Chapter 1
It was painful. Her entire body felt like it was being crushed by a heavy object, like her bones, skin, and flesh were being torn apart and reassembled.
Her head felt like it had been hit by a sharp weapon, as it was throbbing with pain.
Han Qiao rubbed her head and opened her eyes.
“?”
A yellowish mosquito net.
Turning her head, she saw a window, a long table by the bed, and a small bronze mirror on the long table.
Han Qiao sat up with a Whoosh.
She fell down again in pain and let out a scream. “Ouch…”
“The famous food blogger, philanthropist, explorer, and successor of the XX Fist, Ms. Han Qiao, passed away in the capital at three o’clock this morning. Before she died, Ms. Han had already gone head with procedures to donate her body and inheritance. In life, Ms. Han was…”
This was the reputation she would leave behind in the world as she left it.
She was dead.
“OH.” She had a splitting headache.
Han Qiao put her hand to her head. At the same time, memories that were not hers flooded into her mind like lantern light.
These memories of half a life spent as a miserable woman shocked her so much that her eyes widened.
Han Qiao from Xishan Village was one of the most beautiful in all the countryside. When she was 16, following her parents’ orders, she married the youngest son of the Sun family, Sun Yiming, in Ninghe Town.
At eighteen, she gave birth to her eldest daughter Sun Xiu, at twenty, her next daughter Sun Yi, and at twenty-two, her youngest daughter Sun Ke.
This year she was twenty-seven. Besides managing the household, she also took up a job of making paper dolls for coffin displays to earn money and supplement the household expenses.
During this period, her husband, Sun Yiming, was either taking the county-level civil service examination or studying for it. The little money that Han Qiao earned was all taken by him. All in the name of studying, but in reality, he used it to drink with his rotten friends to celebrate his failed dreams.
Time and time again, his name fell below Sun Shan. In addition, those rotten friends provoked him by saying that he and Han Qiao were ill-fated, since she could not give birth to a son. The Drunken Sun Yiming returned home and beat Han Qiao. From then on, he developed an uncontrollable habit of beating her. When he got angry, he even hit his daughter.
However, he cared about his reputation and so never hit Han Qiao’s head. When he went out, he deliberately treated Han Qiao very well. Everywhere he praised her, saying that she had done a lot for the family and gone to great difficulties.
Han Qiao had a hard time speaking up. For the sake of her three daughters, she endured it all.
Sun Yiming’s parents were smart. They knew he was a piece of dirt and could not be helped. They estranged themselves from him early on and followed their eldest son to live in a manor at the town’s end, helping him run a grocery store.
They did not care at all about how Sun Yiming’s family lived.
If they were beaten to death or crippled, with one word from afar they could shirk all responsibility.
Father and Mother Sun did not cut Sun Yiming off completely though. At the very least, they gave him two mu of land and a small courtyard, where the household of five were currently living.
It was all just in case Sun Yiming were to distinguish himself in the future. Then they would still be able to benefit from it. Their abacuses went click-clack.
Han Qiao let out a deep sigh.
This time, she was beaten so brutally by Sun Yiming that she died. She transmigrated to a different world.
The person she transmigrated into had the same name as Han Qiao.
“F**k!” Han Qiao, in pain all over, swore.
The creaking wooden door slid open.
Tilting her head, Han Qiao watched the skinny figure slowly walk over with a bowl in her hands.
“Mother, I’ve made porridge. You should get up and have some.” As soon as Sun Xiu finished speaking, tears fell without end.
The little girl in front of her was very thin. Her skin was white, her eyes very big. With one look one could tell she was delicate and pretty.
This was her eldest daughter, Sun Xiu. She was nine years old this year.
At nine years old, she washed clothes, cooked, cleaned the house, and helped to make paper dolls, never complaining about how tired she was. She had already shouldered the responsibility and burden of being the eldest sister.
Han Qiao felt an inexplicable pain in her heart. She gently exhaled and called out in a hoarse voice, “Xiu, my dear…”
Just as she opened her mouth, her throat and eyes felt as if they were being torn apart.
It was so itchy that she was coughing.
Whenever she coughed, pain shot through her entire body. Han Qiao was so angry that she wanted to curse her mother even more.
