Chapter 2

Ma Mian also rubbed his eyes.  

Gu Qinghuan was utterly confused. Other than saving a life before her death, she hadn’t really done many good deeds. How could her merit suddenly increase so drastically?  

The staff member inside also panicked.

He quickly dialed Yama’s direct line and reported Gu Qinghuan’s situation.  

Gu Qinghuan was politely invited into a luxurious VIP room.  

The staff member immediately brought in fruit, snacks, and tea, treating her with the utmost kindness.  

Yama hadn’t handled such a big case in a long time, so he was in a pretty good mood.  

“After you saved that child, his family, in gratitude for your kindness, donated nine hundred million in your name to impoverished mountain areas.  

They built bridges and roads, established schools, and improved conditions in the mountains, allowing countless children to leave and pursue better lives.  

They also invited a high monk to perform rites of transcendence and enshrined a spirit tablet for you in their home, offering incense and prayers daily.  

Because of this, your merit increased significantly out of nowhere.” Yama explained.  

Gu Qinghuan felt a bit emotional. At least her sacrifice hadn’t been in vain.  

Although she had gained some fame as a food streamer while she was alive, she had only made a few million over the years. After buying herself a luxurious villa, she had only about three hundred thousand left in savings.  

Yet, these people had donated nine hundred million just like that. That was more money than she could spend in a lifetime. If only she could have enjoyed it herself. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fated to do so—she could only fantasize about it now.  

Thinking about the villa she had just purchased, Gu Qinghuan felt a pang of heartache. She hadn’t even lived in it for a full month.  

Still, she had at least done something meaningful for society. That thought comforted her a little.  

Yama rubbed his hands, looking a bit embarrassed as he spoke again: “There’s just one problem. With your merit, you should be assigned a top-tier reincarnation—an exceptional life.  

But such an opportunity only comes once every fifty years. Unfortunately, last year, a ‘Virtuous Person of a Hundred Lifetimes’ arrived with a hundred thousand merit points, so I gave that slot to them.  

Now, you have only two choices. One, you wait for the next slot in fifty years. Two, you take a regular wealthy family reincarnation. What will you choose?”  

Gu Qinghuan pondered for a moment. Neither option seemed appealing. If Yama hadn’t mentioned the top-tier reincarnation, she might have just chosen the ordinary wealthy life.  

But now that he had brought it up, she didn’t want to settle for less.  

It was like picking fruit from the table—if there were no strawberries, she might have chosen an apple or a pear. But since strawberries were there, of course, she would go for them.  

Waiting alone in the underworld for fifty years didn’t seem like a great choice either.  

Summoning her courage, Gu Qinghuan asked: “Is there another option?”  

Yama shook his head. The quotas were fixed, and even though he was Yama, he had to follow the rules.  

“With your merit, the next top-tier reincarnation slot is guaranteed to be yours.” he assured her.  

After thinking for a moment, he added: “How about this? If you don’t want to wait for decades, I have a newly launched Underworld Time-Travel Package. I can give you one for free.  

By the time you return from your travels, the top-tier reincarnation slot will be available.  

Other people have to spend a thousand merit points to get this package.”

Yama suddenly remembered this matter. Although he was the highest-ranking official in the underworld, he was still bound by rules.  

Take the time-travel package, for example. Since its launch, not a single soul had ordered it, and he was under immense pressure.  

The truth was, the package was a bit expensive. Ordinary souls didn’t even have a thousand merit points, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be willing to spend them on an uncertain trip. After all, merit points directly impacted their next reincarnation.  

Yama hadn’t expected much; he’d just casually mentioned it, but to his surprise, Gu Qinghuan seemed quite interested.  

“What’s time-travel?” She wasn’t one to let an opportunity slip by. A thousand merit points to redeem it must mean it was something good, right?  

“Time-travel, simply put, allows you to enter a small world and live through another body, finishing the life that it couldn’t complete.  

In simpler terms, it’s like borrowing a body to continue living.”  

This sounded pretty good to Gu Qinghuan. Wasn’t it just like the kind of time-travel stories in novels?  

She still wanted to be human, not a ghost. If she really had to wait in the underworld for fifty years, she’d go crazy.  

However, Yama seemed easy to talk to, so she figured she should try to get more benefits for herself.  

“Does this time-travel come with a golden finger? Like a Spiritual Spring Space, a sign-in system, a koi physique, telepathy, hypnosis, something like that?”  

She was a big fan of time-travel novels and thought she should at least get a few golden fingers for herself.  

Yama choked for a moment, and his face visibly darkened.  

“No!”  

Gu Qinghuan looked disappointed. “Then I’ll think about it some more.”  

There was no guarantee, just going to grind through some instances? That seemed a bit unreliable—what if it was a hellish start?  

Yama’s heart skipped a beat when he heard her. No, no! He needed to give her something.  

Alright, it was just golden fingers, fine. He’d give her one.  

Grinding his teeth, he said: “I can give you a Spiritual Spring Space, and I’ll throw in a Vending Machine too. Don’t think about anything else.”  

“Thank you, Lord Yama!” Gu Qinghuan flashed a fawning smile.  

“It’s nothing. If there’s nothing else, I’ll have someone arrange for you to go to the space station.” Yama replied, his face darkened.  

This was really a lose-lose situation. Giving away golden fingers cost him merit points, and this girl had gotten a good deal.  

