“Mom, run! The old witch is coming! Your beloved baby is about to be killed!”

Lan Qingshuang, heavily pregnant with an eight-month belly, paused while pulling weeds and looked around in confusion.  

The surroundings were empty—only wild trees and their dilapidated thatched cottage. No child in sight.  

Lan Qingshuang chuckled to herself, struggling to straighten her back as she wiped the sweat from her cheeks with the back of her hand.  

With tender affection, she caressed her belly. Must be the baby coming soon—daydreams turning into illusions.

After drinking some water, she prepared to continue weeding.  

There was no work today, a rare chance to tend to their small plot of land. She had to hurry—once work resumed, there’d be no time again.  

The family’s year-round vegetables depended entirely on this patch of land. There was no room for laziness.  

Spring plowing had just ended. Other families’ vegetable seedlings were already an inch or two tall, while hers hadn’t even been sown yet.  

With only her two hands to manage everything inside and outside the house, she was stretched too thin.  

Now, with her advanced pregnancy, she could barely keep up.  

And her unreliable husband was no help at all.  

Thinking of him, Lan Qingshuang sighed helplessly.  

Putting down the water gourd, she returned to weeding.  

Inside her belly, Ye Fuman was so anxious her umbilical cord was nearly tied in knots.  

In her past life, it was on this very day that her mother’s former mother-in-law had brought the whole family to cause trouble.  

They accused her mother of embezzling her late ex-husband’s compensation money and demanded she hand it over.  

If she refused, they threatened to report her for adultery and bigamy.  

During the commotion, her mother had tripped, suffered a hemorrhage, and then—she was gone.  

A tiny life, dead before even leaving the womb. She had been furious.  

Her resentment lingered, keeping her by her mother’s side.  

She watched as her mother, unable to bear another child, lived in agony.  

She saw her biological father try to avenge her mother by confronting the ex-husband’s family—only to fail and lose his own life.  

Leaving her mother utterly alone, struggling through each miserable day.  

Perhaps, in some unfathomable way, her mother had sensed her presence.  

For the rest of her life, her mother performed good deeds, dedicating everything she had.  

On her deathbed, she prayed to the heavens for a chance at rebirth for her unborn daughter.  

Thanks to her mother’s plea, Ye Fuman was sent to the Heavenly Pond to work as a little fish, collecting blessings and auspicious energy for the celestial palace.  

A century later, her duty fulfilled, she returned to her mother’s womb for a second chance at life.  

But—Mom! Dearest mother! If you don’t run now, all your efforts will be wasted, and your precious baby will be gone again!

“Mom, the old hag is already in the village! Run! We’re out of time!”

Ye Fuman danced frantically in the womb, wishing she could burst out and drag her mother away.  

Their home was isolated, with few neighbors around.  

Her father wasn’t home either.  

The intruders were many—running was the only option.  

Lan Qingshuang groaned, clutching her belly, her expression shifting between shock and doubt.  

“Baby…?”

“Mom, it’s me! Your baby! Your precious darling! Please run, we really don’t have time!”

“Wahh… After finally getting a second chance, I don’t want to die again…”

Lan Qingshuang’s face turned deathly pale. Die?

Her baby would die?  

Why?  

And what did she mean by a second chance?  

Her chest ached, her mind blank, unsure how to react.  

Ye Fuman sensed the malicious presence closing in fast, flailing desperately.  

“Closer, closer—they’re almost at the door! Run, run! This is killing me!”

Lan Qingshuang clutched her belly, cold sweat dripping as pain shot through her.  

Hearing the chaotic footsteps storming into the front yard, panic set in.  

There was no time to think. She rushed through the back door into the kitchen.  

In her condition, running was impossible.  

Thinking fast, she lit the firewood.  

Their home stood on higher ground—maybe someone would see the flames and come to help.  

Before the fire could spread, the rickety gate was kicked open with a crash.  

Lan Qingshuang’s heart lurched. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the kitchen, quietly closing the door behind her.

When she saw who had arrived, her pupils constricted in shock.  