“Mother, have some porridge first.” Just as Sun Xiu finished speaking, two girls ran in from the door.
The three sisters helped Han Qiao up and fed her porridge soup.
Instinctually, Han Qiao took a sip.
The thick and fragrant porridge soup wet her mouth and throat. Slowly, the itchiness subsided and she stopped coughing.
Han Qiao leaned against the headboard of the bed as if she had been drained of all her energy.
Carefully feeding her the porridge, Sun Xiu sobbed, “Mother, please think of something. If this continues, you will be killed by Father.”
“…”
Han Qiao looked at Sun Xiu.
It really was unfortunate, your mother really had been beaten to death, she thought.
She opened her mouth.
Finally she seemed to have made up her mind. “Mother has already thought of a way. Don’t worry. From today onwards, mother will definitely lead you guys to a good life.”
“Is Father going to hit us again?” asked Sun Ke, who was only five years old.
What she was most concerned about was not whether she was hungry or had warm clothes, but whether she would still be hit?
Han Qiao looked at the little girl. Just like her elder sister, she was skinny, but very fair and tender. She was a beautiful little girl.
Han Qiao then looked at Sun Yi. Just like her sisters, she was emaciated, but her skin was very white and her eyes were huge.
The three sisters looked at Han Qiao all at once, waiting for her answer.
“No. From now on, mother won’t let him so much as lay a hand on us.”
She would return the favor and let Sun Yiming have a taste of his own medicine.
Grumble, grumble.
Grumble, grumble.
The sound coming from the three children’s stomachs reminded Han Qiao that there was something more important than beating up Sun Yiming.
The four of them had to fill their stomachs.
Also, she had to take care of their personal hygiene. She could clearly feel that all four of them were filthy.
“Is there still food in the kitchen?” Han Qiao asked.
Sun Ke opened her mouth and was about to reply.
Sun Yi quickly covered her mouth with her hands.
The little girl’s eyes instantly turned red, and she was so upset that she cried.
“Mother, there’s still some porridge soup in the kitchen. You drink the soup in the bowl first, then I’ll bring the rest to eat with my sisters.”
…
Since Han Qiao still had all her memories, she naturally knew the situation.
“My dear Xiu, go and pull out the drawer. There’s ten coins in there. Take them and buy some steamed buns.”
“Mother, that’s the only money our family has. My sister and I aren’t hungry. There’s still porridge soup in the kitchen,” said Sun Xiu softly.
“Is there really?” Han Qiao asked.
Of course, there wasn’t.
In the morning, her father said he wanted to eat porridge, but there was only so much rice in the rice bowl. Fearing a beating, she cooked all the porridge. If she didn’t quickly scoop up a bowl and put it away, her father would have eaten it all.
She and her two younger sisters drank the pot-washing water for breakfast and lunch..
They hadn’t found lunch yet. She thought about adding some saltwater so each of them would have a bowl to fill her stomach.
“Xiu, don’t disobey me. Go and buy some buns,” Han Qiao urged.
Sun Xiu looked at Han Qiao, then at her two younger sisters who were salivating with hopeful faces.
Her heart felt bitter.
She went to get the money with reddened eyes.
This was really the only ten coins left in the family.
If it wasn’t for the fact that her mother hid it well, her father would have used it to buy something to drink.
“Mother… ” Sun Xiu took the money and shouted again, as though to remind Han Qiao that it was not too late to change her mind.
After coming back with the mantou, the family would actually have no money at all.
“Go buy it. With ten coins you can buy all the mantou.” Han Qiao’s voice was soft but decisive.
Gritting her teeth, Sun Xiu turned around and left the house.
Sun Yi glanced at the jagged bowl sitting on the long table. “Mother, please drink the porridge first and get full.”
“There’s no rush. We’ll drink it together when your big sister comes back,” Han Qiao said softly.
“Ke won’t drink the porridge soup. I want you to drink it,” said the lovable five-year-old Sun Ke.
Hearing this, Han Qiao’s heart fluttered. She beckoned her to her side.
The little girl was thin and small. Her hands and feet were nimble. She climbed onto the bed in an instant and came up to Han Qiao gently. She called out lovably, “Mother.”
Her big eyes were wet with caution, afraid that she would hurt her.
She then asked, heart aching, “Mother, did father hit you hard?”