Chapter 1: Argument

◎ Wei Xuan’s Rebirth ◎

In a hospital ward at the Beijing National Cotton Factory Workers’ Hospital, three women stood around the bed, speaking softly to the person lying there. Faint sobbing could be heard from time to time.

At the doorway, a man gripped a leather belt in his hand, shouting angrily at the young man standing opposite him.

“Jiang Che, look at how upset you’ve made your mother! Hurry up and apologize!”

The young man called Jiang Che remained stubbornly silent, his neck stiffened as if he hadn’t heard a word.

Jiang Che’s mother, lying on the hospital bed, couldn’t sit still upon seeing her son’s stubbornness. Her crying grew even louder, as if she wouldn’t stop until he agreed to her demands, determined to flood Jinshan Temple with her tears.

Jiang Che’s father, seeing his wife in such distress, felt both anger and heartache. His son’s obstinate attitude—like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water—only made him more furious, nearly causing him to collapse backward in frustration. Yet, despite the leather belt in his hand, he couldn’t bring himself to actually strike his youngest son. After all, Jiang Che was the one he doted on the most. If he truly hurt him, not only would he regret it, but his wife would never forgive him either.

As the tense atmosphere reached a deadlock, Jiang Che’s three older sisters stood to the side, barely daring to breathe.

In the end, Jiang Che’s mother couldn’t win against her son’s stubbornness and reluctantly took a step back, finally allowing the situation to settle.

The moment Jiang Che heard his mother agree to let him marry Wei Xuan, his face immediately broke into a wide grin, as if he hadn’t just been sulking moments ago. He eagerly flattered his mother, showering her with sweet words until even the last traces of her reluctance completely disappeared.

Forget it—rural or not, as long as her son could settle down, she would accept it.

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Jiang Che’s three older sisters exchanged glances, their eyes filled with helplessness and resignation. They had expected this outcome all along.

Jiang Che’s parents had five children in total. The eldest was a son, followed by three daughters, and then Jiang Che, who was born when they were older. He was only six years older than his eldest brother’s son. With his sweet tongue, good looks, and natural charm, it was no exaggeration to say he was the apple of their mother’s eye.

His older siblings were all significantly older than him and had indulged him since childhood. This was how he had grown into the little tyrant he was today. So, his three sisters weren’t surprised in the least that their parents had given in once again. From childhood to now, every time there was a disagreement, it was always their parents who compromised first.

Jiang Che, however, didn’t care what his sisters thought. He was already planning when to bring this great news to Wei Xuan. As for the exact wedding date? As long as he could coax his mother into a good mood, everything else would fall into place.

Meanwhile, in a rural mud-brick house, Wei Xuan had just woken up—completely unaware that a major surprise was waiting for her.

Right now, she was still in a state of confusion.

Who could tell her—hadn’t she already died from a heart attack? So why, when she opened her eyes, had she ended up in a completely different body? And where was this place? What had happened to the original owner of this body?

A flood of questions surged through her mind with no answers in sight. Fortunately, once she calmed down, she realized she still had the original owner’s memories.

After sorting through the memories of this body from childhood to the present, Wei Xuan let out a long breath of relief. In her past life, she had read plenty of novels—her current situation was probably what people called rebirth, right?

Although she had no idea why she had ended up in this body, she had always been the type to adapt to her circumstances.

In her past life, she had been abandoned at the doorstep of an orphanage as soon as she was born because she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Fortunately, the orphanage director, Yuan, was a kind person who not only took her in but also raised funds from charitable donors to pay for her treatments. However, her illness was terminal, and the doctors had said it would be a miracle if she even made it to adulthood.

Sure enough, she didn’t even live to see her eighteenth birthday before she passed away.

Because of her illness, she had never had the chance to attend school, couldn’t do any strenuous activities, and had spent her entire short life confined within the orphanage—until the very last moment.

Now, Heaven had shown her mercy, granting her a second life and a healthy body. Even if the original owner were to return one day, just being able to experience a single day of freedom like this was already a blessing.

From the memories she inherited, it seemed that this was a version of China similar to the 1960s or 1970s from her past life. She had heard about this era from Director Yuan at the orphanage—it had been a difficult decade. For ordinary people, simply having enough to eat and warm clothes to wear was considered a luxury. The memories of the original owner only confirmed this harsh reality.

She was now in a place called the Dalianhua Production Team. Her family was an ordinary farming household, consisting of her parents, three older brothers, and one younger brother.

As the only daughter in the family, she was relatively cherished. At the very least, in this era where sons were favored over daughters, her family had allowed her to study up to high school.

That said, the original owner hadn’t been a particularly good student. Studying had been more of an excuse to avoid farm work than anything else.

Before Wei Xuan could think further about how to navigate her new life here, the door suddenly creaked open from the outside. She quickly shut her eyes.

