Chen Hong put away the agreement, tidied up the dining table and the kitchen, washed the dishes, and picked up her son Yu Yang, who had been following her around all evening.

"Are you sleepy, baby? It's getting late, Mommy will take you for a bath and put you to bed!"

Yu Yang hugged his mother's neck tightly, his bright eyes looking timidly at her face: "Mom, Dad divorced you, does he not want us anymore?"

Chen Hong's throat suddenly tightened, swallowing the bitterness in her heart. She blinked quickly to stop the tears from falling. "Baby, do you know what divorce is?"

Yu Yang nodded. "Mom, I'm scared. Divorce means they don't want us anymore. Yiming's uncle doesn't want his aunt and cousin anymore either."

Chen Hong hugged her son tightly, saying, "Baby, don't be afraid. Our situation is different from your brother Yiming's aunt's."

Chen Hong tried her best to comfort her son, "Your father isn't abandoning you. We'll still live in this house, it's just that he'll be coming home less often than he is now. He rarely came home before, right? Our lives won't change. You can still play like before, and Mom will still do the same work as before. If you like Grandpa, you can continue playing with him. Nothing will be different from before!"

Yu Yang nodded his little head, let out a long sigh of relief, and immediately felt sleepy. "Mom, I'm sleepy, I want to go to sleep."

"Okay, Mom will take you to take a bath and go to bed."

Looking at her son's adorable sleeping face, Chen Hong finally felt relieved. Change began now; staying in Yujia Village seemed like the right decision.

In her past life, Chen Hong was suddenly divorced, and all she wanted was to leave this place that had caused her so much pain and return to her family as soon as possible. She hadn't thought carefully about how being divorced and raising a child would change her status.

Her parents' home was just that—her parents' home—no longer her own. Her brother was married and had his own family; she and her child could never truly integrate into it. They had become two separate families.

My sister-in-law is a thrifty person. To avoid putting her parents in a difficult position, she has to make things difficult for herself and try her best to support her family. In her previous life, she didn't know that Yu Hai had cheated on her, and after the divorce, she only took her son and some money with her.

She went back to her parents' home for a year, and by the time her son went to school and she could go out to work, she only had a few dollars left.

With no money in hand, life was a struggle. Conflicts frequently broke out among family members, and after two years of chaotic living, 34-year-old Chen Hong remarried, taking her son with her, jumping from one pit to another.

Looking back on her past life, Chen Hong's short life of fifty years was a helpless journey from one pitfall to another.

In her past life, at the age of fifty, Chen Hong often reflected on herself, wondering when her vibrant life had gradually turned gray. Dragging her frail body, Chen Hong couldn't understand where her life had begun to veer off course, and how her happy days had vanished forever. Was it divorce, remarriage, or having a second child at an advanced age?

Finally, Chen Hong realized that it wasn't the other way around; the biggest mistake was leaving Yujia Village with the child after the divorce. If she were alone, she could live anywhere.

However, if a woman has no house, no money, no job, and no independent source of income, her life will only get worse and worse.

By the time Chen Hong understood this, it was too late to change anything. In order to maintain the stability of her remarried family, she gave birth at an advanced age, which damaged her health, and she later developed diabetes, asthma, and hyperthyroidism.

Because of long-term use of hormone drugs, her body gradually deteriorated, and she could no longer go out to work. She could only stay at home to take care of the children and do housework. Without a source of income, she lost her status in the family. No matter how much housework she did, her husband regarded her as a burden.

She has no say in the household and can't make any decisions. All household expenses are covered by Alipay, and her husband pays off her Huabei (Alipay's credit service) at the beginning of each month.

In the final days of her life, Chen Hong, having run out of money, essentially severed all social ties, including with her family, and ceased all daily social interactions.

Whenever Chen Hongniang's relatives have weddings or funerals, especially those she's very close to and can't refuse, her husband will nag for days after she gives the red envelope, as if it's their own affair and the other person didn't spend any money.

When Chen Hong was still able to work, she would argue with him after listening to his complaints, but without a job and the days of receiving money hand over fist, she had become numb.

For the sake of her children, Chen Hong could only remain silent. Her only hope was that her children would grow up quickly, leave this home, earn their own money, and start a new life freely.

The torment of illness had robbed Chen Hong of the will to live, but her children were still young, and she did not have the courage to abandon this world.

On the evening of July 3, 2023, Chen Hong silently went to bed after enduring more than half an hour of her husband's usual nagging and complaints about the amount she owed on Alipay.

When Chen Hong opened her eyes again, she was back in the summer of 2006, on the eve of her divorce. Chen Hong had been reborn.