It was actually her ex-husband’s family. How had they found her here?  

“Well, well, you shameless whore really are here! Took me forever to track you down!”

The old woman leading the group was Wang Juying, Lan Qingshuang’s former mother-in-law.  

Gaunt, with sharp cheekbones and narrow, triangular eyes, she looked every bit the bitter, shrewish matriarch.  

When she spotted Lan Qingshuang, her eyebrows shot up, her face twisting into a vicious snarl.  

She gritted her teeth so hard it seemed she wanted to devour Lan Qingshuang alive.  

In the past, Lan Qingshuang hadn’t feared this old hag. But now, with a baby in her belly, she couldn’t afford to clash with her. Her expression was guarded.  

She forced herself to stay calm, keeping her voice steady. “Auntie Wang, what brings you here?” 

[The old witch is here for her dead son’s compensation money, Mom! Now that we can’t run, what do we do?!]

Ye Fuman was frantic, spinning wildly in the womb like a tiny tornado.  

Lan Qingshuang pressed a hand to her belly, her brow furrowing in discomfort. Little troublemaker, stop moving so much!

But her shock ran deeper.  

She really had heard her baby’s thoughts.  

No—wait—her baby was… different.  

No, no, she needed to focus on the immediate danger.  

Her mind was a whirlwind—too many things to process at once.  

But… compensation money?

She had been sold to the Zhou family at ten, becoming a child bride for the eldest Zhou son.  

Her memories before that were gone. All she remembered was her name—Lan Qingshuang.  

The eldest Zhou son wasn’t actually Wang Juying’s biological child.  

After years of failing to conceive, Wang Juying and her husband had adopted him.  

But within two years, they had their own son, and the adopted boy became unwanted.  

Rather than spend money on a proper bride for him, the Zhou family bought her for half a sack of sweet potatoes—saving on dowry while gaining an extra pair of laboring hands.  

The eldest Zhou son had been raised to be meek and obedient, enduring endless toil without complaint.  

She wasn’t like that. She’d work hard if it didn’t harm her, but she refused to be exploited.  

At sixteen, after Wang Juying forced her to consummate the marriage, she convinced the eldest Zhou son to split from the family.  

Wang Juying had tried every underhanded trick to break her, failing each time—and hating her for it.  

But even after separating, the eldest Zhou son remained the Zhou family’s beast of burden, never escaping their exploitation.  

Last year, he was forced to work on a road construction site, where he was crushed by falling rocks. The family received several hundred yuan in compensation.  

To keep all the money, the Zhou family used her childlessness as an excuse to drive her out.  

Not that they truly wanted her gone—they just wanted control.  

A woman with no family, no husband, would have no choice but to depend on her in-laws.  

If she had to rely on the Zhous to survive, she’d be forced to slave for them forever.  

But she was stubborn. And when the second Zhou son started eyeing her with disgusting intentions, she packed her things and fled that very night. No one would control her.  

With no destination and no referral letter, she wandered like a beggar until she reached Tong’an County.  

There, she met Ye Zhoushan, a local rogue with a reputation for unreliability.  

Yet despite his flaws, he treated her well.  

Fate kept throwing them together—every time she faced danger in Tong’an, it was Ye Zhoushan who helped her.  

After weighing her options, she married him and settled in Minsheng Brigade.  

Tong’an County was dozens of mountainous miles away from Zhoutong County, where the Zhou family lived. She couldn’t fathom how they’d tracked her down.  

And the compensation money? She hadn’t seen a single cent of it. Why were they coming after her now, over a year later?  

Wang Juying gnashed her teeth. “You little bitch, don’t play dumb with me!”  

“Hand over the money, nice and easy, or I’ll drag you to jail myself!”

Beside her, the second Zhou son’s gaze locked onto Lan Qingshuang’s belly, his expression dark.  

He tugged his mother’s sleeve. “Ma, look—the whore’s pregnant.”

Wang Juying froze, then stared at Lan Qingshuang’s swollen abdomen.