"Lu Jinse! Have you lost your mind?!"
Her mother-in-law, Gu Xiulan, let out a shrill scream and lunged forward, giving Lu Jinse a shove. Lu Jinse hit the edge of the bed, bruising her waist, a flicker of pain crossing her face.
*That wretched old hag!*
"This is my room! Who gave you permission to come in? He deserved that hit!" she retorted, glaring at them.
"Shameless!" Gu Xiulan pointed an angry finger at her. "Is this your house? You aren't even married yet! Even if you were, if I want to go somewhere, I go! Do I need your permission?" She stood there with the air of a shrew in the middle of a street brawl.
Xu Yueshan stood frozen, staring at Lu Jinse in disbelief. This woman, who was usually so obedient and attentive to his every need, actually dared to hit him? Still, seeing Lu Jinse clutching her waist with a pained expression, he walked over to help her.
Lu Jinse dodged him. "I don't need your help. Stay away from me—take your filthy hands off!"
Xu Yueshan frowned, his face tight with anger. "Jinse, that's enough of this madness!"
Huang Yushuang hurried over, looking at Xu Yueshan with concern. "Does your face hurt?"
"I'm fine," Xu Yueshan said, offering her a smile before turning a stern, cold face back toward Lu Jinse. "Jinse, are you possessed today? We came here to resolve a problem. Don't you know Xiaoyue is in the hospital because of you?"
*What? Xiaoyue? Hospital?*
*Oh.* Lu Jinse remembered.
Once, when the Xu family was playing by the river, Xiaoyue had spotted the bright green jade bracelet on her wrist and started crying, demanding it and reaching out with his little hands to grab it. Not only did he snatch the bracelet, but the momentum caused the child to tumble headfirst into the river. The family panicked, throwing the riverbank into complete chaos. In the end, it was she who jumped into the water to save Xiaoyue.
It was early spring, March or April, and the water was bone-chillingly cold, made worse by the biting wind. Lu Jinse had been shivering violently, clutching the bracelet she had fished out of the water while Xiaoyue screamed at the top of his lungs. His sharp, piercing wails had startled a flock of sparrows in the trees, sending them scattering into the air.
The family had huddled around the boy, fussing over him. Xu Yueshan had taken off his coat to wrap around the child, keeping him warm; nobody cared about her condition. They took a cab to the hospital, while Lu Jinse took the bus home, bathed in hot water, and crawled into bed. She finally stopped feeling cold and fell asleep.
These three troublemakers had returned from the hospital, and the moment they walked in, her mother-in-law, Gu Xiulan, had started in with her cold, biting remarks. Xu Yueshan had acted like a mute mule, saying nothing, while Huang Yushuang played the mediator, trying to stir the pot...
*Sigh.* Even in death, there was no peace.
Lu Jinse reached up to touch her temple, and suddenly realized her skin felt smooth and supple, as delicate as flower petals. It lacked the chapped, calloused texture of her hands, which had been worn down by years of housework. Her heart jolted. This wasn't a dream—she had been reborn! No wonder it felt so real.
An overwhelming sense of hatred surged within her. Looking at the three people before her, her perspective had shifted entirely. They were heartless, vicious, and deceitful—nothing but a nest of snakes and rats. The bitter memories of the last thirty years came rushing back like a thousand wild beasts trampling the earth. Xu Yueshan’s ruthless betrayal, Gu Xiulan’s selfishness and cunning, Huang Yushuang’s shameless scheming and hypocrisy, and Yuan Xiaoyue—a greedy vampire and parasite, the product of rotten roots!
*All this garbage.* Lu Jinse clenched her fists. Suddenly, she glanced at the calendar on the wall: March 28, 1976. Her fists slowly relaxed. *Good.* She had been reborn before marrying Xu Yueshan. This time, she could stop the losses before they mounted.
Lu Jinse felt the dull ache in her waist fade. She sat back on the edge of the bed, knitting her brows. "What does Xiaoyue being in the hospital have to do with me? Can't the three of you take care of him? I just got out of the river and was resting in my room. What are you all shouting about? I’m feeling unwell and very annoyed, do you understand?"
Gu Xiulan started prancing about like a shrew. "Lu Jinse! You really know how to hide your true colors, don't you? I thought you had such a good temper and such good upbringing! You throw a tantrum and hit a man over such a trivial thing!" Because she was so angry, a lock of her hair, which usually looked licked down by a calf, came loose and hung limply over her forehead like a hideous cow’s tail.
Lu Jinse scoffed. "Even mud has a bit of grit, let alone a person. You come into my room and start screaming insults, and you expect me to greet you with a smile? A slap is getting off lightly."
Gu Xiulan’s bravado wavered. "What insults? I’ve been talking perfectly reasonably."
"I may be blind to your true nature, but I’m not deaf," Lu Jinse retorted.
Gu Xiulan’s eyes flickered. "The whole family is burning with anxiety, and you have the nerve to sleep in? Hand over the money. Xiaoyue needs two hundred yuan for the hospital." As she spoke, her chin, with a patch of leathery skin on her neck, tilted toward the ceiling.
