Chapter 13

Chen Yue couldn’t take it anymore. She had suffered all kinds of cold stares and bullying at her in-laws’ place. Finally returning to her maiden home, she just wanted a bit of emotional balance.

And now this? Who knows what kind of madness Gu Zhenqi was struck with? Before Chen Yue even got the chance to act, she was the one who got put in her place!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She didn’t care anymore whether Gu Zhenqi was possessed by a ghost or not—being humiliated like this, even if Gu Zhenqi was a ghost, Chen Yue would fight her with her life!

“Big Sis, Second Sis, don’t listen to her nonsense! Let’s all gang up on her—I don’t believe us three sisters can’t handle this little scrawny chick!”

“Let’s teach her a lesson today. Let her know that the Chen family isn’t for her to command. We’re back in our maiden home—we can take whatever we want! She’s got no right to interfere!”

“Third Sis is right. That bitch Gu Zhenqi is way too arrogant. Leave her alone for three days and she dares to turn the whole house upside down. Big Sis, let’s go together!”

“Alright, let’s go!”

Facing the three of them, Gu Zhenqi stood still. Watching their faces filled with forced bravado but no real action, she couldn’t help but laugh. It was honestly embarrassing—she felt secondhand shame for them.

“Hey, are you three just shouting slogans or what? Want to deal with me? Then do it. I want to see what you’re really made of.”

Enraged beyond reason, Chen Yue, Chen Chun, and Chen Hua rose up simultaneously, their faces twisted with fury as they charged at Gu Zhenqi.

Chen Yue raised her arm to slap her. Chen Hua, who had the longest nails, swiped at her face. Chen Chun tried to sneak to the side to pull her hair, thinking she’d caught her off guard.

Seeing their pitiful attack methods, Gu Zhenqi’s forehead instantly sprouted three black lines. Speechless!

She had overestimated them. Slapping, scratching faces, pulling hair? Ha! These were the most clichéd, overused catfight moves in the book. Totally unoriginal!

To Gu Zhenqi—who in her previous life had unintentionally apprenticed under a martial arts master and trained relentlessly for nearly thirty years—these three were laughably weak.

Even though her current body was far less fit and trained than in her past life, it was more than enough to handle these malnourished, feeble rural women.

“Heh!”

With a cold sneer, Gu Zhenqi moved before they could make contact. She used the very attacks they intended for her and struck them back with precise counter-moves.

Taking a step back, she looked down on them with a half-smile: Chen Yue and Chen Hua clutching their faces, and Chen Chun holding her head. She asked softly, “How does that feel?”

Inside the house, Wang Guiying had originally decided not to interfere. But watching her three daughters get one-sidedly beaten down—it was too much. No matter how angry she was with them, they were still the flesh of her flesh, children she had carried for ten months.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally opened the door, stepped outside, and gave the three a fierce look before scolding them:

“Coming back to your maiden home every day just to stir up trouble—you just can’t stand to see us live in peace, huh? How many times have I said it? You’re married now. Live peacefully at your in-laws’. Besides the holidays, don’t keep running back here!”

“Mom, how could you say that? Who sends their daughters away when they come home to visit? Your heart… is just too cold,” Chen Yue said pitifully.

“She’s always been cold. To her, daughters are nothing but weeds. Otherwise, why would she have sold us out for a few sacks of grain and some spare change, just to please her sons?” Chen Chun snapped bitterly.

She still harbored deep resentment over how she had been “exchanged for food.” She hated her mother for never showing real care for her. To her, she was just a used rag to be thrown away. Every time she returned home, she’d dig up this old grievance right in front of Wang Guiying.

Even if it hurt her heart again, she had to say it—to make Wang Guiying uncomfortable, to make her feel that the Chen family owed her.

“I think Mom would rather we never come back. Even if we were abused at our in-laws’ homes, starved like dogs, she wouldn’t feel a thing. Our mother…”

Wang Guiying acted as if she didn’t hear. Every time her three daughters came back, they never failed to scold her with veiled words and barbed tones. At first, she tried to explain herself patiently, feeling sorry for them.

They were her daughters, after all—how could she not feel heartache? But back in those days, famines were common, and starvation took lives regularly. Children died all the time.

A child’s life was worth less than a stray dog’s—there weren’t even graves for them. Villagers would just toss the bodies into the mountain ravines.

She had married them off early, exchanged them for food and money, all so the family could survive!

But in her daughters’ eyes, she was heartless and cruel, a cold-blooded villain. No explanation could defeat their ingrained resentment.

After years of this, Wang Guiying stopped defending herself. She let them come home and mock her however they liked. She figured: she’s old, what harm could their words do now? In a few more years, she’d be gone—and then they’d have no one left to blame.

“See? No more comebacks now. Looks like we hit the mark. With a mother like her, we really must’ve done something wrong in our past lives. We come back for a few things, and she looks at us like we’re trash.”

“Mom, don’t act like that. The more unwelcome you make us feel, the more we’ll come back—just to annoy you.”

“Big Sis, Second Sis, you’re absolutely right. We’re just taking what’s ours—nothing wrong with that. Mom, since you’re out here, tell that bitch Gu Zhenqi loud and clear: you still call the shots in this house!”

Chen Yue’s words stirred agreement in Chen Chun and Chen Hua.

“You’d better make it clear to her—she’s an outsider and has no say in the Chen family!”

“And look what she’s done to us! Beat us like this—we won’t be able to walk for half a month, let alone work in the fields. She must compensate us!”

Wang Guiying couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation at her three daughters’ outrageous demands. Her face was calm as she asked, “Oh? Really? Then tell me, how exactly do you want her to compensate you?”

Hearing that, Chen Yue, Chen Chun, and Chen Hua brightened up. They quickly exchanged glances. No way were they letting this go—they had to teach Gu Zhenqi a harsh lesson and extort a good amount from her.

After all, Gu Zhenqi had been hoarding the youngest son’s allowance, and with her stingy ways, it was probably a sizable sum by now. The sisters had been eyeing that money for a long time.

But back then, Gu Zhenqi was arrogant and difficult. Plus, Wang Guiying always protected her for the sake of her favorite son.

It was like staring at a pot full of stewed meat, mouths watering, but unable to grab a bite.

Now the chance had delivered itself to their doorstep—no way they were letting it slip! Even a fool wouldn’t, and they weren’t fools.

The three of them, eyes gleaming with calculation, looked at each other and asked in unison, “Mom, you really mean it?”