Chapter 1: Dying with Resentment

Deep winter.

The snow was falling heavily.

It was an extremely cold day, with a chilling frost filling the air.

Before she was even sixty, Old Mrs. Shen quietly passed away at this time.

Her death was not dignified, and she was left without the company of her loved ones.

All of this happened during the most helpless year of her life.

She endured excruciating pain for seven whole days before dying.

Outside the shed, the wind and snow howled.

“Fuquan, Mom can’t take it anymore… I’m cold, hungry, and my stomach hurts terribly.”

Old Mrs. Shen huddled in a simple thatched hut she built on her own land at the edge of the village.

"Could you get Mom something to eat? Just a bite would be fine."

She pleaded with her son in a trembling voice.

But what responded to her was neither the familiar and friendly sound of footsteps, nor a warm meal.

Instead, it was the sound of the biting cold wind outside the window whipping against the tattered curtains.

Besides the cold wind, the faint sounds of conversation between Liu Shulan and Lu Fuquan could be heard from not far away.

"It's been almost seven days... We've only given her two sips of thin porridge a day, and she's still holding on!"

The daughter-in-law, Liu Shulan, sounded impatient.

"If this situation continues, we won't be able to have a proper New Year!"

She said this with a hint of annoyance.

Meanwhile, Lu Fuquan squatted by a corner outside, holding an old pipe in his hand, and silently lit the tobacco in his hand.

His face didn't show much expression, just a sullen look.

"Yes! The New Year is just around the corner. If she really does pull through... that would be really bad luck. It's better for her to pass away sooner so that everyone can have a peaceful New Year."

Grandma Shen couldn't help but shed tears.

The scene then shifted back to seven days prior.

That day, the hospital diagnosis clearly stated "late-stage cervical cancer".

The cancer cells had already spread to all parts of the body.

Not long after the examination, Lu Fuquan took his mother out of the hospital without saying a word and used the family's old tractor to take her back to their rural home.

There was no stopping along the way.

His reason was straightforward: "Mom, it's not that I don't want you to see this."

"The doctors all say it's incurable, and we can't waste money on useless things. We still need to save money for Xiaojie's college education."

As he spoke, he helped Old Lady Shen settle onto the mat on the tractor.

She already knew that none of it mattered.

"Well, since it's a terminal illness, it probably doesn't matter if we don't get treatment."

"At least, I can leave this world peacefully at home."

Isn't the point of life to have a child who lives a better life than you?

As a mother, the most gratifying thing is seeing her children succeed.

Unfortunately, she never saw her eldest daughter and youngest son, from whom she had been separated for many years, again before she died.

She gave birth to five children in her lifetime.

Now, only her eldest son is left by her side.

She made up for all the shortcomings she had incurred for her other children over the years by focusing all her efforts on her eldest son.

She not only helped her eldest son build the first brick house in Daqiao Village, but also painstakingly raised his two children.

Unexpectedly, she was brought back so coldly and hastily left in this place.

The tractor drove for a long time through the dust before finally coming to a stop.

Grandma Shen struggled to sit up and tried to lift her head to see her surroundings clearly.

But she discovered that the car was not parked in front of her house.

Instead, they went to the edge of their own land at the village entrance.

Before me lay a desolate patch of land, with a small, newly erected shack standing in the middle.

She looked at her son, Lu Fuquan, sitting next to her in surprise, her eyes full of confusion.

However, Lu Fuquan remained silent with his head down.

"Mom, you know you're still a year away from turning sixty..."

The son's voice was choked with emotion, but he still managed to say it with difficulty.

Before he could finish speaking, Old Mrs. Shen suddenly understood.

According to local superstition, if a person dies before the age of sixty, they are called a "short-lived ghost".

If someone dies at home at such an advanced age, it will clash with the family members and affect their fortune.

He thought these words were his only reason, but to his surprise, Lu Fuquan suddenly raised his head.

"Mom, you said you were destined to bring bad luck, otherwise our Lu family wouldn't have ended up like this! If you have to blame someone, you can only blame your own bad luck!"

She stared in shock at her own son.

The child she cherished so much when he was little actually said such a thing!

Anger surged within her, and in an instant, she mustered all her strength and slapped him hard across the face.

"You bastard! If I had known you were this kind of animal, I should have thrown you into a urinal and drowned you after I gave birth to you!"

Lu Fu blushed deeply, both annoyed and ashamed.

He covered his burning cheeks, grabbed the elderly Mrs. Shen, and threw her into the shack.

She was so thin that she was practically just skin and bones.

"Ouch...it hurts so much!"

Old Mrs. Shen couldn't help but groan in pain.

At this moment, she was curled up on the ground, her limbs weakly supporting her weight.

It turned out that just now, Lu Fuquan had suddenly pushed her to the ground.

The ground was already covered with a thick layer of ice.

The few pieces of dry straw laid out provided absolutely no cushioning or insulation.

Before Old Mrs. Shen could figure out what was going on...

I felt a whistling sound in my ear, followed by a loud "thud".

The quilt that had been with him for decades was cruelly thrown away.

Lu Fuquan's face was full of anger, and his tone was full of resentment.

"You're blaming me for not helping you?"

His face was tense, and his eyes were fixed coldly on his mother.

"If you and your dad hadn't been arguing and fighting every day, would things have turned out this way? Think about it carefully!"

After saying this, he gave a cold snort and then strode away.

The tractor was his only hope and escape route.

After a few quick movements, Lu Fuquan successfully started the tractor.

The tractor made a screeching sound.

Then he stepped on the gas without hesitation.

The car swayed slightly before driving away along the bumpy dirt road.

In the distance, only the cold wind blows.

The wind blew a few straws with a "whoosh."

Old Mrs. Shen slumped down on the cold straw.

"God... what did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this? It's worse than being dead for me to live!"

Memories flooded my mind.

All those warm times, those noisy memories, and even those heartaches I didn't want to face, all came rushing back at once.

My thoughts drifted back to the spring of 1980.

It was the perfect time of year when the peach blossoms were just beginning to bloom, and the village was thriving.

But their family was not happy.

At that time, the eldest son in the family, Lu Fuquan, had just gotten engaged.

The bride's family demanded a bride price of 666 yuan.