Chapter 1: Learning the Truth, Rebirth

Gu Qiangwei lay on the hospital bed. Years of hard work had aged her prematurely—though she was only forty, she looked more like a woman in her fifties or sixties.

The doctor said that after so many years of staying up late and working herself to the bone to earn money, her body had completely given out. She was now in the late stages of liver cancer and only had a few days left.

After the diagnosis, the mother-in-law she had cared for all these years suddenly changed her attitude.

Once upon a time, she had been young and beautiful, marrying their son at the age of twenty.

On their wedding night, her husband and his elder brother went to the front lines. Not long after, news came that her husband had died in battle. She became a widow.

She was a traditional woman, and once she had chosen her husband, she never considered remarriage. Having lost her own parents, she treated her in-laws as her own, working tirelessly for the family. As long as she could manage it, she never let the old couple lift a finger.

But once her illness was confirmed, their attitude shifted drastically. They who once claimed to love her like their own daughter now told her that treating the disease would be too expensive. It was late-stage anyway, they said—better to save the money and just wait to die.

Now that she could no longer work or bring in money, they spoke to her with nothing but coldness and sarcasm.

So this is what people are really like—some hearts, no matter how much warmth you give them, never warm up in return.

Just then, a delivery boy walked in.

“Excuse me, are you Ms. Gu Qiangwei? There’s a letter for you.”

Gu Qiangwei was puzzled. Who would write to her at a time like this?

She signed for the letter and opened it. The handwriting was graceful and neat, unmistakably her own name written on the envelope. Her hands began to tremble as she read:

Dear Ms. Gu Qiangwei,

Thank you for all the years you’ve devoted to caring for my husband’s parents. I heard you’ve been diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer and that your life is nearing its end. I wasn’t going to tell you the truth at first, but my conscience wouldn’t let me rest, so I’ve decided to write this letter before you die.

I am Qin Zhirou, the legal wife of your husband, Lu Zhoushan. Twenty years ago, you and Lu Zhoushan held a wedding ceremony but never officially registered your marriage. Soon after, he and his older brother went to war. In fact, Lu Zhoushan survived that war while his older brother died. He assumed his brother’s identity and remained in the army, where he met and fell in love with me. We got married and have a son and a daughter.

At first, I didn’t know he had already been married. He didn’t tell me until after we had our children. By then, we were already a family. I knew he had done wrong, but I had to protect my family, so I kept quiet.

He rarely mentioned you over the years, until recently when he told me you’d been diagnosed with cancer and could no longer care for his parents. He planned to bring them to the capital, and that’s when I finally learned it was you who had been supporting them all this time and had ruined your health in the process.

I’m truly sorry. I’m selfish. I didn’t tell you the truth when I first found out, afraid you’d expose us and destroy my family. But I’ve always felt guilty. Now that your time is almost up, I couldn’t let you leave this world without knowing the truth. So I wrote you this letter.

I hope you’ll find peace in your next life and live a happy one.

—Qin Zhirou

Gu Qiangwei’s hands were shaking violently as she held the letter.

So that’s what it was… So this is how it all really was!

Lu Zhoushan! You’ve deceived me so cruelly!

While I worked like a mule in the countryside taking care of your parents, you went off and married someone else!

No wonder Lu Qingming “miraculously” survived the war but never came home all these years. He only ever sent small sums of money from time to time. Now I know—it was because he couldn’t face me!

The more she thought about the years she spent tirelessly caring for those old people, the more painful it became.

That woman—what was her name again?

Oh!

Qin Zhirou!

You send a letter at this moment—just to help me die in peace? Or were you gloating, trying to kill me with heartbreak?

Gu Qiangwei’s lips curled bitterly.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She should march right over to wherever that scumbag Lu Zhoushan was staying and kill him, make sure his whole family knew no peace!

But she couldn’t.

She had no strength left.

Lu Zhoushan and Qin Zhirou had played her like a fiddle.

When she was the one slaving away for the old couple, they couldn’t even be bothered to visit. At most, they mailed back some pitiful amount of money.

She had worked endlessly, trying to give her in-laws a better life. And as life got better, the couple no longer cared about Lu Qingming’s small remittances. Eventually, they even told her:

“Have Lu Qingming stop sending money. We’re doing just fine.”

Back then, Gu Qiangwei had felt bad for the “older brother” who had kept sending money for so many years. She even wrote a letter asking them not to borrow anymore; she would take care of the parents herself.

