In her previous life, she never had children of her own. This time, she finally had a child.
“Give me my child! Give her to me!”
Mother Lu grew furious upon hearing her voice. “The child is gone. Focus on recovering your health. When Third Son returns home, you can bear him a son.”
In just that short sentence, Jiang Yue understood everything.
“You old hag! If you want a son, have one yourself! Don’t touch my daughter! Give me my child now!” She strained to reach for her baby, but her body was too weak, her strength insufficient. Otherwise, she would have lunged forward and slapped that old woman flying.
“What did you call me? Have you lost your mind? I’m your mother-in-law! Let me make this clear—this child won’t survive. Don’t bother about her, don’t ask questions. Just pretend she was stillborn.”
Seeing Mother Lu about to leave, Jiang Yue couldn’t care less. She struggled off the bed, desperately clinging to the old woman’s leg. “She’s my child! You can’t take her away! Anyone who dares harm my child will die by my hand!”
Aunt Li couldn’t bear to watch. “Maybe… maybe give the child to me. I’ll find a family to adopt her.”
“No!”
“Absolutely not!”
For once, they spoke in unison.
Having lived two lifetimes, this was Jiang Yue’s first experience of motherhood. How could she possibly give away her own child?
Mother Lu glared at her. “Death is the cleanest solution! It ends all problems!”
If given up for adoption, what if the adoptive family changed their minds and returned the child? Or worse, what if the child grew up and came searching for her birth family? In short, it would create endless troubles!
“Let go! I need to take her away before her soul settles. If you don’t release me now, don’t blame me for what happens next!” She shook her leg twice, but Jiang Yue still refused to let go. Snatching the flashlight from the table, Mother Lu swung it at her.
The old-fashioned flashlight was heavy.
With one blow, blood gushed from Jiang Yue’s forehead like a fountain. Driven to desperation, she opened her mouth and sank her teeth fiercely into Zhang Guifang’s calf.
“Ouch! That hurts like hell!”
Jiang Yue bit down with all her might—one could imagine how vicious it was.
As she refused to release her bite, Mother Lu grew enraged. “Old man, get in here and take the child away!”
Old Man Lu burst through the door. Paying no mind to Jiang Yue’s exposed legs, he kicked her over and reached to snatch the baby.
Aunt Li didn’t dare refuse. She was utterly terrified of this family—they were all mad.
Mother Lu urged him, “Hurry, take the child to Hou Shan while everyone in the village is at work. Dig a pit and bury her.”
“Better to strangle her first before burying—just to be safe.” Old Man Lu’s rough, calloused, dark hand crept toward the infant’s neck.
Like an indestructible cockroach, Jiang Yue scrambled to her feet again. Wiping the blood from her lips with the back of her hand, she now clutched a knife.
Bare-legged, disheveled, her face pale as a vengeful ghost risen from the underworld.
The infant seemed to sense her mother’s presence and cried even more fiercely. Each wail felt like a hand gripping her heart relentlessly.
“Lay a finger on my daughter, and I’ll chop you to death!”
“Hmph! You think you dare wield a knife? I’d lend you ten times the courage!” Mother Lu still saw her as the timid Jiang Yue of old, completely dismissing her threat.
“Then I’ll carve out your hearts and see whether they’re black or red!”
Brandishing the knife like a madwoman, she charged forward, slashing wildly.
Fearing she might harm the child, she targeted her mother-in-law first.
Seeing the situation escalate, Aunt Li slipped away quietly.
“You’re actually serious!” Mother Lu dodged in panic—just a hair’s breadth from having her face slashed.
Never fight a madman to the death, because a madman doesn’t value their own life.
So she chickened out, shrieking and darting around like a monkey.
Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Yue rushed to the door, her back against it, still holding the knife. She grabbed everything within reach and hurled it all at the old woman.
“Old man, what are you standing there for? She’s about to chop me to death! Hurry up and restrain her!”
Old Man Lu hesitated, thinking to first put the child on the bed before grabbing Jiang Yue.
Just as the child landed on the bed, Jiang Yue suddenly threw the knife in her hand, lowered her head, and rammed into Old Man Lu, knocking him aside. In one swift motion, she snatched the child, quickly retreated to the corner of the bed, pulled up the quilt, and tightly wrapped the baby.
When she raised her hand again, she was holding a brand-new pair of scissors.
This series of actions was too fast. The old couple, after all, were getting on in years, and by the time they reacted, it was already too late.
“Old man, what do we do now?” Mother Lu was furious. This was just too difficult to handle.
Jiang Yue stared fixedly at them. “If you insist on taking my daughter today, then it’ll be a fight to the death. If she can’t live, neither will I. And if I die, I’ll drag both of you down to hell with me. No one gets to live—we’ll all die!”
Mother Lu trembled with rage. “Keep her and raise her then! Don’t expect a single grain of rice from our family!”
Jiang Yue sneered coldly. “You old hag, has all the money your son sent been fed to the dogs?”
Lu Family Third Son had served in the military for ten years. It wasn’t clear what his exact rank was, but his allowance increased every year.
Sometimes every two months, sometimes three, he would always send money back. Lu Lao Er would go to collect it, and the mother-in-law would keep it in her hands. The previous Jiang Yue hadn’t been able to get even a single banknote.
Old Man Lu roared angrily, “How dare you call us dogs?”
Mother Lu stretched her neck out in defense. “That’s my son’s filial support for me! What does it have to do with you?”
Jiang Yue swayed unsteadily. She knew she was reaching her limit and had to end this quickly.
“I don’t want to waste words on you. Get out now, all of you! Get out! Don’t push me to kill!”
“Fine, you’re tough, you’ve got guts. Old woman, let’s go. I want to see how long she can keep this up!” Old Man Lu was ruthless too.
Mother Lu was very reluctant, thinking that if they pushed a little harder, they might still be able to snatch the child away. Otherwise, once today passed, the whole village would know she had given birth. If the village chief found out, it would be hard to take the child away later.
She was dragged away by Old Man Lu. As soon as they left, Jiang Yue put the child down, struggled to rush over, and slammed the door shut with all her might. She bolted it and put the door bar in place.
Only after confirming it was secure did she stagger back to the bed. Her eyes closed, and she collapsed weakly.
She felt as if she had dreamed a very long, bizarre dream, with overlapping figures swirling like a revolving lantern.
In her daze, she walked into a supermarket.
That’s right—this was the supermarket she had opened herself.
In her previous life, because she hadn’t given birth, she was looked down upon by her in-laws. To prove herself, she used her private savings to invest in a livelihood supermarket (daily necessities supermarket). Later, it did quite well, and she gradually opened several chain stores. Because of this, she gained confidence in her in-laws’ eyes.
The supermarket wasn’t very large, stocked with daily necessities, cigarettes, alcohol, rice, flour—things used in everyday life.
Jiang Yue felt incredibly hungry. Unconsciously, as if in a dream, she walked toward the shelves, picked up a bag of crackers, and as she turned, she noticed bowls, chopsticks, scissors, and spatulas on the bottom shelf.
Wait—weren’t these the same scissors she had been holding earlier?
Had she taken them from here?
“Waa! Waa!” A baby’s cry suddenly pulled her backward from the void, twisting the space along with it.