Chapter 1: You Actually Dare to Hit Your Mother-in-Law

“Mom! Wake up! Please wake up!”

“Granny, I beg you! Please get a doctor to save my mom!”

“Bah! Just opening your filthy mouth and asking for a doctor—do you think doctors come for free? That wretch dared to steal a steamed bun. She’s lucky I didn’t beat her to death!”

Several voices rang out in Jiang Jiuyue’s ears, so noisy it made her head ache.

She suddenly opened her eyes and was finally able to speak.

“Shut up. You’re so damn noisy.”

As soon as she said that, a little girl threw herself into her arms.

“Mom! You’re awake! That’s great!”

Jiang Jiuyue instinctively pushed her away and looked around cautiously.

She was sure she had died at the hands of the Zombie King—so why had she woken up here?

She glanced at the people around her—three little girls, no older than eight or nine, crying with snot and tears running down their faces, calling her “Mom.”

Across from her stood an old woman, probably in her fifties or sixties, holding a broom and looking vicious—clearly not someone kind.

“Hmph! Talking about getting a doctor—didn’t she just wake up? I say she was faking it! Get up and get to work now! Or none of you will eat tomorrow!”

The old woman cursed at Jiang Jiuyue with her hands on her hips. When Jiang Jiuyue glared back at her, it only made the woman angrier.

“How dare you look at me like that? You slut! I’ll beat you to death!”

As she spoke, the old woman charged forward, raising the broom to strike Jiang Jiuyue.

Jiang Jiuyue tried to block it, but the three little girls suddenly threw themselves in front of her, taking several hard blows meant for her.

The old woman struck viciously, making the girls cry out in pain—but none of them moved away.

Jiang Jiuyue wanted to push them aside, but a sharp pain in her forehead froze her in place.

In that brief instant, a flood of memories poured into her mind.

She had indeed been reincarnated—now in the body of a pitiful peasant woman.

The original owner of the body was also named Jiang Jiuyue. She had married the third son of the Liang family ten years ago, and after giving birth to three daughters, she was thoroughly despised by the Liang family. She held the lowest status in the household, and they didn’t even treat her like a human being.

The entire Liang family treated the original Jiang Jiuyue like a slave—ordering her around, insulting her, and even mistreating her daughters. If she hadn’t fought desperately to protect them, the mother-in-law, Du Jinhua, might’ve killed them long ago.

In fact, she had once been pregnant with a fourth child, but even during pregnancy the Liang family forced her to work, and the child was lost as a result.

This time, Du Jinhua beat her so severely because her daughters were starving. The original Jiang Jiuyue, unable to bear seeing them hungry, had hidden a steamed bun during cooking to feed them—but was unfortunately caught.

While shielding her daughters from Du Jinhua’s blows, she was shoved hard, hitting her head on the wall and dying instantly.

Now with those memories, Jiang Jiuyue sneered coldly. This kind of “family”? The original might have tolerated them—but she would not!

After finally escaping the apocalypse, she had a second chance at life. She would cherish it—and live on in the original’s place.

As for the Liang family? She would make them pay back every bit of what they owed!

Jiang Jiuyue pushed aside the three girls and stood up, grabbed the broom from Du Jinhua’s hands, and threw it aside—then picked Du Jinhua up and slammed her hard to the ground.

“You damn bitch! You dare lay hands on me? I’ll tear you apart today!”

Du Jinhua was still physically tough. Though slammed to the floor, she wasn’t badly hurt, and she quickly got back up to fight Jiang Jiuyue.

Although Jiang Jiuyue had just woken up and her body was still weak, her powers were intact—more than enough to deal with an old hag like this.

Since the woman wouldn’t back down, then fine—she’d “play” with her properly.

Jiang Jiuyue grabbed both of Du Jinhua’s arms and, with a twist of strength, dislocated them right on the spot.

Du Jinhua let out a pig-slaughtering scream from the sudden pain, her shrill cries stabbing into Jiang Jiuyue’s ears.

“You like screaming, huh? I’ll give you something to scream about.”

Without mercy, Jiang Jiuyue grabbed Du Jinhua’s jaw and dislocated it as well. Then, she took off one of her socks and shoved it straight into Du Jinhua’s mouth.

“So damn noisy. If I hear another wail out of you, I’ll cut your tongue out.”

With that, she kicked Du Jinhua to the ground and pulled the three daughters—still frozen in shock—into the kitchen.

The eldest daughter, Liang Zhao’er, began sobbing as soon as they entered.

“Mom, what do we do? You hit Grandma—they won’t let us go. We’re going to get beaten to death!”

Liang Zhao’er was shaking from head to toe. The deep-rooted fear of the Liang family overwhelmed her completely.

The second daughter, Liang Pan’er, was also scared, but her personality was clearly more fierce and fiery than her elder sister’s.

“So what if we fight back? Just do like Mom did just now! Even if they beat us to death, it’s better than how we’re living now!”

Liang Zhao’er choked out between sobs, “But I don’t want to die… I’m scared…”

The youngest, Liang Gai’er, couldn’t help crying too. She was the smallest, and what had just happened had frightened her badly.

Jiang Jiuyue patted Liang Zhao’er’s head. “Don’t be scared. I’ll protect you all. For now, don’t think too much—let’s make something to eat. I’m starving.”

Liang Zhao’er panicked. “We can’t, Mom! If Grandma finds out you touched the food, she’ll beat you to death!”

Jiang Jiuyue sneered and pointed to Du Jinhua, who was lying on the ground unable to even crawl. “She’s gonna beat me to death?”

Liang Zhao’er looked at Du Jinhua and was momentarily speechless.

“Alright, come help. Let’s get this meal ready. If we don’t, I really will starve to death!”

Even during the apocalypse, Jiang Jiuyue had never felt this kind of overwhelming hunger—as if she’d drop dead the next second if she didn’t eat.

Liang Pan’er responded first. Eat? Then eat! They’d already beaten up their grandmother—at this point, even if they died for it, better to die with a full belly!

Jiang Jiuyue was famished. With no time for anything fancy, she just cooked a pot of porridge.

One look at this body and she could tell it had endured chronic hunger. If she suddenly ate too much, it could kill her—porridge was the safest option: filling, but gentle.

As soon as the porridge finished cooking and Jiang Jiuyue reached for the bowls, they heard two women scream from the courtyard.

Judging by the voices, it was her two sisters-in-law—Chen Cuihong, wife of the eldest son, and Ma Guichun, wife of the second.

These two weren’t any better than Du Jinhua. They bullied the original Jiang Jiuyue regularly and even egged Du Jinhua on to abuse her more. They were always involved.

But Jiang Jiuyue didn’t care to deal with them just yet. First, she was going to eat.

She served four bowls of porridge, and the four of them sat down, blowing on it quickly before devouring it in large gulps, not even caring about the heat.

Just as they were burying their faces in the food, Chen Cuihong and Ma Guichun burst into the kitchen.

“Well, well, Jiang Jiuyue! You actually dared to hit your mother-in-law and steal food!”