Lin Wanqiu gave a bitter laugh.
“I’ve been cooking, washing clothes, and doing housework since I was five or six. I grew up eating leftovers while Lin Zhaodi and Lin Baogen got new clothes every New Year. Meanwhile, I was the eldest sister, yet I had to wear my younger sister’s worn-out clothes!”
Her voice grew sharper.
“Even hired laborers working for landlords earned wages. I was treated worse than a servant, so how can you stand there and claim you raised me for nothing?”
“You ungrateful little brat! How dare you talk back to me!” Wang Guihua exploded. “Looks like you’ve forgotten who’s in charge here! If I don’t beat some sense into you, you’ll forget I’m your mother!”
She jumped up from the bed, pulled off her shoe, and raised it to strike Lin Wanqiu.
Auntie Liu hurriedly stepped between them.
“Oh, calm down! There’s no need for that! Your daughter’s about to get married. You can’t keep hitting her whenever you lose your temper!”
Wang Guihua puffed out her cheeks in fury.
“I’m going to die of anger because of this girl! Just look at her! All she thinks about is herself! She doesn’t spare a thought for the rest of us!”
She jabbed a finger toward Lin Wanqiu.
“If she takes everything away when she gets married, what are we supposed to live on? Air?”
Lin Wanqiu ignored her mother’s outburst and turned toward Auntie Liu.
“Auntie Liu, my conditions remain the same. I want three hundred yuan as the bride price.”
She spoke calmly and firmly.
“Please tell the Chen family that if they agree, they can arrange for me to meet Chen Zhigang this afternoon. I’d like to see what kind of man he is before making any decisions.”
Auntie Liu glanced between the furious mother and her unyielding daughter.
The atmosphere had become so tense that she no longer felt comfortable staying.
“All right, I’ll go and speak to the Chen family. Personally, I still think this is a wonderful match.”
She turned to Wang Guihua.
“Guihua, your daughter’s grown up now. You really shouldn’t be hitting her anymore. Whatever the problem is, sit down and talk it through.”
With that, Auntie Liu took her leave.
Wang Guihua didn’t even bother seeing her out.
Instead, she turned toward Lin Wanqiu with a vicious glare.
“Listen carefully! You can forget about taking the bride price with you! Not a chance!”
She planted her hands on her hips.
“And it’s not just the bride price. Your factory job stays with this family, too!”
“Once a daughter gets married, she belongs to her husband’s family. That job belongs to the Lins, and you’re going to give it to your brother!”
In her previous life, her mother had waited until July 19 to demand that she surrender her factory position. But this time, their argument over the bride price had brought that confrontation forward by an entire week.
Lin Wanqiu’s eyes filled with mockery.
“On what grounds?”
“I worked as a temporary employee for three years before finally earning a permanent position. What does any of that have to do with my brother?”
She stared directly at Wang Guihua.
“Why should I hand over something I worked so hard for just because you open your mouth and demand it?”
Wang Guihua pointed at her and shouted, “Because I’m your mother!”
Lin Wanqiu shot back.
“You’re my mother, but I’m not Lin Baogen’s mother! If he wants a job, he can take the recruitment exam himself!”
Those words pushed Wang Guihua over the edge.
She suddenly dropped to the floor and began wailing.
“Oh, heavens! Just look at the ungrateful daughter I’ve raised!”
She slapped her thighs dramatically.
“I fed her, clothed her, and raised her with my own two hands! Now that she’s grown up, she thinks she doesn’t need her parents anymore!”
“Oh, you’re going to be the death of me!”
Her cries grew louder.
“If you refuse to give that job to your brother, I’ll go to your factory every single day and make a scene! If Baogen can’t have that job, then neither can you!”
Even after living through two lifetimes, Lin Wanqiu still felt a painful tightness in her chest at her mother’s words.
She had thought she was prepared for this.
Yet seeing the woman she had always believed was her mother threaten to destroy her livelihood for the sake of her younger brother still stirred a deep, bitter anger.
She forced herself to remain calm.
“Mom, if you want my bride price and my job so badly, I can agree.”
Wang Guihua’s wailing stopped immediately.
“But I have one condition.”
The older woman scrambled to her feet and wiped away tears that weren’t there.
“What condition?”
Lin Wanqiu reached into her pocket and pulled out a written agreement she had prepared in advance.
She slapped it onto the table.
“Sign this agreement severing our family ties.”
Her voice was steady.
“From this day forward, we will have nothing to do with one another. We’ll go our separate ways and never interfere in each other’s lives again.”
Wang Guihua stared at the paper in disbelief.
“Lin Wanqiu! How can you be so heartless? You actually want to cut ties with your own family?!”
“Then don’t sign it.”
Lin Wanqiu shrugged.
“I’ll keep the bride price, and the factory job is already mine. Lin Baogen can forget about getting his hands on it.”
Wang Guihua ground her teeth in anger.
“If I sign this, you’ll really give Baogen your job?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ll hand over the entire bride price to me?”
“Yes.”
“Fine! I’ll sign!”
Without another word, Wang Guihua grabbed the pen and scrawled her name across the document in crooked, uneven characters.
Lin Wanqiu opened a small container of red ink paste and pushed it toward her.
“Put your fingerprint here, too.”
Wang Guihua pressed her thumb into the ink and stamped the paper.
Lin Wanqiu carefully examined the signature and fingerprint before continuing.
