“Dai Shan, Mother, Mother seems to have stopped breathing…”
“Mother, your unfilial son!”
Wails reached her ears.
Cheng Loan Loan snapped her eyes open.
By the bed, she saw two young people, a man and a woman, kneeling. They looked to be around twenty years old. People in their twenties calling her ‘Mother’?
She was single and unmarried. When had she given birth to such grown-up sons and daughters?!
In an instant, some memories that weren’t hers suddenly flooded into her mind.
Cheng Loan Loan was so frightened she almost jumped out of bed.
Damn it, she – a successful businesswoman, on the first day her company went public – had actually transmigrated to ancient times, into the body of a widow!
She was 33 years old, unmarried and childless, with a successful career, living a comfortable and self-satisfied life.
The original owner was also 33 years old, married at fourteen, and had given birth to four sons. Currently, these were the original owner’s eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law.
In other words, she skipped marriage and childbirth, directly leveling up to become a mother-in-law… The eldest daughter-in-law seemed to be pregnant, so in a few months, she would be promoted to grandmother!
Cheng Loan Loan’s head ached terribly, and her eyes closed weakly.
“Mother! Wake up!”
Zhao Dai Shan desperately shook her body, making her head even dizzier.
There were quite a few onlookers in the courtyard.
“Eldest Sister-in-law Zhao went back to her maiden home to borrow grain, and ended up getting her head smashed. She bled so much, she’s probably going to die!”
“Eldest Sister-in-law Zhao always funnels everything to her maiden home. The Cheng family really has no conscience.”
“Eldest Sister-in-law Zhao is no good herself. Look at the state of her own family’s life, yet she still subsidizes her maiden home.”
Each of the onlookers called her ‘Eldest Sister-in-law Zhao,’ making Cheng Loan Loan almost spit out a mouthful of blood.
In modern times, she was considered an urban beauty, with at least eighty, if not a hundred, suitors, yet she transmigrated into an old sister-in-law!
And that wasn’t even the worst part; the original owner was also someone despised by all – shrewish, gluttonous, lazy, and competitive!
The original owner was not filial to her in-laws and treated her sons and daughters-in-law poorly. After her husband died in battle, to monopolize the relief money, she caused a huge scene in the Zhao family to split the household. The commotion she caused at the time was considerable.
After the household split, the original owner gave all the relief money from her husband’s death to subsidize her maiden family.
And now, the original owner had returned from her maiden home with a smashed, bleeding head, and in a short time, became the biggest joke in the entire village.
Cheng Loan Loan weakly opened her eyes.
“Mother! You’re finally awake!”
Zhao Dai Shan’s cries grew even more intense.
Cheng Loan Loan sighed. Even if the original owner had been tyrannical towards these children, she was still their biological mother. It was unlikely these sons truly wished her dead.
She spoke hoarsely: “Close the door.”
Outside, the onlookers were too noisy, to the point her ears ached.
The eldest daughter-in-law – Wu Hui Niang – turned and went to close the courtyard gate, and the crowd of onlookers slowly dispersed.
Only then did Cheng Loan Loan have the energy to assess the house. Its walls were made of mud, the roof was thatched, and wind seeped in from all four sides.
The eldest son and daughter-in-law were very thin. They wore coarse cloth clothes full of patches and straw sandals on their feet. They looked like refugees.
“Grrr!”
Cheng Loan Loan heard her stomach rumble.
She had lived for 33 years and had never been hungry before. This was the first time she realized what hunger felt like. It was truly unbearable.
She swallowed hard, her throat aching. She didn't know how long it had been since she'd had a drink.
Ngô Tuệ Nương said very carefully, "Mother, this morning I dug up some wild vegetables and brought them back. I'll go cook them right away."
Her mother-in-law would lash out whenever she was displeased. Every time, she would be scolded mercilessly. Rather than staying there and waiting to be yelled at, she might as well go do something.