Lin Xiaoyu felt a sharp pain in her forehead, as though something had struck her head hard.

Her eyes snapped open, but her vision was blurry. A shrill, scolding voice echoed in her ears, seeming to come from afar yet piercing enough to make her eardrums ache.

“Li Xiulan loves to play the weakling. She couldn’t even bear a son, and now she’s making a fuss over some minor illness. She could’ve just rested at home, but no—she has to go waste money at a big hospital! Where do we even have that kind of money for her to squander?”

It was her grandmother, Sun Guihua, her voice sharp and harsh, like a knife stabbing straight into Lin Xiaoyu’s heart.

Instinctively, she raised her hand to touch her forehead. Her fingers came away warm and stained with bright red blood. She looked down at her hand, then around her.

The familiar earthen walls, the worn wooden table, the farming tools piled in the corner… Wasn’t this the main room of her old family home?

Lin Xiaoyu was stunned.

What… was going on?

Hadn’t she already been poisoned to death by her mother-in-law and husband with paraquat? After dying, she hadn’t gone to heaven or hell—instead, she had returned to her old home?

“Mom, Xiaoyu’s mother is really sick. The doctor said if she doesn’t get treatment now, it could develop into stomach cancer!” Her father’s voice was low and anxious, tinged with desperation. “Please, just lend me some money. Once she’s stable, I’ll go work in Yanjiang City and pay you back!”

Lin Xiaoyu felt dazed, the scene eerily familiar. Just as she was processing it, her grandmother scoffed scornfully. “Borrow money? How are you going to pay it back? Your wife only gave birth to three worthless girls, not a single son. Did you think I didn’t know you two are already drowning in debt just to put those three brats through school? Your older brother has a son to raise—where would we get extra money to lend you?”

Seeing her father standing nearby, Lin Xiaoyu froze.

Hadn’t her father already been beaten to death by her eldest cousin? Unless…?

She looked down, shocked at the sight of her own hands—slender and pale, without the calluses from years of labor. She instinctively touched her face, her skin smooth and tender, without the weariness and fatigue that had marked her later years.

Lin Xiaoyu swallowed dryly and pinched her arm hard.

The sharp pain that followed made her eyes widen in disbelief.

Had she… been reborn?

Reborn just as her mother’s illness was first discovered?

“Mom, Xiaoyu’s mother worked herself sick for this family!” Her father’s voice trembled with emotion. “She took on three jobs, scrimping and saving just to put the kids through school. Please, for all the years she’s slaved for this family, help her!”

“Help? How can I help?” Grandma sneered, her voice cutting. “Your older brother’s apple farm hasn’t made much money. Where would we get extra cash to lend you? Besides, your wife’s illness is a bottomless pit—any money lent to you would be thrown away!”

Lin Xiaoyu was born in a small town on the outskirts of the city. Her father, Lin Chenghai, was an honest and simple man, while her mother, Li Xiulan, was gentle and kind. In over a decade of marriage, they had only three daughters.

Lin Xiaoyu was the second child, with an older sister, Lin Xiaonan, and a younger sister, Lin Xiaoyan.

Although Li Xiulan was often looked down upon by her mother-in-law for not bearing a son, she never held a grudge. To provide for their three daughters’ education, the couple pushed themselves to their limits.

Lin Chenghai had little education and no specialized skills, so he could only work as a laborer, carrying bricks for construction sites. But in a small town with limited development, there weren’t many families building houses, and brick-carrying jobs were scarce.

Though physically frail, Li Xiulan was strong-willed. She never resented her three daughters—instead, she took pride in them. To support their education, she pinched every penny, even taking on three jobs at once.

They had struggled through until their eldest daughter finished her studies, and Lin Xiaoyu had also graduated and found a job in Yanjiang City.

Although their youngest daughter, Lin Xiaoyan, was still in her second year of high school, a better life seemed within reach. Just a few more years, and they could finally relax and enjoy their lives.

But fate had other plans. Due to years of overwork, Li Xiulan’s health had deteriorated badly.

The doctor said she needed a large sum of money for treatment, but all three of Li Xiulan’s jobs were temporary gigs with no social security benefits. The family simply couldn’t afford the high medical costs.

Though Lin Xiaoyu and her older sister had started working, their incomes were barely enough to support themselves. They had borrowed from every relative and friend they could, but it was like trying to put out a wildfire with a cup of water.

Their mother had worked her entire life to raise the three sisters—Lin Xiaoyu refused to give up on her.

A shudder ran through Lin Xiaoyu as it all came back to her.

In her past life, she and her father couldn’t scrape together the enormous surgery fees and had no choice but to return to their hometown to borrow money from her grandmother and uncle.

She remembered that day—her cousin, impatient with their pleas, had pushed her to the ground in a fit of anger, causing her to hit her head and bleed. Her grandmother had reacted exactly as she was now, mocking and belittling her father. Her uncle and aunt, though clearly well-off, coldly refused to lend them even a single cent.

Lin Xiaoyu didn’t know how she had been reborn.

All she knew was that no matter what, she couldn’t let the tragedies of her past life repeat themselves.

Lin Xiaoyu suddenly stood up, her voice clear and resolute. “My mother’s illness must be treated! I’ll find a way to get the money!”

Her unexpected declaration silenced the entire room. Everyone’s eyes turned to her.

Grandma was taken aback for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. “You? What can a little girl like you do? Sell yourself?”

Lin Xiaoyu’s fists clenched tighter, her nails digging into her palms.

In her past life, she and her father had exhausted every option but still couldn’t raise enough for her mother’s surgery. Her uncle’s family had watched their struggle with indifference.

Later, her aunt had “kindly” introduced her to a divorced man in his fifties with two sons, persuading her father to marry her off for the bride price.

Her father, who cherished her, naturally refused.

But her aunt didn’t give up. She then “helpfully” introduced Lin Xiaoyu to another man—Yang Mingyu, a former middle school classmate who was willing to pay 50,000 yuan in bride price to marry her.

Desperate to save her mother, Lin Xiaoyu agreed to the marriage despite having no feelings for Yang Mingyu.

But fate was cruel. She married, yet her mother still didn’t pull through.

What Lin Xiaoyu never expected was that after both her parents passed away, she would eventually be poisoned to death by her husband and mother-in-law, dying with nothing but regret and hatred.

The memory of her tragic death in her past life filled her with such rage that she wished she could track down her mother-in-law and Yang Mingyu and make them pay.

But thoughts of her mother forced her to suppress her anger. The most urgent task now was to find a way to treat her mother’s illness. Revenge could come later.

“It’s just 2 million—I’ll find a way to get it.” If she really couldn’t scrape together enough, she could always turn to online loans.

Lin Xiaoyu remembered that in her past life, she had just started working around this time, but she couldn’t recall how much she had saved.

She instinctively reached for her phone, about to check her savings.

But her father looked at her helplessly. “Sweetie, are you so worried you’ve lost your mind? 2 million is an astronomical amount! Your mother’s surgery only costs 200 yuan, not 2 million!”

How much?!

Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes widened. Had she misheard, or had her father been driven mad by Grandma’s taunts?

Two hundred yuan? Was that why they had begged relatives and friends, endured countless humiliations, and finally returned home only to be mocked by her grandmother?