt.
“You said it yourself. When you reached the riverbank, all you saw was me lying on the ice, with Xia Junsheng’s clothes beside me. So how did you decide that he was the one who saved me just because his clothes were there? Did the clothes open their mouths and tell you?”
“Y-You…”
Fourth Aunt Mao was momentarily speechless. Then she planted her hands on her hips and erupted.
“Qin Yuan, have you gone crazy? If it wasn’t him, then who else could it have been? Are you saying a ghost saved you? You’re only refusing to admit it because Xia Junsheng is dead! Everyone, look at her! This is what an ungrateful, heartless wretch looks like!”
Several women nearby immediately joined in, pointing at Qin Yuan and berating her.
The most agitated of them all was Hu Yinglian.
She never would have imagined that despite what everyone considered undeniable evidence—and despite the entire village agreeing on what had happened—Qin Yuan would actually dare deny it!
No!
No matter what happened today, the Qin family had to compensate them.
They had to repay them with both a person and money!
She absolutely could not let Qin Yuan escape!
A vicious glint flashed through Hu Yinglian’s eyes. She immediately collapsed onto the ground, slapped her thighs, and wailed.
“Ahhh! I don’t want to live anymore! My poor, unfortunate son! He saved an ungrateful wretch, only to throw away his own life for nothing!”
As her performance grew increasingly emotional, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an old brown bottle.
Half of the label had peeled away, but the three red characters for “Dichlorvos” remained glaringly visible. Beneath them, the words “Highly Toxic” were surrounded by a red circle.
It was the very same bottle of their so-called “family heirloom” pesticide Qin Yuan remembered from her previous life.
Everyone present belonged to the same production team, so of course they knew exactly what it was.
The moment they saw the bottle, panic broke out, and several people immediately surrounded Hu Yinglian to stop her.
“Sister Hu, don’t do anything foolish!”
“You can’t do this! The clan chief is here. He’ll definitely get justice for you!”
“Don’t! We’ll make Qin Yuan apologize to you and marry into your family. She can spend the rest of her life working like an ox or a horse for you…”
Watching the scene unfold, the mockery in Qin Yuan’s smile deepened.
This little performance hadn’t happened in her previous life.
Back then, she had been lying in bed. The moment she heard the crying and shouting outside, guilt had nearly driven her to death. Her mother had also blamed herself endlessly.
Both mother and daughter had believed that since Xia Junsheng had supposedly died saving her, it was only right for their family to repay his life by marrying Qin Yuan into the Xia family.
Hu Yinglian hadn’t even needed to bring out such a powerful weapon.
This life was much better.
Such an important “actress” had finally gotten her chance to perform.
Just as the commotion reached its peak, another tearful voice came from outside.
“Mom! What are you doing?! Don’t scare me!”
It was Xia Junsheng’s younger sister, Xia Min.
She stumbled into the room and threw herself onto Hu Yinglian, desperately trying to snatch the pesticide bottle away. Tears streamed down her face like pear blossoms drenched in rain.
“Brother is already gone! If something happens to you too, how am I supposed to live? Sob… Mom, if Qin Yuan doesn’t want to compensate us, then forget it. We won’t blame her. After all, Brother risked his life to save her so she could live a good life. We’re already a widowed mother and an orphaned daughter. Life is hard enough for us as it is. If you really want to drink it, then give me half! I’ll go with you to see Brother!”
Qin Yuan was speechless.
This was where the applause should begin!
After all, their coordination was flawless.
Hu Yinglian played the villain while Xia Min played the sympathetic one. After such a perfectly coordinated performance, everyone’s sympathy would naturally surge, and all their anger would once again be directed at Qin Yuan.
How interesting!
If Qin Yuan hadn’t lived through an entire lifetime and seen through this mother-and-daughter pair, those few sentences alone might have made her so ashamed that she would have rushed over, grabbed the bottle, and drunk the pesticide herself!
Qin Yuan’s judgment was correct.
Unlike her, the villagers watching the spectacle hadn’t been reborn.
The moment they saw the mother and daughter fighting over the pesticide, their sympathy and anger immediately reached their peak.
One group hurried to comfort Hu Yinglian, while another rushed toward Qin Yuan, intending to force her to her knees and make her apologize.
Ming Shuangfeng’s mind was in complete turmoil. Part of her felt that their family was indeed in the wrong, yet another part believed her daughter had done nothing wrong.
Regardless, she immediately rushed forward to protect Qin Yuan.
“Don’t touch my Ah-Yuan! She’s still weak!”
Qin Yuan thrust the scissors forward.
“Who dares touch me?! Come on! At worst, we’ll all die together! I don’t want to live anymore either! Is that what you want?!”
Amid the chaos, an elderly voice suddenly thundered through the room.
“What’s all this commotion?! Is throwing tantrums and making a scene all you women know how to do? Even if the sky falls, the clan will hold it up! I’d like to see exactly who dares bully a member of our Xia family!”
The instant those words rang out, Xia Min, who had only been sobbing moments earlier, suddenly went limp.
She fainted right on the spot.
Even more conveniently, Hu Yinglian hugged her daughter and sobbed so violently that she could barely breathe, yet somehow still remembered to raise the pesticide bottle toward her mouth.
The elderly clan chief, Xia Kunshan, had just entered when he hurried over and snatched the bottle away.
“Third Xia’s wife, what are you doing? I’m here now, so don’t do anything foolish. I already know what happened. The clan will make sure you receive justice.”
Xia Kunshan turned toward Qin Yuan, who stood against the wall with scissors in hand.
His aged face darkened until it seemed longer than a donkey’s.
“Qin Yuan, we all know Xia Junsheng saved you and lost his own life because of it. What exactly are you making such a fuss about now? What right do you have to cause trouble? Look at what you’ve done! You’ve driven Junsheng’s mother to the point of drinking poison! What do you have to say for yourself?”
Qin Yuan stared at the old man.
Sanctimonious hypocrite.
No four words could describe him better.
In her previous life, he had done exactly the same thing. The moment he entered, he immediately sided with the Xia family and forced Qin Yuan and her mother to compromise, threatening to drive them out of the village if they refused.
This time, the situation was almost identical.
But in this life, her younger brother had gone to report the matter to the police.
As long as that gave her even a sliver of hope, she only needed to stall for time.
Qin Yuan tugged at the corner of her lips.
“Grandpa Clan Chief, are you here to uphold justice?”
Xia Kunshan rolled his eyes.
“Of course! Your cursed fate got someone killed while you came out perfectly fine. If the Xia family weren’t willing to take you in as Junsheng’s widow, who else would dare marry a jinx like you? It’s settled, then. You’ll marry into their family today. At least that will give Junsheng’s mother some comfort!”
Qin Yuan stared at him.
“This is what you call justice? You’re not even going to ask what I want?”
The old man’s face filled with contempt.
“Why should anyone care what you want? He saved your life, so shouldn’t you repay him with your own? You truly have no conscience! If you refuse to do as I say, then your entire Qin family can get the hell out of Xia Family Bay!”