Director Xia felt a knot in her chest.
Though she couldn’t bring herself to say “Mother” earlier, Liu Fen was now kneeling and begging for her sake. She had become “Xia Xiaolan,” inheriting the original owner’s identity and most memories, but she felt frustrated about the original’s situation—”Xia Xiaolan” had a fox-like beautiful face but was an empty-headed vase. Her every smile and frown carried a hint of charm that would have made her highly sought after 30 years later, but in the 1980s, such behavior was called “frivolous”!
Rural folks didn’t use such sophisticated vocabulary – they had one word for Xia Xiaolan… loose!
Because of her looks, Xia Xiaolan’s reputation was already poor, and then she allegedly committed the shameful act of stealing her cousin Xia Ziyu’s boyfriend, supposedly stripping naked in broad daylight to seduce her future brother-in-law. Not only was she drowning in the village’s spittle, but even the Xia family couldn’t tolerate her.
While the boyfriend-stealing incident might be debatable…
The accusation about stripping naked in broad daylight to seduce her future brother-in-law was false!
But nobody would believe her denials. Some even swore they saw Xia Xiaolan not only seducing her brother-in-law but also rolling naked in haystacks with a good-for-nothing from the neighboring village. The rumors spread throughout the village and even to surrounding areas. Unable to defend herself, and with the Xia family adding fuel to the fire, Xia Xiaolan finally chose to attempt suicide by crashing into a pillar.
Director Xia was worldly enough to know there were countless wrongful accusations in the world—how could she possibly intervene in each one?
But now that she had become “Xia Xiaolan,” she refused to bear this false accusation.
The Xia family members’ faces were twisted driving her to death. The woman kneeling on the ground was this body’s birth mother and the person who loved the original owner most in the Xia family. Director Xia decided not to endure it anymore:
“Mother, please get up first!”
She pulled Liu Fen up forcefully, and Liu Fen didn’t resist, afraid of touching her wound.
Saying “Mother” wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined. Director Xia envied two things about “Xia Xiaolan”: first, her extraordinary beauty; second, having a mother who loved her deeply. Director Xia had lost both parents in childhood and never experienced such familial love!
She was that powerful career woman, Director Xia.
She was also Xia Xiaolan from the 1980s, who committed suicide amidst rumors.
With no choice available, the two identities had to merge into one.
“Xiaolan, listen to Mother, properly apologize to your grandmother…”
Liu Fen’s face was filled with worry. She had always endured her mother-in-law’s temper, her sisters-in-law’s attitudes, and her husband’s and daughter’s anger, preferring to be submissive in everything. Unfortunately, nobody in the Xia family appreciated her approach—the more she endured, the more they bullied her. The original owner hadn’t been kind in this regard either.
Grandmother Xia screamed: “I don’t have a loose woman for a granddaughter, you shameless little slut, even trying to steal Ziyu’s boyfriend!!”
Xia Xiaolan’s temples throbbed.
As her position had risen over the years, it had been a long time since she’d directly confronted such low-level shrews.
But her skills at tearing apart pretty female sales representatives and beating up defaulting suppliers hadn’t diminished!
“Grandmother!”
She shouted with all her might, temporarily overwhelming Grandmother Xia:
“You may not recognize me as your granddaughter, but I must still call you Grandmother, as I’m full of affection for our old Xia family… Your constant cursing about ‘loose women’ and ‘little sluts’—aren’t you just waiting for villagers to watch our family’s drama? My reputation may be ruined, but your other granddaughters still need to marry, don’t they? Is it prestigious to have a ‘loose woman’ for a sister?”
Xia Xiaolan truly didn’t understand—even when showing favoritism, why not use some strategy? Hurting the enemy a thousand while harming oneself eight hundred, why must the family unite to crush her instead of presenting a united front to outsiders? In the village, with Xia Xiaolan’s bad reputation, how could any unmarried Xia daughter hold her head high?
Grandmother Xia was immediately choked speechless, and Third Aunt’s expression turned ugly.
Among the family’s older girls, Xia Ziyu was 20, had gotten into university, and found a compatible match. Xia Xiaolan was 18, seemingly unmarriageable as a “loose woman,” and Third Aunt’s eldest daughter was already 17, soon to be of marriage age.
