The girl’s voice was hoarse and shrill, grating to the ears.
The three vicious women from Chen Laoer’s household had their backs to the courtyard gate, completely unaware of the commotion inside.
Seeing her charge over, they casually shoved her: “You wretched girl, get lost! Don’t get in the way!”
The next moment, under the watchful eyes of all the villagers in the courtyard, Liang Qiaoqiao’s frail and slender body flew backward like a ragged cloth.
With a “thud,” she spat blood and collapsed on the spot.
Smoothly lying flat, her head tilted to the side, she fainted.
The villagers flooding into the courtyard were furious, their eyes blazing.
They rushed into the house, shouting wildly: “Chen Laoer’s family! What are you doing?!”
“Chen Laoda’s family only has this one adopted daughter left. Do you have any decency as elders?!”
“Is this how you seize the property of a family with no male heir?!”
“…”
Hearing the chaotic footsteps surging into the ancestral hall, Liang Qiaoqiao felt reassured.
She had succeeded.
Lying stiffly on the ground, she remained motionless.
In the original host’s memories, most villagers in Wutong Village were kind and friendly.
Truly vicious people like Chen Laoer’s family were few and far between.
Liang Qiaoqiao had left that black-hearted family to these villagers precisely because she trusted their kindness.
The villagers, on whom Liang Qiaoqiao had pinned her hopes, swarmed forward instantly.
Some of the aunties went to help Liang Qiaoqiao up, while the rest grabbed the three women from Chen Laoer’s family.
Without another word, they started fighting: “You heartless wretches, even the ancestral hall of the deceased isn’t spared!”
“Chen Pozi died so tragically, and you still come to disturb her. Aren’t you afraid she’ll haunt you at night?!”
“…”
The ancestral hall was in an uproar.
Hearing the noise, Chen Laoer’s second son ran out from the back room to take a look.
He shouted anxiously: “What are you doing? Let go of my mother, my eldest sister-in-law, and my wife!”
The men immediately understood when they saw where he had emerged from.
They were determined to seize the property of a family with no male heir to the very end!
Old Village Chief was enraged. With a wave of his hand, he commanded: “Chen Laoer, that ungrateful wretch, and his family are nothing but beasts! Young men, go inside and drag them out!”
“Listen to Uncle Village Chief!” A group of men rolled up their sleeves and charged in without hesitation.
Having lived in the same village for so many years, they had long been disgusted by Chen Laoer’s family’s behavior.
But until now, they had lacked a good reason to act.
Now that the village chief had given the order, why wouldn’t they go all out?
Liang Qiaoqiao, possessed by her inner drama queen, had originally intended to feign fainting and play the victim in front of the villagers.
Unexpectedly, she had overestimated this body and ended up genuinely passing out.
The newly acquired body was exhausted and injured from the beating.
Coupled with her recent transmigration and the incomplete fusion of body and soul, it couldn’t withstand too much pressure.
The moment her mind and body relaxed, she immediately fell into a self-repairing sleep.
Unaware of the chaos in the ancestral hall during her slumber, Liang Qiaoqiao slept soundly.
Old Village Chief flew into a rage, directing the villagers to capture Chen Laoer’s family and forcefully confine them in the village’s ancestral temple.
As for subsequent handling, it would have to wait until after Chen Pozi’s funeral.
By the time Liang Qiaoqiao woke up again, everything had been settled. The helpers from every household had already arrived.
Seeing her open her eyes, the aunties keeping watch by her side breathed sighs of relief: “Qiaoqiao is awake!”
“My child, you’ve suffered so much. That Chen Laoer’s family is simply inhuman!”
“Good child, it’s a relief you’ve woken up. It’s about time – you should get up and eat something first.”
Liang Qiaoqiao was helped into a sitting position.
Only then did she realize she had been lying on a makeshift bed of straw spread in the corner of the ancestral hall.
Several villagers who had come to help keep vigil were sitting nearby.
Rubbing her drowsy face, Liang Qiaoqiao reached up to touch the back of her head.
She discovered the wound had been carefully medicated and bandaged.
Even her face felt less swollen than before.
Moreover, she could now open her eyes wider.
She finally got a clear view of everything inside the ancestral hall.
A simple black wooden coffin rested quietly in the center of the main room.
The person lying inside was presumably the last relative she would never have the chance to know in this lifetime.
Looking confused and sorrowful, Liang Qiaoqiao was supported by two kind-hearted aunties as they led her out of the ancestral hall.
Outside, in the simple, worn-out farmyard, a small table stood beneath a bare persimmon tree.
Liang Qiaoqiao was helped to sit at the table.
“Here, you haven’t eaten all day, have you? Have something first.” A bowl of mixed grain tofu rice (the meal served during funerals) was thrust into her hands.
The large ceramic bowl, common in 1970s rural areas, contained a generous portion of farm-style rice.
It was cooked with several types of beans and wheat, topped with two large spoonfuls of soft tofu.
Though not particularly appealing in appearance, the light, fragrant aroma of the food was quite enticing.
Her stomach growling loudly, Liang Qiaoqiao swallowed hard and quickly reached out to take it: “Thank you, aunties.”
She was genuinely starving.
This body hadn’t had a proper meal for who knows how long.
With all the recent matters at Chen Laoda’s house, the original host had been too busy to remember to eat.
Liang Qiaoqiao’s first sensation upon crossing over was hunger intense enough to swallow an ox!
It felt as if her stomach was burning with emptiness.
Under the compassionate gazes of the two aunties, she buried her head in the bowl, eating voraciously.
Between mouthfuls, she couldn’t help but think: This body’s extreme thinness was probably due to starvation.
Everyone in the surrounding villages knew that Wutong Village was the most notorious poverty-stricken village in Honghua Brigade.
With few residents, poor land, and located deep in the mountains, it was so poor that girls from outside refused to marry into the village.
After the original host came to Honghua Brigade with her parents, settling in the mountains next to Wutong Village,
She first spent two years in the Cowshed, then five years at Chen Laoda’s house.
Seven years in the mountains had made hunger and deprivation routine.
But Liang Qiaoqiao, who had crossed over, was different. No matter how tough life had been in her previous time, she had never suffered from lack of food or clothing.
At worst, she ate more simply than others and wore cheap clothes from street stalls.
Coming here truly opened her eyes.
She secretly resolved: After the funeral, she must find ways to get good food to nourish her body.
She definitely didn’t want to experience such an absurd death as starving right after crossing over.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon. The winter sun made a rare appearance.
Liang Qiaoqiao, who had been keeping vigil, was called into the small yard and stood under the bare old persimmon tree, listening to the village elders explain the local funeral procedures to her.
“Qiao girl, the funeral procession will start soon. What do you plan to do?”
“With Mingzi gone, and you being the only adopted daughter under your father-in-law and mother-in-law’s name, how should the ceremonial bowl be broken?”
“Chen Laoer’s family does have several sons, but their family and yours…”
Everyone understood the unspoken implication.
Chen Laoer’s family is utterly heartless. After driving Chen Pozi to her death, they even dared to cause a scene in the ancestral hall, clearly intending to seize the property of a family with no male heir.
Little Qiaoqiao was beaten black and blue by that family, her head even broken open, and all the belongings in the house were looted clean.
With such deep-seated hatred, it’s probably impossible to expect her to beg that family to come smash the basin and act as filial sons.
Anyone in her place would likely find it unbearable to do so.