Chapter 4: Sister-in-law is Reborn (Part 3)

Hungry! My stomach is so empty and painful that I want to put my hands in my mouth.

Originally, Li Xiuniang thought that the days when she worked like a slave in the Gu family, was bullied by her mother-in-law, treated as a nobody by her sister-in-law, and despised by her brother-in-law, were the most miserable experiences in her life.

Oh, no, that was not the most difficult period.

Instead, his son accidentally fell into the water and drowned, his daughter died of a cold, and he himself was beaten to death by an old hunter in the mountains.

...She was clearly heartbroken at that time, unable to control herself, and felt that this was the greatest pain she had ever experienced.

But she forgot that for a person, being beaten to death is far less painful than starving to death.

Being beaten does hurt, but it only lasts for a short time.

Once you close your eyes, everything will be over.

Hunger is not.

Especially on the road of fleeing famine, there were starving people everywhere and the bark of the trees along the way had been stripped off.

Leaves, grass roots...all edible things were snatched away by the crazy hungry refugees.

Even some inedible things, such as Guanyin soil, were started to be stuffed into people's mouths.

There's no way, being hungry is too uncomfortable.

Under extreme hunger, people can turn into animals.

"Grandpa, don't kill me! I, I won't cry anymore, and I won't say I'm hungry anymore. I can work! I can also sell it for money--"

Last night, Li Xiuniang was so hungry that she couldn't sleep. She ran to the woods alone to try to find something to eat, and she heard crying not far away.

Li Xiuniang felt that the girl's voice was somewhat familiar, as if she was the girl from the same village as Li Xiucai.

Li Xiucai was the only scholar in their village. After failing the imperial examinations many times, he opened a private school and lived a good life with the help of tuition fees.

Li Xiucai has two sons and a daughter. The daughter is the youngest, and the couple loves her very much.

Li Xiuniang was very envious of the little girl of the Li family——

While other girls were still hungry and helping with housework, the little girl of the Li family was held by Mr. Li, holding snacks that were only available in the county, and her little face was white and chubby.

The clothes he was wearing were also new, not his older brothers’ and sisters’ old clothes that had outgrown them.

The smile on Li Xiucai's little girl's face was so bright and happy.

But such a child who was pampered by his family was killed by his own grandfather on the way to escape famine.

In her previous life, Li Xiuniang had long forgotten these memories that caused her so much pain.

She only remembered that when she was a child, her family suffered a disaster and everyone in the village fled to escape the famine.

Grandparents, friendly clansmen, familiar neighbors, one after another, all fell on the road fleeing famine.

Her parents, brother, and sister also lost their lives due to illness or hunger.

In the end, only my uncle, my cousin and she were left in their family.

Li Xiuniang didn't know whether she was lucky or unfortunate. Just when she and her uncle and cousin were about to starve to death, they finally arrived at a small town.

I met Zhao, who was carrying her daughter to the town to buy things.

"Three pounds of beans! Auntie, I only want three pounds!"

"Look at my niece, she's already ten years old, she can work and won't eat for free."

"Raise her for two or three years and she'll be married off, and you can even receive a betrothal gift."

"…The year is bad, and you can't get a betrothal gift? Do you have a son? It would be nice to have a child bride for your son!"

My uncle seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and lobbied desperately, and by the end, he was almost begging.

Li Xiuniang no longer remembers clearly what happened in her past life.

She only remembered that she was bought by her mother-in-law, Zhao, for three pounds of beans.

When she first arrived at the Gu family, she was indeed very grateful to her mother-in-law.

If she hadn't bought me, I, my uncle and my cousin would all have died.

So, she worked very hard and tried to repay her mother-in-law's kindness.

When her husband "died", she was only seventeen years old, the age of a flower.

If I remarry, I can marry into a good family.

But she remembered her mother-in-law's life-saving grace and did not remarry, but stayed in the Gu family and worked like a slave.

She serves her mother-in-law and takes care of her sister-in-law. She would rather sacrifice her own son and grit her teeth to support her brother-in-law's studies.

For ten years, she worked very hard.

Instead of receiving gratitude from her husband's family, she was despised and hurt.

I watched my children die one after another, and I was sold to a remote mountain, where I was abused by a forty-year-old hunter...

