"Mom, forget it! I'm not doing those chores. Whoever wants to can go right ahead!"
While Zhou Gu'er was still lost in memories of her past, Zhou Duo'er, who had been combing her hair, tossed her wooden comb aside and snapped.
Zhou Duo'er was thirteen years old. She had an older sister, Zhou Feng'er, who was fourteen, and a younger brother, Zhou Cai, who was eleven.
All three were Zhou Mazi's biological children. While Zhou Mazi wasn't particularly affectionate toward his two daughters, Zhou Feng'er and Zhou Duo'er, he treated them far better than he did Zhou Gu'er.
As for Zhou Cai, he was the apple of Zhou Mazi's eye. As the only son, the one who would carry on the Old Zhou Family line, Zhou Mazi doted on him endlessly. He never had to do any work, was always given the best food, and had developed a domineering personality as a result.
"Why didn't you say that in front of Dad just now? What are you complaining about now? You never do anything and make your big sister do it all. Isn't she sick today? What's the big deal if you do a little? Your big sister was already doing chores for years by the time she was your age."
Li Hua chided her own daughter. In her heart, even though Zhou Gu'er wasn't her biological child, she had raised the girl for over ten years, ever since she was three or four. To her, there was hardly any difference. Besides, the girl was quiet, kind, and diligent—never causing any trouble. She was much better than her own two daughters, so Li Hua was partial to her. But in this family, her words carried no weight; she had no voice. So even when she wanted to help Zhou Gu'er, she couldn't do a thing.
"She gets sick from a little rain? Why is she so delicate? Does she think she's some young lady? As if she's worthy! I think she's just being lazy and doesn't want to work, trying to boss us around. Mom, you're something else, always taking her side."
Zhou Duo'er grumbled. She hadn't dared to object earlier for fear of her father's scolding, but she wasn't particularly afraid of her mother. Still, since her dad had already agreed to let that good-for-nothing big sister rest for a day, she didn't dare protest too openly, lest she invite a scolding. That didn't stop her from muttering a few complaints, though.
"That's enough out of you. Hurry up and get to work. There's still a mountain of chores. Remember to call your second sister back from the doorway. If we don't get it all done soon, your father will start yelling again."
Li Hua shook her head as she spoke. 'These two daughters of mine are nothing like Gu'er. They're not nearly as good-looking, and all they think about all day is fussing over their appearance. They just wander around the village with nothing to do, not helping one bit. All the chores at home and in the fields fall to me and Gu'er. When I ask those two to do a little something, they not only do a bad job but also complain up a storm. But what can I do? As bad as they are, they're still my own daughters.'
Everyone had left, leaving Zhou Gu'er alone in the room.
She hadn't said a word earlier because she couldn't be bothered to deal with Zhou Duo'er.
'Wasting my breath on Zhou Duo'er is pointless. I should be thinking about my current situation.'
'Have I really been reborn?'
'If this is real, then my fate from my past life…'
'No! No! No!'
Zhou Gu'er shook her head again and again in terror. 'I refuse my past life's fate! I absolutely will not marry Zhang Da. Just thinking about everything that followed makes my blood run cold. I'd rather never marry, be all alone this time, than go through that again.'
But...
'Not get married? What if my stepfather sells me off again, just like in my last life?'
Zhou Gu'er felt distressed. Then she clenched her fists. 'In my last life, I was weak. I was submissive and took whatever came my way. I suffered every hardship imaginable. Before I died, I swore that in this life, no one would ever control my destiny again. My life must be in my own hands.'
'But I also understand that I can't leave the Zhou family right now. I don't have any identification papers, no money. Leaving would be a huge hassle. Besides, this era is different from the future. Parents still have a great deal of authority. If I were to defy my stepfather without a solid plan, he could beat me savagely or do something even worse, and no one would say a word. I have to be absolutely sure before I act.'
'But what should I do?'
Before Zhou Gu'er could figure it out, Li Hua brought her a bowl of ginger water to drink.
Zhou Gu'er drank the ginger water and lay back down. It wasn't that she didn't want to get up; she felt unwell, and on top of that, she didn't know how to face her new reality.
Being young again still felt unreal to her. She was afraid this was all a dream, that when she woke up, she would be back in the future, facing all those heartbreaking events.
'But what if it is real?'
Lying on the kang, gazing at the dilapidated roof, Zhou Gu'er's eyes shone with a frightening light.
"Hey, stop pretending to be sick! Get up! Are you trying to starve us to death?"
Zhou Gu'er, lost in her thoughts, was once again startled by a voice. She looked at Zhou Duo'er, who was standing by the kang, staring at her with an impatient expression.
Zhou Gu'er knew what her younger sister meant.
Before she got married, she and her adoptive mother, Li Hua, did almost all the housework. She knew she wasn't her stepfather's biological daughter, that her adoptive mother had brought her into the family. Fearing her stepfather would cast her out, she started working from the age of six or seven. Even so, her stepfather was never satisfied, calling her a money-losing commodity. If her adoptive mother hadn't adamantly stopped him, he probably would have thrown her out on the street long ago.
Although Zhou Gu'er had helped Li Hua raise Zhou Feng'er and Zhou Duo'er since they were little, they were not close to her. From the moment they learned Zhou Gu'er had a different father, they started ordering her around, feeling that since she lived in their house, she ought to do everything.
Therefore, Zhou Feng'er and Zhou Duo'er rarely did any housework, unless it was the busy farming season when there weren't enough hands.
But it wasn't the busy season now. Zhou Feng'er had run off first thing in the morning, and after helping her mom in the kitchen for just a little while, Zhou Duo'er couldn't stand it anymore.
'She was furious. Why should that stray girl get to lie on the kang and rest? Why did *I* have to work? It wasn't fair!' So, when Li Hua wasn't looking, she slipped out of the kitchen.
Zhou Gu'er looked at her younger sister's impatient face. In her past life, she would have already gotten up to work, because she was afraid—afraid of her stepfather's scolding, afraid her younger siblings would despise her.
But in this life, she would not be afraid anymore!
Zhou Gu'er remembered how Zhou Duo'er had treated Li Hua in their past life.
After Zhou Cai got married, he refused to support his mother. Li Hua couldn't survive on her own, so after starving for several days, she went to her two daughters for help. But both of them drove her out, unwilling to spare even a bowl of leftover rice. By the time Li Hua found her way to Zhou Gu'er's doorstep, she was about to faint from hunger, her clothes in tatters. It was Gu'er who took in her adoptive mother, caring for her in her old age and seeing to her burial.
Zhou Gu'er could never forget how her adoptive mother looked when she found her—nothing but skin and bones.
Zhou Gu'er could never forget how after her adoptive mother passed away, Zhou Cai, Zhou Feng'er, and Zhou Duo'er had stormed into her home like bandits and carried the old woman's body away. When Zhou Gu'er tried to stop them, Zhou Duo'er shoved and hit her, spraining her back.
Zhou Gu'er knew why they took the body. When someone died, they would hold a funeral. Relatives and friends would have to give condolence money, and that way, they could collect the cash.
'They treated Mom's body like a prop for collecting money!'