Chapter 37: A Deadly First Strike

Qiao Jiangxin, with a cold face, drew two buckets of water from the well, hung them on a yoke, and walked quickly.

Che Jinmei, squatting nearby washing vegetables, glanced at Qiao Jiangxin’s back.

Two large buckets of water on Qiao Jiangxin’s small shoulders seemed weightless.  The yoke was bent, but she walked quickly.

If she had to carry those buckets…

Ai, her family was useless. Her husband was sickly, and the children were unreliable.

They finally had some good luck, with a college student in the family, but then a rainstorm came and extinguished it.

Thinking of her son, who had been home for several days, she still hadn’t told anyone.

When people asked why he was back, she said the school had a holiday.

Thinking of her son, Che Jinmei was even more upset.

He was supposed to graduate and get a job in a year, but he was expelled.

What would happen now?

The old man was always coughing, the younger child needed to go to school, and the older one was like half-dead since returning from school.

She was the only one doing the farm work.

Remembering the compliments when her son got into college, Che Jinmei felt bitter.

Enjoying her old age? She wouldn’t live that long.

Ai, if only someone could help her.

Che Jinmei looked at the receding figure and muttered, “Wende is 24. It’s time to find him a wife.”

But thinking of Chi Suzhen, she sighed, picking up her basket and heading home.  Not only Wende, but she herself was in a mess.

That evening, Qiao Jiuwang’s family was absent again. The atmosphere was relaxed, with laughter at the dinner table.

Leftover braised pig head was sliced thinly, served with stir-fried salted vegetables and rice.

After dinner, it started to drizzle.

The tired family went to bed early, except for Qiao Jiangxin.

She sat on the doorstep, hugging her legs, watching the swaying branches and listening to the rain on the roof and leaves.

She liked this feeling. The cool, damp air relaxed her.

She thought about her life.

She remembered kerosene lamps, open-air movies, stealing melons, catching fish in the river, using corn stalks as sugarcane.  It was hard but happy, before she grew up.

Then…

Qiao Jiangxin’s eyes dimmed.

Later, she had a terrible marriage, a chaotic life, and felt useless, until her mother died, leaving her with nothing.

She had repeatedly encouraged herself, believing that after enduring all the hardship, she would find happiness.

Later, she realized that after enduring all the hardship, even more hardship awaited her.

Who knew what the future held?

So, being happy now was most important.

She didn’t take Niu Shen’s words to heart.

In her previous life, she had escaped Chen Sheng; she wasn’t afraid of him this time.

But Qiao Fangfang and Lei Honghua had plotted against her, and she wouldn’t let it go.

She remembered Qiao Fangfang’s family had a sharp-tongued younger sister.

Qiao Fangfang often complained about her sister-in-law, who was quite favored at home.

Qiao Jiangxin remembered that Qiao Fangfang’s sister-in-law and Qiao Fangfang fought fiercely.

When her father confronted Qiao Fangfang about introducing her to Chen Sheng, he met her sister-in-law and was insulted.

No internal conflict.

She would use external conflict, but she wouldn’t sacrifice herself.

Lei Honghua and her daughter would pay a price.

Meanwhile, Chen Sheng’s mother went to see Qiao Fangfang.

With Qiao Fangfang, she visited Qiao Jianguo in the hospital and chatted with Lei Honghua.

Getting the answers she wanted, Chen Sheng’s mother happily went home to tell her son.

Hearing his mother praise Qiao Jiangxin, Chen Sheng was excited.

The next day, after breakfast, he rode his bicycle to Gaoshi Village.

Qiao Jiangxin was carrying corn from the field to the drying area when she saw a man riding a bicycle towards her.

Prepared, Qiao Jiangxin tightened her grip on her sickle.

She knew that cleft lip was a condition, and no one wanted to be born with it.

She didn’t discriminate against Chen Sheng’s appearance, but she hated him.

In her previous life, after being rejected by Qiao Youcai and his wife, Chen Sheng had tried to force himself on Qiao Jiangxin.

Besides her brother’s medical expenses, this was why Qiao Jiangxin married Chen Wende early.

As Chen Sheng stopped his bicycle, Qiao Jiangxin threw her sickle at him.

Chen Sheng didn’t expect Qiao Jiangxin to attack silently, aiming for his life.

He instinctively ducked, and the sickle whizzed past his ear.