Chapter 2

Just after Qiao Xiazhi finished printing the list and put the printer back into her space, a woman’s voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

“Dear, Xiazhi hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for three days now. What are we going to do? Maybe… maybe if it really doesn’t work, let Daguo take her into the city. Once she sees Comrade Zhao with that girl, she’ll probably give up and come back to her senses.”

As the woman finished speaking, another elderly voice followed.

“No matter what, we have to get some food into her first. She can’t just keep starving herself like this.” It was clearly her grandmother’s voice.

Qiao Dashan, Xiazhi’s father, thought for a moment and said, “Fang Mei, you take the food in and check on her. If she’s still not doing well… then let Daguo take her to the city.”

Fang Mei nodded, took out the key, and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, she was startled to see her daughter standing right there. “Child, why are you just standing here without saying anything? Are you hungry? I made your favorite—braised pork over rice. After you finish eating…”

“After you finish eating, let your brother go to the brigade in the afternoon to get you a letter of introduction. Tomorrow, he’ll accompany you to the city.” Fang Mei’s voice was choked, her eyes turning red.

A grown daughter can’t be kept at home, she thought. She only hoped that this trip would finally make her give up and return to live a good, peaceful life.

Qiao Xiazhi swallowed hard at the sight of the braised pork over rice and reached out to take the bowl. “Okay.”

Seeing her daughter willing to eat, Fang Mei couldn’t hold back her tears anymore—they streamed down her cheeks.

“Silly child, if anything happens to you because you’re starving yourself out of anger, what are we supposed to do?” Grandma Zhu Shizhen said with a heart full of pain.

Qiao Xiazhi nodded as she ate in big bites, “Mm.”

“Alright then, Xiazhi. Your big brother will go get that letter of introduction in a bit. You pack up and bring a couple of changes of clothes. We’ll go into the city tomorrow,” said Qiao Daguo.

“Mm.”

Having just transmigrated, Qiao Xiazhi still didn’t know how to interact with such a big family. Other than “Mm” and “Okay,” she didn’t know what else to say.

She’d just have to slowly get used to it.

Luckily, this whole family seemed kind, especially toward the original Xiazhi.

Once they saw that Qiao Xiazhi was eating well, the family felt relieved. Apart from Fang Mei and Qiao Dashan who stayed, the rest went off to eat.

They had to hurry and head to work after lunch.

Qiao Xiazhi quickly finished a big bowl of rice, handed the bowl back to her mother, and said, “I’m done.”

Fang Mei took the bowl, opened her mouth to say something but ended up saying nothing. Instead, she reached out and gently fixed Qiao Xiazhi’s braids before turning away, wiping her tears as she left.

Qiao Dashan looked at his daughter, unsure what to say, and eventually just gave simple instructions: “Alright, go rest. Once the letter is ready, your brother will come let you know.”

Qiao Xiazhi replied simply again, “Mm.”

Seeing that his daughter didn’t want to talk, Qiao Dashan also turned to go eat.

Qiao Xiazhi looked at her family sitting under the jujube tree in the courtyard eating together. The scene was unbelievably warm.

Qiao Xiazhi, oh Qiao Xiazhi, she thought. You didn’t know how good you had it. With such a loving family, you were willing to go to such lengths for a scumbag man, dragging your whole family through the mess. No wonder you ended up the way you did in the original story.

Turning around, she shut the door.

Just then, Qiao Dongzhi happened to glance her way and saw her slam the door shut.

She wasn’t surprised. Her second sister had always been like this. Even though the family treated her incredibly well, she always acted so high and mighty.

Sigh—

She lowered her head and continued eating.

Inside, Qiao Xiazhi locked the door, pulled out a notebook and pen from the cabinet, and began copying the list she had printed earlier.

Of course, she wasn’t copying it word for word—many of the cases hadn’t even happened yet. If she handed it out as-is, that would raise too many questions.

And in this time period, there was no such thing as a printer.

Handwritten notes would be more believable.

She carefully wrote down the cases that had already happened according to the current timeline. For those that were about to happen, she created a separate list.

This way, she could hopefully help save victims who were about to be tricked or sold.

After lunch, just as the Qiao family was getting ready to return to work, Qiao Daguo came to knock on her door.

“Xiazhi, I’m heading to the fields now. I’ll go get that introduction letter afterward. You just wait here at home, okay?”

From inside, Qiao Xiazhi replied, “Okay.”

Seeing his sister still wasn’t very talkative, Qiao Daguo was about to leave when he turned back and said, “Are you bored staying at home alone? Want to go to the fields to catch some river snails? I’ll ask Mom to cook your favorite spicy snails for dinner.”

