(Place your smart brains here, darlings! Check in to lose ten pounds!)
“Mother! Give it to her, give the notice to her! I won’t go to university anymore!”
Li Lan’s heart-wrenching cries made Wu Guihua’s eardrums tremble.
Blood flowing from the corner of her forehead blurred her vision as Wu Guihua tightly gripped that yellowed admission notice—Binshi Normal University, Li Lan, February 18, 1978.
She had been reborn!
Memories surged like a bursting dam.
In her previous life, Wu Guihua had been deceived by her mother-in-law and her husband, Li Hongyuan, into giving this notice to her sister-in-law’s daughter, Li Jiaojiao. This caused her biological daughter, Li Lan, to run away from home, eventually freezing to death under a bridge.
Meanwhile, her “good” husband, Li Hongyuan, was living a sweet, loving life in a military villa with his widowed sister-in-law, preparing new dresses for his niece to wear to university!
“She’s just a worthless girl. Even if she gets into university, it’s a waste!”
Old Mrs. Li used her sharp nails to poke Li Lan’s forehead forcefully. “Our family’s Jiaojiao is the Star of Literature descended to earth! You’re only fit to be her stepping stone!”
“You old bag of bones, get your dog paws off her!” With bloodshot eyes, Wu Guihua grabbed an enamel mug and smashed it against the photo frame on the wall.
The only photo of Li Hongyuan in the house cracked in half.
Amidst the flying glass shards, Wu Guihua grabbed her mother-in-law’s gray hair and slammed her chest hard against the corner of the table.
“Try touching my daughter again, and let’s see who dies first!”
The table was knocked askew, and Old Mrs. Li shrieked in pain.
“It hurts so much! You bitch, you’ve lost your mind! You dare hit your mother-in-law? I’ll have Hongyuan come back and divorce you!”
“Divorce, then! Hurry up and do it! If he doesn’t divorce me, I’ll divorce him!” Wu Guihua gritted her teeth, striking harder with every word.
Old Mrs. Li’s eyes rolled back from the pain, and she screamed desperately for her young grandson.
“Hurry and hit her back for me! Do you still want to eat sponge cakes in the future? Hit her, beat her to death for me!”
Li Xiaojun, who was as thin as a monkey, immediately rushed forward, grabbed Wu Guihua’s arm, and bit down.
Wu Guihua kicked her son away. “You ungrateful brat, I shouldn’t have given birth to you in the first place!”
She pulled a stack of blood-selling receipts from her bosom and scattered them all over the floor.
“Li Hongyuan lives a life of luxury every day with his sister-in-law and his niece and nephew, yet he leaves me to sell my own blood to support his mother and children. He’s lower than a beast! From today on, I’m done!”
“Mother…” Li Lan grabbed her mother’s hand, which was as rough as tree bark, and tears streamed down her face in shock.
“Let’s go!” Wu Guihua took her daughter’s thin arm in a firm grip. “Mother is taking you to buy fabric for new clothes and bedding! We are definitely going to this university!”
She stormed into Old Mrs. Li’s eastern room and quickly smashed the locks of two camphor wood chests with an axe.
To be fair, these chests were originally Wu Guihua’s dowry. Old Mrs. Li had snatched them as soon as she got married. Wu Guihua knew exactly where the hidden compartments were.
Soon, Old Mrs. Li’s secret stash of over a hundred yuan, a bunch of grain and cloth coupons, the house deed, and the household registration book all fell into Wu Guihua’s hands.
Old Mrs. Li stumbled into the room, looking as devastated as if her son had died.
“Put it down! Give it back to me! You little wench, that’s mine!”
Wu Guihua shoved her three feet away and took her daughter to the town a few miles away to go on a shopping spree.
An hour later, the mother and daughter returned home carrying large and small bags. The courtyard was packed with people, making it noisier than a market fair.
Old Mrs. Li was clinging to the arms of the Village Party Secretary, Uncle Zhong, and the Village Chief, Wu Dayong, wailing loud enough to move the heavens.
Noticing Wu Guihua had returned, Uncle Zhong quickly asked, “Guihua, what exactly is going on? Your mother-in-law says you hit her. Is there some kind of misunderstanding?”
Wu Guihua dropped her bags with a heavy thud.
