The members chatting in the group already knew about Old Lady Zhou's passing and that she had learned Gu Nuanyang was not her son.
Seeing Gu Nuanyang's message, everyone sighed. Lin Xi was the first to reply: [Earth Girl Lin Xi: There are many bad people in the world, but also many good people. The Gu family and Zhao Juanqing are the ones with the problem. They were insatiably greedy.]
[Domineering CEO Villainess Ye Bingbing: Yes, and there's also the saying 'Give an inch, take a mile.' You gave them too much, beyond their expectations. So when someone else offered them a better deal than you did, they could betray you without hesitation.]
[Primitive World Ahuahua: I think so too. You spoiled their appetites, and your nature is too trusting. Or perhaps the Gu family always believed your arrival caused the death of their original daughter. So no matter how well you treated them, they remained ungrateful. Your transmigration into their daughter's body was the original sin.]
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: True. Also, the way you came to Old Lady Zhou and the way you became Gu Erniu were different. Different beginnings lead to different outcomes. But regardless, people have both good and bad in them. You don't need to dwell on it too much.]
[Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Lin Duxi: If it's that Zhao Juanqing, I can probably understand his mindset. He wanted the benefits you brought, yet also wanted to exercise his noble privileges with a full harem. He thought your spiritual spring could grant immortality and that you lacked the power to eliminate them. That's why he ordered people to torture you. Starving you and cutting off fingers were all based on that consideration.]
[Ancient World Xu Huanhuan: Wanting to have your cake and eat it too is utterly disgusting. My ex-husband was that type. When he sought to marry me, he wanted my dowry. After marrying me and I bore him a son, he felt he had given me enough and couldn't tolerate having only one woman.]
[Ancient World Xu Huanhuan: Wanting a 'one life, one love' commitment with a man isn't wrong, and there are men willing to do that. Nuanyang, your mistake was finding a faithless scoundrel.]
On this point, Xu Huanhuan felt she and Gu Nuanyang shared a similar misfortune.
[Dog Brother Wife-Slaying Cultivator Chu Qianmo: Yeah, yeah, I think Old Lady Zhou's actions were completely normal. Little Nuanyang, have you seen those modern news reports? Where someone takes care of an elderly person with no blood relation, and after the elder passes, leaves all their property to that person? I think Old Lady Zhou had that kind of mindset.]
[Switched-at-Birth Real Heiress Qin Suyuan: [Screenshot][Screenshot], see? There are many good people like Old Lady Zhou. Your previous encounters with the Gu family and Zhao Juanqing were just exceptions. They were inherently bad. I've even read novels where the female lead has special abilities, and after the emperor finds out, he enshrines her just for the sake of the nation's development.]
[Zhao Juanqing was clearly not a qualified emperor. Leaving a country in the hands of someone like that would lead to its ruin before long.]
The two screenshots Qin Suyuan sent were full of the exact kind of news Chu Qianmo mentioned.
[1960s Boxer Xiang Qianlan: Everyone is right. Nuanyang, remember this: when something happens, blame others more, doubt yourself less. When you're good to someone and they wrong you, it means you gave them too much face. Just be tougher in the future and give them less face.]
[Whole Family Transmigrated to ABO Wen Wan: Teacher Xiang speaks the truth, every word is a gem, truly dispelling the fog over my head. So 'blame others more, doubt yourself less'—I'm going to carve that into my soul and breathe it in.]
[Interstellar Wanderer Yao Xiran: Agreeing with everyone, one by one.]
Every single person in the group was trying to console Gu Nuanyang.
Gu Nuanyang also took to heart the words that pointed out her mistakes in her past life.
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: Nuanyang, let's not get stuck in the past, unable to move on from the events of our previous lives. We must look forward. Your enemies are already dead. In this life, you have a brand new start. If you remain trapped in the past, you'll waste this chance at rebirth and squander your prime years.]
