Winter 1994.
Zhoujia Village, Taohua Town, Yushan County, Province Z.
It was two o'clock in the afternoon and the sky was gloomy.
In winter, the weather is too cold and there is not much work to do in the fields, so most villagers stay at home and don't like to go out.
At Zhou Fugui's house at the head of the village, the door opened quietly and an old woman with disheveled hair and dirty face walked out.
The woman was dressed in rags, her hair was gray, and her eyes were dead.
After going out, the woman limped towards the village entrance.
"Pearl, where are you going?" asked neighbor Aunt Zhang.
"Go home, I want to go home." The woman muttered.
"Zhenzhu, there is no one left in your mother's family. Where are you going back to?" Aunt Zhang reminded her.
"Go home, I want to go home." The woman seemed not to hear what Aunt Zhang said, and kept repeating these two sentences.
Aunt Zhang shook her head, sighed, and said to Aunt Qiu, an old sister who had just come to visit, "Pearl is really pitiful. She just recovered from her madness not long ago, and now she heard the news of Yunyun's death, and her mind is not clear again."
"Yunyun is dead? Didn't Yunyun get married last month? An 18-year-old girl, as beautiful as a flower, how could she die?" Aunt Qiu was shocked.
"Alas! It's because the Zhou family is so unkind." Aunt Zhang couldn't help but look around when she got to this point. Seeing no one around, she lowered her voice and said to Aunt Qiu, "I heard last night that Yunyun's old bachelor son-in-law got drunk and beat Yunyun to death."
"Ah? Won't the Zhou family report to the police? Now that Yunyun is dead, that old bachelor should be punished with his own life." Aunt Qiu gritted her teeth in anger.
"Ha~! The old bachelor gave Zhou Fugui five hundred yuan, and the matter is settled. Last night, the Zhou family was very lively and they even killed a chicken to eat!" Aunt Zhang curled her lips and said with contempt.
Zhou Fugui had three sons. Even if one died, there were still two left, plus four grandsons, a total of seven male children!
If he was willing to stand up and seek justice for Zhou Yunyun, it would be strange if he didn't go to Wangjiagou and make a big fuss.
But what about them? After receiving the 500 yuan compensation from Yunyun’s husband, the Zhou family celebrated by killing chickens and drinking wine at home before Yunyun’s body was cold.
As an outsider, Aunt Zhang felt uncomfortable watching such a thing. One can imagine how upset Zhou Yunyun's mother, Zhao Zhenzhu, felt.
"The Zhou family is so unreasonable. Poor Pearl and her children." Aunt Qiu sighed and said.
In the countryside, a daughter-in-law who has no support from her natal family has a life worth less than grass.
Ever since the Zhao family and Zhou Bingchen met with misfortunes one after another, the people of Zhou Fugui's family almost treated Zhao Zhenzhu like an animal.
Aunt Qiu had seen with her own eyes how beautiful Zhao Zhenzhu was when she was young.
Zhao Zhenzhu is 42 years old this year, but she looks no different from an old woman in her sixties.
No wonder the old people say that getting married is like a woman’s second life.
The beautiful and delicate Zhao Zhenzhu has been tortured by her husband's family for more than 20 years and has become a half-human, half-ghost in her current state.
"Alas! If only someone from Zhenzhu's family were still around, the Zhou family wouldn't dare to bully Zhenzhu like this." Aunt Zhang also sighed.
Aunt Zhang lived next door to Zhou Fugui's house. She saw with her own eyes that Zhao Zhenzhu went to the river to wash clothes for the whole family before dawn every day, and hurried home to cook at mealtime. At night, when all the Zhou family members were asleep, Zhao Zhenzhu was still busy with housework such as washing dishes and feeding pigs, and she also took time to sew soles for the whole family and make clothes.
Every day, Zhao Zhenzhu sleeps no more than five hours.
Even if you have a body of iron, you can't endure it after so many years!
