“Su Qingwan, where’s the two hundred yuan allowance Gu Jinchuan gave you? Hurry up and hand it over. Yaozu’s engagement proposal is only short of this money.”
“And that watch you wore yesterday, hand that over too. You’re a country woman, so wearing something like that is just a waste. It would be better to let your younger sister wear it when she goes on a blind date tomorrow. It’ll make her look good, and you’ll benefit from it too.”
“Oh, these dresses that were newly made look pretty good. I remember you’ve never liked wearing them. There’s no point leaving them here, so I might as well keep them for your sister. I’ll thank you on her behalf.”
“Su Qingwan, did you hear me? Don’t just stand there like a wooden post. You only move when someone hits you.”
The shrill and spiteful voice drilled into Su Qingwan’s ears like needles, causing her previously silent heart to suddenly ache.
She abruptly raised her head and came face to face with a gaunt, vicious looking woman.
“You wretched thing, get away from me!”
Startled, Su Qingwan grabbed whatever was beside her and hurled it at the woman.
Only then did she realize that something was wrong with her surroundings. This room was far too unfamiliar.
Propaganda posters from the 1970s and 1980s and large red wedding characters were pasted all over the walls, but the paper looked unnaturally new and glossy, making the whole scene seem strangely out of place.
When her eyes landed on the calendar hanging on the wall, her mind went blank.
1978?
She was actually in the 1970s?
How was that possible?
“Su Qingwan, what’s with that dead expression? Who are you showing it to?”
Seeing that she was being ignored, the peasant woman slammed the table and shouted angrily, “I told you to give things to your younger brother and sister, and this is how you respond? They call you their elder sister, yet you don’t even deserve to be called their sister!”
Su Qingwan stared at the spiteful woman before her as her appearance gradually overlapped with the memories in her mind.
Was this woman her mother by name?
How could anyone call themselves a mother when every other word out of their mouth was about scheming and taking advantage of others?
“Su Qingwan! What are you glaring at? Isn’t it only right for you to help your younger siblings? You selfish, ungrateful wretch! I’ll beat you to death!”
The woman’s shrewish insults, along with the repeated calls of her own name, made Su Qingwan’s mind buzz. Suddenly, a fragment of memory flashed through her mind.
Her eyes widened.
Wait!
Wasn’t this the vicious adoptive mother from the miserable period novel she had stayed up late reading last night?
The female protagonist had the same name as her and was a country girl, but she was an extreme self sacrificing saint who would give everything to her family. She devoted herself completely to her adoptive parents and younger siblings, offering them every good thing and every opportunity she had. She would practically have given them her own life if they had asked.
If Su Qingwan remembered correctly, the most tragic person in the entire novel was the man who had the closest relationship with the original owner.
Her husband, Gu Jinchuan.
Not only did she become the bane of her own husband, Gu Jinchuan, causing his family to be ruined, she even ended up leaving him without a grave.
But something was wrong!
Wasn’t today supposed to be the day the apocalypse began, when the virus broke out?
Where were her zombies?
Where were her supernatural abilities?
Then again, Su Qingwan suddenly raised her left hand. A beautiful jadeite bracelet still rested around her wrist, emitting an unusual, faint glow.
Only then did she let out a huge sigh of relief.
Her spatial bracelet was still here!
That meant the supplies worth nearly a million that she had stockpiled were still here too!
In an instant, Su’s mother’s eyes locked onto the jadeite bracelet, and her gaze became fixed on it.
She immediately changed her expression into a smile and reached out to grab Su Qingwan’s wrist, pretending to be concerned as she said, “Wanwan, this bracelet looks too old fashioned. It doesn’t suit you. Take it off and let Mom have a look. What if you accidentally damage it?”
Looking at that hypocritical face, Su Qingwan suddenly remembered one of the novel’s plotlines. The original owner had actually been foolish enough to casually hand over the family heirloom that Gu Jinchuan had solemnly entrusted to her to this vicious adoptive mother.
As a result, the priceless bracelet that had been passed down through ten generations was eventually smashed to pieces against a neglected hoe.
When Gu Jinchuan found out, he was heartbroken for a long time.
Now, Su Qingwan sneered and abruptly pulled her hand back.
“Old fashioned? This is the Gu family’s heirloom, and it can only be passed down to a Gu family daughter in law. As an outsider, do you think you’re worthy of wearing it?”
“Or perhaps you’ve taken a liking to your son in law? Good heavens, you’re already this old and still have no shame. Does your husband know? Does the whole village know?”
Those few words instantly turned Su’s mother’s face green with anger.
“Who has taken a liking to Gu Jinchuan? I just wanted to look at the bracelet. Fine, I won’t look!”
Su Qingwan let out a mocking laugh.
