Chapter 2

Li Chunhua, heart aching, hugged her daughter tightly and scolded Jiang Ci, “You shameless thing, I gave birth to you and raised you!”

Smack!

Jiang Ci interrupted Li Chunhua with a slap. She pointed at Jiang Fei and said, “Stop pretending to be pitiful in front of me. Why don’t you tell your mother what despicable things you’ve done to me?”

Li Chunhua was stunned for a few seconds by the slap. Then she snapped back, “You dare hit me?”

Jiang Ci gave her another slap. “Damn right I hit you!”

Jiang Fei, guilty and afraid to speak, quickly clung to Li Chunhua and cried out, “Mom, Jiang Ci’s gone mad! Call the police and have her arrested!”

Seeing Jiang Fei still trying to play innocent, Jiang Ci grabbed a knitting needle from a vase and jabbed it at Jiang Fei’s mouth. “Not talking, huh? I’ll poke so many holes in your mouth it’ll look like a sieve.”

“Ahhh!” Jiang Fei cried miserably and begged, “Stop, I’ll talk, I’ll talk! I… I asked Director Sun to…” She trailed off, not daring to continue.

Jiang Ci jabbed her mouth again, even harder.

“Ahhh! I asked Director Sun to ruin Jiang Ci… Ah! But it’s not my fault. The director said he liked Jiang Ci and wanted to invite her fishing by the lake,” Jiang Fei said, her eyes darting around.

“Still lying!” Jiang Ci gritted her teeth. “You told me you wanted fresh corn and asked me to buy some from the outskirts. You even arranged a car for me! Who knew you and that director had plotted together to defile me? Jiang Fei, what the hell were you thinking?”

Li Chunhua turned pale upon hearing this. What kind of stupid thing had Jiang Fei done? Jiang Ci might not be perfect, but at least she married a soldier. Her in-laws were a deputy director at a meat factory and a minister in the Light Industry Department. Even though they lived in Rongcheng, they sent her meat coupons and all sorts of food supplies every month. And that soldier husband of hers sent his entire salary home without fail. Their family life had improved a lot thanks to Jiang Ci; otherwise, Li Chunhua wouldn’t have forced her to stay in her natal home.

She slapped Jiang Fei angrily. “You brainless fool! How could you do such a thing!”

Jiang Fei sobbed, “Mom, I was wrong!”

Li Chunhua looked at Jiang Ci. “Look, your sister knows she was wrong. You already hit her—let it go.”

“Apologize!” Jiang Ci demanded forcefully.

Jiang Fei, terrified, lowered her voice and muttered, “I’m sorry.”

Li Chunhua said, “Jiang Fei, you can never do something this stupid again.”

Jiang Fei nodded quickly but still gave Jiang Ci a resentful glare.

Jiang Ci noticed the defiance and raised the knife again.

Li Chunhua quickly tried to play peacemaker, pushing Jiang Ci into a room. “Stop yelling. Duoduo is still sleeping. Don’t wake the child—it’ll be hard to calm her down.”

The Jiang family’s house was small. Two rooms: one for Li Chunhua and Jiang Weimin, the other divided into two parts—Jiang Yaozu in one, the original Jiang Ci and her child squeezed into the other with Jiang Fei. Jiang Ci’s husband had been assigned an apartment during his service—small, but enough for her. Her in-laws had even suggested she go to Rongcheng to rest during her pregnancy.

But Li Chunhua had patted her chest and guaranteed her son-in-law that she’d take good care of the pregnant Jiang Ci. Jiang Ci, soft-hearted, stayed at her natal home.

Little did she know, Li Chunhua was living the good life off her husband’s salary and even took all the food her in-laws sent. Jiang Ci had to eat leftovers.

But Jiang Ci wasn’t having any of that anymore—they’d never take advantage of her again.

The baby in the bed slept soundly, with long lashes and chubby cheeks, adorably peaceful. Hearing the noise, she stirred and began to wail.

