“Zhou Jianbin, are you seriously going to marry that country girl, Lin Wanxia, just to get yourself a permit to return to the city?”
A woman’s sharp, bitter voice rang out, dripping with undisguised jealousy.
“Marry her?”
The man gave a contemptuous snort, his voice filled with calculation and disdain.
Don’t worry, Li Xue. Once I get my hands on the permit my uncle arranged for me, I’ll dump her without a second thought.
“And when that happens, you’re the only woman I’ll marry.”
…
The bitter wind swept through the cowshed, carrying a foul stench that seemed to seep into Lin Wanxia’s very bones.
She lay curled on the freezing straw, abandoned like a discarded rag. Her body ached, and her remaining strength slowly drained away.
So Zhou Jianbin and Li Xue had been involved all along.
Every tender word, every promise of everlasting love, had been a lie. Zhou Jianbin had used her to secure his return to the city, then dragged her entire family into ruin.
While her loved ones suffered humiliation, hunger, and hardship in the countryside, he and Li Xue had taken their hard-earned savings and built a comfortable life for themselves.
How she hated them!
Even as her strength faded, the thought of their betrayal burned inside her.
If there was another life…
If heaven ever granted her another chance, she would make those two pay for every drop of blood her family had shed!
“Wanxia? Wanxia! What’s wrong with you? Why are you just sitting there?”
A rough hand gave her a gentle shove, abruptly pulling her out of the endless darkness.
Lin Wanxia shuddered and snapped her eyes open.
The damp, filthy cowshed was gone.
Instead, she found herself sitting inside a lively family hall decorated with large red paper cutouts bearing the traditional symbol of marital happiness.
The room buzzed with conversation and laughter.
Peanuts, sunflower seeds, and several plates of stir-fried dishes covered the tables. The food was hardly extravagant, but for a rural engagement celebration in the 1970s, it was considered quite a feast.
A bright red slogan hung prominently on the wall.
“Unity Is Strength!”
The air was thick with the aroma of cooked food, the smell of sweat, and the faint scent of burning firewood.
Everything felt so real that her heart began to race.
This…
Could it really be…?
Lin Wanxia hurriedly looked down.
She was wearing a brand-new floral Dacron blouse, and around her wrist was a gleaming Shanghai-brand watch.
She recognized them immediately.
This was what she had worn to her engagement banquet with Zhou Jianbin!
She had been reborn!
She had returned to the very day her miserable fate had begun!
“Wanxia, what’s gotten into you today? You’ve been distracted for a while now.”
Zhou Jianbin’s concerned voice sounded beside her.
His tone was gentle and considerate, exactly as she remembered from her previous life.
Slowly, Lin Wanxia raised her head and looked into his face.
In her previous life, she had mistaken his gentle expressions for genuine affection. She had trusted him completely, never imagining that the man she loved would betray her and destroy everything she held dear.
Her gaze shifted past Zhou Jianbin and settled on the smiling woman beside him.
Li Xue.
Her precious “best friend” from her previous life.
The woman who had secretly betrayed her with Zhou Jianbin and helped destroy her family in her previous life.
At that very moment, Li Xue was affectionately linking arms with her, offering sweet congratulations.
Yet beneath that pleasant smile, a flash of malicious delight flickered through her eyes, as quick and poisonous as a snake’s tongue.
Lin Wanxia felt her heart turn to ice.
Hatred surged through her chest like molten lava, threatening to consume the last remnants of her self-control.
She dug her fingernails deep into her palms.
The sharp pain helped her maintain a semblance of composure.
“Maybe I’m just too happy today.”
She forced a cold smile, though her voice came out slightly hoarse.
Just then, Zhou Jianbin’s father, Zhou Dehai, rose from his seat.
As the Party secretary of the Hongqi Production Brigade, he carried himself with the confidence of a man accustomed to being obeyed.
His face was flushed with excitement as he raised his wineglass.
“Today is a wonderful occasion! My son Jianbin and Wanxia are celebrating their engagement!”
