“We’ve been married for twenty years. I endured endless humiliation and schemed in every way possible to help you build a fortune worth hundreds of millions.”
“You got involved with Xiao Xue, framed me for embezzling public funds to send me to prison, and even caused our daughter’s death!”
“Gu Jingmo, how could you betray me like this!”
“Qin Qing, you shouldn’t have known so much.”
Looking at the elegant and handsome face before her, that charming smile—the one that had made her fall for him her entire life—surfaced once more.
Gu Jingmo reached out and gave her a violent shove.
Qin Qing’s body tilted backward, and she was pushed straight off the forty-story building.
She reached out in utter despair, but she could grasp nothing.
She could only watch as Gu Jingmo looked down with a cold smile and eyes full of loathing, as if he were throwing away a piece of stinking trash.
“It hurts!”
Qin Qing woke with a low moan, clutching her head. It felt as though her skull was about to split open.
Where was she?
Qin Qing looked up. She saw a dilapidated wooden bed with straw sticking out from underneath the thin mattress.
A floral blue cotton quilt was draped haphazardly over her, covered in a dense pattern of patches.
The window was still an old wooden frame, covered with yellowed paper pasted on with rice glue. Cold wind continuously whistled through the jagged holes in the paper.
Staring at this crumbling room, her expression filled with shock.
This was her home!
This was the home of her maiden family when she was nineteen!
Had she come back to life?
In the small Qin family courtyard, two female voices—one high-pitched and one low—were whispering.
“Mom, if we marry Tang Min off, the Tang family won’t come making a scene, will they?”
“Would the Tang family care about a husband-cursing widow? As her mother-in-law, I’m personally picking a man for her! She should be thanking me!”
“Wang Mazhi from Hexi Village might be a bit ugly, but he’s never been married before, and he’s offering ten yuan in bride price!”
“Once they sleep together and the rice is cooked, she’ll have to marry him whether she likes it or not!”
The voices drifted into Qin Qing’s ears. She flipped over abruptly and rushed out the door barefoot.
Standing outside was an old woman with white hair and mean, triangular eyes—Qin Qing’s grandmother, Shen Chunhua.
“How is this dead girl awake? Mom, didn’t you say that sedative would work on her…”
The one whispering into Shen Chunhua’s ear while staring at Qin Qing with a look of pure disgust was her third aunt, He Cuiyun.
Qin Qing’s gaze shifted and landed on the yellowed calendar hanging on the courtyard wall.
December 30, 1983.
Qin Qing’s entire body went cold in an instant. She had remembered this date for her entire previous life.
It was on this very day that her mother was married off to Wang Mazhi from Hexi Village.
The next day, her mother’s corpse was found in the Hongshui River.
Overnight, she had lost her mother.
Recalling the conversation she just heard, Qin Qing began to suspect that her mother hadn’t been willing to marry Wang Mazhi at all!
“Did you sell my mother for ten yuan?!”
Qin Qing screamed at the two of them.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her entire body trembled uncontrollably.
She was wearing only a thin, patched shirt, which offered no protection against the freezing December air.
“You worthless girl! Since when do you get to shout and holler in the Qin house? Get back to your room!”
Shen Chunhua raised her hands and shoved Qin Qing toward the room with brutal force.
“I’m asking you one last time: did you sell my mother?!”
Qin Qing reached back and death-gripped Shen Chunhua’s hand.
Her strength was immense; her fingernails dug deep into Shen Chunhua’s flesh, making the old woman hiss in pain.
“You little slut, you dare treat me like this? Let go!”
Shen Chunhua was shocked. This girl had always been extremely obedient; how had she suddenly become so fierce?
“Qin Qing, don’t be so hasty. Your grandmother agreeing to let her remarry is a huge blessing. What other mother-in-law would be this open-minded? Besides, that Wang Mazhi can earn ten yuan a month. She’s going there to enjoy a good life!”
“To hell with your ‘good life’!”
Furious, Qin Qing kicked He Cuiyun, sending her sprawling onto the ground.
“You little slut, you actually dared to kick me! I’m going to tear your face apart!”
He Cuiyun scrambled up from the ground and reached out to grab Qin Qing’s hair.
Qin Qing had almond eyes, willow-leaf brows, a thin face, and a pointed chin. Her beauty was famous throughout the surrounding villages.
In contrast, He Cuiyun’s daughter was plain-looking and stout. Both mother and daughter had always been jealous of Qin Qing’s looks and viewed her as a thorn in their side.
Especially after Qin Qing’s father died, He Cuiyun had constantly bullied the mother and daughter.
Qin Qing’s hair was yanked, causing tears to stream down her face from the pain. Standing to the side with her hands on her hips, Shen Chunhua began to curse.
“Beat her well! This little slut actually thinks she can call the shots in our Qin family. Your mother is a husband-curser and you’re a jinx. Being able to sell her for ten yuan is doing her a favor!”
With Shen Chunhua backing her up, He Cuiyun curled her hand into a fist and slammed it into Qin Qing’s back.
Punch after punch landed heavily on her flesh.
Qin Qing felt as if her body was falling apart. She grabbed He Cuiyun’s right hand with both of hers, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on the back of the woman’s hand.
“Ah!”
He Cuiyun screamed in agony.
Qin Qing didn’t let go until blood stained the corners of her mouth.
He Cuiyun stumbled back in pain, eight deep tooth marks on the back of her hand dripping with blood.
“You little bitch, you actually dared to bite me!”
“I’d dare to kill you!”
Qin Qing’s eyes were filled with intense hatred as she glared viciously at Shen Chunhua and He Cuiyun.
That venomous look made both of their hearts skip a beat.
“If my mother dies, I’ll make sure both of you are buried with her!”
With that, Qin Qing pulled open the gate and bolted out.
“Run then! If you run, don’t you dare think about coming back!”
“The Qin family doesn’t want a disaster and a jinx like you anymore!”
He Cuiyun and Shen Chunhua’s curses echoed from a distance.
Qin Qing didn’t stop for a second.
Faster! She had to be faster!
Qin Qing ran barefoot along the wild mountain paths. The jagged pebbles sliced countless bloody gashes into her feet, and sand mixed into the wounds, but she seemed unable to feel the pain as she ran frantically.
Tears fell uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes, her face a mask of pure terror.
“Mom, wait for me! Please, wait for me!”
Qin Qing gritted her teeth and sprinted all the way, following the memories of her past life to Hexi Village.
Wang Mazhi’s house was at the edge of the village—a thatched hut made of reeds and mud that looked so dilapidated it seemed it might collapse at any moment.
Qin Qing approached the courtyard gate cautiously. The wooden door wasn’t locked and swung open with a push.
“Please, let me go… let me go!”
As soon as she entered the courtyard, Qin Qing heard a familiar voice.
The sound made her break down in tears instantly; she hadn’t heard it in decades.
However, the voice was trembling, filled with horror.
“You’re my wife now, so you have to listen to me. Hehe…”
A lewd voice rang out, raspy and shrill, grating on the ears.
Qin Qing crept toward the window. Wang Mazhi didn’t even have the money to paste yellow paper over the windows, so the wooden frame was wide open.
She looked inside, and her heart was torn asunder by the scene before her.