I looked at the pile of sunflower seed husks wrapped up in my photographs, feeling that things weren’t quite what I had imagined.

I took the paper and asked with a smile, “Sister-in-law, we’ve met twice now, but I still don’t know your name?”

“Yao Jindou,” she said. “What do you want?”

“Jindou…” I nodded. “That’s a good name.”

“Go throw away those sunflower seed husks for me, I still want to eat more,” my sister-in-law said, then added after thinking, “Oh right, did you bring the money back?”

“I…?” I frowned. This girl was indeed different from what I had imagined.

“Would she dare not bring it back?” Chengcai walked over from behind. “Zhang Laidi, did you see the photos in this room? I have many more under my bed.”

“How wonderful,” I looked around the room, a relieved expression appearing on my face, then lowered my head to speak to my sister-in-law. “Sister-in-law, you’re clearly a woman yourself. Sitting in this kind of room laughing heartily, don’t you feel a bit awkward?”

“Awkward? What do I have to be awkward about?” Jindou showed a mocking smile. “Damn it, they photographed you, not me. If you hadn’t gone to the city and had married Old Ma earlier, would any of this have happened?”

“Oh really?” I paused. “So you mean because I went to the city, you all look down on me?”

“City women are just loose,” Jindou stretched lazily. “You were willing to go to the city to sleep with people for money, but I’m not.”

This statement was quite interesting. So those who don’t go to the city are considered “faithful,” while those who’ve been to the city are all promiscuous?

What kind of excuse are you making for your own laziness and incompetence?

“Aiya, alright, alright…” the old man walked over with a smile again. “Stop arguing. Laidi, what your sister-in-law said isn’t wrong. It doesn’t matter that Old Ma got arrested. You should drink more milk at home. There are still many unmarried men in the village. Once your breasts get bigger, the old man will pick another family for you.”

“That’s right!” my mother said. “It’s a second marriage, it won’t sell well this time. If we can get fifty thousand yuan, we’ll burn incense in gratitude…”

Haha.

I really wanted to laugh.

“Zhang Laidi, hurry up,” Chengcai asked. “Where’s the money? The two million and three thousand? I even went out to borrow high-interest loans for the wedding. Now I’m counting on your two million to pay back the debt.”

Ha, you even care about the high-interest loan money, but never once thought about whether I could survive.

“I’ll go get it,” I came back to my senses and said. “I left it outside.”

“Outside?” Chengcai was startled. “What? What if someone takes it?”

“They won’t. I hid it. Wait for me a moment, I’ll go get it for you now.” I smiled and pushed past Chengcai.

“Should I come with you?”

“No, I want to give you a surprise.”

Everyone stood frozen in place, watching me walk out of the room.

I came to the doorway, paid the taxi fare from earlier, then put away my phone. I lowered my head and fumbled in my handbag for a moment, then my expression turned cold. I raised my head and said, “It’s a bit heavy. Chengcai, come out and help me carry it.”

“What? Coming, coming!” Chengcai called out happily.

I stood at the door holding a multi-purpose hammer in my hand. When that figure walked out, I swung the hammer hard at his temple.

Chengcai didn’t make a sound and directly collapsed.

I crouched down, watching his eyes slowly roll back, but didn’t feel satisfied. I could only grab a handful of sand from the ground and rub it into his eyes.

You like to look, so I’ll let you look.

You bloodsucking demon.

Intentional assault, punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or control.

Seeing Chengcai lying in a pool of blood, my body slowly began to tremble.

Was I afraid?

No… I didn’t feel afraid, only abnormally excited. I had struggled with the scales of justice for half my life, but never once felt as excited as I did now.

I used all my strength to drag Chengcai aside, then bent down to take out a compressed canister from my backpack, and then put on a mask.

“Old man…” I called out, suppressing my trembling voice. “Chengcai can’t carry it alone. Come help too. There’s really too much money.”

“Oh! Coming, coming!”

When the old man showed his face, I immediately sprayed the compressed canister at his face.

His whole body froze, then his body swayed.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t pepper spray, but ether.

Taking advantage of his confused state, I raised the hammer and struck his forehead. This blow was quite forceful, spinning him half a circle. Seeing his back facing me, I raised the hammer again and struck the back of his head.

The old man had farmed all his life and was much stronger than me. If I couldn’t knock him unconscious, I would definitely be in danger.

Only this blow was too heavy. He might never wake up again.

Intentional assault, causing serious injury, punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years.

The old man fell into the room with a muffled sound, drawing the old woman’s attention.

She muttered “damn it” and after taking two steps outside, froze in place.

Before her was the old man with his head split open, and me, my face covered in blood, wearing a mask.

“Zhang… Zhang Laidi!!” she shouted hoarsely. “What are you doing?! What are you going to do?!”

“Mom, I want things to be fair,” I said expressionlessly. “You don’t want me to live, so I’ll make you die.”

After hearing what I said, she sat down on the ground with a “thump,” while inside the room, Jindou was still laughing “hahaha.”

After all, this woman shouted and screamed all day long, so Jindou must have gotten used to it.

“You and I are both women. Why do you have to drive me to extinction?” I slowly walked toward her with the hammer and ether. “I’ve done all the housework since I was six years old. You’ve been comfortable enough. I washed your underwear, your socks, served you tea and water, cooked for you. Why wouldn’t you let me go? Making my ten years of hard work go up in smoke wasn’t enough… you had to ruin my reputation too?”

“You’re asking me…?” she said trembling. “It’s all your fault! If my first child had been a boy, I would have been enjoying life long ago!! Why didn’t you reincarnate somewhere else instead of in my belly?!”

I crouched down, looking at her with cold eyes. “Should girls die? You were also a girl when you were reincarnated. Why didn’t you die?”

“Zhang… Zhang Laidi! What exactly are you going to do?” Her voice became increasingly hoarse. Within seconds, she wet her pants. “If you’re sick, don’t take it out on me!!”

“I am sick,” I said. I didn’t know if I was smiling or not, but I grinned. “I’m treating my own illness right now. You’re all thorns stuck in my body. When you all die, my illness will be cured.”

Under her terrified gaze, I sprayed the ether on her face, emptying an entire canister. I personally watched her eyes slowly roll back as she gasped for breath.

After finishing all this, I walked out of the room, dragged Chengcai and the old man inside, then took out the kerosene I had prepared in advance from the handbag at the door.

Then I went to Chengcai’s room and, after finding those photos, poured all the kerosene on his bed.

Next, I took out my lighter, lit one of my photos, and threw it toward the kerosene-soaked bed.

Let all of this disappear.

Chengcai’s room quickly burst into flames. Without hesitation, I poured the remaining kerosene all over the several people in the living room, then walked out of the house and took out my last item.

An iron chain and door lock.

I locked the door from outside, then watched the flames inside rapidly spread.

Arson, when serious consequences have not yet been caused, punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years. Causing serious injury, death, or major losses to public or private property, punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years, life imprisonment, or death penalty.