"Zhenzhu is such a docile girl. Yunyun just left like that, but she didn't make a fuss with the Zhou family?" Aunt Qiu asked.
"Of course there is none. Zhenzhu cried a few times last night, and that old hag Ding Ermei was annoyed by the noise, so she called her eldest and second daughters-in-law together and beat Zhenzhu. Look, Zhenzhu's leg is still limping!" Aunt Zhang gestured to her sisters-in-law to look at Zhao Zhenzhu's limping back.
"Oh! How did Pearl get to the river bank?" Aunt Qiu exclaimed.
There is a river at the entrance of Zhoujia Village. The water in the section of the river bank is very deep and the water is green. If you fall in, there is basically no chance of survival.
People in Zhoujia Village usually walk around that section of the river bank.
Zhao Zhenzhu opened her arms, looked up to the sky, and shouted in grief and anger: "Oh God! Why did you do this to me? Why?"
Zhao Zhenzhu's voice was mournful, and Aunt Qiu and Aunt Zhang looked at each other in fear.
"Chun...Chunhua, is Zhenzhu going to commit suicide?" Aunt Qiu asked.
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Zhenzhu fell headfirst into the river.
"Zhou Fugui, Ding Ermei, your daughter-in-law jumped into the river, come out and save her!" Aunt Zhang hurried out and shouted.
The Zhou family was silent.
"These wicked people are so heartless." Aunt Zhang cursed and turned to Aunt Qiu and said, "Qiuju, go find the secretary and arrange for rescue. I'll go to Zhou's house to take a look."
After saying this, Aunt Zhang strode towards Zhou's house.
The door of Zhou's house was ajar, and Aunt Zhang pushed it open.
When Aunt Zhang came in, she found something was wrong.
The Zhou family members were lying on the ground in a mess, all bleeding from all their orifices and motionless.
"Ah~!" Aunt Zhang screamed, her eyes rolled up, and she fainted.
Winter 2028.
Shenzhen City, Shenwan No. 1 Villa.
Forty-two-year-old Zhao Zhenzhu woke up from a nightmare.
Zhao Zhenzhu's pounding heart slowly calmed down after she touched the white jade gourd pendant hanging on her chest.
In the past two years, Zhao Zhenzhu has often had such dreams.
In the dream, there was a tragic life of a woman with the same name and surname as Zhao Zhenzhu.
"Zhao Zhenzhu" married Zhou Bingchen, a 23-year-old soldier, when she was 21 years old.
At the beginning, "Zhao Zhenzhu"'s life was quite comfortable.
My parents' family is supportive and my husband is considerate and capable.
Soon after his marriage, Zhou Bingchen was promoted to an officer and would return home to visit his family every year.
Three years after marriage, Zhao Zhenzhu gave birth to a son and a daughter.
Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long.
Seven years after the marriage, something happened to the Zhao family.
Zhao Zhenzhu's brother from her mother's side was reported for corruption and went to jail, and Zhao Zhenzhu's parents died one after another.
That was not all. When Zhou Bingchen returned home to visit his family again, he was found dead naked in the home of Liu Moli, a young widow from the same village.
The young widow cried and complained that two years ago, Zhou Bingchen raped her because of her beauty. She had no choice but to have an affair with Zhou Bingchen.
Last night, Zhou Bingchen came again.
After that, the young widow fell asleep. She really didn't know why Zhou Bingchen died.
The young widow's husband's family ran to Zhou's house and made a scene, and took away all the things in "Zhao Zhenzhu's" room, saying that it was compensation for their family.
The Zhou family did not dare to settle the score with the young widow, and would only blame "Zhao Zhenzhu" for not being able to control her husband and bringing shame to the entire family.
"Zhao Zhenzhu" is also a fool. After being PUA'd by the Zhou family, she really took all the blame on herself.
In order to atone for her sins, "Zhao Zhenzhu" did the most tiring work at home, ate the worst food, and lived in fear with her son and daughter.
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