Chapter 1: Rebirth

The sky was a breathtaking blue, a rare treat of perfect weather.

On the branches of a tree outside the window, a few birds chirped merrily, singing their songs.

Inside the ward, an elderly woman lay in bed, her face etched with wrinkles and her complexion pale and withered. An IV drip was attached to her arm, and she stared out the window, her eyes like two dry wells, devoid of light, incapable of reflecting a single ripple.

After a long time, she slowly closed her eyes, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. In this life, she had endured much: the loss of her child, divorce, betrayal by friends, being framed and imprisoned, and finally, an incurable disease that confined her to this bed, slowly waiting for death.

The ward door creaked open, and a woman in a qipao, radiating elegance, walked in.

She went straight to the bedside, looking down at the elderly woman with a mixture of mockery and disdain. Despite their shared age, she remained vibrant and alluring, like a woman in her thirties, while the other, like an octogenarian, lay there awaiting her end.

“Ling Yao, are you not resentful?”

Ling Yao opened her eyes, fixing her gaze on the woman in front of her, her eyes filled with intense hatred. Her current state was entirely due to this woman, Zhou Yu, a veritable demon, more venomous than any snake.

“What good is resentment? Your wealth is now mine, and the man you loved is mine too. You are nothing but a waste, a stepping stone for me. You will never be able to defeat me, hahaha…”

Zhou Yu laughed and leaned closer to Ling Yao, “Let me tell you a secret. Your mother, I poisoned her.”

“I’ll kill you…” Ling Yao quietly pulled out the needle from the back of her hand, her bloodshot eyes flashing with a crazed hatred.

Zhou Yu scoffed, “You couldn’t defeat me in your youth, and you certainly can’t now.”

“One day… you will get what’s coming to you…”

Zhou Yu sneered, “Retribution? I don’t believe in such things. I only believe in myself.” As long as she was ruthless enough, her methods cunning, who could possibly stop her?

After all, she was now not only the CEO of Zhou Corporation, one of the world’s top 500 companies, but her husband was also a military commander. Who would dare touch her?

“Sss!” A sharp pain shot through her hand.

Zhou Yu looked down and saw that Ling Yao had pricked her with the needle, leaving a bloody mark.

“You dare prick me with a needle!” Zhou Yu, enraged and panicked, grabbed Ling Yao by the throat, her teeth clicking together as if she wanted to crush her.

Ling Yao looked at Zhou Yu with a cold smile, “The needle has my blood on it… you will soon be infected by me…”

“Ling Yao, you’re going to die!” Zhou Yu tightened her grip on Ling Yao’s throat, her face contorted with fury. In that moment, she was like a wild beast gone mad.

Ling Yao felt as if she were falling into a dark abyss, the air around her heavy and thin, as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on her, making it impossible to breathe.

Her heartbeat became abnormally loud, like a drum relentlessly pounding, heralding her impending death…

She stared at Zhou Yu with wide eyes, her body convulsing. Slowly, her vision faded to black…

The next moment, Ling Yao suddenly felt her breathing become easier. She opened her eyes with suspicion, and everything she saw was both strange and familiar. Wasn’t this the room I lived in as a child?

Before marrying Gu Qingan, she had always lived in Hongqi Village with her mother. Her mother was a barefoot doctor, the only one in the village.

As for her father, she didn’t know. Whenever she asked her mother about him, her mother’s eyes would turn red. Later, as she grew older and more understanding, she stopped asking.

However, she heard from villagers that her father was an educated youth who returned to the city and never contacted them again.

“Knock knock!” The sound of knocking interrupted Ling Yao’s thoughts.

The door slowly creaked open, and a middle-aged woman with a weary and weathered face walked in, carrying a bowl of steaming medicine.

Seeing the woman, Ling Yao’s eyes instantly turned red, “Mom!” She hadn’t seen her mother in a very long time, and she missed her dearly. Could this all be a hallucination after her death? Otherwise, how could her mother be standing before her, alive and well?

She pinched her thigh hard, the pain almost making her cry out. Her tears flowed even more fiercely, her eyes fixed on the approaching figure. She could feel the pain, could this all be real? Had she been reborn, returned to a time when her mother was still alive?

“Yaoyao, come, drink your medicine.” Ling Xuemei brought the medicine to Ling Yao, her heart aching at the sight of her daughter’s tears. “Is your wound hurting again? Let Mom take a look.”

Placing the medicine bowl on a nearby stool, Ling Xuemei sat down on the edge of the bed, about to lift the blanket to check Ling Yao’s wound, but Ling Yao hugged her tightly.

“Mom! I miss you so much!” Ling Yao held Ling Xuemei tightly, savoring the familiar warmth of her mother’s embrace. In this life, she would protect her mother well, never letting Zhou Yu hurt her again.

Ling Xuemei gently patted Ling Yao’s back, a kind smile spreading across her face, “You’re so grown up, yet you still act like a child.”

“Mom! Let’s never be separated again, okay?” Ling Yao looked up at Ling Xuemei. It was so good, she hadn’t gotten married yet, hadn’t met Zhou Yu, and her mother hadn’t died from illness. Everything could still be changed. In this life, she would make those who had hurt her pay.

“Silly child! You’ll get married one day, are you going to take your mother with you when you do?” Ling Xuemei lovingly poked Ling Yao’s forehead.

“I will take you with me. If they don’t agree, I won’t marry.”

Ling Xuemei couldn’t help but laugh. She reached out and took the medicine bowl, “Come, drink your medicine first.”

“Okay.” Ling Yao smiled and took the bowl, tilting her head back and swallowing the medicine in one gulp.

Ling Xuemei looked at Ling Yao in surprise, “Yaoyao, don’t you find it bitter?” Her daughter hated taking medicine, always frowning and grimacing. So, every time she had to take medicine, she would prepare a piece of candied fruit or a fruit drop to coax her into taking it.

Ling Yao shook her head with a smile, “It’s not bitter at all.” Compared to the bitterness she had endured in her previous life, this was nothing.

Ling Xuemei took a fruit drop from her pocket, unwrapped it, and put it in Ling Yao’s mouth, “Don’t be shy with Mom, eat your candy and then get some rest.”

“Okay.” Ling Yao replied obediently, her mouth filled with sweetness, a taste of happiness.