In her past life, Jiang Ci had been in love but had never been a mother. Suddenly becoming one now without the pain of childbirth left her feeling helpless.

Li Chunhua picked up the child and tried to soothe her. Then she told Jiang Ci, “The baby’s hungry. Feed her.”

Jiang Ci stretched out her hands but pulled back. Feed her? Could she say she had a platonic relationship and had only ever held hands? And now she had to breastfeed? Thunderstruck, Jiang Ci felt overwhelmed.

But the baby cried louder and louder. Li Chunhua urged, “You’ve been gone half a day. The baby’s starving. Hurry up.”

Jiang Ci braced herself and took the child, then unbuttoned her clothes. Her face flushed red—was there any more awkward transmigration than this? Not only did she end up with awful people, but now she had to breastfeed?

She’d rather die.

Fortunately, someone spoke outside, and Li Chunhua left the room.

Only then did Jiang Ci fully expose her chest and, clumsily, began to feed the baby. The moment the baby latched on, the crying stopped, and she drank eagerly, visibly satisfied.

Though Jiang Ci blushed from embarrassment, watching the baby wave her tiny arms, her rosy mouth and big black eyes so full of life, maternal instinct took over. The awkwardness faded.

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“Auntie, are you cooking pig trotters again?” Li Xiaoling bounced over with her schoolbag.

Li Xiaoling was fifteen, a year older than Jiang Yaozu, and just started high school. She had been coming over often for meals lately, usually with her mom, Zhou Aimei. Zhou Aimei worked at the supply store selling candy. She and Li Chunhua used to be enemies, but ever since Jiang Ci got married, Zhou Aimei had been freeloading meals every few days.

Jiang Yaozu followed behind, looking unhappy. “Mom, is dinner ready? I’m starving.”

Li Chunhua, seeing her son upset, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Aimei answered, “Some punks at school bullied him. Luckily I got there in time, or he’d have been beaten up.”

Li Chunhua checked him over, worried he was hurt.

Zhou Aimei noticed Jiang Fei sulking in the corner. “What happened to her?”

That question made it worse—once someone showed concern, Jiang Fei cried even harder. “Jiang Ci hit me.”

“What? That badly?” Zhou Aimei saw the red needle marks all over Jiang Fei’s face and was shocked. “Jiang Ci, that soft pushover, hit you? It doesn’t look like you’re lying.” She pressed for details. “No matter what happened, you shouldn’t hit someone like this. She’s almost disfigured—how will she ever get married?”

Hearing that, Jiang Fei’s tears flowed faster. “Auntie, it hurts.”

“I know, sweetie.” Zhou Aimei comforted her, then turned to Jiang Ci in the inner room. “Jiang Ci, how could you beat your sister like this? You can’t be so cruel to your own family.”

Jiang Ci had just finished feeding the baby. She put the child down and came out, snapping, “Who do you think you are, to judge me?”

“Bitten by a mad dog, have you?” Zhou Aimei snapped. Jiang Ci used to be submissive—now she dared talk back?

“You bit me,” Jiang Ci retorted.

Zhou Aimei widened her eyes. “You married a soldier and now you think you’re something? No respect for your elders—I’m your aunt!”

Just then, Li Chunhua came in carrying a pot of pig trotters. “The trotters are ready. Xiaoling, go get some bowls.”

Xiaoling answered cheerfully and was about to go when Jiang Ci shouted, “Stop!”

Everyone in the room stared at Jiang Ci, shocked. Especially Li Chunhua, who snapped, “I tolerated you hitting your sister. Now what nonsense are you making?”

Jiang Ci replied, “You lot eat meat at every meal with my money and then insult me. How shameless can you be?”

Zhou Yaozu defended, “It’s brother-in-law’s money!”

Jiang Ci knew arguing with these leeches was useless. She grabbed the pot of pig trotters, opened the door, and dumped it out the window.