Third Aunt hated Xia Xiaolan to her bones but had to lower her voice, grinding out through clenched teeth:
“You dare speak? Our Hongxia’s prospects are ruined because of you—why don’t you just die!”
Cousin Xia Hongxia’s face was full of hatred too, fidgeting eagerly behind her mother.
Liu Fen’s face flushed with anger, “Sister-in-law, Xiaolan just woke up…”
Liu Fen’s thin frame blocked her daughter, wanting to argue but being naturally timid, she couldn’t speak smoothly when pressured.
Xia Xiaolan gently pulled Liu Fen behind her: “Don’t worry, I won’t argue with them. I’m a reasonable person.”
Grandmother Xia truly wanted to strangle this debt collector before her, but this debt collector remained oblivious, scanning the room before smiling: “I hit the pillar once but the King of Hell wouldn’t take me, so now I plan to live well. I’ll live well, and whoever makes me unhappy, I’ll make them unhappy first—You say I’m unwelcome staying here, so why don’t I move out?”
Move out?
Where could she move to?
Liu Fen panicked—how could an unmarried girl move out on her own?
Xia Xiaolan hadn’t died from the impact and had become even more difficult to handle, acting like a seasoned troublemaker, nearly making Grandmother Xia faint from anger.
But Xia Xiaolan had never been obedient. Grandmother Xia was crafty, Third Aunt was cruel, and Xia Xiaolan herself wasn’t easy to bully. Third Aunt couldn’t wait for Xia Xiaolan to get far away, to stop bringing shame to the family:
“Where could you possibly move to? Don’t tell me you’re planning to hide at your grandmother’s house, only to return in a few days!”
Moving out would be perfect—space was tight at home, and Xia Xiaolan occupied a room alone. It would free up a room, and Third Aunt, eyeing the clean though broken-down room, had already planned to move her daughter Xia Hongxia in—her daughter was grown and soon to marry, so she should have her own room.
“Doesn’t the family have an old house by the riverbank? One at each end of the village, I’ll live there, so I won’t offend everyone’s eyes!”
Xia Xiaolan revealed her original plan.
Grandmother Xia persisted: “You bring shame to us, we’re already kind enough not to beat you to death, and you still want us to give you a room?”
Although the old house by the riverbank was already tottering, full of mosquitoes in summer and cold in winter, and next to the village cattle pen with its strong odors, Grandmother Xia just refused to agree readily, not wanting to make things too comfortable for Xia Xiaolan.
She felt something had changed about Xia Xiaolan since she woke up.
Still troublesome, but now with method… Grandmother Xia was quite sensitive and didn’t want Xia Xiaolan to escape her control.
Xia Xiaolan smiled sweetly, “Then I won’t move, staying home with food and drink isn’t bad. Since my reputation is already ruined, I’ll just be content being an old maid at home! Big Sister is a precious university student, surely she won’t watch her own sister starve to death in the future?”
Xia Xiaolan was indeed too difficult to handle, making even the usually silent First Aunt’s eyelids twitch violently.
Was Xia Xiaolan planning to leech off her Ziyu?!
“Ah, Aunt doesn’t believe what those people say. Xiaolan, you’re just angry with the family now, but how can a young girl survive away from home? Let me persuade your grandmother, that we can all take a step back and calm down.”
First Aunt pulled Grandmother Xia out the door, with Third Aunt quickly following.
The younger generation in the room all looked at Xia Xiaolan with hostile eyes. Liu Fen was quietly crying, and Xia Xiaolan sighed:
“Stop crying, I can’t survive if I stay here.”
Enduring the abuse, the Xia family wouldn’t kill her… but Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to endure. She had a chance at rebirth, so why should she live such a stifled life?!
Soon after, Grandmother Xia and the others returned.
“You can have the old house, whether you live or die has nothing to do with the Xia family anymore!”
Xia Xiaolan pushed her luck by asking to take some household items. Grandmother Xia had no way to deal with this seasoned troublemaker and finally threw her a small bag of sweet potatoes:
“Now get out!”