“Exactly. If Gu Jinchuan found out that you liked him, he’d probably throw up everything he ate the night before.”
Su’s mother had lived a pampered life for years. When had she ever suffered such humiliation? She was furious.
“Su Qingwan, you must have gone crazy! I’m your mother, yet you dare speak to me like this!”
Su Qingwan paid no attention to her furious shouting. Her gaze fell upon the red wedding characters on the wall, and suddenly a memory surfaced in her mind.
It was a wedding banquet, and it seemed to have been quite a lavish one.
Judging from the scene, this must have been the day the original owner married Gu Jinchuan.
The plot in which she became the bane of Gu Jinchuan had not yet begun.
Su Qingwan relaxed slightly.
It seemed there was still time to change things.
After all, she had no intention of becoming the super saint mother who sacrificed everything to support her entire family, nor did she want to ruin Gu Jinchuan’s bright future and leave him without even a grave when he clearly had a promising life ahead of him.
However, when her gaze swept over the house, which had been ransacked so thoroughly that it looked as though bandits had stormed through it, she realized why Su’s mother had come to the Gu family home.
She had come to search for anything valuable, and while she was at it, she intended to take all of Su Qingwan’s betrothal gifts and all the money Gu Jinchuan had left behind.
Absolutely shameless!
What made Su Qingwan even angrier was remembering that later in the novel, this old witch would constantly go to Gu Jinchuan asking for money and come to the Gu family home to take whatever she wanted. She would even frequently take Gu Jinchuan’s new clothes back home for her own son in law to wear.
The more Su Qingwan thought about it, the angrier she became.
Since she could no longer take her anger out on one of the original culprits, namely herself, she could at least take it out on this old witch who was still cursing her incessantly.
Otherwise, she felt as though the anger in her chest would suffocate her completely.
“Su Qingwan, you wretched girl, are you listening to me or not?”
“Smack!”
Her words were abruptly cut off by an extremely crisp slap that rang through the room.
“Ah!”
Su’s mother covered her burning cheek in disbelief. Her eyes widened with rage as she screamed, “You wretched girl actually hit me! Have you lost your mind?”
As she spoke, she lunged forward, clawing at Su Qingwan’s face.
But before she could even fully extend her hand, Su Qingwan had already grabbed her wrist.
The pain was so intense that it felt as though her bones were about to break.
“Ah! Let go of me! You wretched girl, you’re going to break my bones!”
Su Qingwan sneered and shoved her to the ground. Looking down at her with contempt, she said, “Already crying out like that? When you used to kick and punch me, you never screamed this loudly.”
“Or do you need me to show you exactly how much force you used back then?”
As she spoke, she kicked the chair beside her.
With a loud crash, the chair shattered into pieces.
Su’s mother froze in terror, trembling as she imagined what would happen if that force had landed on her instead.
“You, you!”
Su’s mother’s eyes turned bloodshot with fury.
Had this wretched girl taken the wrong medicine?
In the past, she had never fought back when beaten or talked back when insulted. So why had she suddenly gone crazy today and started settling old scores with her?
Could it be that she had pushed her too far just now?
After thinking it over, Su’s mother gritted her teeth and viciously cursed, “Su Qingwan, you think you can forget who picked you up and raised you just because you married into the Gu family? You even dare hit your own mother now. What’s next? Are you going to dig up the ancestral graves of the Su family?”
“I’m telling you, you can forget ever being added to the Su family genealogy in this lifetime. You will never be a member of the Su family!”
She knew that Su Qingwan had always cared deeply about the Su family’s kindness in raising her. She also knew that Su Qingwan had always hoped that, after she died, her name would remain in the Su family genealogy.
That was why she deliberately brought it up, hoping to use it to threaten her.
But she had no idea that the Su Qingwan standing before her had already become a completely different person.
The moment Su Qingwan heard those words, she raised her hand and slapped her several times across the face.
While Su’s mother was still dazed from the blows, Su Qingwan grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her forcefully out into the courtyard before kicking her squarely in the butt.
“Be added to the genealogy? Become a member of the Su family? The Great Qing dynasty has been gone for ages, yet you still think you’re some noble household’s matriarch? How did the revolution fail to get rid of an old feudal relic like you? The very fact that you’re alive is a waste of air!”
“Ah!”
Su’s mother landed face first in the dirt, her mouth filling with mud.
Furious, she slapped the ground repeatedly and began screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Someone’s beating me! Someone’s beating me! A daughter is beating her own mother! There’s no justice in this world!”
“Everyone, come out and judge this for yourselves! This wretched Su Qingwan actually dared to hit her own mother. She has no respect for her parents!”
“My life is so miserable! Why did I raise such an ungrateful wretch?”