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: In this life, you'll meet countless people. You can't expect everyone to be sincere to you, nor can you guarantee no one will ever let you down. But you mustn't judge everyone by the same harsh standard just because you were betrayed. The world isn't simply black and white. Good people can have flaws, and bad people can show kindness.]
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: Maybe my words are a bit harsh, but Nuanyang, you really can't stay immersed in the past anymore.] Lin Xi, with her keen perception, felt Gu Nuanyang's mindset had developed a problem.
And it was likely due to her upbringing, causing her to have a somewhat extreme view on certain matters. People in the group had more or less sensed it. Seeing no one else had addressed it, Lin Xi decided to speak plainly.
She believed Gu Nuanyang truly needed someone to wake her up.
Reading Lin Xi's words, Gu Nuanyang felt somewhat ashamed, but she also knew Lin Xi was right. If she continued living with the mentality from her past life, she would indeed waste this rebirth opportunity.
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: I've seen a saying online: 'An unhappy childhood is not a sudden downpour, but a pervasive dampness that fills the entire world. Some spend their whole lives searching for a warm sun to dry that dampness.' You found the wrong one, that's nothing, but don't give up the courage to keep trying.]
Gu Nuanyang stood up and began walking down the mountain, step by step.
[Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang: I was being stubborn. Thank you all for your consolation and advice. I will slowly find my way out.]
[Domineering CEO Villainess Ye Bingbing: We'll be watching. If there's anything you don't understand or are unsure about, tell us. We may not be able to help much, but we'll do our absolute best to support you.]
[Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang: Okay!]
Gu Nuanyang got up and headed home. She thoroughly cleaned the thatched cottage inside and out twice, gathered Old Lady Zhou and Zhou Mao's belongings and put them away together. Afterwards, she went out and tidied up the vegetable garden.
In the evening, the Village Head's wife brought Gu Nuanyang a bowl of noodle soup. Gu Nuanyang thanked her, only to receive a scolding in return. Who in the mountains or countryside goes around saying thank you every single day?
These words were like a wake-up call. After the Village Head's wife left, Gu Nuanyang wiped her face. Growing up in an orphanage, they were always taught to be polite, to say thank you when someone helped.
This habit had been with her since childhood, and even after transmigrating, she hadn't managed to break it. Thinking carefully, neither Gu Rou'er, Gu Ling'er, nor many of the villagers ever said thank you. But she often did.
Indeed, one's true nature is revealed in every little detail. Gu Nuanyang told herself she must say thank you less often in the future.
After being lectured by Lin Xi, Gu Nuanyang calmed her mind. From now on, she must live carefully, watching her words and actions, and she must also do as Lin Xi said: step out into the world. Otherwise, her rebirth would be utterly meaningless.
In her previous life, she read novels and often saw people say that some individuals remain fools even after being reborn. She was a fool in her last life, but she couldn't be one again in this lifetime.
On the Earth side, after sending those messages, Lin Xi saw it was getting late. She put on her sun hat, took the steamed sponge cakes, winecup cakes, and the fruits and snacks bought yesterday from the fridge, placed them on the tricycle, and pulled her two kids towards the guesthouse.
Chi Xiangping and Yao Yuran had gone over early.
The roof pouring for the guesthouse was a major event for the village, and everyone had arrived early. Usually quiet and deserted, Lin Family Pond was now bustling with noise and excitement, with even the wooden benches by the pond insufficient for seating.
Joy makes one radiant. Chi Xiangping was beaming, her face glowing. Yao Yuran stood beside her, chatting with the village grandmothers and aunties.
Most women sympathized with Yao Yuran for being beaten so badly by her husband. Her decisive action of taking her daughter, divorcing him, and running away was supported by everyone, except for a few older folks who disapproved.
"Here comes our little Lin Xi?" No sooner had Lin Xi parked her bike than she heard a shout. Just from the voice, Lin Xi knew exactly who it was.
"Sixth Grandma." Sixth Grandma and her own grandmother had been longtime rivals. It seemed their temperaments were naturally incompatible; whenever they were together, they had to compete.
