“Ah!”
Yue Niang lay there with her eyes wide open, her face deathly pale.
There was no breath left in her body.
Aunt Zhang’s hands trembled as she held the baby, nearly dropping the child.
“Yue Niang!”
Madam Miao screamed in fright and rushed forward.
“Yue Niang! How could you bear to leave the child behind and go like this? He’s still so small—what will he do in the future?”
“Alas…”
Aunt Zhang finally came back to her senses.
She sighed, gently hugging the baby in her arms.
Looking at Yue Niang’s tragic corpse, tears streamed down her face.
First the father died, and now the mother was gone too. How was this child supposed to live? And once he got the reputation of being cursed to harm his kin… alas!
Madam Miao felt miserable beyond words.
The second son and his wife were both gone, leaving only three children in the house…
This… this wouldn’t mean we had to raise them, would it?
Times were getting worse by the year.
The imperial taxes kept rising, the drought this year was severe, there was no grain and no harvest.
Her own family already had three children.
Raising three more who only ate and didn’t work—especially one so young who needed constant care…
No way.
No matter what, she wasn’t going to raise them.
But what about her parents-in-law… would they agree? No matter how much they disliked them, those were still their grandchildren. If they didn’t raise them, wouldn’t people point fingers and curse them behind their backs?
Forget it. If they dared to raise them, she’d take her own children and go back to her natal home. Whoever wanted to raise them could do so.
Madam Miao cried as she calculated in her heart. The more she thought about it, the harder her heart became, and without realizing it, her hand tightened.
Her clenched fist slammed viciously into Yue Niang’s chest.
“Uh—”
Suddenly, a sharp gasp sounded above her head. The body beneath her seemed to move.
Madam Miao jerked her head up—and saw that the person who had just died had her eyes wide open, mouth agape, chin lifted, gasping desperately for air.
Madam Miao staggered back in terror and fell flat onto the floor.
“Sh-sh-sh… the corpse is moving!”
Aunt Zhang was so frightened she stopped breathing. Instinctively, she covered the baby’s mouth and nose, afraid the child’s sound might disturb the corpse that had suddenly risen.
Xia Wanyue gulped down fresh air, breath after breath. It took a long while before she finally recovered. Once her body felt a little better, she began to look around.
A dilapidated thatched hut. Mud-plastered walls.
Inside, there was only a bed and a cabinet—and she was lying on the bed.
Beside the bed stood two women: one sitting on the ground in terror, the other staring at her with wide, frightened eyes.
Xia Wanyue sat up and touched her face.
Why were they looking at her like that?Was there something on her face?
Where was this place? Who were these people?
Had she been kidnapped? By human traffickers?
That didn’t seem right…
She clearly remembered being struck by a meteor!
“Ah!”
The moment that thought crossed her mind, a sharp pain exploded in her head.
With a thud, she collapsed back onto the bed and quickly lost consciousness again.
Th-this…
Madam Miao pointed at Xia Wanyue, who had fallen back down, her finger trembling as she cautiously placed it beneath Xia Wanyue’s nose.
Feeling a faint breath, Madam Miao looked at Aunt Zhang in confusion.
“She’s… still alive.”
Aunt Zhang hurried over to the bedside and felt Xia Wanyue’s neck.
“…Probably her breath got stuck earlier. Now it’s come back?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!”
Aunt Zhang let out a long sigh and patted her chest.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Ah!”
The sudden knocking at the door startled the already tense women.
“What are you screaming for? Calling souls?” Old Madam Wang’s sharp voice sounded from outside.
Madam Miao snapped back to her senses and hurried to open the door.
“M-Mother,” she called weakly.
“How is it? Has she given birth?”
Old Madam Wang shot her a glare and walked in carrying a basin of hot water.
She had just gone to the kitchen to heat water.
Her second son had died, his wife was giving birth, and there were only two small children left in the house. In these difficult times, every household was struggling.
The second son’s death had been sudden, leaving everyone running around nonstop.
Only now had she found a moment to bring the hot water over.
“She has, Sister-in-law,” Aunt Zhang said quickly, holding up the baby. “It’s a boy. Look how handsome he is.”
Old Madam Wang took the child and glanced at him indifferently, her face expressionless.
“How’s the second daughter-in-law?”
Aunt Zhang and Madam Miao exchanged a look.
The fear in their eyes hadn’t faded yet.
Madam Miao forced a smile and said,
“Mother, she’s fine. She just fainted.”
Old Madam Wang swept a cool glance at Xia Wanyue.
Dissatisfaction flickered in her eyes. She snorted lightly and turned to leave.
Aunt Zhang glanced awkwardly at Madam Miao.
Madam Miao pretended not to notice and turned away, using the hot water to wipe Xia Wanyue’s body.
Aunt Zhang was left standing there awkwardly.
Watching Madam Miao’s attitude, anger rose in her chest.
She had been running back and forth all day—helping with the delivery and taking care of the baby—and now that things had settled down, not one of them showed the slightest gratitude.
She looked at Xia Wanyue lying on the bed, then at Madam Miao playing dumb.
Gritting her teeth, she shoved the door open, walked out, and slammed it shut behind her.
The mourning hall had been set up in the courtyard. Li Ke’s body lay on a door plank, propped up by two benches underneath.
There wasn’t even a coffin. Several men from the village sat nearby, having come to help.
At the front stood a basin where paper money was burning. A little boy and girl, both dressed in mourning clothes, knelt beside it, tossing in sheets of paper one by one.
When Aunt Zhang came out, Old Man Li glanced at Old Madam Wang.
Old Madam Wang curled her lips and rolled her eyes, shoved the baby into Third Daughter-in-law Xiao Li’s arms, and walked into the kitchen with a pained expression.
She fished out a single egg and brought it to Aunt Zhang.
“Aunt Zhang, thank you so much for today. Take this back and nourish yourself. Sigh… in times like these, this is all we can spare.”
Aunt Zhang looked at the egg placed in her hand. Though she felt a little dissatisfied, she still smiled and accepted it.
Something was better than nothing.
Old Madam Wang was notoriously stingy—getting an egg from her was already pretty good.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, I don’t mind. Your second son just passed away and your second daughter-in-law just gave birth—you must still have a lot to deal with. Since there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first.”
She hurriedly stuffed the egg into her pocket, afraid it might disappear if she was too slow.
Smiling and waving, she quickly left.
Old Madam Wang pursed her lips and spat, muttering under her breath,
“Eat… eat till you burst!”
The weather was too hot for the body to be kept long. Coupled with the hard times that year, the funeral was handled hastily.
He died in the morning and was buried that very afternoon, wrapped in a torn straw mat and carried up the mountain.
When Xia Wanyue woke up again, night had already fallen.
There was no one by her side. Weakly, she pushed herself up and, by the moonlight coming through the window, barely made out the room.
She was alone.