In the shabby township clinic, Jiang Xiaoci lay on a worn hospital bed, her body covered in bruises.
Not far away, a nurse and a doctor whispered to each other.
“That woman is so pitiful. She comes here several times every month, and every time she’s covered in injuries. I heard her husband beats her.”
“Pitiful? If she’s being beaten, why doesn’t she divorce him? She must have done something wrong first. Otherwise, why would her husband hit her?”
Jiang Xiaoci slowly turned her head to look at them. Embarrassed, the two quickly walked away.
Just then, a beautiful young woman in a yellow dress entered the ward. Her bright, charming face wore a smug smile as she approached the bed.
“Big Sister, I’ve come to see you.”
“Get… out…” Jiang Xiaoci struggled to say.
The night before, Lu Yaozu had broken several of her ribs. Even speaking made her frown in agony.
Bai Miaomiao looked at her miserable state, casually picked up a fruit knife, and began peeling an apple.
“Don’t be so fierce. You’re going to die soon anyway. Once you’re gone, I’ll marry Brother Yaozu. Since we’ve both married the same man, we’re practically sisters. You should be happy I came to visit. Besides, your elderly parents have already died back in the countryside. I’m the only one left who would bother coming to see you.”
“What… did you say?” Jiang Xiaoci stared at her in disbelief. “My parents… You’re lying! Aren’t you?”
Bai Miaomiao smiled sweetly.
“Why would I lie? Your parents were supposed to be allowed back from the countryside last month. But if they came home, they’d have your back. How could I marry Brother Yaozu then? So naturally, I had to make sure they died before they could return.”
Jiang Xiaoci looked at her in horror.
“It was… you…”
Before she could finish, she coughed violently.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips, splattering across Bai Miaomiao’s beautiful dress.
“Ah! You bitch!” Bai Miaomiao shrieked. “You ruined my new dress! It cost fifty yuan! Can you even afford to pay for it?”
She raised her hand and slapped Jiang Xiaoci hard across the face.
Jiang Xiaoci slowly turned her head back, glaring at her with burning hatred.
“Pay you back? Everything you own was bought with my dowry! And you still have the nerve to ask me to compensate you? You shameless bitch! You murdered my parents! How dare you show your face here?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Bai Miaomiao sneered. “I wanted to see how miserable you’ve become.”
“You idiot… You still don’t know, do you?”
“The reason your family was sent down to the countryside back then was because I had Brother Yaozu report your family.”
“You looked down on him. When he came to your house to propose, you rejected him.”
“So we made sure your family was reported as capitalist sympathizers. Your property was confiscated, and your whole family was about to be exiled to the countryside. Your parents stopped acting so high and mighty after that. They rushed to marry you off and even gave you half the family’s wealth as your dowry.”
“And you, you stupid fool, actually believed Brother Yaozu loved you.”
“Every bit of it was my idea.”
“If my family hadn’t demanded such an outrageous bride price that Brother Yaozu’s parents couldn’t afford it, do you really think they’d have wanted you? You brought no bride price and even came with such a generous dowry. A woman practically throwing herself at a man—who would ever respect someone like that?”
“Since you’re dying anyway, I might as well tell you one more thing.”
“Among the dowry your old parents left you was a pair of jade bracelets. They’re actually a mother-and-child dimensional space.”
“Yesterday I accidentally cut my finger while cooking. My blood got on the bracelets, and that’s how I bonded with them. Only then did I realize how miraculous they were.”
“Now that private businesses are finally allowed, I’ll use your bracelets to become a wealthy businesswoman.”
“And as for you…”
She burst into triumphant laughter.
“Ba… Bai Miaomiao…”
Jiang Xiaoci’s eyes fell upon the jade bracelets on Bai Miaomiao’s wrist.
The moment she opened her mouth again, blood poured uncontrollably from her lips.
The doctor and nurse rushed over after hearing the commotion.