But on such an important occasion today, even though Sixth Grandma couldn't stand the sight of Chi Xiangping cackling with laughter, she didn't say anything inappropriate to spoil the mood.
Seeing her being so sensible, Chi Xiangping nodded inwardly, deciding to give a big red envelope at her great-grandson's first birthday party in a few days.
Lin Xi brought out fruit plates, filling several with melon seeds, peanuts, and fruit. The villagers took them and passed them around, and they were empty in no time.
In front of the guesthouse, the concrete pump truck had arrived. At the auspicious time, Chi Xiangping stepped forward to light the firecrackers. Amidst the crackling and popping, the roof pouring began.
With two pump trucks working simultaneously, the pouring was finished before afternoon.
Lin Xi took out the red envelopes prepared in advance and gave them to the construction crew. She had put twenty yuan in each envelope. This was both custom and common practice, though the amount inside varied.
One, five, or ten yuan was most common, so twenty yuan was already quite generous. The construction workers were overjoyed to see it, and the smooth-talkers among them showered her with endless compliments.
Chi Xiangping listened, absolutely delighted.
Da Mingbao arrived with a bunch of plastic bags and disposable gloves.
Together with Lin Xi, they portioned the steamed sponge cakes into small bags.
One large piece and five small pieces of sponge cake per bag. Once packaged, they gave one bag to each person present. It wasn't much, just for sharing the festive spirit.
There was no need to host a banquet. After the roof pouring, everyone went home. The pump trucks left, and the construction workers continued with other tasks.
Once they finished these final jobs, they would also head home for the New Year.
Lin Xi waited until everyone had left before she departed too.
When she got home, her great-aunt and her aunt (father's elder brother's wife) were there.
The great-aunt was called Sun Caohua. She and Chi Xiangping were cousins-in-law, and their families had a very good relationship. Her health wasn't great now, so she mostly stayed at home. Lin Xi had only visited her twice since returning.
Sun Caohua had been waiting specifically for Lin Xi. Seeing her, she beckoned her over.
"Xi, we were just talking about you. Did you listen to what I asked your grandma to tell you the day before yesterday?" Sun Caohua had a somewhat forceful personality and ran her household with an iron fist.
Though strong-willed, she wasn't unreasonable, so she got along well with her three daughters-in-law. Her three children were also filial, and her life had been smooth. So, even though she was older than Chi Xiangping, she looked much younger.
Lin Xi put down her straw hat and said to her, "Great-Aunt, wait a moment, I'll go get a glass of water."
Great-Aunt Sun Caohua had always been kind to children, especially Lin Xi, whom she'd liked since she was little. She nodded kindly.
Lin Xi filled a kettle with water in the kitchen, added a drop of genetic repair liquid, and poured a cup for everyone when she came out.
Sun Caohua was impatient. "Did your grandma tell you or not?"
Chi Xiangping happily drank her water, pretending not to see Lin Xi's pleading look.
She couldn't bring herself to pressure Lin Xi about marriage, so she'd let someone who could do the persuading.
Seeing her grandmother really wasn't going to help, and facing her great-aunt's stern gaze, Lin Xi could only nod helplessly. "She told me, she told me."
Hearing this, Sun Caohua nodded. "So what do you think? Do you want to meet him? He's 27. He joined the army as a student soldier at 18 when he entered university, served for eight years, and has now retired from the military. He's working as a police officer at the Municipal Public Security Bureau."
"If your cousin Feng hadn't already gotten married, I wouldn't even introduce him to you." Sun Caohua had seen the young man—tall and good-looking.
Lin Xi simply ignored the last two sentences her great-aunt said. Her great-aunt was a good person, just had a sharp tongue—the so-called "sharp tongue, soft heart." Sometimes her words could be very harsh.
Hearing that the match was a police officer working at the municipal bureau, Lin Xi immediately thought of Li Sheng. She asked Sun Caohua, "What's that police officer's name?"
