It was summer, outside the abandoned kiln in Changping Village.

"Pah! You're such a pretentious jerk."

Su Luo's brain felt like it was about to split open. She never expected that after being blown up, the most painful thing would be her brain.

"Mother, wake up, don't die."

"Mother, I don't want you to die, sob sob sob..."

The sound of a child crying filled her ears. Su Luo felt herself being shaken from side to side. She thought to herself, "I'm already dead, can't I at least have some peace?"

"Stop pretending to be dead. You watched an old man go to hell and you've learned how to lie like a corpse. Get up, you old hag."

"Snap!"

The sound of bones breaking came from her body, and Su Luo could clearly feel her body being lifted high and slammed down hard.

My lower back was aching so badly that I broke out in a cold sweat. I groggily opened my eyes and saw a plump, round woman standing next to me. She had long, narrow, triangular eyes, and her face was so fleshy that it covered her features. Her expression was ferocious, like a she-devil.

Upon seeing that she had opened her eyes, the two thin children immediately came over to support Su Luo.

There was a boy and a girl, about four or five years old. The girl was crying loudly and snuggled up to Su Luo.

"Mom, you're bleeding, I'm scared."

Su Luo touched the back of her head, her hand covered in bright red blood.

"If you dare touch my mother, kill me first." The frail little boy stood in front of Su Luo like a little warrior.

"Hahaha... You think you can protect your mother? Today, none of the three of you can save anyone else."

Luo Mei looked at the two big men behind her: "Why aren't you making a move? Once you sell these three good-for-nothings, the gambling debts that my Dazhi owes you will be settled."

Su Luo sat on the muddy ground, pulled the little boy behind her, and looked coldly at the two men walking towards them.

"Get out of here if you don't want to die..."

The two men were startled by Su Luo's bloodthirsty gaze, but then they thought, what did they have to be afraid of—a helpless fool and two children?

"court death!"

Su Luo grabbed the mud and ash from the ground with her left hand, and scattered it as the two approached. In the instant that a gap appeared, she deftly picked up the machete next to the woodpile with her right hand.

Huang Mazi and Er Gouzi covered their eyes, their anger flaring: "You damn bitch, I'll kill you!"

Su Luo pushed the two children behind her, and with a swift and decisive chop of the wood, Huang Mazi was pulled back by Er Gouzi, thus avoiding death at Su Luo's hands.

Su Luo's eyes were defiant, and the machete in her hand was still dripping blood.

"Big brother, you're injured."

Huang Mazi clutched the wound on his arm, blood flowing continuously from between his fingers. He had almost lost his life just now, and he was trembling with fear.

"What are you two doing? Hurry up and arrest these three good-for-nothings."

Luo Mei was exasperated. She was used to bullying Su Luo and her family, and even if Su Luo was holding a knife, she wouldn't be afraid.

Huang Mazi dared not approach Su Luo. This fat woman dared to yell at him and even lost her dignity in front of his underlings. He was filled with rage and slapped Luo Mei twice across the face.

"You son of a bitch, I'm warning you, if you can't come up with twenty taels by tomorrow, I'll cut off Chen Dazhi's left hand. If you still can't come up with the silver the day after tomorrow, I'll cut off his right hand, and then his feet. You decide what to do."

Ignoring the pain on her face, Luo Mei grabbed Huang Mazi's sleeve and pleaded, "Mazi, Mazi, please, for the sake of us being from the same village, you can't do this. If we sell these three good-for-nothings today, we'll have some money. Please, you absolutely cannot hurt my Dazhi!"

Huang Mazi shook off Luo Mei's hand and gritted his teeth, saying, "Didn't you see that idiot holding a knife? She's an idiot, she's fearless in killing people. I only want money, I don't care about selling people."

"Remember this, bring me twenty taels of silver tomorrow to ransom him, or you know the consequences. Er Gou, let's go."

"Don't go, I'll tie these three good-for-nothings up and give them to you."

Luo Mei picked up a carrying pole and lunged at Su Luo and the two children with her plump body.

"Stop! Anyone who dares to lay a hand on you will be kicked out of Changping Village."

Luo Mei stopped what she was doing when she heard the sound.

"Mom, Grandma brought the village chief. We're saved!" the little boy said from behind Su Luo.

When Huang Mazi saw the village chief arriving with his men, he called to Er Gouzi, and the two of them slipped away first.

Zhao Ruyun ran behind Su Luo, hugged the two children to check on them, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, how are you? Are you hurt?"

The two children shook their heads, and the little girl cried, "Grandma, we're okay, but Mom is hurt and bleeding a lot."

Zhao Ruyun then looked at Su Luo, who was still holding a wood-chopping knife. Although her daughter-in-law was not very bright, she had genuinely loved her child over the past few years.

"Chuan Chuan, go to Grandma's bedside and get a piece of cloth to bandage your mother and stop the bleeding."

"good!"

The little boy immediately ran into the kiln.

The village chief rushed over, snatched the carrying pole from Luo Mei's hand, and roared, "Dazhi's wife, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill someone?"

Luo Mei put her hands on her hips and shouted disdainfully, "Village chief, it's only right to pay back debts. My Dazhi is in trouble now, and I'm here to get my money back. What's wrong with that?"

Luo Mei pointed at Su Luo and the two children: "That idiot was bought for seven taels of silver. The third brother's family only paid two taels, and my family paid five taels. Now, the two bastards she gave birth to were also conceived because we paid money. Today, I'm going to sell them all to save my Dazhi."

The village chief's hand, gripping his pipe, trembled with anger, and the villagers who had come with him pointed and whispered among themselves.

"Luo Mei, don't go too far. Why did you buy this wife for Huai Xu in the first place? Have you forgotten so quickly?"

Su Luo let Zhao Ruyun bandage her up. After calming down, she slowly sorted out this unfamiliar and vague memory, with many images forcibly entering her brain.

In my memory, she was mostly blank and innocent, living in her own world and not interacting with others. To put it simply, she was a bit mentally challenged.

However, she still remembered some major events. The original owner of this body was picked up and raised by her adoptive mother, but her adoptive mother died after only half a year. Later, she was sold to the Chen family by her brother.

As for why the Chen family would buy her, a person who wasn't quite normal, it was entirely for the purpose of continuing the family line.

That year, the imperial court conscripted soldiers, and each family had to send at least one male member. The Chen family, which had not yet separated, had three brothers. The eldest brother, Chen Dazhi, had to take care of his parents, so he definitely couldn't go.

The second son died from overwork. The third son, being the youngest son in the family, was also loved by his parents and could not be sent to his death.

So the old man set his sights on his grandsons. There were only two grandsons who were of the right age and were both studying at school: the eldest grandson, Chen Mengqing, and the second grandson, Chen Huaixu.

How could Luo Mei and Chen Dazhi let their son be conscripted into the army? Since their second son was already dead, they decided to let their son go.

Behind Zhao Ruyun's back, the group discussed buying Chen Huaixu a wife to carry on the family line so that he could go and die.