Chapter 50 – Reborn Girl’s Aunt

The spring rain outside pattered gently as Wen Xin slowly awakened from her slumber. Beside her lay a one-year-old child, sound asleep, eyes closed and deeply immersed in a peaceful dream.

The door to the room creaked open, and an elderly lady in a flower-patterned cotton jacket stepped inside. “Awake? Did the child bother you last night?” she asked.

Wen Xin shook her head and replied: “No, he slept soundly through the night. Very well-behaved.”

“That’s good to hear. Come on, get up and have breakfast. I’ve steamed some egg custard for you and the child. Little Wei has been up for a while now. You’re the only one lazing in bed. Hurry, hurry!” The elderly woman in the flowered cotton jacket chattered as she exited the room.

Wen Xin got out of bed, leaving the warmth of her blankets. The cold air made her gasp, and she quickly dressed herself. Beside her, the child also woke up, turning his head in search of Wen Xin. When his gaze met hers, he gave her an adorably sweet smile.

Wen Xin picked him up, kissed him on the cheek, and dressed him. Holding his tiny hand, she led him out of the room.

It was 1968. Wen Xin was twenty years old, married, and a mother to this one-year-old child. She was currently staying at her parents’ home. But Wen Xin had another identity: she was also the younger aunt of the protagonist of this world, Wen Yaya.

The original owner of Wen Xin’s body was the youngest daughter of Old Man Wen and Mother Wen, born to them late in life. When she was born, Mother Wen was already forty-two years old, and her eldest brother was over twenty. Less than a year after her birth, Wen Yaya was born.

As the cherished youngest daughter, the original owner was doted on and raised with great care. Both Old Man Wen and Mother Wen treasured her like the apple of their eye. Her elder brothers and sisters, due to the significant age gap, also adored her. 

In contrast, Wen Yaya, who was only a year younger than the original owner, did not receive the same level of affection. As part of the Wen family’s third generation, she was treated far less indulgently. Particularly by her own mother, a woman deeply rooted in the mindset of favoring sons over daughters.

The two girls, born so close in age, lived entirely different lives. The original owner was showered with love and care, so much so that even at the age of ten, she had never washed her own clothes. Wen Yaya, on the other hand, had to wash her younger brother’s clothes by the age of three or four, her tiny hands red from the cold. As she grew older, any days she wasn’t in school were spent working in the fields with her sister-in-law, Wen Li Cuihua.

In the family, all the best food and toys were reserved for the original owner by Old Man Wen and Mother Wen. Wen Yaya rarely got a share of anything good. Even when the original owner, acting as a generous elder, shared something with Wen Yaya, it wouldn’t remain in her hands for long. The moment the original owner handed something to Wen Yaya, Wen Li Cuihua would snatch it away.

The original owner was deeply frustrated with Wen Yaya’s lack of resolve, often chastising her. However, Wen Yaya never listened and instead grew to resent the original owner. She believed the original owner’s words were not genuine concern but an attempt to flaunt the affection she received from their mother.

When the original owner turned sixteen, she and Wen Yaya went up the mountain to gather firewood. During this trip, Wen Yaya pushed the original owner down the mountain. Though she was rescued, the original owner was bedridden for days before finally regaining consciousness. Furious, Old Man Wen expelled Wen Yaya’s family from the household. Wen Yaya’s elder brother gave her a severe beating and made her kneel in the courtyard all night as punishment. By the next morning, Wen Yaya had fallen ill. When she woke up, she was no longer the naive girl she had been but the reborn spirit of her forty-year-old self from the future.

This forty-year-old Wen Yaya had lived through many hardships. At eighteen, she had married Wei Deming, the son of the village leader in the neighboring village. Wei Deming was an average-looking man but notorious for being a philanderer. Even before their marriage, he had an affair with a young widow in the village, and after their wedding, his behavior only worsened.

Unable to control her husband, Wen Yaya endured constant ridicule from her mother-in-law and disdain from her sisters-in-law. Her children, as they grew older, became distant and indifferent toward her. Later, her husband fell into a river while sneaking off to meet the widow and drowned.