Sun Caohua's eldest daughter-in-law, Lin Xi's aunt (who was surnamed Li), smacked her lips and said, "It's Li Xiaosheng. That's what your aunt's mother said."
"Great-Aunt, Grandma Wang is already deaf. Aren't you worried there might be a mistake when talking to her?"
"What mistake could there be? None. I've already arranged it with your Grandma Wang. Tomorrow evening at a café downtown. Li Xiaosheng will be holding a red rose." Sun Caohua knew Lin Xi well—if she said she wouldn't go, she really wouldn't. She picked up the water glass from the stool, drained it in one gulp, stood up, and left.
She simply gave Lin Xi no chance to refuse. Perhaps afraid Lin Xi would say no, she felt her steps were unusually light on the way home.
Lin Xi could only watch as the little old lady whisked away like the wind. She turned to look at Chi Xiangping.
Chi Xiangping looked down at the floor. The floor of her main room wasn't tiled; it was very smooth cement.
Well, well, well, her cement floor was truly a cement floor.
Seeing Chi Xiangping like this, Lin Xi couldn't even find words. Yao Yuran was over there, laughing uncontrollably.
Speaking of which, it was only at Lin Xi's home, in this Lotus Village, that she truly understood what a real family atmosphere meant.
This family atmosphere wasn't about the elders having absolute control over the younger generation, but rather about them being equals at certain times. The younger generation weren't just puppets who could only obey.
Watching Lin Xi interact with Chi Xiangping, Yao Yuran felt she had learned a lot too. She had also changed the way she interacted with Fang and Yue.
Chi Xiangping went to the kitchen to cook, and Lin Xi accompanied her. When they went grocery shopping yesterday, Lin Xi had bought a few pounds of fresh pork ribs, which Chi Xiangping had put on the rack above the hearth to stew since morning.
Lin Xi loved stewed pork ribs with gastrodia tuber. Chi Xiangping planted a few every year, and Lin Xi hadn't had any since returning this year.
The combined aroma of herbal medicine and meat was intoxicatingly fragrant. With a bowl of spicy chili dipping sauce, it was numbing, spicy, and savory. After eating the meat, she drank the soup, and finally used the soup to soak some rice. After the meal, Lin Xi's stomach was painfully full.
She pinched her belly and asked Chi Xiangping, "Grandma, have I gained weight?"
"Not at all. You've never gained weight no matter what you ate since you were little. Where would the fat come from?" Chi Xiangping sounded quite dissatisfied about this. Clearly, Lin Xi was quite chubby from around seven or eight months old until she was over two, but as she grew taller later on, she became thinner and thinner. No matter how many good things she was fed, she just couldn't put on weight.
"You take after your grandfather. All the good stuff goes in one end and out the other." Thinking of her own late husband who also couldn't gain weight no matter what, Chi Xiangping suddenly lost interest and ambled off to her room for a nap.
She didn't know what was going on lately; she felt sleepy as soon as she was full.
Lin Xi didn't bother her. Since returning this time, she had noticed that some of Chi Xiangping's behaviors were becoming more and more childlike.
Lin Xi got up to clear the dishes. Yao Yuran said with a smile, "Old people become like children again."
"I know. I noticed she's changed a lot since I came back this time. She was never like this before."
"Maybe it's because the family's debts are all paid off, things are getting better, and with no burdens, her heart is at ease. So she just acts according to her whims now." Yao Yuran, who spent a lot of time with Chi Xiangping, had some understanding of her current state of mind.
Lin Xi nodded, indicating she understood.
After washing the dishes, Lin Xi and Yao Yuran sat in the courtyard basking in the sun and chatting. Lin Xi was wearing a hat.
She was thinking about when to finally send off the two bottles of Gene Repair Serum that had been sitting unused in her space. If she sent them now, today was the 25th of the twelfth lunar month; express delivery to the capital would be fast. But where could she go to mail them?
Guangxi Province was definitely out of the question. Their Pingyuan City surely had strict controls over incoming and outgoing parcels.
