“Oww… That hurts!”
“Which idiot dropped something from above?! If I catch them, I’ll make them regret it!”
Li Xiaoxiao, a thirty-six-year-old woman who had been single since birth, notoriously stingy, and blessed with a terrible temper, was leisurely fanning herself with a palm fan on her way to the mall to enjoy some free air conditioning when disaster struck.
A water cup suddenly fell from an upper floor and smacked her on the head.
The next thing she knew, she had transmigrated.
..
“Mother! Waaaah… Mother, please don’t scare us!”
Three unshaven, haggard-looking men were kneeling by a bed, crying their hearts out. Their wails were so loud they could practically shake the roof.
Lying on the bed was an unconscious elderly woman.
That elderly woman was none other than the newly transmigrated Li Xiaoxiao.
At that moment, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into her mind.
The original owner of this body was Madam Li, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Qin family.
When she was young, her parents-in-law heavily favored their younger son. After Madam Li married Qin Laoda, the couple was immediately separated from the family. They were given nothing more than two drafty thatched huts and a basket of sweet potatoes.
Fortunately, Qin Laoda was clever. He learned trade and peddling from other villagers and gradually built up a respectable family fortune.
Life should have been comfortable when they reached their thirties.
Instead, fate dealt Madam Li a cruel blow.
Her husband died after suffering a fatal collapse while visiting a brothel.
But things only got worse.
Using “bringing misfortune to her husband” as an excuse, her parents-in-law tried to drive Madam Li and her children out of the house. Their real goal was to seize the fifty mu of fertile farmland and the large brick-and-tile residence that her husband had acquired through years of trading and hand everything over to the younger brother’s family.
Faced with such injustice, the fiery-tempered Madam Li refused to suffer in silence.
She grabbed a kitchen cleaver and chased her parents-in-law straight out of the house.
That wasn’t all.
She then marched to the ancestral hall at the village entrance and publicly exposed every detail of how her parents-in-law had favored the younger son, secretly taken money and goods from her household, and used them to support his family.
Even that wasn’t enough to satisfy her anger.
She made sure the family scandal spread far and wide.
Without the slightest hesitation, she revealed that her brother-in-law had often invited her husband to visit brothels and was indirectly responsible for the incident that led to his death.
She demanded that the clan elders and village chief uphold justice, report the matter to the authorities, and severely punish her scheming brother-in-law.
She even declared that if anyone dared force her family out, she would drag her parents-in-law and her brother-in-law’s entire family down with her.
Not a single coin would be taken from her.
In the end, the village chief and clan elders stepped in to mediate.
Since Madam Li had both sons and daughters, her family line was not considered extinct.
The property had been earned after the household division and therefore had nothing to do with her parents-in-law or brother-in-law.
As punishment for attempting to seize the estate, the younger brother received twenty blows under the clan’s disciplinary rules.
Unfortunately, neither the parents-in-law nor the younger brother accepted the outcome.
They frequently came looking for trouble.
Some neighbors also tried to take advantage of her whenever they could.
Every single time, Madam Li would stand at her doorway with a cleaver in hand and curse them from sunrise to sunset.
Over time, she earned a fearsome reputation throughout the village.
No one dared provoke her.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
Madam Li was now forty-six years old and had become a mother-in-law herself.
At long last, both of her troublesome parents-in-law died one after the other.
Overjoyed, she became careless while crossing a doorway threshold, tripped, struck her head on a stone, and died on the spot.
And so, the body became Li Xiaoxiao’s.
The original owner had borne three sons and one daughter, all of whom were married.
Eldest Son
Qin Dashu, age 30.
His wife, Wang Zhaodi, age 28.
They had three daughters:
Second Son
Qin Erlin, age 26.
His wife, Zhang Ermei, age 26.
They had two daughters:
Third Son
Qin Sanmu, age 20.
His wife, Li Wang’er, age 17.
They had one daughter:
Youngest Daughter
Qin Miaomiao, age 16.
She had married the youngest son of a carpenter from the neighboring village and was now six months pregnant.
The original Madam Li’s greatest regret in life was the complete lack of grandsons.
In this era, having no male heirs could attract greedy relatives eager to seize a family’s property.
Back then, the reason she had dared confront her parents-in-law with a cleaver was largely because she had three sons to support her.
As a result, she disliked her three daughters-in-law immensely.
She also frequently beat and scolded her sons and granddaughters.
A chorus of wailing reached Li Xiaoxiao’s ears.
The noise irritated her so much that she abruptly sat up.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Without hesitation, she slapped each of her three bawling sons across the face.
Then she barked,
“Shut up, all of you! You can cry after I’m dead!”
Instantly, the room fell silent.
Every man and woman present froze as though someone had cast a spell over them.
Looking at the stunned crowd, Li Xiaoxiao felt her head pounding.
Glowering at them, she roared,
“Get out! All of you! Out! Now!”
“M-Mother, please don’t be angry! We’ll leave right away! Right away!” Qin Dashu hurriedly replied. “Daya’s mother is just outside. If you need anything, call for her.”
The entire group quickly filed out.
Only Qin Dashu remained.
Fidgeting with the corner of his clothes, he hesitated for a long while before speaking.
“Mother… um… you haven’t taken out today’s grain for cooking yet…”
Still irritated, Li Xiaoxiao relied on the memories she had inherited.
Reaching out casually, she found a ring of keys and tossed it at him as though throwing away garbage.
“Get it yourself.”
After collecting the day’s grain, Qin Dashu carefully returned the keys to the bedside.
Then he spoke nervously:
“Mother… the doctor’s visit and medicine cost three hundred copper coins. We still… still owe the money… so… um…”
Li Xiaoxiao sat up with a dark expression.
“Is there anything else? Can’t you say everything at once?”
She reached beneath her pillow, pulled out three strings of copper coins, and threw them toward him.
As he scrambled to catch them, Qin Dashu stammered,
“N-No! That’s all! That’s all!”
The glare she shot him made him retreat several steps.
“M-Mother! Please… please get some rest!”
Then he hurried out.
Li Xiaoxiao angrily slapped the bed.
All it accomplished was making her hand hurt.
Nothing could ease her frustration.
Who could possibly understand what she was going through?
One moment she had been a carefree thirty-six-year-old single woman.
The next, she had become a mother overnight.
Not only that, she was ten years older, a mother-in-law, and had an entire flock of granddaughters.
This was simply…
Simply infuriating!
And what about her apartment?
She had only just finished paying off the mortgage on her tiny one-bedroom home!
And her hard-earned six-figure savings?
The money she had scrimped and pinched every penny to save?
She hadn’t even had the chance to properly enjoy it.
Gone.
Just like that.
Li Xiaoxiao stomped her feet in anger, but there was nothing she could do.
Like a wilted eggplant struck by frost, she eventually collapsed onto the bed.
Every so often, she pounded the mattress, as if venting her resentment that way might somehow help.
The thumping sounds carried outside.
To the people beyond the door, it sounded like thunder.
Everyone jumped in fright and immediately began checking whether there was any unfinished work, terrified of attracting the old matriarch’s wrath.