Afterward, Wen Yaya was branded a “husband-killer” by her mother-in-law and was sent back to the Wen family. Naturally, the Wen family refused to let her be mistreated. A large group of them confronted the Wei family and demanded justice for her. However, Wen Yaya could no longer return to her husband’s home.

By then, it was the 1980s, and the policies were not as strict as before. Wen Yaya’s elder brother took her to the city, where she stayed at the original owner’s house. The original owner found her a job as a housekeeper. Her duties were light—cooking three meals a day and accompanying an elderly person on morning and evening walks. 

This job was considered cushy and well-paid, something many people could only dream of obtaining. 

Though Wen Yaya began working as a housekeeper in the city, she resented the hardship of her life and the need to please others. Every time she saw the original owner, who appeared glamorous and carefree, her jealousy surged uncontrollably.

The original owner had married Hu Youbin, a city worker, at eighteen. By the time she was twenty, she had given birth to a son. Hu Youbin started as an apprentice but steadily climbed the ranks to become a skilled technician, earning recognition and trust at the factory. The original owner no longer needed to work; her only responsibility was managing the household and taking care of the extended family.

The original owner was dissatisfied with this life, but to Wen Yaya, it was everything she desired yet could never have. Watching Hu Youbin, who remained vigorous and charming even in his middle age, Wen Yaya’s restless heart stirred.

She began to imitate the original owner’s style of dressing, subtly yet deliberately. Finally, one night, Hu Youbin returned home drunk after a social gathering. Under Wen Yaya’s calculated seduction, they ended up committing an indiscretion together. 

For two years, Wen Yaya and Hu Youbin carried on their affair in secret until the truth was eventually revealed. The original owner divorced Hu Youbin, but Wen Yaya’s plans didn’t unfold as she had hoped. Instead of marrying her, Hu Youbin chose a new wife—a young woman in her twenties.

On the day of Hu Youbin’s wedding, Wen Yaya drowned her sorrows in alcohol. She recklessly jaywalked and was struck by an out-of-control truck, dying on the spot.

However, Wen Yaya was reborn, returning to the year when her relationship with the original owner fell apart. Armed with her memories from her previous life, she pretended to repent and successfully gained her family’s forgiveness. Over the course of a year, she mended her relationship with the original owner. Then, she orchestrated a plan, ensuring the original owner had an intimate encounter with a young educated man who had been sent to the village, and she spread rumors about their relationship far and wide.

At the same time, Wen Yaya arranged a “chance” meeting with Hu Youbin. Ultimately, her schemes bore fruit, and she married Hu Youbin, finally achieving her dream of becoming his wife and living in the city.

By the time Wen Yaya married Hu Youbin, the original owner was being pressured by her family to marry Wei Xiuran. Wei Xiuran was an educated youth who had come to the countryside in 1965. His family background was poor, his health was worse, and he was a frail, skinny man with a figure even slimmer than the original owner’s. 

The original owner, whose aesthetic preferences aligned with the mainstream at the time, admired men who were strong, upright, and heroic. She had no interest in someone like Wei Xiuran. Fortunately, Old Man Wen and Mother Wen doted on her. When the original owner expressed her reluctance to marry Wei Xiuran and learned that he also had no interest in the match, the arrangement was canceled.

Later, the Wen family arranged another marriage for the original owner. The prospective groom’s family wasn’t particularly wealthy but was also not poor. Just as the wedding approached, the original owner was attacked and knocked unconscious while outside. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in an unknown mountainous area.

She had been kidnapped by a man in his forties. Upon waking, she discovered that she was tied to a bed. That very night, the man violated her. 

Not long after, the original owner became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. The child hadn’t even cried before the man drowned her in a chamber pot in the corner of the room.

The original owner’s body hadn’t recovered when she was once again forced into submission. Soon, she became pregnant again. This time, she gave birth to a son. The man’s family was overjoyed and took great care of the child. However, their satisfaction didn’t last long. They continued to force her to bear children, drowning any daughters she gave birth to while keeping the sons.

What woman could endure watching her children being drowned one after another? Even if she hadn’t wanted to give birth to them in the first place, they were still her flesh and blood. The original owner eventually lost her sanity. After losing three daughters and giving birth to two sons, she descended into madness. Even in her unstable state, she became pregnant once more. 