What about going to Meng City to mail them? She could also visit Ming Shu. She hadn't gone to see her since returning from the ancient palace intrigue world. Back in that world, Ming Shu had entrusted her to give Ming Li and Lin Muxi the Gene Repair Serum, once a month for six months. She still hadn't given them this month's dose.
Thinking of this, Lin Xi picked up her phone and sent a message to Ming Shu's mother, Ming Li.
Ming Li replied quickly. Ming Shu was recovering very well. Although she was still in the hospital, she could already do some simple rehabilitation exercises.
She and Lin Muxi were taking care of her together.
Remembering Lin Muxi, Lin Xi continued chatting with Yao Yuran while opening a search engine to look up information on Lin Muxi.
Everyone from top to bottom in Dou Chuan Media's management who had been involved in pimping, drug trafficking, and money laundering had been arrested. Amidst the chaos, Lin Muxi announced her retirement from the entertainment industry and hadn't been seen since.
Her fans looked for her for a while, but gave up when there was no news. Also, no indecent videos of her had leaked online, which surely meant the state had intervened.
Lin Xi thought this was for the best.
As soon as she entered the group chat, she saw Xu Huixin posting: [Xu Huixin, the Stepmother from the Era Novel: I haven't had a chance to speak in the group these past two days. Damn it, my mother-in-law has been staying in my room like a crazy person, watching me as if I'm a prisoner.]
Xu Huixin had taken quite a hard knock this time. Even after taking the Gene Repair Serum, she wouldn't recover quickly in the short term. And in the hospital, under everyone's watchful eyes, Xu Huixin couldn't exchange for a Revitalizing Pill from Chu Qianmo either.
She could only tough it out like this.
[Lin Xi, Earth Girl: Are they gone now?]
[Xu Huixin, the Stepmother from the Era Novel: Gone, to handle the discharge procedures.]
[Xiang Qianlan, the 1960s Boxer: So what are you planning to do?]
Xu Huixin touched her forehead. Thinking of all the grievances she had suffered over the past three years, while there was the undeniable force of the plot, it couldn't erase the fact that the Shen family was utterly despicable.
The entire Shen family clearly knew she, Xu Huixin, and Shen Shuyu weren't legally married, yet they openly bossed her around. What was even more absurd was that in three years, she and Shen Shuyu had never even shared a bed!
Xu Huixin really couldn't understand the reasoning behind this setting in that book! Was it trying to be trendy with some "marriage first, love later" trope? But without the so-called "God" of the author, what normal person could possibly develop feelings for a man with three kids?
Especially this setting of living together for three years without ever sleeping together—what was so appealing about that? Thinking of the original story where the female lead slaved away without complaint, only moving Shen Shuyu with her care after his leg condition improved, leading to a heartfelt conversation on a dark and windy night where the couple finally achieved the great harmony of life, Xu Huixin felt like vomiting.
So, the male lead's few minutes were supposed to be some grand reward for the female lead, aka her, the unlucky one?
Xu Huixin said: [An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I'm going to turn the Shen family upside down, then leave in style.]
Being a caretaker for a cripple was out of the question. Having been forced by the plot to act like a doormat for the Shen family for three years was already unbearable enough for Xu Huixin. If she had to go back and be a doormat now, she might as well get some grenades from Lin Duxi, blow up the whole Shen family, and drag this so-called world down with her.
[Lin Duxi, Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland: Just let us know if you need anything.]
Lin Xi found this utterly speechless. Talk about "you kill, I'll hold the ladder"—how brutal! Lin Xi could hardly bear to look.
But her fingers faithfully typed out a similar message of support.
Xu Huixin smiled and was about to reply when her damn mother-in-law, Su Xianghong, walked in. Seeing the smile on Xu Huixin's face, Su Xianghong's expression instantly darkened.
"Money's paid, hurry up and leave. You really don't know the cost of running a household until you're the one managing it! Who goes to the hospital for every little scrape? A handful of plant ash is good enough for anyone else! You're just being delicate! Staying here just two days and your heart's already grown wild. Look at how you were acting just now, what decent woman laughs so flirtatiously?" Su Xianghong's mouth ran a mile a minute, and not a single word that came out sounded human.
