Chapter 1

Gu Qinghuan lay on the hard, wooden kang bed, her entire body aching as if it had been torn apart. She felt dazed and groggy.

From the outer room, faint voices of conversation drifted in.

“Mom, do you think she’ll sneak away in the middle of the night?” a young female voice asked.

“She wouldn’t dare! She took our Xu family’s money—she belongs to the Xu family in life, and in death, she’ll be our Xu family’s corpse.  

Without an introduction letter, how could she leave? Does she want to become a vagrant? Your father has been the village Party Secretary for years—he’s not someone to be trifled with.  

Besides, her birth mother is still suffering in the cattle shed of the neighboring village. She may run, but she can’t escape!”  

The middle-aged woman’s voice was sharp and domineering.

“Mom, you’re really amazing. This plan is like killing two birds with one stone. We spent just a hundred yuan and got my lunatic second brother a well-mannered wife.  

So many men in the village were eyeing Gu Qinghuan, but in the end, my lunatic second brother got her.  

Now we can finally send him away openly and justifiably. I’d like to see who dares to say anything about it!”  

Thinking about how the once proud and aloof Gu Qinghuan had ended up in such a situation—and that once she was married, Brother Chen would no longer like her—Xu Meiling felt an immense satisfaction. She was so pleased that she couldn’t help but flatter her mother.

Liu Guifang, feeling rather pleased with herself, scoffed: “Stop with the sweet talk! I still think a hundred yuan was too much. Your father—always playing the good guy—insisted on giving her a hundred when eighty would have been more than enough.  

But to be fair, this woman truly is stunning. I heard her ancestors were scholars. If it weren’t for her family’s bad political background and the fact that she has a stinking intellectual for a mother, I would’ve wanted to match her with your third brother instead. What a pity.  

At least now that the lunatic—cough, cough—the second son has a wife to take care of him, I can finally catch my breath.”

The thought of finally getting rid of that burdensome second son and his troubles filled her with relief, making her steps feel lighter.

After some thought, she reminded her daughter: “Be careful with your words. Human trafficking is illegal. This was a mutual agreement.  

Gu Qinghuan willingly married into our family. Our Xu family is generous—we didn’t even despise her for being the daughter of a stinking intellectual. We even gave her a hundred yuan as a bride price. That’s more than fair.”

“Of course…”

…

The voices gradually faded into the distance.

Gu Qinghuan stared at the thick cobwebs covering the ceiling, her skin crawling with discomfort.

She forced herself to digest the memories of the body she now inhabited, as well as the strange book that had suddenly appeared in her mind—”The Delicate Wife of the 1970s.”  

A million curses raced through her head.  

So this was the time-travel experience Yama had gifted her?

To hell with this time-travel experience! She had been tricked!  

Gu Qinghuan was not the true owner of this body.  

A Few Hours Ago  

Gu Qinghuan had lain in a pool of blood like a discarded rag doll, pain piercing her bones. She hadn’t expected getting hit by a truck to hurt this much.  

If she had known… If she had known it would end like this, she still would have chosen to save that child. Though she had overestimated her abilities, how could she have stood by and watched a young life slip away before her eyes?  

As her consciousness faded, she heard frantic shouting, a child’s cries… a mixture of voices blending together.  

Then, darkness consumed her.  

When she regained awareness, she had already become a wandering soul.  

Drifting with the other spirits, she crossed a bridge—yet, surprisingly, there was no Meng Po’s soup to erase her memories.  

Before her stood a grand hall, with a plaque inscribed:  

Underworld Palace.  

So it was true—people really did go to the underworld after death.  

Seeing the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guards at the entrance made her a little nervous at first, but then she reminded herself—she had died doing a good deed. In life, she had been a decent person. That thought steadied her heart.  

Upon entering the Underworld Palace, she breathed a sigh of relief. This place was basically just a government service hall.  

At the entrance, a number dispenser machine stood, where several newly deceased souls were queuing up to take a number. Gu Qinghuan quickly lined up at the end of the line.  

Inside the grand hall, rows of counters were processing reincarnation services.  

After taking her number, she obediently waited to be called.  

“Now serving Soul No. 666 at Window 6 for reincarnation processing.”  

Gu Qinghuan glanced at the ticket in her hand. No mistake—666.  

She quickly floated over and handed over her ticket.  

A long, slender hand reached out from behind the counter, took the number, and scanned it into a machine. With a soft beep, Gu Qinghuan’s life record appeared on the screen in front of her.  

“Verify the information. If correct, press confirm.”  

—Gu Qinghuan, female, citizen of Eastern Province, Huaguo. Deceased at age 28.  

—Cause of death: Struck and killed by a truck while attempting to save a young boy deliberately thrown onto the road by an enemy.  

—Background: Parents divorced early. Raised by grandparents. Highest education level: Bachelor’s degree from a 985 university…  

None of these details were wrong.  

But what caught Gu Qinghuan’s attention the most was the last line, displayed in bold, bright red characters.

Deceased’s Merit: 999  

Gu Qinghuan stared at the number, puzzled.  

Curious, she asked: “Excuse me, what does ‘merit’ mean? Does it affect me?”  

A lazy male voice from inside the counter responded: “Merit directly influences your next reincarnation. With a number like this, you’ll be reborn into a good family in your next life.”  

Gu Qinghuan was just starting to feel relieved when, suddenly, the red number on the screen changed.  

999 turned into 9999, glowing even more intensely.  

“What the hell?!” Gu Qinghuan frowned. Was the machine malfunctioning?  

The staff member behind the counter was equally shocked. Thinking he had made an error, he hurriedly double-checked the data. After confirming it was correct, he patted his chest and sighed in relief.  

“Your merit from saving that child has just been fully calculated. Turns out, you saved someone extraordinary. That’s why you’ve accumulated so much merit. Congratulations, your next life is guaranteed to be either wealthy or noble!”  

Gu Qinghuan felt a surge of satisfaction. At least her death hadn’t been in vain.  

She was about to celebrate when—  

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!  

A sharp, urgent alarm blared from the machine.  

Even the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guards at the entrance were startled and rushed over to check.  

The number on the screen flickered wildly before stabilizing.  

9999 → 999999  

A deathly silence filled the room.  

Ox-Head stared at the screen in disbelief.  

“Am I seeing things…? 999,999 merit points?”