"Auntie, wake up! The sun is already hitting your bottom."
Roused by the sweet, dainty voice, Sun Linglong opened her eyes and rubbed them.
The next second, she sat up with a jolt.
Wasn't she dead?
She had been thrown into the freezing lake by Wen Ruocheng and Ji Wenrou, struggling in agony until her final breath. As she died, her only regret was that she had no way to avenge her family.
"Auntie, what’s wrong? Isn't today the day the educated youth head to the countryside? Didn't you say you wanted to go take a look?"
Sun Linglong turned her gaze toward the little girl speaking.
Though the child was dressed in tattered linen rags and her small face was smudged with dirt, her smile remained pure and radiant. Because of hunger, her cheeks were sunken and she was so thin that she looked as if a gust of wind could blow her over.
Sun Linglong pulled the little girl into her arms, tears streaming down her face. She stroked the girl’s cheek, feeling the warmth of skin beneath her fingertips, her vision blurring as she wept.
"Auntie, don't cry."
The little girl wiped away Sun Linglong's tears, her face filled with concern."Wanwan, thank goodness you're alright."
After crying, Sun Linglong calmed down a great deal, but she still didn't let go of Sun Wanwan's hand, inspecting every inch of Sun Wanwan's skin as if she had just recovered a precious treasure.
Sun Linglong realized it then: she had been reborn.
In her past life, she had gone with her family to watch the educated youth arrive in the countryside, and at a single glance, she had taken a fancy to Wen Ruocheng, the tallest and most handsome among them.
After that, as if she were under some kind of spell, she ran errands and waited on Wen Ruocheng hand and foot.
Wen Ruocheng was an educated man who couldn't stomach hardship, so she had pleaded with her father to give him an easy, undemanding job.
And she would still go over to help out from time to time.
Wen Ruocheng had a five-year-old younger brother who, with no one at home to look after him, had been forced to bring him along to the countryside.
Out of her love for Wen Ruocheng, Sun Linglong extended her affection to Wen Yan, taking meticulous care of the boy and ensuring he never lacked for food or clothing.
Even Ji Wenrou, Wen Ruocheng's cousin and a fellow educated youth who had come down to the countryside, had reaped plenty of benefits.Sun Linglong had once believed that she and Wen Ruocheng would be wed, but when the college entrance exams were restored, the only thing she received was a denunciation letter.
Her father, the brigade leader of Taohua Village, was forcibly taken away, and when she saw him again, he was already a corpse. Her mother, devastated by the shock, passed away shortly thereafter.
Following these tragedies, her eldest brother, Sun Youcai, fell off a cliff and died while looking for work. Her second brother, Sun Youyong, had no other choice but to head to the Black Market, where he was caught and subsequently committed suicide under intense interrogation. Her sisters-in-law, driven mad by the loss of their husbands, lost their minds. As for her niece, Sun Wanwan, she was abducted and human-trafficked; she remained missing until the very day Sun Linglong died.
Thinking of this, Sun Linglong clenched her fists, hatred consuming her entire being. Ever since her family members had met their ends one after another, she had been tracking the mastermind behind that anonymous letter. When all signs pointed to Wen Ruocheng, she wished she could end her own life.
It was she who had killed her whole family! It was all her fault!
She had purchased poison, intending to kill the adulterous pair, but the merchant happened to be an old acquaintance of Wen Ruocheng and promptly tipped him off. Before Sun Linglong could make her move, Wen Ruocheng drugged her and, in collusion with Ji Wenrou, threw her into the pond.
Her body felt powerless, and she was forced to let the pond water fill her nose and mouth. Her body grew heavier and heavier. Before she sank completely, she swore viciously that even as a ghost, she would never let them go!
Unexpectedly, fate had mercy on her after all, allowing her to be reborn. In this life, Sun Linglong would take revenge for herself and her family from the previous life!
"Auntie, what's wrong?"
Startled by the expression on Sun Linglong’s face, Sun Wanwan hunched her shoulders, looking uneasy.Sun Linglong quickly composed herself to comfort Sun Wanwan, her lowered head concealing the resentment in her eyes.
As in her previous life, she went to the entrance of Taohua Village to welcome the new educated youth. She wanted to see how Wen Ruocheng would endure the hardships of rural life this time without her care.
She led Sun Wanwan by the hand to the village entrance, where two or three elderly women in their seventies or eighties were chatting while watching toddlers. The able-bodied villagers were all out in the fields earning work points; Sun Linglong was the only exception. Because her parents doted on her, and her two older brothers were completely devoted to their sister, she was well-protected. Her sisters-in-law, who had married into the family when Sun Linglong was not yet ten, had watched her grow up and loved her dearly. Consequently, the whole family could not bear to make her work in the fields.
Sun Linglong was now known as the "flower" of the village, with fair, supple skin, which naturally sparked gossip. Usually, with her parents and sisters-in-law shielding her, she didn't hear much of the talk.
"Oh, look who decided to come out—the captain's daughter."
"Look at that skin, so white. Her family really spoils her, wasting so many good things on a mere girl. What a waste."
"I heard she's a lazy girl who doesn't even do as much as a five-year-old at home. Who would ever want to marry her?"
Sun Wanwan’s small face crumpled. "What are you all babbling about? My aunt is beautiful and gentle. Who in this village is even good enough for her?"
A wave of warmth flooded Sun Linglong’s heart. Her family, who had always defended her, had been destroyed because of her in her previous life. She was a sinner.
Sun Linglong pulled herself together and turned to face the gossiping women.
"My, you sound awfully bitter. Is your jealousy of good things making you sick?"
"As for whether someone is lazy or not—you seem quite industrious yourselves, busy wagging your tongues all day. How tiring that must be. But if you're so concerned about other people's business, have you finished all your own? If you have so much free time, you'd be better off minding your own affairs instead of making a spectacle of yourselves here."
Living a second life, Sun Linglong was no longer the type to let others walk all over her.
"You!!"
Like a victorious general, Sun Linglong took Sun Wanwan’s hand and continued toward the village entrance.
From afar, she caught sight of the figure she had missed so desperately. Her eyes grew hot, and tears threatened to spill. She blinked rapidly, forcing them back.
"Dad!"
Sun Dawei turned around. Seeing his beloved daughter, he frowned. "Why did you come out? The sun is strong—don't get a sunburn."
Sun Linglong playfully tugged at Sun Dawei’s sleeve. "Dad, Wanwan and I heard the educated youth were arriving, so we wanted to come and see."
She cherished this moment, taking a deep breath to press her hatred deep into her heart.
Sun Dawei gave her a strange look. "Go stand in the shade, it's too hot here."
Sun Linglong refused, choosing instead to stand right next to him, her gaze fixed on him with burning intensity. She missed her family so much.
"They're here! They're here!"
An ox cart carrying two men, two women, and one child slowly approached. The most eye-catching person on the cart was Wen Ruocheng.
The hatred in Sun Linglong’s heart exploded instantly. Her hands clenched into fists, and she stared fixedly at Wen Ruocheng, her loathing impossible to hide.
Wen Ruocheng seemed to sense the intense gaze and looked over. For a moment, he was dazzled by Sun Linglong’s delicate and pretty appearance. He had not expected to find a woman of such beauty in this poor, desolate place.