Chapter 1

“Your sister-in-law’s fever is burning up! We need to get her to the hospital quickly. Yunyang, go get the money from under the kang mat in your grandmother’s room.”

Gu Yunyang didn’t move. He was already eight years old, but small and thin, with a pair of beautiful eyes full of hatred as he stared at the woman on the bed.

“Yuncan, you go!”

A girl who looked exactly like Gu Yunyang—just as small and thin—glanced at her brother, then turned and ran into another room. She lifted the kang mat and, seeing it completely empty underneath, her face turned pale. She stumbled back and said, “It—it’s gone. There’s no money under the mat.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Yunyang’s chest heaved, his tiny hands clenched into fists, and he looked like he wanted to run over and beat the woman on the bed to death.

“She must have stolen it! That was all the money we had! So cruel—let her burn to death for all I care!”

“Don’t talk nonsense! How could your sister-in-law have stolen it? Your grandmother must’ve forgotten—she spent it on medicine a few days ago. Go borrow fifty yuan from your eldest sister’s house!”

“I’m not going!” Gu Yunyang blocked Yuncan. “And you’re not allowed to go either.”

“Gu Yunyang!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, their grandmother began coughing violently. Gu Yunyang’s expression changed as he rushed forward to pat her back, but she angrily pushed him away, coughing even harder.

Gu Yunyang’s eyes turned red.

His elder brother sent home sixty yuan every month, yet this woman only gave ten yuan to the family and kept the rest for herself. Their grandmother hadn’t dared go see a doctor, and her condition worsened day by day.

Just a few days ago, he had discovered that this woman was using the money to support another man. He had nearly lost control and confronted her, but thought of his grandmother and little sister and held himself back. If anything happened to him, who would take care of them?

He couldn’t even tell his grandmother, afraid she wouldn’t survive the shock. He had already lost his father—he couldn’t lose his grandmother too.

As her coughing worsened, Gu Yunyang clenched his fists, turned around, grabbed a plastic sheet by the door, and ran out into the pouring rain.

Jiang Yiyi hadn’t even opened her eyes when she heard violent coughing. At the same time, unfamiliar memories flooded her mind.

She had transmigrated—into the body of a side character in a novel she’d stayed up all night reading.

The original owner had dropped out of high school in her second year, supposedly to save money so her “brilliant” younger brother could go to school. In truth, she had fallen for a man named Bai Jun, who came from a poor family. She quit school hoping to work and support his education.

But it was the early 1980s, and private businesses weren’t yet common. Jobs were scarce. Just when the original owner was growing desperate, she heard the Gu family was looking for a bride for their soldier son, Gu Yunze, and would offer 2,000 yuan as a bride price.

The Gu family had once been well-off—Gu’s father had run a construction team after the economic reforms and earned quite a bit. But tragedy struck when he fell from scaffolding on the job and died instantly. The mother, devastated by grief, grew weaker by the day. With Gu Yunze away serving in the military, she worried she wouldn’t live long and wanted someone to help care for her younger children.

The original owner approached the Gu family herself, offering to marry Gu Yunze—on the condition that the bride price be 3,000 yuan, claiming it was for her brother’s college tuition.

The mother immediately agreed, handed over all their savings, and sent a telegram to Gu Yunze claiming she was on her deathbed, begging him to return quickly.

Gu Yunze rushed home only to find out he’d been tricked. He didn’t want to marry, but his mother threatened to kill herself if he refused. With no choice, he gave in, got the marriage certificate, and a wedding banquet was held.

On their wedding night, the original owner claimed she was on her period to avoid intimacy. The next day, Gu Yunze left in a hurry, returning to his post.

Though they never consummated the marriage, Gu Yunze still mailed home 60 yuan every month. The original owner kept 50 for herself and gave only 10 to the family for expenses.

She used the money to buy clothes, shoes, and snacks for Bai Jun. She even rented him an apartment in the county so he could focus on studying. Meanwhile, she completely ignored her own brother, who had to survive on a single cornbread bun per meal. She thought giving him 500 yuan for college was already too generous.

Bai Jun was eventually admitted to university. The original owner was thrilled and withdrew all remaining money, even stealing the last 20 yuan from the Gu family’s cash box. She left town with Bai Jun for Beijing.

While Bai Jun attended school, she took on any job she could find to support him, exhausting herself in the process. Within a year, she looked like a woman in her thirties.

Yet Bai Jun never seemed to mind. He treated her with care and affection every day, making her believe that once he graduated and found a job, she would become a respectable government wife.

But she never noticed that Bai Jun never let her visit his campus, nor had he ever touched her.

Four years later, after graduation, Bai Jun found a job in Beijing. He told her they should go on a trip to celebrate and even bought her new clothes. She happily went with him—only to be tricked and sold to an old widower in the mountains. The man beat and abused her daily. Within a few years, she was dead.

When Jiang Yiyi opened her eyes, she saw a frail, sickly woman hunched over in a severe coughing fit. Her hair was completely white, shaking with every cough.

“Mom,” Jiang Yiyi called out.

The woman’s eyes lit up in surprise. She quickly covered her mouth, trying to suppress the coughing, but it only grew worse—like she was about to cough out her internal organs.

“Little sister, go get mom a glass of water.”

Gu Yuncan stared in disbelief. Her sister-in-law had been married to her brother for nearly two years, and this was the first time she’d ever called her “little sister.”

Even their mother looked stunned, her coughing suddenly subdued. She raised a trembling finger and asked in a shaky voice, “Yiyi… how many fingers am I holding up?”

Seeing her reaction, Jiang Yiyi almost laughed. “Mom, I didn’t burn my brain.”

Their mother quickly asked, “Are you feeling very unwell? I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Jiang Yiyi listened to the heavy rain outside. With her mother-in-law’s frail body, she’d collapse before they ever got to the hospital. “It’s just a bit of rain. I’ll be fine. Just drink some water, then have little sister bring alcohol to help cool me down. I’ll be better after a nap.”

Their mother didn’t even drink the water—she sent Gu Yuncan to get the alcohol. Together, they wiped her chest, back, hands, and feet to cool her down.

Drifting into a daze, Jiang Yiyi fell asleep again.

“You people must be cursed to be our in-laws! Your whole family is a burden! One day it’s fifty yuan, the next it’s a hundred—what do you think we are, a bank?”

“Mom…”

“Shut up! All you do is give birth to useless girls! Qin Gang must have been blind to marry you!”

“And you, you old hag—aren’t you ashamed, making your kids come to our house begging for money every day?”

“You little brat! What are you staring at? Stare at me again and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

Jiang Yiyi opened her eyes again.