“Thank you all for coming to share this happy day with our family. Let me offer everyone a toast!”
The guests enthusiastically raised their cups.
Laughter and cheerful conversation filled the hall.
“Jianbin, Wanxia, you two should hurry up and offer everyone a toast as well!”
Zhou Jianbin’s mother, Wang Xiulan, was grinning from ear to ear.
She eagerly pressed a cup of piping-hot tea into Lin Wanxia’s hand.
Zhou Jianbin raised his wineglass and gazed at her with an expression of deep affection.
“Wanxia, from now on, we…”
“Wait.”
Lin Wanxia’s icy voice cut him off.
The cheerful noise inside the hall faltered.
Every pair of eyes turned toward her.
With everyone watching, Lin Wanxia picked up the engagement agreement written on red paper.
Zhou Jianbin’s smile faltered.
“Wanxia, what are you doing?”
She didn’t answer.
Holding his gaze, she gripped the paper with both hands.
Riiip!
She tore the agreement in half, then into quarters, until nothing remained but scraps.
With a flick of her wrist, she scattered the pieces across the floor.
The hall fell silent.
No one could believe what they had just witnessed.
“Y-You… Have you lost your mind?!”
Zhou Jianbin was the first to recover.
His face turned a furious shade of purple, and the finger he pointed at her trembled uncontrollably.
“Have I lost my mind?”
Lin Wanxia let out a chilling laugh.
There was something so bitter and haunting about it that she might have been a vengeful spirit returning from the depths of hell.
“Zhou Jianbin, I’ve never been more clearheaded in my life!”
“You sweet-talked me into getting engaged to you while secretly having an affair with Li Xue!”
“And all this time, the two of you have been plotting to get your hands on that permit to return to the city, so you can throw me away the moment I’m no longer useful!”
“Did you really think I’d never find out?”
Her accusation struck the room like a thunderclap.
Li Xue’s face instantly drained of color.
Zhou Jianbin looked as though lightning had struck him.
Panic flashed across his face, and he stumbled over his words.
“Y-You… What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!”
“Nonsense?”
Lin Wanxia took a step toward him.
Then another.
She still held the cup of steaming tea in her hand.
“If I’m lying, then why don’t you swear an oath right here, in front of everyone?”
Her voice rose, each word ringing clearly through the silent hall.
“Swear that if you’ve told even a single lie, heaven will strike you down with lightning, and you’ll never be allowed to return to the city for the rest of your life!”
Zhou Jianbin instinctively stepped backward.
His eyes darted around the room, refusing to meet hers.
His mouth opened, but no words came out.
He retreated again.
Still, he said nothing.
The guests exchanged meaningful glances.
His reaction had already told them everything they needed to know.
Some looked shocked.
Others watched him with open contempt.
A few appeared almost delighted by the unfolding scandal.
Every stare felt like a needle stabbing into Zhou Jianbin’s skin.
Humiliated and furious, he finally snapped.
“Lin Wanxia! Don’t push your luck! I’m giving you a chance to save face, so you’d better take it!”
“Save face?”
Lin Wanxia laughed.
She laughed so bitterly that tears nearly spilled from her eyes.
“To hell with saving face!”
The moment those words left her mouth, she raised her hand.
Splash!
The entire cup of scalding tea flew straight into Zhou Jianbin’s face.
Not a single drop was spared.
“AAAAH!”
Zhou Jianbin let out a bloodcurdling scream.
He immediately covered his burning face with both hands and collapsed into a crouch.
“Jianbin!”
“My son!”
The Zhou family erupted into chaos.
Wang Xiulan rushed toward her son, shrieking in panic.
Several relatives scrambled to help him, while others shouted angrily at Lin Wanxia.
The once cheerful engagement banquet had descended into complete disorder.
Yet Lin Wanxia stood calmly amid the chaos.
For the first time since her rebirth, she felt a measure of satisfaction.
