The “space” was her source of confidence; with it, she could live well no matter where she was.
Feeling a weight on her chest, Li Wanting gently lifted her little daughter from her arms and said softly, “Mengmeng, be good. Don’t cry. Are you hungry?”
“Gurgle…” the little girl’s stomach growled inconveniently, and she immediately clutched her belly, nodding shyly with a flushed face.
Li Wanting took two buns out of her space and handed them to the children. “Here, have a bun first to fill your stomach. I’ll get up in a bit and cook something for you.”
The brother and sister froze like magic had happened—the buns suddenly appeared in their hands, and they stared at them in surprise, too stunned to take them.
“Good children, take it and eat. Aren’t you hungry?” Seeing the children hesitate, Li Wanting pushed the buns closer to them.
“Ah, buns!” the little girl exclaimed with delight, taking one and biting into it immediately.
“Mmm, delicious! There’s meat inside too,” she said between bites.
The little boy didn’t take a bun; instead, he grabbed his mother’s hand and tried to feed her.
“Mom, I’m not hungry. You eat it. You’ve lost so much blood and haven’t eaten anything for a long time.”
Seeing how sensible her son was, Li Wanting hurriedly stopped him. “I still have some left. You eat.” Then, she took another bun from her space with her other hand.
Seeing that their mother also had one, the little boy finally took a bun and ate it in small bites.
Li Wanting slowly sat up, watching her children quietly eat the buns while she ate and gathered her thoughts.
Her father-in-law, Old Zhou, had lost his first wife—Li Wanting’s predecessor—who died from excessive bleeding during childbirth. He later remarried Zhou Zhangshi.
Old Zhou had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Zhou Dashan, was from his first wife. The second son, Zhou Dahe, the daughter, Zhou Dalan, and the youngest son, Zhou Dahai, were all from Zhou Zhangshi.
The stepmother, Zhou Zhangshi, was harsh. Zhou Dashan, Li Wanting’s husband, had grown up in a home where he worked harder than an ox and ate less than a chicken.
Even at twenty, he wasn’t allowed to marry, while his younger brother Zhou Dahe already had children running around the yard.
Zhou Dashan often went hunting in the mountains. One day, he returned from hunting and found the original owner—Li Wanting’s predecessor—unconscious at the foot of the mountain. He carried her home and called a doctor, who said she was just fainted from hunger and otherwise fine.
After feeding her some rice soup, she woke up—but had lost her memory, remembering nothing.
Zhou Dashan took her to the doctor again, but the doctor couldn’t explain it. Maybe it was from shock, maybe from a head injury—she would have to recover her memory slowly, or perhaps never.
Seeing Zhou Dashan bringing a woman home, Zhou Zhangshi realized she wouldn’t have to spend money to get him a wife. So she quickly arranged a simple marriage for the two.
Since the wife had lost her memory and didn’t have a name for official records, Zhou Dashan went to the village scholar, Zhou Guangyao, to give her a name.
Zhou Guangyao found the original owner graceful and gentle, so he named her Wanting, giving her the surname Li. Only then was her household registration and marriage certificate processed at the county office.
The next few years were hard, but the couple loved each other and had two obedient children. Life had a glimmer of hope.
Three years ago, war broke out, and the government issued a conscription order. Every household had to provide a male to serve, or pay ten taels of silver instead.
Zhou Zhangshi didn’t want to send her own sons to die, nor spend the silver. Since the family hadn’t been divided, she cried and insisted Zhou Dashan go.
Zhou Dashan was a skilled hunter. Every time he caught game—wild chickens, rabbits, deer—he sold them in town. Zhou Zhangshi confiscated all the money. Over the years, it added up to a fortune, enough to support their youngest son’s studies, since schooling in those times was expensive.
Zhou Dashan, being prudent, secretly saved part of his earnings for his wife.
Knowing he might not return, he worried his wife and children—without family support—would suffer at Zhou Zhangshi’s hands.
So, in the month before leaving, he hunted every day, sometimes staying two or three days at a time, saving as much as possible.
At that time, their son Zhou Zimo was five, and their daughter Zhou Zimeng was two. The original owner was gentle and not strong, and Zhou Zhangshi saw them as a burden. Once Zhou Dashan left, she had no restraint. The next day, she expelled the family, giving them nothing.
After being cast out, the original owner took her two children to the village head, Zhou Yunda, Zhou Dashan’s uncle.
Seeing them alone and helpless, and knowing Zhou Dashan had entrusted him with their care, Zhou Yunda arranged a small repaired hut at the edge of the village and had his wife Wang bring them some food and supplies.
Though there was money left by her husband, she dared not spend freely. First, she feared Zhou Zhangshi would come causing trouble; second, she didn’t know when her husband would return. She spent each day foraging for wild vegetables and mixing them with coarse grains. Life was harsh.
Three years passed. Misfortune compounded. A few days ago, the government released a list of soldiers killed in action, including Zhou Dashan, along with a compensation of one hundred taels of silver.
Zhou Yunda led the officials to give the money to the original owner. Shortly after, Zhou Zhangshi learned of it. She couldn’t stand it and came with her eldest son, Zhou Dahe, to make trouble. When the original owner refused, Zhou Zhangshi beat and cursed her. In the struggle, the original owner fell and hit her head on a stone in the yard, fainting immediately.
Seeing so much blood, Zhou Zhangshi was scared. Fearing legal trouble if she died, she left her lying there, quietly taking her son and daughter-in-law home.
The original owner never regained consciousness due to blood loss. Eventually, her “core” was replaced by Li Wanting, a modern woman who had been in a car accident.
Li Wanting finished the buns and sighed deeply, thinking how unlucky the original owner had been to encounter such a heartless family.
Then she realized—the original owner wasn’t unlucky. She had died and was free, reunited with her husband in the afterlife. The one who was truly unlucky was her—Li Wanting—forced to continue life.
Ah, heaven! Earth! Are you playing with me?
And Zhou Zhangshi, Zhou Dahe, and his wife—just wait. I’ve inherited the original owner’s grudges. We’ll see about that.