"Bang! Bang! Bang! I’m counting to three. If you don't open this door, you won't be eating today or tomorrow! Open it now!"
The aggressive pounding on the door, accompanied by foul-mouthed curses, was giving Shen Man a splitting headache.
"Shut up! For God's sake, be quiet!"
She instinctively grabbed something from beside her and threw it toward the source of the noise. As she opened her eyes, she realized she was in a strange, antiquated-looking small room.
The person on the other side of the door clearly hadn't expected her to fight back. After a few seconds of silence, they resumed drumming on the wooden door with heavy thuds.
"Hey! This money-losing brat actually dares to throw things and talk back? She’s really gone mad! Zhiyong! Kick the door down! I'm going to teach her a real lesson today!"
The door was kicked open moments later. As Shen Man caught sight of the intruder, memories flooded in, and she realized she had transmigrated into the year 1976, becoming the "foil" character in a period novel.
The protagonist was a darling of the whole family, blessed with twins in her first pregnancy. Meanwhile, Shen Man was destined to live as a widow in all but name, raising three sons for an older man only to be met with nothing but ingratitude.
The woman charging into the room with a face full of fury was her own mother, Yang Fangyun. A woman who valued sons over daughters, she had swindled Shen Man into giving her job to her younger brother and forced her to marry an impotent older man to serve as a stepmother to his three children. Now, she was even demanding the bride price money to give to her eldest son, completely disregarding how Shen Man was supposed to survive in her husband's home.
This scheme of selling her daughter was so despicable that she couldn't help but laugh.
"Laughing? You still have the nerve to laugh! I’m telling you to hand over the bride price for your own good! If your brother can't afford to get married, you won't even have a home to come back to! Give me the money, do you hear? Or you’ll regret it when your father gets back!"
Yang Fangyun, who had been busy lamenting the chipped enamel mug she had picked up from the floor, turned around to see Shen Man laughing. Fury boiled over, and she hurled the mug straight at Shen Man’s forehead.
Shen Man tilted her head to dodge, her eyes instantly turning cold.
"Don't talk to me about him coming back. Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, I wouldn't hand over this money. You’d better get that idea out of your head."
Perhaps because the original owner had never resisted with such resolve, Yang Fangyun felt her authority being challenged. She spat on the ground, took off her shoe, and gripped it in her hand.
"You dare talk back to me? You think just because you're engaged to a soldier, I can't deal with you? You rotten, heartless wretch! I’ll beat the conscience into you!"
Yang Fangyun was a typical foul-mouthed rural woman who hadn't shed her vulgar habits even after moving to the city.
Shen Man detested people who used foul language.
As the stinking cloth shoe swung toward her face, she raised her leg and delivered a swift, powerful kick to the woman's chest.
As a former national sanda champion, even in this new body, this expertly delivered strike was more than most people could handle. Yang Fangyun never imagined that the most obedient, useless daughter she had would ever kick her flying.
She stood stunned for a few seconds before collapsing to the floor, clutching her stomach and howling.
"Oh, my stomach! My heart, my liver, my kidneys! An unfilial brat is beating me! Have you no shame? Is there no justice? I don't want to live anymore!"
Shen Zhiyong had never imagined his dull, timid sister would be this aggressive, even going so far as to strike their own mother. He frowned, visibly angry.
"Shen Man, talk properly if you have something to say! Why are you hitting people? She’s your mother!"
Shen Man raised an eyebrow, dismissive. "So what? Even if the Jade Emperor himself tried to hit me, he’d still get this kick."
"..."
Shen Zhiyong was rendered speechless by her retort and could only help the winded Yang Fangyun out of the room. Before leaving, he didn't forget to issue a warning.
"Dad will be home soon. You’d better hand over the money and apologize to Mom."
Shen Man rolled her eyes.
*Laughable. Afraid? I’m only afraid that if I give him two punches, he’ll be so dazed he’ll have to kneel and beg me not to kill him.*
As for the few hundred yuan in bride price, she didn't want it. She had no interest in an impotent old man, and even less interest in being a stepmother to three kids. The original owner might have tolerated being a scapegoat, but she wouldn't.
With a plan in mind, Shen Man prepared to leave, but suddenly, a notification chime rang in her head.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have successfully bound to the Child-Rearing System. Starting now, completing child-rearing tasks will grant random rewards. Completing all tasks will yield the ultimate prize: one billion RMB! Task currently being issued—]
[Novice Task 1: Bind 1-5 children (Confirmation of mother-child relationship constitutes successful binding. Note: Cannot be unbound after success.) Reward for Novice Task 1: Portable Space!]
What? One billion? And a Portable Space?