Zhou Jianbin’s suffering could never repay what he had done to her family. But today, she had finally stopped being his victim.
And this was only the beginning.
Her cold gaze swept across the room, taking in every shocked expression, every furious glare, and every contemptuous look.
Let them stare.
Let them condemn her.
She no longer cared.
From this moment onward, Lin Wanxia would live for herself and herself alone!
Then she felt it.
Someone was watching her.
Unlike the furious Zhou family or the curious guests, this person’s gaze held neither anger nor shock.
It was steady, almost unnervingly calm.
Lin Wanxia turned toward a shadowed corner of the hall.
There, half-hidden in the shadows, sat a man wearing an old military uniform.
His posture was remarkably straight, and his handsome features were stern and sharply defined.
Even while sitting silently, he possessed an imposing presence that seemed to separate him from everyone else in the room.
He looked like a man who belonged on a battlefield rather than at a noisy countryside banquet.
Beside his leg rested a wooden walking cane, its surface polished smooth from frequent use.
Lin Wanxia recognized him.
Zhou Yu’an.
Zhou Jianbin’s youngest uncle.
The man who had recently returned from the battlefield.
Rumors said he had killed countless enemies and witnessed more bloodshed than most people could imagine.
A leg injury had left him disabled, but it had done nothing to diminish the intimidating aura surrounding him.
The villagers feared him so much that they had given him a terrifying nickname.
The Living King of Hell.
And right now, that very man was watching her without blinking.
His eyes were dark and deep, like a frozen lake whose depths could never be measured.
Unlike everyone else, there was no shock or anger in his expression.
Only a faint trace of curiosity.
And something else…
A subtle hint of amusement that Lin Wanxia couldn’t quite understand.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, an unfamiliar warmth stirred in her chest beneath his steady gaze.
It was faint, almost imperceptible, but unmistakably real.
Before she could figure out what was happening, an enraged roar shattered her thoughts.
“Outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous!”
Zhou Dehai was trembling with fury.
His face had turned dark red, and the veins on his forehead bulged as he glared at Lin Wanxia.
“Someone get over here!”
“Seize this shameless lunatic and lock her in the woodshed!”
Zhou Jianbin was still clutching his scalded face.
Through the gaps between his fingers, his eyes burned with venomous hatred.
“Dad! We can’t just let her get away with this!”
His voice was hoarse from screaming.
“I’m going to make her regret what she did today for the rest of her life!”
Several men related to the Zhou family immediately stepped forward.
They surrounded Lin Wanxia with threatening expressions, clearly prepared to carry out Zhou Dehai’s orders.
Not far away, Lin Wanxia’s parents had gone deathly pale.
They looked desperately from their daughter to the furious Zhou family.
They wanted to plead for mercy, but fear held their tongues.
After all, Zhou Dehai was the brigade secretary.
In their village, offending him could have terrible consequences.
The men continued advancing.
Lin Wanxia was forced to retreat, step by step, until her back pressed against the cold wall.
There was nowhere left to run.
She stood trapped in the corner, surrounded by men who looked ready to drag her away by force.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Just as one of the men reached for Lin Wanxia’s arm, a cold voice cut through the chaos.
Zhou Yu’an rose slowly from his seat, his cane striking the floor with a sharp crack.
“Enough.”
The men surrounding Lin Wanxia stopped immediately.
Zhou Dehai’s face darkened. “Yu’an, this is a family matter. Stay out of it!”
“Then let her parents deal with her,” Zhou Yu’an replied coldly. “Dragging a young woman into your woodshed in front of the entire village will only make this family look worse.”
Zhou Dehai’s expression twisted with anger. But with so many witnesses watching, he couldn’t afford to make a greater spectacle of himself.
“Fine!” he snapped. “Take your daughter home and teach her some manners! But don’t think this matter is over!”
Lin Wanxia’s parents hurried forward and seized her arms. As they pulled her toward the door, she glanced back once.
Zhou Yu’an had already returned to his seat, his expression unreadable.