“To catch a thief, you need the loot. Let her show everyone exactly where I hit her!”
Old Mrs. Li clutched her swollen and aching chest. Her mouth opened and closed for a long time, but she couldn’t speak, nearly fainting from rage!
Even if she was old, she couldn’t just expose her chest in public!
Wu Guihua burst out laughing, feeling immensely satisfied.
In her previous life, the old hag had bullied her exactly like this, making her suffer in silence. Eventually, her external injuries led to mastitis, which worsened into breast cancer. The old hag even claimed she was so starved for a man that she had contracted a dirty disease!
Now, the tables had turned!
This felt good, so very good!
The neighbor, Old Mrs. Zhao, noticed something was off and whispered, “Is Hongyuan’s mother’s chest a bit too large…”
“She’s been a widow for years. She’s so starved for a man she’s come down with a dirty disease!”
Wu Guihua threw the old hag’s own words back at her. Old Mrs. Li felt a breath catch in her throat and completely lost consciousness!
The men and women surrounding them all had strange smiles, glancing at Old Mrs. Li every now and then.
Uncle Zhong frowned and took two puffs of his pipe. Just as he was about to speak, Wu Guihua picked up the blood-selling receipts from the ground and slapped them onto the table.
“Don’t tell me being a soldier isn’t easy for Li Hongyuan. It hasn’t been easy for me either! Ever since he took his sister-in-law and his niece and nephew to the military base, he hasn’t sent a single cent home! All these years, I’ve relied on selling my blood to keep his mother and children from starving to death!”
“What?” Uncle Zhong and the villagers were shocked. Thinking back, it seemed the town postman really had never delivered a remittance to the Li family!
“Does Hongyuan have some kind of difficulty?”
Given his status as a soldier, the villagers subconsciously tried to find excuses for Li Hongyuan.
Wu Guihua didn’t want to waste any more words and spoke directly to Uncle Zhong.
“Uncle, write me a letter of introduction. I’m going to ask Li Hongyuan personally. He’s been gone for over a decade. Did he die out there, or is that widowed sister-in-law warming his bed so well he’s forgotten his own name?”
Boom!
The villagers couldn’t help but start gossiping; this news was far too explosive.
“Li Hongyuan and Wang Yun are together? No wonder he took Wang Yun and those two brats with him when he went to the base!”
“He really is lower than a beast, leaving his children and mother for Guihua to support while he carries on with his sister-in-law!”
“Isn’t this house Guihua’s dowry? Old Mrs. Li lives off her daughter-in-law and stays in her house, yet she still causes trouble every day? Where does she get the nerve! The whole family was basically preying on Sister Guihua’s assets because she has no brothers here!”
Uncle Zhong and Wu Dayong quickly discussed it. They felt the matter had to be cleared up, so they issued the letter of introduction on the spot.
“Guihua, it’s fine for you to go check. In case it’s a misunderstanding, let’s not let it affect Hongyuan…”
“I understand, Uncle!”
Wu Guihua took the letter, not caring one bit about any “impact.”
Since Li Hongyuan was capable of doing such shameful things, he shouldn’t be afraid of this “ghost” knocking on his door!
Soon, the villagers headed home, their minds full of gossip.
Old Mrs. Li was still lying on the ground “resting her head.” Wu Guihua ignored her and called Li Lan to help move the two camphor wood chests to her own western room.
“You can’t move them! Those are mine!”
Li Xiaojun lunged forward, howling and refusing to let them. Usually, his grandmother would open these chests to give him extra treats. He had long considered them his own!
Caught off guard, Wu Guihua was pushed by her son, and her hand was cut by a nail, drawing blood.
She kicked the ungrateful brat away and tucked the jade pendant that had slipped out of her collar back in.
As Li Xiaojun rolled on the floor wailing, Wu Guihua grabbed him with one hand and the old lady with the other, throwing them both into the eastern room.
Seeing the grandmother who had ruled over them for so many years finally suppressed, Li Lan was overjoyed. She put away the cotton and fabric bought from town and went to cook dinner.
“Stew that piece of meat in the salt jar, and use the millet to make porridge!” Wu Guihua shouted before rushing into the western room.
That jade pendant?!
Something felt unusual!