If Xu Huixin hadn't joined the chat group and was still being swept along by the plot, she would have long been anxiously apologizing to Su Xianghong. But the current Xu Huixin memorized every single word she said, waiting to pay her back.
Injured? No need for the hospital, just grab a handful of plant ash? Xu Huixin would certainly remember that.
She didn't respond. What's the use of a sharp tongue? If you can take action, don't waste your breath.
Right now, she couldn't afford to waste her breath.
Her current location was Shenyang. Before her rebirth, Xu Huixin had visited Shenyang once as a tourist. Back then, it was completely a city of steel, with skyscrapers standing shoulder to shoulder and roads that were wide and new.
What about Shenyang now? There were only a few streets, the tallest buildings were six stories—that was the department store. Buildings like the hospital had three floors, but being a provincial capital hospital, it covered a vast area.
Xu Huixin looked around. It was winter, and Shenyang, a northern city, had piles of unmelted snow heaped on both sides of the street.
Su Xianghong walked ahead with her hands tucked into her sleeves, completely disregarding whether Xu Huixin lived or died.
As she walked, Xu Huixin observed her surroundings. The icy air froze her heart, deepening her disgust for the entire Shen family to a new level.
Even though she slaved away for the Shen family, she hadn't lost her job at the textile mill. Her monthly salary was twenty-four yuan. In modern times, twenty-four yuan couldn't even buy a two-person meal from Wallace.
But in this era, used frugally, it was enough to support a family. Not to mention she had an urban residence permit, receiving various ration tickets every month. And yet? She had been forced to live like a pitiful wretch.
Her salary never even reached her hands; that old hag Su Xianghong went and collected it. The grain ration book wasn't in her possession either. Other formal workers at the textile mill dressed warmly and prettily. Only she wore clothes that Su Xianghong had cast off.
Xu Huixin couldn't help but vent in the group chat: [Stepmother Xu Huixin: I really can't figure out where the appeal is in this plot. I've read a few stepmother novels before, and none of them lived as constrained as I do! Those stepmothers, whether they became one sincerely or due to various circumstances, managed their men, raised the kids, and had some say at home. At the very least, they weren't beasts of burden like me!]
Lin Xi saw this and thought of the tragic drama written by a male screenwriter that Xiang Qianlan had traversed into. Then she said: [Earth Girl Lin Xi: Nowadays, as soon as a genre becomes popular, a whole bunch of people follow the trend to make money. Is there a possibility, just a possibility mind you, that the stepmother novel you traversed into was written by a male author? And one with stereotypes about women at that?]
That's right, that's right. I've read stepmother novels before too. Honestly, no matter how bad it got, none were as stinky as the one you're in. The only time I've seen a situation like yours is when the character is actually a cannon fodder, and the female lead is someone else.
[Era novel stepmother Xu Huixin: That's unlikely. From what I know, I am the genuine female lead. It's Shen Shuyu who keeps pining for his ex-wife.]
Earth Girl Lin Xi: Oh, I get it. This novel is quite a mixed bag, even incorporating elements of the white moonlight.
[The real daughter who was swapped at birth, Qin Suyuan: Not just that. Haven't you all noticed? Sister Qianlan's story has a lot of overlap with yours, Sister Huixin! It's not impossible that the author who wrote your novel was influenced after reading the story Sister Qianlan was in!]
Qin Suyuan was a college freshman. Freshmen these days, with time on their hands, loved browsing various websites. She had seen this kind of thing many times.
Earth Girl Linxi: It's a shame we can't verify that. Any novels or film and television dramas that have a time traveler joining our group, I can no longer find. Last time, I couldn't find that domineering CEO novel from Bingbing's side either.
[The stepmother Xu Huixin from the era: Then there's no way. What rotten luck.]
