Having spent over a decade in Xujia Village, the original owner had a thorough understanding of the temperaments of the Xu family's three members.
Li Guixiang always says that "a daughter-in-law is here to serve others," and that this is how she has lived her whole life, as if it is a matter of course.
Old Xu may look honest and simple, but he is actually quite cunning. Every single thing Li Guixiang did was tacitly approved by him.
The youngest daughter, Xu Zao, is even more adept at pretending. She acts obedient and sensible in front of outsiders, but behind their backs, she is full of cunning and scheming.
The Xu family had a terrible reputation in the village. Even the gossipy aunties under the old locust tree at the village entrance would roll their eyes and give them a wide glare when they saw them, keeping their distance. Nobody wanted to be their neighbor.
Because of their bad reputation, they, like the Zhou family who moved from elsewhere, could only live in the most remote and desolate corner of the village.
When the original owner of this body arrived at the Xu family with her family's wealth, she worked hard and served them like a beast of burden for more than ten years. They treated her like a maid, and if she did anything that displeased them, Li Guixiang would beat or scold her.
Therefore, Zhou Qiqi didn't believe for a second that the Xu family would genuinely treat Lin Yao well.
Even if they seem all friendly now, it might just be an act; they're probably after Lin Yao's family's money.
Lin Yao was pampered by her family since childhood and had never experienced hardship. It's a mystery how she was deceived by Xu Shu's sweet talk.
But then I thought about it again, and it was fortunate that Lin Yao fell for it, otherwise the original owner would have been tortured to death in the Xu family.
The original owner's parents died early, leaving her with no relatives. She was also suppressed by Li Guixiang for a long time. She didn't have much education and no skills, so her life was incredibly dark.
I wonder if the original owner of this body, looking at everything from heaven, felt more happy or sad.
Just as she was lost in thought, a sharp and piercing scream pulled Zhou Qiqi back to reality.
"Sister-in-law!"
The voice was drawn out, carrying a fake enthusiasm that gave one goosebumps.
Zhou Qiqi knew immediately that it was Xu Zao, that lazy and pretentious girl.
Li Guixiang favored sons over daughters and showed little affection for her own daughter, Xu Zao, constantly ordering her around to do chores.
But Xu Zao is quite clever. When she encounters work she doesn't want to do, she will make a cutesy, coquettish cry, blink her big eyes, and act pitiful to whine.
Once her heart softened, she took on all the work herself.
But Xu Zao never appreciated the original owner's good qualities.
Once, the original owner helped her with chores, which delayed the task Li Guixiang had given her. Li Guixiang chased her around the yard and beat her until she screamed. Xu Zao just stood by and didn't dare to say a word.
There was also the fabric that Xu Shu sent back. The original owner had finally managed to get a small piece, but Xu Zao coaxed her away with a few kind words.
This girl has such a sweet tongue that she could talk the dead back to life. She and Xu Shu are really siblings, just like each other.
As they were talking, Xu Zao ran over with small, quick steps, not even glancing at Zhou Qiqi, and immediately took Lin Yao's arm. Their intimacy was so great that anyone who didn't know better would think they were sisters.
"Sister-in-law, I was worried you wouldn't have enough wedding candy, so I brought you an extra bag. Are you tired? Let me massage your shoulders."
Before he could finish speaking, he went around behind Lin Yao and started punching her intermittently while muttering to himself.
"Didn't Mom say that handing out wedding candy is tiring work for me? Why did you make the trip yourself, sister-in-law?"
Lin Yao was coaxed into a smile, and deliberately glanced at Zhou Qiqi with a smug look in her eyes, as if to say, "Look how good the Xu family is to me."
Qiu Chunfang, standing nearby, clicked her tongue and exclaimed, "Look at these two sisters-in-law, they have such a good relationship!"
Several women who were watching the commotion chimed in, "That's right! Doctor Lin has married into a good family!"
They only knew about the exchange of brides between the two families, but they were unaware of the intricacies involved. Since they didn't like Zhou Qiqi, they naturally sided with Lin Yao.
Just then, Jiang Xiangyang, that mischievous monkey, arrived with Shen Duzhou.
Seeing that the adults were still chatting there, he became anxious and started shouting.
"Mom, what are you doing! Go and save some seats! There won't be any good seats left!"
Seeing the two of them panting heavily, with sweat all over Shen Duzhou's face, Zhou Qiqi quickly took out a handkerchief from her bosom and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Zhouzhou tilted her little face up, her eyes sparkling, and silently said, "Thank you."
Seeing this, Lin Yao felt even more smug and thought her decision to swap spouses was absolutely brilliant. She put her arm around Xu Zao's shoulder and deliberately raised her voice.
"Anyway, I'm going to live my good life! On the other hand, some people talk a good game, but in reality, they're just left speechless..."
Before she could even say "Mom," Zhou Qiqi grabbed a stool from the ground and hurled it at her, shouting sternly.
"Watch your mouth! You're such a grown man, don't you know what you should and shouldn't say in front of children? Are you trying to turn a happy occasion into a tragic one?!"
The stool flew past with a whoosh, and Lin Yao and Xu Zao turned pale with fright.
Xu Zao screamed and hid behind Lin Yao. Lin Yao tried frantically to pull her back, but it was too late.
With a "smack," the stool landed squarely on their calves, and Lin Yao staggered backward, the hem of her brand-new red dress catching a long, thin thread.
Her face turned bright red with anger. She pointed at Zhou Qiqi, trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.
"Ouch...you...you...you..."
Zhou Qiqi stared at her coldly, her eyes like ice blades.
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