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Rebirth in the 70s: Resplendent Beauty
墨書 Inktalez
The cold wind sliced through the barren mountain ridge like a knife, stirring up dry leaves and dust that stung my face. I huddled in the abandoned earth temple at the village entrance, my tattered clothes offering no protection against the bone-chilling cold. My body grew colder, and my consciousness began to fade.
Outside, I could hear faint sounds of commotion—was the village preparing for the New Year? The crack of firecrackers, the laughter of children, and… the smell of meat? It smelled so good…
My name is Li Xiulian, and I am about… forty years old? I can hardly remember. All I know is that I was once renowned as a beauty in the surrounding villages, the first to pass the high school entrance exam and the first to return home to farm as a “fool.”
For that slick-talking, lazy man, Wang Jianmin, I disregarded my parents’ objections and gave up a job opportunity in the city to dive headfirst into this impoverished valley and marry him. I thought that with my hard work and his “cleverness,” our lives would surely improve.
But I was wrong.
After marriage, his lazy nature became evident; he would beat me at the slightest provocation. My mother-in-law was even more vicious, seeing me as a thorn in her side. And my so-called “good sister,” Zhao Chunyan, the village chief’s daughter, pretended to care for me on the surface while secretly colluding with my husband to steal away the little savings I had managed to gather through hard work!
I gave birth to a son, hoping it would bind his heart to mine, but my mother-in-law’s extreme preference for boys turned my son into her lifeline, further intensifying her torment of me. Under their influence, my son grew distant, viewing me as a useless woman who brought shame to his father.
In the end, they all conspired against me, using my “improper behavior” as an excuse—merely having exchanged a few words with a colleague from the supply and marketing cooperative who came to collect mountain goods—and they drove me out of my home! The family I had painstakingly maintained for twenty years and the son I had raised became someone else’s!
With nowhere to go, my parents died from worry over me, and my brother and sister-in-law shunned me for bringing shame upon them. I could only survive in this dilapidated temple.
Today, I felt like I couldn’t go on any longer. Cold and hungry, it felt like something was blocking my chest, making it hard to breathe.
In my haze, I seemed to see Wang Jianmin and Zhao Chunyan dressed in new clothes, proudly showing off my chubby son at the village entrance… Their smiles were so blinding!
I hate! I hate so much! I hate my blindness and ignorance! I hate Wang Jianmin’s treachery! I hate Zhao Chunyan’s venomous heart! I hate this unjust world!
If… if only I could start over… I would never live so cowardly again! I want those who have wronged me, humiliated me, and harmed me to pay the price! A bloody price!
The cold wind swept in with snowflakes that landed on my face, icy and piercing. My consciousness plunged into darkness…
“Xiulian! Xiulian! You dead girl, are you still asleep? The sun is already up; get out of bed! Do you want to starve us all?”
The sharp and piercing voice jolted me awake from my stupor! I opened my eyes wide; what greeted me was a mottled earthen wall, a roof pasted with newspapers, and… a familiar harsh face!
This is… my mother? No! It’s what my mother-in-law looked like when she was young! Wang Jianmin’s mother, Qian Guifen!
“What are you staring at? Hurry up and get up to cook! If you keep dawdling around, do you want a beating?” Seeing me staring blankly at her, Qian Guifen picked up a broomstick from the corner and swung it toward me!
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