Xu Huixin kept a stony face, putting a coin in her pocket. It was quite strange. Others with such chat groups had them bound to their bodies, but the medium for her group was actually a one-fen coin.
She had even spotted this coin when she was pushed against the corner of a table.
Someone being swept along by the plot truly had no rights whatsoever. Even when she was pushed nearly to death, her first reaction upon seeing the coin was to pick it up, thinking one fen could buy the kids a few pieces of candy.
Thinking back on it now made her feel as sick as swallowing a fly.
The weather was too cold. In the brief moment she took the coin out, Xu Huixin's hands turned bright red from the cold. She tucked her hands into her pockets, planning to trade with Yao Xiran for a portable air conditioner once she got back to the Shen house. She heard from Xiang Qianlan that thing was really useful.
In weather of minus forty or fifty degrees Celsius, equipped with that, you could wear a short-sleeve shirt and not feel the cold. As a soul from the south, she had truly had enough of this frigid winter.
Lost in these thoughts, she arrived at the residential compound where the Shen family lived. In this era of scarcity, the benefits of the textile mill were quite good. These few residential buildings were completed the year before last.
Both Shen Shuyu and she were employees of the textile mill. Shen Shuyu's job as a transport worker was a rare talent in the factory, so they were allocated a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. Over seventy square meters in total.
For just a couple, such an apartment would be considered spacious. But the Shen family not only had three children, but also the old couple, Su Xianghong and her husband. Shen Shuyu's younger siblings also came over frequently for meals and to stay over.
So, it was crowded. Even the living room had two beds set up. Back when Shen Shuyu hadn't yet broken his leg and become a cripple, she was the one who slept in the living room.
Thinking of this, Xu Huixin backhanded herself across the face.
Hearing the noise, Su Xianghong turned to look at Xu Huixin. Her lips moved, but considering they were outside and for the sake of her son's face, she ultimately said nothing.
Their allocated apartment was on the second floor. Going up the stairs, they were met with a corridor just over a meter wide. Every household's doorway was piled with clutter, leaving only a passage wide enough for one person to pass through.
On either side of the corridor were two water rooms, where each household usually fetched their water. It was morning now, and every family was cooking breakfast, the aromas seeping through doors that were shut tight but still drafty.
Su Xianghong opened the door and entered the room, with Xu Huixin following closely behind. As soon as she stepped inside, her brow furrowed. She was an extremely neat person by nature, even a bit of a clean freak. She liked to keep her home spotless and tidy.
This trait hadn't changed after being swept up by the plot; in fact, it had become even more intense. Before her awakening, her home could be said to be the cleanest and most orderly in the entire residential compound.
But now? Upon entering the living room, the bed she usually slept on was not only piled with clothes and socks, but garbage was everywhere, leaving no place to step.
On the table sat bowls and chopsticks from who-knows-when, and with Xu Huixin's eyesight, she could even see the dried, crusty residue stuck inside the bowls.
Xu Huixin's face instantly darkened.
Su Xianghong frowned: "Aren't you going to clean up? I'm telling you, Xu Huixin, I'm tired and need to sleep first. When I come out later, I want to see a clean and tidy home, or else you just wait and see."
Su Xianghong issued her threat and then headed towards the master bedroom. Shen Shuyu was a foolishly filial man. After his father, Shen Mingqiang, said he was coming to live with them, Shen Shuyu had happily given them the master bedroom. He moved into the smaller bedroom himself, and the three children shared one room.
Xu Huixin had no intention of cleaning this place up. She tiptoed into the room, first went into the group chat to exchange for a dimensional storage space with Chu Qianmo. After Lin Xi transmitted it to her, she lifted the gauze on her forehead a little. It stung slightly, and she felt blood welling up. She immediately pressed the ring against it.
A flash of white light, and she now possessed the space.
She walked over to the wooden frame bed in the living room, crouched down, rummaged around, and pulled out her identity card and work certificate. Besides those, there was also the money she had painstakingly saved over three years.
It was laughable, really. After working for three years—her salary was 17.5 yuan the first year, and 24 yuan a month for the remaining two—her current savings amounted to only thirty yuan!