By then, the man’s family had grown complacent. Believing she was no longer a threat, they allowed her to move around the house freely. Over the next five months, she earned the privilege of working in the kitchen. Slowly and carefully, she began collecting rat poison from the corners of the room.

One day, she mixed the rat poison into the family’s food. After they ate the poisoned meal and fell unconscious, she slit their throats one by one. The original owner hesitated over her two sons but ultimately decided to spare them. Whether they survived the poisoning depended entirely on their fate.

Taking money from the old woman’s room, the original owner attempted to flee the mountain. However, she slipped and fell during her escape. At that point, she was more than seven months pregnant. She went into labor in the dense forest but suffered a complicated delivery due to severe blood loss and exhaustion. With her strength utterly depleted, she closed her eyes for the last time, dying alone in the wilderness.

After her death, the original owner’s soul didn’t pass into the underworld but instead lingered near Wen Yaya. It was then she learned that all her misfortunes had stemmed from Wen Yaya. Wen Yaya had known that human traffickers would ambush people on that road that day. She also knew the girls passing through would be abducted.  

The original owner finally recalled why she had taken that particular path—it was because Wen Yaya had invited her to catch fish at the pond beneath Niangzi Mountain. The only way to reach Niangzi Mountain was via that road.  

The original owner was filled with bitterness. But what could she do? There was no way to hold Wen Yaya accountable. Wandering aimlessly, she somehow ended up in front of Wen Xin.  

The original owner had one simple wish: for Wen Yaya to endure the same suffering she had.  

However, Wen Xin’s journey through time encountered some complications. She arrived in a drastically different period. To her shock, she found herself already married to Wei Xiuran. The day she crossed over was none other than the original owner’s wedding night with Wei Xiuran.  

The moonlight that night was beautiful, and the dim, warm light in the room cast a soft glow over Wei Xiuran as he lay on the bed, looking particularly attractive. Overcome by the moment, Wen Xin couldn’t resist and ended up spending the night with him. Not long after, she became pregnant and gave birth to Wei Rongrong.  

Now, Wei Rongrong had become the apple of the entire family’s eye. The one-and-a-half-year-old was currently sitting on Old Man Wen’s lap as the elder happily fed him, while Mother Wen kept a close watch on them, a handkerchief at the ready.  

Wen Xin, sitting in front of a bowl of porridge, turned her head to glance at Wei Xiuran beside her. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that softened the sharpness in his eyes. His high nose bridge, red lips, and the red tear mole beneath his right eye made him look strikingly refined. His skin was so smooth it made hers pale in comparison.  

Wen Xin thought to herself that it wasn’t her self-control that was lacking—it was Wei Xiuran who was simply too irresistible.  

Wei Xiuran pushed a plate of pickled vegetables toward Wen Xin and quietly said: “Why are you staring at me? Eat your food.”  

“Oh.” Wen Xin replied, taking a cornbread bun and biting into it. Wei Xiuran, after retracting his hand, leaned closer to her ear and murmured in a voice only they could hear: “If you want to look, let’s go back to the room later, and you can look all you want.”  

For someone who had lived three lifetimes, Wen Xin wasn’t inexperienced when it came to men. But she admitted that none of the men in her past lives could compare to Wei Xiuran. Especially lately—this man seemed to have unlocked a new level of shamelessness with his constant sweet-talking.  

Wen Xin glanced at Old Man Wen and Mother Wen nearby, wondering how Wei Xiuran could maintain such a proper, serious expression while spouting such audacious lines.  

Wei Xiuran smiled at her, and Wen Xin, determined not to lose, decided to fight fire with fire. Smiling sweetly, she picked up a piece of pickled vegetable with her chopsticks and placed it on Wei Xiuran’s plate. Taking the opportunity, she leaned close and whispered in his ear: “You’re so naughty.”  

Wei Xiuran, in the middle of drinking his porridge, was so caught off guard by Wen Xin’s words that he choked, coughing violently.  

Seeing this, Wen Xin smirked triumphantly. Once Wei Xiuran stopped coughing, she turned to the family and casually said: “Dad, Mom, could you watch Rongrong today? Yaya invited me to go fishing at the pond beneath Niangzi Mountain.”