On the first night after Yu Zhaozhao transmigrated, things were very peaceful. After finishing dinner and cleaning up, the Yu Wangshan family all returned to their own rooms. No one paid any attention to the fact that there was still someone in the storeroom.
Yu Zhaozhao was happy to have the quiet. Once everyone had gone back to their rooms, she entered her space.
Since her body hadn’t fully recovered, she couldn’t eat anything too greasy.
For dinner, she planned to boil two eggs and cook some millet porridge to nourish her stomach.
But before that, she didn’t forget to collect the water she had placed in each room earlier.
In the novels she had read before, it was said that storage spaces could preserve freshness, and she wanted to test it.
The result proved that the preservation function did exist—except in the kitchen.
The hot water cups placed throughout the villa remained at the same temperature, but the water in the kitchen had cooled down.
Still, it made sense. The kitchen had cooking tools and needed fire; if the temperature never changed, how would food ever heat up and cook?
The Yu family didn’t have a television, and after dinner there was nothing much to do. Around 8 p.m., they all went to sleep.
After eating, Yu Zhaozhao also rested directly inside her space. She didn’t plan to do anything tonight.
All her plans would have to wait until she got her hands on the Yu Wangshan family’s passbook and withdrew the money.
Early the next morning, just as Yu Zhaozhao returned from her space to the small, shabby bed, Yu Wangshan pushed open the storeroom door.
Recalling how the original owner used to behave, Yu Zhaozhao curled herself into a ball and looked at him timidly.
“Zhaozhao, you’ll be going to the countryside tomorrow. Your aunt will take you to the station. Don’t worry—you’re my niece. I won’t ignore you. You can take anything from this room, and I’ll also have your aunt give you five yuan. Work hard in the countryside. If there’s a chance to return to the city in the future, I’ll help arrange it for you.”
Yu Zhaozhao lowered her head, burying her face in her knees, pretending to be frightened and not daring to resist. In reality, she had already cursed Yu Wangshan hundreds of times in her heart.
He said she could take anything from this room—but what was even worth taking here?
Five yuan? This old scumbag actually had the nerve to say that! Back then, he had taken 2,000 yuan in compensation from Yu Wangchuan’s family. Now that their daughter was being sent to the countryside, he was only giving her five yuan.
Shameless!
Yu Wangshan had no idea what she was thinking. Seeing that she was still as timid and weak as before, he felt satisfied. His real purpose today was to check if there was anything unusual about her; the comforting words were just incidental.
Over the years, although he had long lost contact with the military, that woman surnamed Mu had cared a lot about this girl and would send her packages every so often, continuing for more than a year before stopping.
Fortunately, he had never let the letters reach Yu Zhaozhao, so she didn’t know the military’s address. Otherwise, if she had written to report him, it would have been troublesome.
“Alright, since you’re going to the countryside, just rest well today. Come out for dinner tonight—I’ll have your aunt cook something good for you.”
“Mm.”
Yu Wangshan nodded in satisfaction at her response and left with his hands behind his back.
As soon as the door closed, Yu Zhaozhao immediately dropped her timid expression and rolled her eyes.
“Old scumbag, don’t rush—your karma is already on the way!”
The morning was busy, especially for Yu Miaomiao and Yu Tianbao. They already woke up late, and still had to wash up, eat, and go to school or work. Mao Cuizhi was busy tending to her two children and had no time to trouble Yu Zhaozhao.
Only after sending the three of them out did she come to the storeroom.
“Zhaozhao, how is it? Have you thought it through? If you have, you’ll get dinner tonight.”
Mao Cuizhi looked at Yu Zhaozhao’s frail body and clicked her tongue.
Back when Chen Ruolan married into the Yu family, how glorious it had been.
The parents of the Yu brothers had passed away early, and they arranged their own marriages. The younger brother had a higher allowance and invited all the notable families in the village. The wedding had been far livelier than her own.
After the child was born—just a girl—yet she was pampered enough to drink formula!
Her own Miaomiao had already been one year old at the time and had never even tasted formula.
Thinking about how she had kindly offered to help take care of the child back then, only to be refused, Mao Cuizhi felt displeased.
What did it matter how good life had been before? A short life only meant making a wedding dress for someone else!
Look at now—her daughter didn’t have to lift a finger, while Chen Ruolan’s daughter was working like a servant in her house and was about to be sent to the countryside to suffer.
Wasn’t this proof that fortune always turns?
Mao Cuizhi felt proud, and it showed on her face.
“I’ll listen to Aunt,” Yu Zhaozhao replied, just wanting to get rid of her. This woman was both stupid and malicious—not worth wasting effort on.
“If you’d said that earlier, why suffer these past two days? Going hungry doesn’t feel good, does it?” Mao Cuizhi clearly wasn’t done asserting herself.
“Aunt, Uncle said this morning that you’d give me five yuan. Why not give it to me now, so you won’t forget tomorrow?”
“Five yuan? You must’ve heard wrong! Your uncle didn’t tell me anything. Alright, rest well. Don’t overthink things—you’ve got a train to catch tomorrow!”
At the mention of money, Mao Cuizhi immediately refused.
She needed that money for her own children—why should she give it to this wretch?
Clearly, this was not a place to linger.
Mao Cuizhi hurried out of the storeroom, afraid that if she stayed any longer, the five yuan might slip away.
In her previous life, Yu Zhaozhao had gone on missions where bonuses started at tens of thousands and could reach millions. Even now, in this poor era, her passbook held a huge sum. Seeing Mao Cuizhi panic over five yuan felt almost novel to her.
Meanwhile, after leaving the storeroom, Mao Cuizhi wandered around the main hall. Finding nothing to do, she went back to her room to rest.
In recent years, she had been working every day. Although she didn’t have to do much housework at home, she rarely had such free time.
She lay on the bed, stretched comfortably, and somehow fell asleep.
Yu Zhaozhao quietly opened Mao Cuizhi’s door, lit a stick of incense in her hand, and placed it on the table. As the thin smoke slowly curled upward, Mao Cuizhi fell into an even deeper sleep.
In her previous life, Yu Zhaozhao had been a special agent, so she naturally had plenty of such substances. One of the empty rooms on the second floor of her villa was practically stocked like a pharmacy—now it finally came in handy.
Poison used on a vicious woman—perfect.
Seeing that Mao Cuizhi was deeply asleep, Yu Zhaozhao didn’t hold back. She stepped forward and slapped her hard twice.
Mao Cuizhi didn’t move at all.
Yu Zhaozhao slapped her four or five more times, stopping only when her palm felt slightly warm.
Mao Cuizhi still didn’t move.