Gu Qinghuan rubbed her hands, grinning. “Actually, Lord Yama, I had three hundred thousand in savings when I was alive, and I just bought a big villa. I haven’t even lived there for a few days… What do you think?”  

Yama shot her a glare, clearly displeased.  

“Fine, I’ll give it to you. Happy now?”

Yama finished speaking and waved his hand, signaling for someone to take her away. Out of sight, out of mind.

---

So, Gu Qinghuan was sent to this timeline. Officially, it was time travel, but it felt more like she was part of some kind of transformation project.  

The original body she had taken over was also named Gu Qinghuan, which was quite a coincidence.  

The original Gu Qinghuan had once been a highborn young lady, raised in luxury, with a life of silk and satin.  

However, during the great revolution, her ungrateful father turned on his own family, betraying his wife and father-in-law, severing ties with his wife, and using the opportunity to climb up the social ladder.  

Fortunately, he still had a shred of conscience and didn’t push his two children out of the family.  

Later, he married a second wife, a fox, who brought along a daughter. The mother and daughter duo secretly bullied Gu Qinghuan and her brother.  

At first, the siblings thought that if they endured everything, life would eventually get better. Unfortunately, the woman became more ruthless, using various tormenting tactics without end.  

She even took it upon herself to secretly send Gu Qinghuan to the countryside for re-education, specifically to the Great Northwest.  

Coincidentally, that stepmother became pregnant, and Gu Qinghuan’s treacherous father, without objection, allowed his daughter to go to the countryside—every family had to send at least one child.  

Disappointed and utterly hopeless, Gu Qinghuan sought help from her grandfather’s former student.  

That uncle was a good person. Though he couldn’t prevent her from being sent to the countryside, he at least managed to change her assignment. Instead of the Great Northwest, he had her sent to the Great Northeast.  

Her mother and grandfather had also been assigned here thanks to this uncle’s help. As long as they worked hard, they could at least eat and not starve to death.  

Gu Qinghuan had been at Xu Family Village for over a year. Though life was tough, she often sneaked away to visit her grandparents and mother, and she felt there was still hope for the future.  

However, fate had a way of targeting those already suffering.  

Just two days ago, while her mother was working, someone shoved her, causing her to fall off a cliff. She broke her left arm in the process.  

A single coin can defeat a hero—without money for medical treatment, her arm was beyond saving. What was even worse was that if the wound became infected or inflamed, it could cost her life…  

When Gu Qinghuan found out, she cursed the heavens for their unfairness and hated her own helplessness. Tears fell uncontrollably.  

Someone in the educated youth commune suddenly mentioned, seemingly casually, that the Branch Secretary had once intended to find a wife for his mad son to care for him for the rest of his life.  

It goes without saying, in such a situation, finding a normal woman to marry him would be incredibly difficult!  

The “Madman” had a notorious reputation, which was terrifying to hear. No respectable family would want to marry their daughter into such a situation.  

Unless the Branch Secretary was willing to offer a hefty dowry, perhaps there would be some greedy people willing to marry their daughters to him.  

But obviously, the Branch Secretary wasn’t going to spend that much money on a wife for his crazy son, so the matter was put on hold.  

Gu Qinghuan’s original self struggled with the decision for a moment but finally made up her mind. She went to the Branch Secretary and ended up “selling” herself for a hundred yuan to be his mad son’s wife.

Once she got the money, she immediately sent her mother to the county hospital for treatment. Luckily, the county hospital had an experienced orthopedic doctor who was able to set the bone.  

Gu Qinghuan’s mother was a woman with strong willpower. When the bones were being set, large beads of sweat rolled down her face, but she didn’t cry out in pain. That night, she developed a high fever, which didn’t subside until morning. She had managed to get through the first hurdle.  

Leaving her grandmother to take care of her mother, Gu Qinghuan hurried back to the cattle shed to share the good news with her grandfather and help finish the chores.  

Her grandfather was old, and the years of hard labor at the cattle shed had taken a toll on his body. The work was incredibly taxing for him.  

They had accumulated two days’ worth of work, and the two of them worked until sunset to finish. Gu Qinghuan, exhausted and weak, staggered back toward Xu Family Village.  

She hadn’t had a single drop of water in two days. Her body was already drained, and she had stayed up all night watching over her mother, then spent the whole day working hard. Finally, she collapsed on the road back to Xu Family Village and died suddenly.  

It was then that Gu Qinghuan crossed over.  

Fortunately, someone passing by found her and carried her back to Xu Family Village.  

The old woman who had just spoken was the Branch Secretary’s wife, Liu Guifang, and the younger voice belonged to Liu Guifang’s youngest daughter, Xu Meiling.  

Liu Guifang was a cruel woman. When she confirmed that Gu Qinghuan still had a faint breath left, she didn’t even spare the cost of hiring a barefoot doctor. Instead, she took advantage of the situation and left both the mad son and Gu Qinghuan at the Old Residence to fend for themselves.  

After sorting through the memories in her mind, Gu Qinghuan thought, Yama really tricked me. I’ve just arrived and already become the madman’s wife, and I even have two little ones to take care of. This hellish start, how can I survive this?  

She had heard that the “Madman” was often tied up, and in the past, when he went on one of his violent rampages, he had taken down a dozen strong men—he was a true human killing machine.  

With this in mind, Gu Qinghuan sighed deeply.