Chapter 2 – The True Heiress in a Past Era

1975, in a small courtyard next to a steel mill in Yang City, Sichuan Province.

Liu Xinghe lay sprawled on the ground in a starfish-like position, her back arched, eyes wide with terror. Half-supporting herself, she gasped for breath, but sharp pain radiated from her neck. On the ground was a pool of blood. When she touched it, her hands were smeared with it.

“Damn… did a kite string really cut my throat?!”

Who in their right mind would fly a kite near the highway?

No, with this much bleeding, she was going to die if she didn’t save herself.

Gritting her teeth to calm the piercing pain in her neck, Liu Xinghe struggled to turn over. She lowered her head—almost hitting a jagged stone partially buried in the dirt, which could slice her throat again.

“…”

She froze instantly, holding herself still.

Oh my god, causing a secondary injury would be the end of her.

Liu Xinghe carefully shifted a few inches backward, keeping some distance, and grabbed a clean corner of her clothing. Frowning in hesitation for a moment, she decisively tore off a long strip of fabric and wrapped it tightly around her bleeding neck.

At the same time, her eyes scanned the surroundings, finally settling on a particular spot.

Shaking, she got to her feet and trudged over, sitting down heavily on the ground. She pulled out two mugwort plants from the cracks between stones, plucked all the leaves, and crushed them into a paste until green juice oozed out.

Liu Xinghe peeled back the blood-soaked white cloth around her neck, revealing the gory wound. She pressed the mugwort leaves onto the cut and wrapped the cloth back around it.

Her face was ghostly pale from blood loss—whiter than a corpse that had passed seven days—but fortunately, she had found something to stop the bleeding. Feeling the wound slowly clot, she exhaled deeply. Her life, for now, was safe.

She looked around the unfamiliar courtyard, confusion growing in her eyes. Where was she?

She had noticed something was off when tearing the fabric—these clothes weren’t what she wore that day, and the small town she knew didn’t have such old-fashioned houses.

Why was she lying in a courtyard? She clearly remembered an uncle running over to help her stop the bleeding. Shouldn’t she have been on the highway or in a hospital?

“Hm~”

Suddenly, a faint sound came from inside a house. Liu Xinghe quickly pinpointed its source and turned toward the eastern building, carefully walking to the window.

Through a torn corner of newspaper taped to the glass, she once again saw the explosive scene on the bed.

Looks like they just rolled onto it.

Damn, her eyes were going to get another sty.

As she looked away for a moment, Liu Xinghe saw the two main culprits’ faces—enjoying themselves.

Instantly, a violent headache struck, and a flood of unfamiliar memories and burning resentment surged through her mind like a geyser. She clutched her head, collapsing painfully onto the ground.

Liu Xinghe had transmigrated!

She had entered the body of “Liu Xinghe,” a poor little girl from 1975 who had only been brought back home six months prior and whose biological mother had just died—a so-called true heiress.

The original girl had gone missing at age two while visiting relatives with her father. Luckily, a kind rural couple from the Liu family took her in when her parents couldn’t be found, completing the adoption at the local police station.

At eighteen, her biological parents finally found her and brought her back home. Because her father had married in, the girl retained her mother’s surname, Liu, and kept the name Liu Xinghe.

The household also had an adopted daughter, a so-called fake heiress, Shen Xi.

At first, the girls got along well. To outsiders, they seemed like loving sisters: the older one modest, the younger obedient.

The original Liu Xinghe had a few good days: her mother doted on her, bought her beautiful clothes, a watch, a bicycle, a tape recorder, and even gave her pocket money comparable to what her adoptive mother earned from farm work all year.

Her mother gave her the deed to their large courtyard home and promised to leave her all the dowry and inheritance, as well as her job once she graduated high school.

No one noticed that outside, the fake heiress was nearly tearing her clothes in jealousy.

Even Liu’s adoptive father lingered on a page of a book, eyes deep with thought.

But the good times didn’t last. Just as the original Liu Xinghe was about to graduate and take her mother’s place at work, her mother suddenly fell ill and died. Life turned upside down.

Before the mourning period ended, her biological father, a phoenix man, shed his facade and brought home a harsh woman—his former lover—who openly schemed for the house deeds and dowry.

The cruel stepmother seized all of the original mother’s possessions, burned her portrait, and, under the father’s orders, forced Liu Xinghe to do all the hard, dirty work. Meals were scarce.

Even the gentle younger sister revealed her venomous side, showing disdain and playing tricks—adding disgusting ingredients to Liu Xinghe’s food, stealing her gifts, and eyeing her job.

Outwardly, everyone pretended to be kind, but behind her back, they conspired against her.

The stepmother would boast publicly about buying meat for Liu Xinghe, but the girl never got to eat it.

Worse, the father, stepmother, and fake heiress secretly allied against her. They confined her at home, claiming she was sick, while really all eyes were on her, scheming to seize the house deeds and prevent her from taking her job.

The original Liu Xinghe’s death was simple: the fake heiress feared losing her privileges and arranged for the girl to go to the countryside under the guise of rural labor.

Just as she was about to graduate, her job disappeared. The fake heiress, desperate to keep her status, secretly registered Liu Xinghe for the countryside assignment.

A local rogue boy, Li Bing, who admired the fake heiress, followed her. After the three clashed, the fake heiress and Li Bing subdued Liu Xinghe, who fell unconscious—just on the jagged stone that would have nearly sliced her neck.

Originally, it was just a scratch, but the fake heiress kicked her repeatedly in frustration. Li Bing joined in before dragging the girl inside. The repeated friction with the stone reopened her wound, slicing her carotid artery.

Although only a second passed in memory, Liu Xinghe experienced it as a lifetime. She absorbed the original’s memories and emotions completely.

The original Liu Xinghe had wanted to repay her adoptive parents by working in the city, but at her death, she only wished for revenge and a happy life back with her parents.

Fine. She would take up that revenge. She was Liu Xinghe now, and everyone would pay.

“Xiao Xixi, you’re so beautiful~”

A disgusting voice from the house interrupted her thoughts.

Liu Xinghe clenched her fists and stood from the corner, her gaze fixed on the two people who had killed the original. Deep, icy malice filled her eyes, and a chilling smile curled across her lips.

Beautiful? Then none of them would live.

She could always go through the whole “catching the adulterers” process again if she wanted.