Knowing exactly what her brother was worried about, Qiao Xiazhi said, “Don’t worry, big brother. Since everyone agreed to let me go to the city, I won’t do anything stupid. Go ahead and do your work.”

Qiao Daguo hesitated, then said, “Alright then… I’ll go to work now.” He was almost nervous hearing her speak so much after days of silence.

Qiao Qiping spoke up calmly: “No need to worry. She hasn’t done anything extreme these past few days, and she won’t now. This afternoon, don’t bother locking the door. Let her walk around if she wants.”

“Alright, we won’t lock it then,” said Qiao Dashan, nodding at Fang Mei. Then he called into the room, “Xiazhi, we won’t lock the door this afternoon. If you get bored, come out and walk around.”

“Okay, got it.”

After waiting a while and confirming no one was outside, Qiao Xiazhi finally got up, gently opened the door, and stepped into the courtyard.

It was quiet. Not a soul in sight.

She stretched and moved her limbs. After days of lying in bed without eating or speaking, her body had started to stiffen.

Getting some fresh air felt good.

Creaaaak—

The courtyard gate opened gently, and the next moment their eyes met.

Qiao Xiazhi froze in place, embarrassed.

Chen Li, who had just stepped in with one foot, was equally surprised.

Chen Li was Qiao Daguo’s wife. They’d just gotten married earlier that year.

She already had some understanding of what kind of person Qiao Xiazhi was.

A few days ago, Xiazhi had made a huge fuss over a man, causing an uproar throughout the brigade. She’d threatened her own life and ended up being locked in by the family.

Although no one in the family dared upset this sister-in-law now, Chen Li wasn’t going to indulge her. Taking advantage of the quiet moment, she said coldly:

“Grandma asked me to bring these back for you.”

“To be honest, if I were you, I’d be too ashamed to show my face. Think about it—has this family ever treated you badly? Didn’t they always save the best for you? And have you ever shown even a bit of gratitude? What other girl in the whole brigade has a life like yours? And yet, have you ever been content?”

“All this chaos just for a man who isn’t even worth it. Grandma and Grandpa are old and still worry about you all the time, can’t eat or sleep, and have to work in the fields during the day.”

“And that’s not all—Mom keeps making your favorite dishes every day, just to coax you out. She’s scared you’ll do something foolish. You know what kind of conditions our family lives in.”

“In the past two years, how much have you done for that heartless man? Being used, humiliated, and still clinging to him like a fool. You’re not just embarrassing yourself—you’re dragging the whole family down.”

“Now the whole brigade knows about you. Tomorrow you’ll finally get to see your beloved Comrade in the city. Are you thrilled? Proud? Is this what you wanted?”

Chen Li poured the wild raspberries into a water scoop, shook off the debris from her straw hat, and was about to leave.

Qiao Xiazhi was still a little dazed from the lecture, but thinking back to what the original version of herself had done, she realized this was actually a very restrained scolding.

If she had a sister like that, she might’ve beaten her to death.

This sister-in-law wasn’t bad at all.

“You’re not worried I’ll be so upset by your words that I’ll try to kill myself?” Qiao Xiazhi asked coldly on purpose.

Chen Li wasn’t intimidated. Instead, she stopped, sneered, and said:

“If you really had the guts to do that, and it was because of what I said, then fine—I’ll repay your family with my own life.”

“After all, your big brother saved my life once. If losing you means peace for the rest of the family, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad trade.”

BANG—CLANG—

The courtyard gate slammed shut. Qiao Xiazhi stood in place… and burst out laughing.

She walked to the stone table under the jujube tree and cleaned the raspberries Chen Li had brought.

But this time, she didn’t eat them all herself.

She split them in half, placed some in a clean bowl, and left them in the kitchen cupboard.

Then she returned to her room with her share, snacking on them happily while planning her next moves.

Meanwhile, Chen Li, although outwardly firm, felt uneasy. She had said what she said, but if Xiazhi really did something to herself, she’d still feel guilty. That was a life after all.

Midway, she made an excuse to come back to use the toilet, and quietly walked to Xiazhi’s door to listen.

Inside, Qiao Xiazhi called out with a laugh, “Don’t worry, sis-in-law. I’m going to the city tomorrow. I’m not dumb enough to do something crazy now.”

Outside, Chen Li jumped in surprise. “I-I’m just here to use the toilet. I was just passing by.”

Qiao Xiazhi didn’t call her out—but she received the message.

Her sister-in-law really did care.