Li Xiuniang finally woke up. At the moment of death, she swore in her heart: "If there is a next life, I would rather starve to death than enter the Gu family."

Li Xiuniang had never thought that people could really start over again after death.

But why did she have to be reborn on the road of fleeing famine? It would be fine if it was earlier or later.

It has been a long time since I felt hungry, especially to the point of being extremely hungry and almost having hallucinations.

Li Xiuniang's brain was a little dull, and the hatred and resentment that were once so deep didn't seem so clear anymore.

He bit his lower lip hard, using the pain to remind himself: "No! I must never forget this hatred!"

They would reach the town soon anyway.

Although this place also suffered a disaster, it was better than their hometown. At least they still had some food stored.

If she doesn't go to the Gu family, she can sell it to other families.

I just can't be with my husband anymore.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Everyone in the Gu family is a bad person, except her husband, who is a kind person.

In her previous life, after Li Xiuniang was beaten to death, her soul floated back to the Gu family and heard the conversation between Zhao and her two sons.

It turned out that her husband was injured while repairing the river embankment and was washed away by the river.

Downstream, the husband was rescued by a passing general. After waking up, he forgot who he was.

The general saw that the man was tall and strong and still had some strength, so he took him in as a soldier under his command.

My husband followed the general to the battlefield, made great achievements, and gradually became the general's trusted deputy general.

By this time, it was already ten years later.

When my husband became an official, someone started to propose marriage to him.

But the husband said that he had forgotten his past, and if he had already married, wouldn't that harm two women? After declining the marriage, the husband began to search for his identity.

He followed the river up the road, following the address the general had given him.

Perhaps because he arrived at a familiar place, his husband's memory was restored.

However, there was another war ahead, and the husband did not have time to pick up his family in person, so he wrote a letter and asked someone to send it back.

When the mother-in-law received the letter, she learned that her eldest son was not dead and had made military achievements, and she immediately smiled with joy.

But after being happy, the mother-in-law's face turned gloomy again -

If one's son is so promising, the royal princess would marry him.

But at home, there is a lowly child bride, which is so embarrassing.

The sister-in-law and brother-in-law came up with ideas together and finally decided to sell Li Xiuniang.

They didn't want to harm Li Xiuniang's children, after all, they were the flesh and blood of the Gu family.

But, as it happened, Li Xiuniang's son was playing around and accidentally fell into the river. When he was fished out, he was already dead.

The daughter was frightened and had a high fever that night. She died less than three days later.

The Gu family did not kill her son and daughter, but Li Xiuniang still couldn't help resenting them - she was busy working in the fields and making money, while her mother-in-law and the other three were idle and didn't even bother to take care of the children.

If someone was watching, how could his son fall into the water? How could his daughter be frightened and have a fever, and then die? "This time! I will never have anything to do with the Gu family again!"

Although she was reluctant to leave her husband, Li Xiuniang could not let go of her resentment.

Gurgle~ Gurgle~~ Li Xiuniang was angry and her stomach was growling loudly.

Her vision began to go dark and her legs began to shake violently.

"We're here! There's a town ahead! Once we get to the town, there'll be food to eat!"

Someone in the fleeing group shouted in surprise.

Li Xiuniang, who was dizzy and dazed with hunger, suddenly became energetic.

She and her cousin supported each other and tried to move their heavy steps towards the town step by step.

However, when they arrived in the town, everyone avoided Li Xiuniang and her group.

As for the refugees who cried and shouted that they wanted to sell their children, the residents of the town looked sympathetic but they just said that they felt sorry for them and no one was willing to buy them.

"What are you buying? Our family is about to sell people, why are you buying people? If you buy that girl, will you save the food rations for her?"

Yes, the people in the small town are indeed better than the refugees.

But in years of famine, the landlords had no surplus food.

"Mom, I want to buy one! I want to buy a girl!"

Amidst the chorus of “not buying” voices, there was a particularly pleasant little baby voice.

Swish! Including Li Xiuniang, several skinny girls all looked at the mother and daughter...

When I was trying to lose weight, I tried dieting, but the feeling of being hungry was really uncomfortable. ┭┮﹏┭┮

(End of this chapter)