Who could’ve guessed that the man they talked about—the “older brother”—was her own husband!

It might’ve all been part of the old couple’s scheme. Maybe they told her that on purpose, so she’d take on the burden willingly.

Though Qin Zhirou had been deceived at the beginning, she had still accepted the care of the elderly couple as rightfully hers. That was supposed to be Lu Zhoushan’s responsibility.

But instead of paying to support his parents, he saved that money for his “real” family.

All those years of sacrifice—she had been nothing more than a pawn.

Ha!

Thinking about it now, everything suddenly made sense.

No wonder the old couple sometimes asked for money to “go out for a few days.” She had naively thought they were just going out for fun.

Now she knew—they were probably going to see Lu Zhoushan, Qin Zhirou, and their two kids.

Recalling all her past foolishness, a burning heat surged in Gu Qiangwei’s chest. The next second, a mouthful of blood gushed from her lips.

Her head spun, and she collapsed.

In that fleeting moment before she hit the floor, her entire life flashed before her eyes like a reel of film.

She heard the beeping of machines and the sound of footsteps.

Nurses were shouting her name…

She didn’t know how long had passed before she opened her eyes again.

Was she dead?

She looked up at the familiar ceiling and rubbed her eyes. She stared for a long time before she fully processed what she was seeing.

Wasn’t she just in the hospital?

Didn’t she cough up blood and hear all kinds of noise around her?

Wasn’t she in the final stage of cancer?

How was she suddenly here again?

Gu Qiangwei glanced around. The room looked just like it used to.

Wait a minute!

Before she died, she had already bought a new house and even redecorated it in a modern style.

But this room? It looked like when she had just married Lu Zhoushan—there was a red thermos by the bed, and a half-peeled “double happiness” character still on the wall.

She suddenly jumped out of bed and looked at the calendar.

1980!

This was twenty years ago!

Had she been reborn?

The thought filled her with overwhelming joy.

At the moment of death, she had wished so desperately that time could turn back—that she would never end up with that bastard Lu Zhoushan again.

Even if she had married him, she would find a way to leave.

Had Heaven heard her prayer?

Was this really a second chance?

She focused her thoughts and recalled everything.

Her husband had just gone off on a mission—it had been two months since.

Based on her memories from her past life, within a week, news of her husband’s death would arrive.

Back then, her in-laws had wept as if their world had collapsed.

But not long after, they suddenly seemed to have “moved on.”

She had thought it was because they were mentally strong and knew they had to rely on each other from then on.

But now she realized—it was because they knew the one who had died wasn’t their favorite son.

The eldest, Lu Qingming, meant nothing to them.

The younger, Lu Zhoushan, was their precious baby.

Before the mission, she had sat with her husband and his elder brother while the old couple gave them instructions to be careful on the battlefield.

That part hadn’t seemed odd at the time.

But at the very end, the old couple had told Lu Qingming, “If things get dangerous out there, make sure to protect your younger brother.”

Even as Lu Zhoushan’s wife, she had found it strange.

War wasn’t predictable—how could one brother guarantee the other’s safety?

But the old couple had casually brushed it off, saying that Lu Qingming had always protected his younger brother.

She hadn’t thought much of it then.

Now it was all clear.

They were prepared to let the older son die so the younger one could live.

In her past life, they had used her like a free laborer.

Before she died, she was the one who cared for them.

After her death, their beloved son and his “real” wife would take over—and only for a few years, not the decades she had given.

The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

“Qiangwei, why are you still here?”

Gu Qiangwei was lost in thought when her mother-in-law, Wang Shufen, walked in.

“Hm?” Qiangwei lazily looked up. “What is it?”

Wang Shufen frowned. “The house hasn’t been cleaned, and it’s almost time to cook. Why are you still resting?”

“I’m not feeling well,” Qiangwei said. “You cook today, Mom.”

Wang Shufen looked displeased but, seeing how pale Qiangwei looked, she could only purse her lips and mutter, “Fine, I’ll cook. Your father-in-law doesn’t like my cooking, though—make sure you cook this afternoon.”

With that, she left the room.

Gu Qiangwei sat on the bed and took a deep breath.

She was fuming again.

In her last life, when she got her cancer diagnosis, Wang Shufen and Lu Haihua had immediately said, “Don’t treat it, it’s a waste of money.”

They had known the truth all along—otherwise, how could they have done what they did?

They knew.

But they never told her.

Because to them, she was nothing but free labor.