“Get out! Get out! Hurry up and get lost! Anyone dares try to cling to the Shen family? Look at yourself first!”
Shen Yunzhi collapsed to the ground, watching as the gate slowly shut. Her heart turned to ash.
When disaster struck her hometown, she had brought her two children to seek refuge with her maiden family. Not only was she denied entry — her legs were broken and she was driven away.
In the heavy snow, her two children breathed their last.
She crawled to them, holding one in each arm, leaning against the wall as her consciousness slowly faded.
Before death, every evil deed she had committed in this life flashed before her eyes.
Her husband died in battle. Ignoring her gravely ill mother-in-law, she handed over all the compensation money to her natal family.
When her younger brother needed to marry, she forced her in-laws to marry her sister-in-law off to a gambler, leading to the girl’s death from abuse.
She had even seized grain borrowed by her co-sister-in-law and given it to her own family, causing her younger brother-in-law’s household to starve to death.
Her natal family had drained her her entire life. When they finally prospered, they refused to acknowledge her as their daughter, ordered her legs broken, and left her and her two children to freeze in the snow.
If there were another life, she would atone for her sins…
“Mother, please, can you take out some money for Grandmother’s treatment?”
“Sister-in-law, just treat it as if I’m borrowing it. When I earn money, I’ll repay you with interest. I’ll even write an IOU.”
Shen Yunzhi opened her eyes.
The room was filled with kneeling figures, their mouths moving as they spoke.
The noise was chaotic, but she caught fragments — “Grandmother,” “critically ill,” “money.”
The low house, sunlight filtering through the window onto peeling walls…
This was the home before the disaster.
Had Heaven heard her final plea and sent her back to the time when her mother-in-law was gravely ill?
“Wait here. I’ll get the money.”
She instinctively reached under her pillow.
Empty.
Then she remembered. Yesterday, as soon as the compensation money arrived, the Shen family had caught wind of it and rushed over. They took every tael — even the few copper coins she had painstakingly saved.
Everyone held their breath.
“The money… my mother borrowed it.”
She wanted to slap herself.
They exchanged glances. Yesterday, right after the officials delivered the compensation, the Shen family had come. Old Madam Su fainted from shock, and in the chaos, no one thought too deeply.
“They borrowed all of it?” her eldest son, Su Jingci, asked cautiously.
“Your grandmother said it was a loan. I’ll go ask her for it back.” Shen Yunzhi slipped on her shoes. That money was the Su family’s lifeline. She had to retrieve it.
“You make it sound easy. They call it borrowing — but when have they ever returned anything?” Su Jingci growled.
And he wasn’t wrong.
Since she married into the Su family, the Shen family came every few days under the excuse of “borrowing.” From a single grain of rice to hoes and cooking utensils — nothing was spared. Once taken, it was never mentioned again.
When the Sus needed something back, she would pretend to go ask for it. Instead, she would rest somewhere along the road, wait until dusk, then return looking miserable. The trick worked every time.
But even the sure-footed stumble.
One time, under the excuse of retrieving items, she left home. A heavy rain fell halfway. Su Jingci went searching and discovered she had never gone to the Shen house at all. Everything she had said had been a lie.
From that day on, a rift formed between mother and son.
Su Jingci stood up. His eyes were full of disappointment, but his voice was steady.
“This is my mother’s fault. A mother’s debt is the son’s burden. I’ll find a way to get silver to treat Grandmother.”
With that, he turned to leave.
Shen Yunzhi had been thinking about how to get the money back and hadn’t noticed his expression. When she saw him heading out, she grabbed his sleeve.
“What way could you possibly have?”
In the struggle, a sheet of paper fell from his chest.
Shen Yunzhi picked it up first. When she unfolded it and saw the three words “Deed of Sale,” she nearly fainted.
So in her previous life, Su Jingci hadn’t stormed off in anger after giving the money to the Shen family.
He had sold himself into servitude.
Su Jingci snatched the contract back and tucked it away.
“Trust me. This time, I will definitely get the money back,” Shen Yunzhi pleaded, clutching his clothes to stop him from leaving.
Seeing her desperate expression, his heart wavered — but he held no hope in her promise.
“If you can’t get it back, you’re not allowed to stop me again.”
She let out a breath of relief and rushed toward the Shen household without even tidying herself.
The Su family split into two groups — one stayed home to care for things, the other followed her.
The Shen family lived in the neighboring village — more precisely, upstream across the river, where water was plentiful and crops grew better than in Creek Village.
Shen Yunzhi arrived at the Shen residence with practiced familiarity.
A newly built tiled house stood there, raised slightly higher than the neighboring homes, with both front and back courtyards — eye-catching at the village entrance.
Her heart clenched painfully.
Her natal family had cried hardship again and again, squeezing goods and money from her through every possible excuse.
She had pitied her mother’s struggles, gone without food herself just to send good things home.
Yet she never noticed they had long since rebuilt their house. Their living conditions were among the best in the village.
Just as she was about to knock, Mother Shen and her son returned in a donkey cart, chatting cheerfully about how to divide the money.
“Five taels for ducks, pigs, and sheep. Ten taels to fund Eldest Son’s schooling. Five taels for your younger brother’s wedding.”
“I heard besides the compensation money, there’s rice, flour, cloth. We’ll make another trip later. When your brother marries, we’ll host a grand feast and let the whole village envy us.”
The second son was marrying a scholar’s daughter — the only match of its kind in the village.
When Mother Shen saw Shen Yunzhi, she assumed she’d come bearing more goods. Her smile widened — until she noticed the Su family behind her.
She shifted half a step closer to the donkey cart.
“Daughter, what brings you here?” Her face was all smiles, but she made no move to invite them in.
“My mother-in-law is gravely ill. We need money.”
Mother Shen’s face immediately fell.
“Our days are hard too. Where would we get money to give you?”
She pulled out a few copper coins.
“Your mother-in-law is sick — I can’t ignore that. Take this and buy her something nourishing.”
Four copper coins.
Not even enough for a doctor’s house call.
“Return the compensation money you borrowed from me. I need it to treat my mother-in-law.”
Mother Shen pulled her aside and poked her forehead.
“Are you stupid? Spend money on treating her? Once that silver is gone, do you think you’ll ever see it again?”
“The compensation was issued by the authorities for the family. The Su family said if it’s not returned, they’ll report it.”
“They can report it if they have the guts! I don’t have any money!” Mother Shen snapped, feeling like the Sus were practically robbing her.
Shen Yunzhi’s gaze dropped to the bulging money pouch at her waist. Her voice turned cold.
“In the past, when you took goods and money from the Su family, they let it go. This time, it concerns a human life. If you push them too far, and they accuse you of unlawful possession of property, not only will you lose the compensation money — you’ll have to return everything you’ve taken from the Su family over the years.”