Shen Man widened her eyes, and the half of her body that was already out the door retracted back inside.
*My goodness, are you testing me with this? What kind of official could withstand such a test? Every second of hesitation is a sign of disrespect toward money!*
Without a second of hesitation, Shen Man quickly recited the names of the three bratty kids from the book.
[Ding! Do you wish to bind a mother-child relationship with Huo Lin, Huo Zhi, and Huo Li? Once confirmed, it cannot be unbound. If the children die or deny the mother-child relationship before coming of age, the task will be considered failed and must be re-bound.]
"Confirm."
[Novice Task 1 complete. You have received the reward: Portable Space!]
The moment she received the space, Shen Man let out a whistle of excitement. She couldn't wait to test the properties of the space, but before she could play to her heart's content, a throng of people burst into the room.
"Shen Man! Are you trying to rebel? Come here and kneel down to apologize to your mother!"
Shen Jianye started unbuckling his belt the moment he stepped inside. He was an extreme male chauvinist who bullied his family while bowing and scraping to others. At home, he acted like a local emperor, specifically targeting Shen Man—whenever she disobeyed him even slightly, he would resort to violence.
And whenever she was being beaten, her two brothers would only look on and gloat, just as they were doing now.
Shen Man swept her gaze across these family members, who were worth less than dog excrement, and a playful idea popped into her mind.
She goaded them on purpose.
"I’m not wrong, and I won't apologize. If you have the guts, beat me to death or cripple me. I don't want to marry in place of Shen Ling anyway. If you break me, she can go marry him herself."
Shen Jianye tightened his grip on his belt, clearly dissatisfied with her sudden defiance; in his eyes, this was merely stubborn resistance.
"Nonsense! The marriage is settled, and the bride price has been sent to you. You want to back out now? I’m telling you, it’s not happening!"
He snapped the belt a few times, the sound crackling in the air.
Usually, the original owner would have cowered by now, but Shen Man held her head high, completely fearless.
"This marriage was originally Shen Ling’s arranged betrothal. If a betrothal can be changed, why can't this one, which was forced on me last minute? If you beat me, I’m not going. If you’ve got the guts, tie me to the train. I’d like to see how you explain it to the Public Security Bureau then."
It was a blatant threat.
Shen Jianye owed Shen Ling’s father a life, which was why the mother and daughter had been leveraging that favor for years to get his family's help. Shen Ling’s original fiancé had a very promising future, and the mother and daughter had boasted about it endlessly. But then, the fiancé had suffered a critical injury on the battlefield and taken it upon himself to adopt the three sons of a fallen comrade.
Shen Ling didn't want to marry into that life of a "widow" and become a stepmother, so she had demanded that Shen Jianye find a substitute or pay them five thousand yuan. Otherwise, they would cause a scene and make him lose his job.
Shen Jianye was currently a director at a toy factory and was due for a promotion to deputy factory manager in a couple of years. He couldn't afford a public scandal. And beyond that, his family didn't have five thousand yuan, and even if they did, giving it away for nothing was out of the question.
So, no matter what, Shen Man *had* to marry!
Considering the big picture, Shen Jianye suppressed his rage and put away his belt.
"Then tell me, what do you want?"
He was actually compromising?
Yang Fangyun and the other two who had been waiting for a show were left in disbelief. Shen Zhijun was particularly dissatisfied.
"Dad, why are you wasting so much breath on her? A woman just needs a good beating to be obedient. She has no right to negotiate with us men!"
Shen Zhijun was the original owner’s twin, but he was closer to Shen Zhiyong. He had inherited Shen Jianye's chauvinism and taken it to a new level.
Shen Man raised an eyebrow at his words.
"Fine. I don't have the right to negotiate with you? Then go find a job yourself. You’re too good for 'women's work' anyway, aren't you?"
The original owner had promised to turn over her job to her brother before the wedding, but the paperwork hadn't been processed yet. Since the papers weren't signed, she could back out whenever she liked.
Shen Zhijun hadn't expected Shen Man to renege on her promise, and he immediately regretted speaking up. But it was too late. Unable to do anything else, he turned his head and muttered unwillingly, "I didn't mean it like that..."
Shen Man pretended not to hear him and said loudly, "Huh? What did you say? You want to buy me three jin of meat buns and a plate of red-braised pork to apologize?"
She had made her meaning clear, and Shen Jianye was no longer in the dark.
His eyes filled with fire and his face turned black as a pot bottom, but he still reached into his pocket and slapped a ten-yuan bill onto Shen Zhijun’s chest.
"Go buy it!"
"But Dad, I don't—"
Before Shen Zhijun could react or argue, Shen Jianye kicked him.
"I told you to go! Why are you spouting so much nonsense!"