What was this called? Toiling hard for three years, only to return still a pauper!
Xu Huixin's face fell. This thirty yuan wasn't even saved for herself. According to the plot, her secret savings weren't just for the ungrateful stepchildren, but also to start a business and support Shen Shuyu, who had become increasingly despondent after losing his transport team job.
All while enduring the Shen family's daily oppression.
Xu Huixin was certain that in the field of poverty alleviation work, even the most dedicated cadres from the Poverty Alleviation Office in her past life weren't as devoted as she had been!
She headed to the smaller bedroom. As soon as she opened the door, an indescribable smell hit her nostrils. A one-and-a-half-meter bed was placed by the window, and a person lay on it. Sensing someone's arrival, his gaze turned towards her.
Upon seeing it was Xu Huixin, an expression of disgust immediately appeared on his face. He snarled viciously, "You bitch, you go out and don't know to come back! Is it because I'm crippled now, so you can't control your itch and have been fooling around outside?"
Xu Huixin closed the door with an expressionless face. She really couldn't understand why trash like this could be a male lead in this era.
She walked expressionlessly to Shen Shuyu's bedside, pulled out the urine pad he had tucked under himself from the head of the bed. Who knows how long it had been since this thing was washed. It reeked of urine.
She directly shoved it into Shen Shuyu's mouth, which was still open to spew more abuse, then used a belt to tie his hands together. Under Shen Shuyu's terrified gaze, she reached out and touched his injured leg.
She smiled: "Shen Shuyu, I've realized I gave you all too much face before, that's why you got so bold and stopped treating me like a person! But I understand now. I must have been blinded before, thinking I could build a good life with you."
"Since none of you treat me like a human being, then I don't need to treat you like one either."
Xu Huixin pressed down hard. Shen Shuyu was in so much pain his eyes rolled back, his screams muffled by the urine pad, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Xu Huixin loosened her grip slightly, then pressed down again.
Shen Shuyu passed out from the pain.
Xu Huixin waited a moment, then pressed again, jolting Shen Shuyu back to consciousness from the agony.
Shen Shuyu's leg injury was less than a month old. Xu Huixin's pressing directly caused his recently set leg bones to shift out of alignment.
If, in the book, Shen Shuyu later became a not-too-obvious lame man, now the degree of his lameness wouldn't be much different from someone with polio.
Xu Huixin smiled at him, turned, opened his cabinet, and took out the letters Shen Shuyu had been exchanging with a young woman from Suzhou in the south. One of them hadn't even been sent yet.
That's right. This male lead, Shen Shuyu, not only had a dead white moonlight in his heart, but also a soulmate who was sent down to the countryside in Suzhou.
Speaking of which, that soulmate was also an unlucky girl. Their acquaintance began with a hero-saving-beauty scenario. Shen Shuyu, on a delivery run to Suzhou, saved Luo Yan, who was being followed and about to be robbed by a ruffian as she got off the bus to visit home.
Shen Shuyu looked decent enough, and outside he claimed to be single. After successfully winning the young woman's heart, he exchanged letters with her daily, and on one subsequent delivery trip, he slept with her.
The girl, Luo Yan, was still waiting in Suzhou for Shen Shuyu to bring her back, and she was pregnant.
If she hadn't guessed wrong, the reason Shen Shuyu crashed his truck this time was precisely because Luo Yan wrote to say she was pregnant. Distracted, he didn't watch the road and crashed straight into the mountainside ahead.
Luo Yan, waiting in vain for Shen Shuyu's reply, went directly to a barefoot doctor for abortion medicine. The fetus was aborted, but her own body was damaged, leaving her unable to ever conceive again.
Xu Huixin took all of Shen Shuyu's secret savings, planning to first make a phone call to Luo Yan.
She was going to deliver a fatal blow to the Shen family.
In the 1970s, promiscuity + acting like a hooligan was enough to get Shen Shuyu sent down for reform through labor.
