On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, a howling wind swirled snowflakes, and the cold seeped into Xiaoyue's thin clothes.

Ge Sanlin, dressed in a black fox fur cloak with a thick layer of snow on his shoulders, looked down at Xiaoyue lying in the stinking cowshed amidst the howling wind.

He covered his nose with one hand, his eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

The moment Xiaoyue saw Ge Sanlin, a strange light flashed in her eyes. She propped herself up and crawled toward Ge Sanlin, who was standing in the snow.

Ge Sanlin dodged away in disgust and harshly rebuked Xiaoyue: "You are disrespectful to your parents, you hurt your second brother, and you don't treat Xiaodouding well. You deserve to die!!"

Xiaoyue was struck dumb, her mouth agape as she stammered "Ah! Ah!" but couldn't form a coherent sentence. She desperately tried to grab Ge Sanlin's robe to explain herself.

Unexpectedly, Ge Sanlin kicked Xiaoyue in disgust, and Xiaoyue fell straight backward. Ge Sanlin dusted off his feet and walked away nonchalantly.

Daylight broke again. Xiaoyue wiped her tearful eyes, crawled to the light, and raised her fingers to barely open her eyes, which were swollen to a slit.

Even through the light, my fingers were so cold I could barely straighten them. I looked out at the sky above the cowshed, where the cheerful sounds of wedding processions were blaring.

Xiaoyue thought to herself: I will never set foot in the Ge family again in my next life.

Suddenly, Xiaoyue coughed up blood, and eerie red flowers appeared on the white ground. Xiaoyue died on the day she was to be married.

...

Xiaoyue was awakened by a series of coughs. She quietly opened her eyes and saw a large kang (a heated brick bed), a sick woman, and a child sitting beside her.

Despite it being summer, Xiaoyue was shivering, her breath feeling like it carried icy shards, and a heart-wrenching pain instantly spread throughout her body.

Xiaoyue closed her eyes again, suddenly realizing that she wasn't dreaming.

"I've been reborn."

Another series of coughs, like a bellows that had stopped breathing, followed. The woman clutched her chest, coughing until she could barely breathe.

Xiaoyue slowly opened her eyes again and turned to look at the coughing woman. Yes, it was Lu Xiaomei, Ge Sanlin's wife in his previous life. Lu Xiaomei died in the third month after she arrived.

Xiao Douding was by her side. After Lu Xiaomei passed away, Xiao Douding hated Xiaoyue. When they were little, Xiao Douding would put snakes and toads in Xiaoyue's quilt in the summer and pour water into Xiaoyue's quilt in the winter.

When he got a little older, he learned to hit Xiaoyue and even created opportunities for Xiaoyue to be with that lecherous Ge Erlin.

In his past life, it was Little Bean who told Ge Erlin that he was in the cowshed.

When Xiaodouding saw her, Xiaoyue dragged her tired body, carrying a bundle of grass that she had cut all afternoon in the rain to feed the cows in winter, and brought it into the cowshed.

He ran up to the upper room, leaned close to Ge Erlin's ear where he was drinking, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Since hearing the news of Ge Sanlin's death in battle, Xiaoyue has been in a daze every day.

Because of the rain, Xiaoyue missed her meal. By the time she got home, it was already dark. She was cold, tired, and hungry. After putting down the bundle of grass, Xiaoyue wanted to sit on it and rest.

A dark figure, reeking of alcohol, approached Xiaoyue; it was Ge Erlin.

Xiaoyue hurried outside. In the darkness, being with her brother-in-law, she couldn't explain herself.

Ge Erlin stretched out his arms to hug Xiaoyue, a lewd smile on his face.

Xiaoyue retreated in fear, backing up to the corner where she had nowhere to go. Just as she was about to scream, Ge Erlin pulled out a smelly handkerchief and stuffed it into her mouth. Driven by lust, Ge Erlin roughly pulled off Xiaoyue's clothes.

