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“Ouhua, listen to your mother. Forget about school. Go to your Third Aunt’s place for a matchmaking meeting. The man’s parents both have stable government jobs. Sure, he’s a bit ugly, but once you marry him, you’ll inherit their work positions and enjoy a lifetime of government benefits. You’ll never run out of good days.”
Wang Chunlan walked into the room, carrying the red dress she had worn for her own wedding.
Hu Ouhua, who had been locked up for three days and nights, suddenly woke up. As she looked around at her familiar surroundings and heard her mother’s all-too-familiar words, she realized—she had been reborn, back to the year 1978.
In her past life, after the country reinstated the college entrance exam, she had gone to pick up the application form, passed the medical examination, and cleared the political background check. Everything was going smoothly, and she was confident she could get into Peking University.
But fate had other plans.
Wang Chunlan altered her application form, pulled some strings to tamper with her medical results, and ultimately stripped her of her eligibility to take the exam.
Then, her family locked her up for three days and nights.
Starving and weakened, she was dragged to her Third Aunt’s house, where she was ruined by an ugly man covered in moles.
With no way out, she was forced into marriage.
However, because of her natural beauty and curvaceous figure, she attracted the lecherous gazes of older men in the residential compound, who gossiped about her relentlessly. From then on, her life spiraled into a nightmare of domestic abuse until her tragic death.
Now, Hu Ouhua stared coldly at Wang Chunlan, her heart filled with sorrow.
She finally asked the question she had buried deep in her heart for so long.
“Mom, you always say that both daughters are equally precious, so why does my younger sister get to take the college entrance exam, attend university, and live a good life, while I have to marry a man worse than a beast? Am I really that worthless in your eyes?”
Slap!
Wang Chunlan’s temper flared, and she slapped her daughter hard across the face.
“How dare you talk back to me, Hu Ouhua? Do you have no conscience? Even a dog wags its tail when fed, but this is how you question your own mother? In the old days, this would be considered rebellion!”
“Let me tell you the truth—if you die, your corpse will still be carried to the Yang family.”
With that, Wang Chunlan threw down the red dress and walked out.
Three hundred yuan in bride price!
Such a large sum would be enough to send her younger daughter to university several times over.
So that’s how it is.
At that moment, the last bit of warmth in Hu Ouhua’s heart shattered completely.
She steadied herself and put on the red dress.
When she finally mustered the strength to walk to the door and appeared before Wang Chunlan and her younger sister, Hu Jingsheng, the two of them exchanged a glance.
In each other’s eyes, they saw astonishment, joy, and greed.
At the same time, a single thought surfaced in their minds: No wonder the groom’s family was willing to empty their savings to marry Hu Ouhua. With that delicate face and full, voluptuous figure, what man wouldn’t be tempted?
Hu Jingsheng felt a pang of jealousy.
They were born to the same parents, yet their looks were worlds apart.
How unfair!
“Mom, I want to eat sweet egg soup. My face is too pale—what if they think I’m sick and don’t want me?” Hu Ouhua calmly brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Wang Chunlan, thinking that her daughter had finally come to her senses, beamed with joy.
“Good, good! I’ll make it for you right away.”
She hurried to the kitchen to boil the eggs.
Hu Ouhua sat down leisurely, a faint smile on her lips.
“Little sister, I remember Uncle Li’s son in our compound is a top student. He has a notebook filled with study notes. It’s said that anyone who reads it can easily pass the entrance exam for Peking University.”
She watched as a calculating glint flashed in Hu Jingsheng’s eyes.
“I heard he was planning to lend it to Song Bao,” she added casually as she ate the sweet egg soup.
“What?! Why didn’t you say so earlier?! Mom, she did this on purpose!” Hu Jingsheng shrieked in rage.
Normally, Hu Ouhua would have been scolded for this. But Wang Chunlan was too eager to send her daughter away, so after a few harsh words, she quickly dragged Hu Ouhua out the door.
After switching buses several times, they finally arrived at Third Aunt’s house.
Just before entering, Hu Ouhua said, “Mom, I need to use the bathroom. Wait for me.”
The old residential building had no private restrooms, only a shared latrine on the first floor.
“You’re such a hassle. Be quick!”
Having seen no resistance from her daughter all day, Wang Chunlan had let her guard down.
Hu Ouhua walked toward the bathroom but suddenly veered off into a narrow alleyway, heading straight to her high school teacher’s house.
She explained everything in full detail.
Her homeroom teacher was shocked and furious.
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you. I still have application forms here. Fill it out again, then head to the county hospital. I’ll write a letter for you to take to my uncle—he’s the department head there. He’ll arrange a new medical exam for you.”
Hu Ouhua was a gifted student. She had ranked first in the entire county in the last mock exam.
To waste such talent on marriage was a crime.
Grateful beyond words, Hu Ouhua took the letter and rushed to the hospital.
At the hospital, she found the department head, handed him the letter, and soon had her medical examination redone. The new results would be submitted immediately.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Regaining her right to take the college entrance exam was just the first step.
Avoiding her past-life husband’s family, ensuring her safe entry into the exam hall, and escaping Ning City—all of these were challenges she still had to face.
One wrong step, and she could fall into the same tragic fate again.
Suddenly, an enraged voice roared behind her.
“Hu Ouhua! Stop right there, or I’ll break your legs!”
Wang Chunlan, holding a wooden stick, bared her teeth as she charged forward, eyes filled with fury and hatred, as if she wanted to kill her.
Hu Ouhua turned and ran.
Behind her, Wang Chunlan’s curses rang out:
“Run all you want! If you have the guts, never come back! You want to go to university? I have no money! Let’s see how you’ll manage that!”
But Hu Ouhua had only one thought in her mind—escape.
The longer she stayed hidden, the safer she would be.
If she could endure this period and get into university, Wang Chunlan would no longer have the power to control her.
She ran and ran, darting through alleyways, not knowing how far she had gone until her legs could no longer move. If it weren’t for the energy boost from the sweet egg soup, she would’ve collapsed already.
Just then—
A military-green BJ-212 jeep pulled up on the roadside.
Two men in military uniforms stepped out.
The officer on the left had cold, piercing eyes, thick black brows, and a sharp, prominent brow ridge. There was even a small, faint mole near the corner of his eye…
He swept his gaze over Hu Ouhua indifferently and walked past her.
Her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
She had the feeling she had seen this man before—but where?