"Wake up! Why are you sleeping here? Hurry back, there’s good news at home!"
Du Chunzhi opened her eyes in a daze. She was lying on a haystack, and someone was shaking her shoulders so hard it made her head ache. When her vision cleared, she realized the person in front of her was Song Zhenqing—the ungrateful wretch she had birthed from her own womb!
Du Chunzhi raised her hand and slapped him across the face with a crisp crack. Song Zhenqing clutched his cheek, his eyes widening in shock. "You hit me?"
"Hit you? I'll beat you to death!"
Du Chunzhi scrambled up to hit him again, but Song Zhenqing grabbed her wrists in a panic. "Have you gone mad? I’m going to tell Grandmother! I’ll have her skin you alive for this!"
He dragged her along as he walked. "I’ll settle the score with you later. There are distinguished guests at home right now, so be smart and do whatever Father tells you to."
A chill ran through Du Chunzhi's heart. She yanked her arm away and looked around. She was standing on the edge of the fields in Songjia Village, surrounded by the crops she tended and the haystack she had built. The Song Zhenqing before her was still only sixteen or seventeen years old; he hadn't yet married that woman’s daughter.
Song Zhenqing had mentioned distinguished guests.
Heaven has eyes! She had returned—returned to the very day she was sold!
Du Chunzhi took a deep breath. The so-called "distinguished guest" was none other than Mammy Tian, the head servant of Master Wang, a wealthy landowner from the neighboring county. Because a relative had gifted the Wang family a puppet made by a craftsman from the Capital, the twin sisters in the household had fought over it until they were inconsolable.
Master Wang had been searching everywhere for a skilled puppet maker, and hearing that the wife of Song Yao from Songjia Village was talented, he had sent someone over. The Wang family had originally planned to just buy a few toys to keep the young misses from bickering, but they never expected the Song family to offer to sell the woman herself!
Du Chunzhi was hardworking, possessed excellent needlework skills, and knew a family-secret technique for making puppets. Since her asking price was dirt cheap, why wouldn't the Wang family agree? Poor Du Chunzhi, illiterate at the time, had foolishly pressed her thumbprint onto the contract.
Her days in the Wang family felt like years. She counted the days until she could return home, only to be told she had signed a perpetual contract. Later, she was sold and resold, passed from one master to another.
In her innocence, she had blamed the cruelty of the Wang family, never suspecting the schemes of her own husband and son. More than a decade later, when she finally begged her master for the mercy to return home, she discovered that Song Yao had long since remarried.
Facing the woman they had swindled, that father-son pair, Song Yao and Song Zhenqing, showed not a hint of remorse.
"Yinniang and I are truly in love. If we hadn't sold you back then, how would there have been room for me to marry her? Be content; you’ve lived a good life all these years."
"Though you gave birth to me, you are vulgar and unrefined. You aren't even worth a finger of my mother!"
While she had been reduced to the status of a low-born slave, the Song family had lived in luxury, enjoying their "mother-son" piety. Overcome with rage and grief, Du Chunzhi had fallen ill and died of pure indignation.
Perhaps Heaven had heard her desperation and returned her to Songjia Village. The contract hadn't been signed yet; she was still a free citizen!
Du Chunzhi snatched up a piece of firewood from the side of the road and brought it down hard on Song Zhenqing's head.
After enduring several blows, Song Zhenqing roared in fury, "You've lost your mind! Father and Grandmother won't let you get away with this!"
Du Chunzhi didn't care what he said; she just made sure to enjoy the beating. Thinking of the tough battle ahead, she did her best to steady her nerves, brushed the dust off her hands, and plastered an expression of concern on her face. "Oh, my son, what is wrong with Mother? I must have been half-asleep and mistook you for a villain. My boy, are you hurt?"
Song Zhenqing, livid, turned and stormed off to complain.
Du Chunzhi followed at a leisurely pace and pushed open the door to their home. The courtyard was clean, with chickens and ducks roaming about. A small yellow dog ran over happily, wagging its tail behind her.
This was the place that had trapped her for over a decade.
She had married at sixteen. Song Yao claimed to be a scholar; he never worked the fields or did a lick of manual labor, spending his days holding a book and acting like a lord.
Du Chunzhi had managed everything, dealing with a lazy mother-in-law and sister-in-law, while every cent she earned went toward her husband’s imperial examinations.
Her husband’s family looked down on her for being an illiterate country bumpkin, and after her son was weaned, they wouldn't even let her get close to him. Song Yao and Old Mother Song had doted on Song Zhenqing to the point of ruining him, raising him to be arrogant and, in particular, to despise his own mother.
In her previous life, she had been starved and beaten in the Wang household, her monthly wages confiscated by Song Yao. They had drained her of her blood and sweat, all while loathing her simplicity and mocking her ignorance.