“Don’t get agitated! Your injuries are severe! Hurry, re-bandage her wounds and prepare a sedative!”
“No need,” Bai Miaomiao interrupted.
“She doesn’t even have money to pay her medical bills anymore. Even if you save her, what’s the point? She still owes last week’s hospital fees.”
The doctor and nurse were stunned.
They turned toward Jiang Xiaoci.
“You can’t pay your medical expenses anymore? Didn’t you say you’d pay as soon as possible?”
The two immediately let go of her.
Jiang Xiaoci’s body collapsed back onto the bed.
The last thing she saw was Bai Miaomiao’s twisted, victorious smile.
When Jiang Xiaoci opened her eyes again, everything around her had changed.
She looked around in astonishment.
Wasn’t this… her bedroom in the house where her family had lived before her parents were sent down to the countryside?
How could she possibly be here?
Her heart pounded violently.
The pain and overwhelming hatred she had felt before dying still echoed inside her chest, refusing to fade.
Almost instinctively, she pressed a hand against her heart.
Only then did she realize she was drenched in sweat.
Voices drifted into her ears—noisy, yet strangely familiar.
People were moving around outside the room, chatting with one another.
Beyond the window came the cheerful ringing of bicycle bells and the laughter of neighborhood children playing together.
It all felt so… real.
Completely different from the suffocating silence of the hospital.
What was happening?
She cautiously moved.
The hard wooden bed beneath her pressed painfully against her back.
She reached down and touched the coarse cotton bedsheet.
A faint scent of laundry detergent lingered on the fabric—the familiar smell left behind after her mother washed it.
Warm.
Comforting.
Nothing like the cold, pungent smell of hospital disinfectant.
Jiang Xiaoci suddenly sat upright.
The room wasn’t large.
An old wooden desk stood beneath the window. Her old textbooks and handwritten notes were still neatly stacked on top.
Then her gaze landed on the calendar.
In large red characters against a white background, it clearly read:
January 15, 1975.
Her eyes widened in shock.
1975?
How could it possibly be 1975?
She had been eighteen years old in 1975.
When Bai Miaomiao had driven her to death, she had already been married for many years.
There was no way she could be eighteen again.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Overwhelmed with disbelief, she stumbled toward the desk.
She didn’t even notice how light and agile her body had become—nothing like the battered body that had been nearly beaten to death.
With trembling hands, she picked up the calendar and blinked repeatedly, afraid she had misread it.
Again.
And again.
Only then did she finally believe it.
This calendar truly belonged to 1975.
The date might be misprinted…
But the year couldn’t possibly be wrong.
So…
What exactly had happened?
At that moment, she heard a familiar voice.
Gentle.
Affectionate.
Filled with warmth.
“Xiaoci, what are you doing hiding in your room? Come out for a minute!”
Jiang Xiaoci’s entire body froze.
It was…
Her mother’s voice.
Her mother was calling her.
When no answer came, Jiang’s mother sounded a little anxious and called again, louder this time.
“Xiaoci?!”
Jiang Xiaoci hurriedly answered on instinct.
“Coming!”
After taking a few steps, she realized she was still barefoot.
Suppressing the excitement and confusion raging inside her, she quietly put on her shoes and walked out of her bedroom in a daze.
She wondered if she was dreaming.
But even if it was only a dream…
Being able to see her beloved parents one more time was enough.
With mixed emotions, she walked into the living room.
Then she saw a familiar figure.
Lu Yaozu.
Jiang Xiaoci’s eyes instantly reddened.
Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
She bit down hard on her lip, using every ounce of strength to suppress the bone-deep hatred burning in her eyes.
Seeing her daughter standing there frozen, staring at Lu Yaozu without saying a word, Jiang’s mother assumed she was simply surprised by the unexpected visitor.
Smiling, she walked over and gently nudged her daughter’s shoulder.
“Xiaoci, what are you standing there for?”
“Yaozu has come today to ask for your hand in marriage.”