“Tonight, have Dad, Lin Zhaodi, and Lin Baogen sign it as well.”
“Once everyone has signed, I’ll arrange to transfer the job to Baogen.”
Wang Guihua immediately launched into another furious tirade.
“You heartless little wretch! If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I would’ve thrown you into a well and drowned you when you were born!”
Lin Wanqiu didn’t flinch.
“If I had died, where would you have gotten the money to build your precious son’s house or pay for his wedding?”
She looked at her mother with undisguised contempt.
“You don’t care about losing me. You care about losing my wages and bride price.”
For a moment, she simply stared at Wang Guihua.
This was the woman who had raised her for twenty years, yet had treated her like a beast of burden.
In her previous life, this was where she had surrendered.
What had she said back then?
She remembered now.
“Mom, if I give my job to my brother, what am I supposed to do?”
And Wang Guihua had answered without hesitation.
“Once you’re married, you’ll belong to the Chen family. Let your husband’s family figure something out!”
“Baogen is the only son in our family. He’s your one and only younger brother. If you don’t help him, who will?”
And so, she had given in.
She had surrendered the one thing that could have provided her with financial independence.
Without her job, she had become nothing more than an unpaid servant in the Chen household.
And when she was no longer useful to them, Wang Guihua had sold her off a second time.
That betrayal had ultimately cost her life.
Lin Wanqiu watched her mother storm out of the room, still muttering curses under her breath.
Slowly, she clenched her fists.
A fierce determination settled in her heart.
You think you’re getting my bride price?
You think you’re taking my job?
Dream on.
I’ll make sure you turn against one another.
I’ll watch you fight like dogs over the scraps.
I’ll strip away everything you treasure.
And every last one of you will pay for what you did to me in my previous life.
Not a single debt would be forgotten.
…
At three o’clock that afternoon, Lin Wanqiu arrived at the small river outside the village.
It was a popular meeting place for young men and women who had been introduced through matchmakers.
Several willow trees grew along the riverbank, their long branches swaying gently in the summer breeze.
The area was quiet and relatively secluded.
When Lin Wanqiu arrived, Chen Zhigang was already waiting.
He wore a crisp white shirt tucked into blue trousers, with a fountain pen clipped neatly to his breast pocket.
He was of average height, with refined features and a pair of black-rimmed glasses that gave him the appearance of an educated gentleman.
Seeing her approach, he adjusted his glasses and greeted her with a practiced smile.
“Hello, Comrade Lin Wanqiu.”
He spoke with practiced warmth.
In her previous life, that respectable appearance had completely fooled her.
“Hello, Comrade Chen Zhigang.”
Lin Wanqiu approached him but maintained a polite distance.
The two began walking slowly along the riverbank.
Chen Zhigang was an excellent conversationalist.
He first asked about her work at the textile factory, then shared a few amusing stories from his experiences as the production team’s work-point recordkeeper.
He spoke with just the right amount of confidence, enough to appear capable and knowledgeable without seeming arrogant.
“I’ve seen you working before,” he said with a smile. “And I’ve heard people at your factory talk about you.”
“They say you’re incredibly hardworking and devoted to your family.”
He paused, looking at her meaningfully.
“I think… we’d make a very good match.”
After a moment, his expression grew more serious.
“My mother’s health isn’t good. She’s been paralyzed and bedridden for several years now.”
“My younger sister is still young. She’s only just started junior high school.”
He sighed, his face taking on a troubled expression.
“I’m the only one supporting the family. To tell you the truth, the pressure is quite heavy.”
Then he turned toward her.
“Wanqiu, I really do like you. But three hundred yuan for the bride price… That’s simply too much.”
He hesitated before continuing.
“Could you perhaps lower it a little? Say, one hundred and fifty yuan?”
His voice softened.
“Once we’re married, I promise I’ll treat you well. I’ll listen to you, and we can work hard together to build a happy life.”
Lin Wanqiu listened quietly.
A good match?
Of course they were.
He wasn’t looking for a wife. He wanted an unpaid housekeeper who would also bring home a salary.
And she had been a woman raised to believe that sacrificing herself for others was her duty.
What a perfect arrangement.
He had even admitted to watching her work.
So Chen Zhigang had been keeping an eye on her for quite some time.
“Comrade Chen, my conditions haven’t changed. I want three hundred yuan, a bicycle, a sewing machine, a wristwatch, and a radio. I won’t accept anything less.”
Lin Wanqiu finally spoke.
The smile on Chen Zhigang’s face stiffened.
“Comrade Lin, three hundred really is too much.”
He struggled to maintain his gentle tone.
“My mother’s medicine costs quite a bit every month, and there’s still my younger sister’s school fees…”
“So?”
Lin Wanqiu interrupted him.
Chen Zhigang blinked.
“What?”
“So because your mother needs medicine and your sister needs tuition, I’m supposed to marry into your family without asking for anything?”
She looked straight into his eyes.
“I’m supposed to work for free, take care of your bedridden mother, support your younger sister, and hand over every penny I earn?”
Her voice remained calm, but each question struck directly at the intentions he had tried so carefully to conceal.
Chen Zhigang fell silent.
Because that was exactly what he had been thinking.
He simply hadn’t expected Lin Wanqiu to say it so openly.
“I… That’s not what I meant…”
He hurriedly tried to explain.