Well, this time, you will pay back everything you owed me in both lifetimes!
Du Chunzhi entered the house, where people were already waiting in the main hall. Just like in her previous life, Old Mother Song was dressed in new dark blue clothes, her face beaming with joy. Song Yao wore a pine-green scholar's robe, holding a folding fan and affecting a cultured air.
Song Zhenqing stood behind them, his face swollen, teeth gritted. "Father, she hit me."
Song Yao glared at his precious son, and Song Zhenqing immediately fell silent. Song Yao waved his fan and smiled. "Didn't I tell you? Your mother was just muddled from her nap. Chunzhi, come and greet our guest."
Du Chunzhi offered a small bow. Mammy Tian of the Wang family nodded. "She looks like she knows her place, but manners don't put food on the table. The Wang family is here for her craft; I must see what she can make first."
Song Yao gave a signal, and Song Zhenqing hurried to his room to fetch a puppet. It was a rabbit figure Du Chunzhi had made. The stitches were fine and the craftsmanship exquisite; it looked almost alive.
The mere sight of the thing made Du Chunzhi’s blood boil. The Du family’s ancestral craft, wasted on this ungrateful wretch as a toy!
Mammy Tian was very satisfied. For once, Song Zhenqing offered some praise. "This is what I played with as a child. My mother is skilled; you won't find another like her in the whole county."
Mammy Tian nodded and pulled out a contract. "Then let's not delay. Press your print here."
Song Yao looked at the document and coughed twice. "Chunzhi, here is the situation. Your husband intends to take the examinations, but the household... we are truly stretched thin..."
Old Mother Song curled her lip and interjected, "Don't bother negotiating with her. She’s clumsy and slow, but her needlework is passable. The Wang family likes her, so what is there to be dissatisfied about? Master Wang is kind-hearted and doesn't mind keeping an idle mouth like you. This is such a great opportunity—hurry up and thank them!"
In her previous life, this was when Du Chunzhi had offered a thousand thanks and pressed her thumbprint to the paper. But now, she didn't move, looking coldly at the bunch of idiots before her.
Song Yao awkwardly waved his fan and asked again, "Chunzhi, are you willing to go to the Wang family to work for two years to resolve our family's difficulties?"
Du Chunzhi pointed to the puppet in the Mammy’s hand. "Is this what you want me to make?"
"Yes!" Mammy Tian’s face bloomed into a smile. "It’s no worse than what one can buy in the Capital."
"That isn't my true skill. Let me make a new one for you, Mammy."
Not her work? What kind of trouble was the Song family trying to stir?
Mammy Tian looked furious, but Song Yao quickly smoothed things over. "This rabbit was made by Chunzhi over a decade ago. She must think it’s too old-fashioned and wants to sew a better one for you."
Mammy Tian agreed. Du Chunzhi retrieved her sewing basket and found some fabric scraps.
"Oh, this needs cotton stuffing, but we don't have any on hand."
Old Mother Song immediately chimed in, "I'll go borrow some!"
"You'll need to go to Song Ergen’s place at the village entrance; he has cotton."
As soon as the old woman left, Du Chunzhi added, "The white thread isn't enough, either."
Song Yao signaled his son. "Go and borrow some thread quickly."
"This isn't ordinary thread; it needs to be very tough. There is a Zhao Jinfeng in Zhao Village; she has plenty, she might have some."
Zhao Village? That was too far...
Song Zhenqing had no choice but to head out. As soon as he left, Du Chunzhi added, "Oh, the patterned fabric is also lacking."
Song Yao was so frustrated he nearly choked. Couldn't she have said everything at once?
With all the Songs sent away, Du Chunzhi ignored Mammy Tian, cut the cloth, and began to sew. Mammy Tian sat idly, cleared her throat, and asked, "You're just sewing it with plain white cloth?"
"Yes."
"Will it look good?"
"It’s a bit plain, but there is beauty in simplicity."
"It still needs to wear clothes, right?"
Du Chunzhi smiled. "What’s the rush? Or would you rather do it yourself?"
Mammy Tian’s breath hitched, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Du Chunzhi worked with lightning speed. Mammy Tian couldn't take her eyes off her, feeling as though the woman’s hands were moving in a blur.
Of the three who had been sent away, Song Yao was the first to return. As soon as he stepped through the door, he saw Du Chunzhi drop her needle on the table. "It's done!"
Song Yao was panting for breath. It was done so quickly? Then why did she send them on such errands? Was she doing it on purpose?
Du Chunzhi handed the puppet to Mammy Tian and smiled. "Mammy, give this to your mistress. If there is anyone she dislikes, she can just stick that person’s birth date onto this, and she’ll have a voodoo doll to curse them with!"