The visitor was Wei Xuan’s mother. After finishing her work, she remembered that her daughter had complained about feeling unwell in the morning, so she came to check on her.

Pushing open the door, she saw her daughter still lying in bed. She tiptoed over and gently placed a hand on Wei Xuan’s forehead. Not sensing anything unusual, she lightly nudged her and said, “Ni’er, wake up. Get up and eat.”

Wei Xuan pretended to have just woken up, rubbed her eyes, and sat up. Following the original owner’s habits, she called out, “Mom.”

Wei Mother smiled at her delicate and lovely daughter. “Mm, don’t sleep any longer. If you keep lying around, your sisters-in-law will start gossiping again. Get up now—your eldest sister-in-law steamed an egg just for you.”

After saying that, she handed Wei Xuan the clothes that had been set aside. Seeing her start to get dressed, she gave her a few more words of advice before getting up and leaving the room.

As Wei Xuan dressed, she thought about what her mother had just said. The original owner had three sisters-in-law. The eldest was the most obedient and well-behaved, which made her the favorite of their mother-in-law. Even Wei Xuan herself had liked her the most.

Because every time Wei Mother showed favoritism toward Wei Xuan, only the eldest sister-in-law never showed any displeasure—at least, not on the surface.

As for the other two sisters-in-law, the second sister-in-law was the most calculating, always nitpicking over trivial matters, fearing that her own household would suffer any losses. The third sister-in-law had only been married into the family for six months. Since Wei Xuan had been living at school while attending high school, they hadn’t interacted much, and her impression of her was vague. However, Wei Mother was particularly dissatisfied with this daughter-in-law. She had grumbled about her in front of the original Wei Xuan multiple times, which naturally influenced the original owner’s opinion of her as well.

The main issue was that this sister-in-law had not been Wei Mother’s choice. Instead, Wei Xuan’s third brother had insisted on marrying her. Wei Mother looked down on the third sister-in-law because she came from a poor family and had never approved of the marriage.

After getting dressed and stepping outside, Wei Xuan took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling the lightness of her body. She stretched lazily, reveling in the newfound vitality. Indeed, health was the foundation of everything!

Before she could sigh in appreciation a second time, a sharp, mocking voice rang out from not far away:

“Oh my, I’ve never seen a grown girl as lazy as this one—sleeping in until noon while everyone else is already back from work!”

Wei Xuan’s smile froze on her face before she had a chance to retract it. If it were the original owner, she would have immediately shot back with a sharp retort. But for the current Wei Xuan, who had yet to master such verbal sparring—especially when she was indeed in the wrong—her face instantly flushed red with embarrassment.

Before she could think of a response, Wei Mother had already stepped in to fire back on her behalf.

“My daughter taking a nap is your concern now? Are you the one running this household? Instead of showing some care for your sister-in-law, you’re here stirring up trouble. Such a petty woman! Stop lazing around and go help in the kitchen!”

But Second Sister-in-law Wei, feeling she had reason on her side, wasn’t afraid of her mother-in-law. She immediately retorted, “Mother, I’m only saying this for Xiao Guzi’s (little sister-in-law’s) own good. She’s already at the age to be spoken for in marriage. If word gets out about her laziness—tsk tsk—it’ll be quite the gossip.”

These words were like poking a hornet’s nest. Wei Mother had always believed that her daughter, with her good looks and high school diploma, was destined to marry into the city and live a good life. Now, hearing her daughter-in-law curse Wei Xuan’s prospects like this, she angrily slammed the bowl in her hand onto the table with a loud thud and scolded,

“You sure have a lot to say! Who dares to gossip? Let me hear anyone talking nonsense, and I’ll tear their mouth apart! Just mind your own business. My daughter is so beautiful—there’s no way she won’t find a good match! If I catch you spreading rumors outside, I’ll have Second Son divorce you!”

The sudden outburst even startled Wei Xuan, who hadn’t been prepared for it. But Second Sister-in-law Wei remained unfazed, ready to fire back. However, before she could, Second Brother Wei quickly tugged on her sleeve and warned,

“Enough. If you can’t say something right, then just don’t say anything.”

Second Sister-in-law Wei feared nothing—not heaven, not earth—but she did fear upsetting her own husband. Seeing the dark expression on Second Brother Wei’s face, she begrudgingly swallowed the words she had been about to say.

Wei Xuan felt a bit embarrassed at the scene—if she hadn’t slept in so late, this argument between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law wouldn’t have happened. But seeing that the rest of the family looked completely unfazed, as if this were a common occurrence, she wisely kept her mouth shut, afraid that if she said the wrong thing, she might expose herself.

It wasn’t until Wei Mother gave the order—”Eat!”—that everyone finally sat down around the table.