*Oh? So it was about money after all?*
Lu Jinse looked at Gu Xiulan, her gaze distant. In her previous life, she must have been blinded by love. Otherwise, how could she have ever perceived this revolting, sharp-tongued woman as kind and sensible? It had been a monumental misunderstanding.
Gu Xiulan urged impatiently, "Are you stupid? Hurry up and get the money! We’re waiting to go back to the hospital!"
"That is truly hilarious," Lu Jinse said, a sneer curling her lips. "Auntie, am I a bank? Or a money-printing machine? Why are you asking me for money for Xiaoyue’s hospital bill?"
"Jinse? How can you say that?" Gu Xiulan glared. "Every debt has a debtor. You’re the one who pushed Xiaoyue into the river. If you don't pay, who will?"
Lu Jinse looked at her with disdain. "Which eye saw me push him? You’re old, but I hope you’re not blind."
Her tone was as blunt as her character. In her past life, Lu Jinse had hidden her true self, concealing her sharp edges and using patience, concession, and a "broad mind" to accommodate everything. That was because she loved Xu Yueshan and, by extension, had been gentle with his family. But in this life, she would not love them, and she would not endure them. If she had anger, she would let it out. She would never bottle it up again—that was the only way to keep the cruel grasp of illness away from her!
Before Gu Xiulan could react, Xu Yueshan’s face darkened, and he rebuked her. "Lu Jinse, is that how you talk to my mother?"
Lu Jinse shifted her gaze to him. "How do you want me to talk? Should I admit to things I didn't do? Xiaoyue fell into the river because he was trying to snatch my bracelet. I didn't even hold his lack of manners against him, and I went out of my way to save him. Nobody thanked me, and now you want me to pay for his medical expenses?"
In her previous life, Lu Jinse hadn't just admitted that Xiaoyue fell because of her; she had swallowed her pride and handed over two hundred yuan to Huang Yushuang just to keep the peace. She had been suffocated by the injustice of it all!
"Hey! Jinse, is your conscience warped?" Gu Xiulan barked. "Who covets your cheap bracelet? And don't talk to me about manners—you’re the one without manners for bickering with a five-year-old child! You saw how cute and clever Xiaoyue was and you got jealous! You wanted to kill him! You only jumped into the water to save him because you saw other people watching—you were just putting on a show!"
Every word she spoke was more stinging than the last. Lu Jinse bit back, "Auntie, is my conscience warped, or is your mouth crooked?"
She ignored Xu Yueshan’s look of shock. "Why would I be jealous of a five-year-old? The water was freezing—I jumped in to save him just to put on a show? His own mother was there—why didn't *she* put on a show? You were there too—why didn't you? And Xu Yueshan! You all just stood there like idiots, waiting for the Dragon King of the East Sea to come and save him?"
Her words hit them all.
"Lu Jinse!" Xu Yueshan hissed in a low voice, "Have you lost your mind?!"
Lu Jinse raised an eyebrow. "I haven't lost my mind. I’m stating facts!"
Gu Xiulan tried to defend herself, fuming, "None of us know how to swim! How were we supposed to save the child? You wanted us to lose another person? Only you know how to swim!"
"Ha," Lu Jinse said, her eyes filled with nothing but contempt. "Can't swim? That’s a convenient excuse. Auntie, every time you see water, your legs cramp up, don't they? Remember last time you fell into the sewer? You were so scared you peed yourself, didn't you?"
A flush of angry red crept up Gu Xiulan’s face. "Lu Jinse! How dare you talk to me like that! I am your mother-in-law!"
Lu Jinse replied with biting sarcasm, "You aren't my mother-in-law yet, Auntie Gu."
"You!" Gu Xiulan was so furious she couldn't find the words.
Seeing this, Huang Yushuang hurried over, grabbed Gu Xiulan’s hand, and comforted her softly, "Auntie, please don't be angry. If you make yourself sick, how could I ever forgive myself? Let’s just talk this through."
Lu Jinse’s face blossomed into a sweet, flowery smile. "That’s right, Auntie. Please don't be angry. If you get sick, how will you ever repay Huang Yushuang for her mountain-sized debt of gratitude for 'saving' you?"
*She’d better not be paralyzed yet—it’s too early for that.*
"Hmph!" Gu Xiulan swallowed her rage and said stiffly, "Young people are ignorant! I won't lower myself to your level. Stop with the useless talk and give us the money. We still have to get to the hospital."
"I don't have any money." Lu Jinse turned her gaze to Xu Yueshan. "Didn't you just get your paycheck? Take that to pay for Xiaoyue’s treatment."
Gu Xiulan cut in again, "Why should Yueshan pay? You caused this consequence, so you should take responsibility! Wasn't Xiaoyue falling into the river caused by your bracelet?"
Lu Jinse’s mouth curved upward, her smile as breezy as a spring day. Fighting wasn't about winning or losing; the goal was to make them miserable. "Auntie, why aren't you saying 'we’re all family' anymore? Fine, since you want to draw such clear lines, pay me back the one hundred yuan in living expenses I’ve covered over the last half-month."
She had been in the Xu household for less than a month, and she had already shelled out over a hundred yuan.