Xiaoyue twisted her body desperately, trying to stop the man from touching her. The man stared at Xiaoyue with a sinister look in his eyes and threatened her in a low, gloomy voice: "If you move again, I'll kill you."

In a fit of rage, he threw Xiaoyue onto the cold, dirty ground and kicked her wildly. When he got tired of kicking her, he sat on Xiaoyue, grabbed her collar, and slapped her three or four more times before letting go.

Xiaoyue was trembling from being beaten by Ge Erlin. She knelt down and desperately begged Ge Erlin to let her go.

Ge Erlin let out a ferocious and lewd laugh, and, with the moonlight behind him, quickly pulled down his pants.

Then he used his dirty hands to pull Xiaoyue's legs up and hurriedly took off Xiaoyue's pants.

Xiaoyue was dragged to the ground and stared at Ge Erlin in fear. She twisted and struggled with all her might. The moment Ge Erlin pulled down Xiaoyue's pants, Xiaoyue kicked the dirty man in front of her like a madwoman. She accidentally kicked the man's genitals.

In her frenzy, Xiaoyue kicked the man's genitals off.

The man immediately bent down and yelled "Awooo!" The little boy noticed something was wrong with the cowshed and ran to the front yard to call Grandma Ge and Grandpa Ge.

When the two arrived at the cowshed, they saw Xiaoyue huddled in a corner, her clothes disheveled, while her second son was rolling on the ground. They immediately understood what had happened.

Old Man Ge grabbed the cow whip, and without asking any questions, gripped the handle tightly and cursed in a cold tone: "You jinx, you slut, I'll beat you to death, I'll beat you to death."

Old Man Ge relentlessly lashed Xiaoyue's body with his whip, one lash after another, causing her to feel a burning pain all over her body.

Xiaoyue dared not move. Every lash landed squarely on her, making her writhe in pain like a mudfish out of water.

Old Man Ge only let go when he had used up all his strength and could no longer lift his arm.

The whip pierced Xiaoyue's lumbar nerves, and Xiaoyue could no longer stand up. From then on, Xiaoyue lived a life worse than that of a pig. Only her kind sister-in-law would occasionally throw her a cornbread behind her back.

Just as Xiaoyue had given up hope of survival, her sister-in-law brought her news that Ge Sancong was still alive and would be coming home soon.

Xiaoyue waited day after day, month after month, sustained by a sliver of faith, until the Laba Festival.

Ge Sanlin has finally returned, and he's a fourth-rank military officer in the camp. Xiaoyue was overjoyed when she heard the news. She lay down in the haystack to straighten her clothes, combed her matted hair, picked up a blade of grass from the ground, and tied up her messy hair.

Ge Sanlin didn't come to see her on the first day, and he still didn't come to see her on the second day...

...

Thinking of this, Xiaoyue broke out in a cold sweat. Despite her aching body, she forced herself to sit up.

Xiaoyue turned her eyes to examine the sick woman closely. Her hunched body leaned against the back of the chair with the blue background and swastika pattern.

The filthy canvas blanket slipped to his feet, and his body was still coughing and trembling.

Her sparse hair was loosely tied back with a wooden hairpin. Her sickly, sallow face had no luster, her eye sockets were sunken, her eyes were dull, and her double eyelids drooped downwards. She coughed a few more times and then took out a yellowed handkerchief to cover her mouth.

Lu Xiaomei gave Xiaoyue an apologetic, forced smile: "I'm sorry to have bothered you, Miss."

Just like in her previous life, Lu Xiaomei showed a helpless and heartbroken expression.

Xiaoyue smiled at Lu Xiaomei, knowing that she couldn't stay in the Ge family in this life.

Thinking of this, Xiaoyue asked Lu Xiaomei, "Where is Ge Sanlin?"

"In the main room."

Xiaoyue could no longer care about her aching body; she jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and ran straight to the upper courtyard.

...