1983, Jingyang Village——
"Drink one! Drink one!"
In front of the big red wedding character, the man and the woman each held a glass of wine, their arms intertwined, their eyes drawn, and drank from the cups of wine amid the cheers of the guests.
The scene was lively and sweet. Not only Qiao Zhixia but also the bride of the wedding banquet applauded the couple.
"Did I come back at the wrong time?" She asked sarcastically, and the lively atmosphere suddenly turned into awkward silence.
The groom Chen Jidong looked at his bride-to-be as if he had just woken up from a dream, and his face suddenly darkened.
"Qiao Zhixia, don't be sad! You're getting married and you're still going to the clinic. Everyone should let Qiuqiu come out to liven things up."
Qiao Zhixia laughed angrily, this was her wedding banquet, and her groom actually thought she was spoiling the fun, calling her by her full name and calling other women by affectionate nicknames.
How blind was she in her previous life that she couldn't see the cat's poop?
Looking at the Chinese character "囍" on the lime wall, the bed sheets with phoenix and peony flowers, and... her own red woolen coat, she was sure that she was indeed reborn.
She was reborn forty years ago, on the day Chen Jidong got married.
Last day, she and Chen Jidong returned to their hometown from the county town to hold a wedding banquet. Before the wedding ceremony, she suddenly had unbearable abdominal pain and had no choice but to go to the clinic.
When she rushed back from the health center, she happened to see Chen Jidong and a group of good brothers cheering for the female educated youth from the same village to get married and drink the wedding wine.
She was so angry that she smashed the cup. Instead of comforting her, the Chen family's relatives and friends accused her of making a fuss.
"Isn't it just for fun? Why do you care so much?"
"Who told you to go to the hospital after getting married? Ruoqiu doesn't mind supporting you, and you don't even feel grateful, but you blame her. You really have no conscience."
The Chen family's words made Qiao Zhixia feel even more suffocated. She looked at Chen Jidong, hoping that he could give her an explanation.
But before Chen Jidong could speak, Wang Ruoqiu beside him explained aggrievedly: "I'm sorry, Zhizhi, if you want to blame someone, blame me. You really can't blame Brother Dong. It was because everyone saw that you were late to come back, so they suggested that I liven up the party on your behalf. It was really just for fun."
"On behalf of my sister? Fortunately, my sister has come back now. If it was a little later, did you go to the bridal chamber with Mr. Chen on behalf of my sister?" The sister, filled with righteous indignation, stood up for Qiao Zhixia.
Wang Ruoqiu's face turned red, and some of her neighbors who were also at the banquet began to curse her in a low voice, saying that she was shameless.
Wang Ruoqiu stammered in shame, and simply covered her mouth and ran out crying, shouting as she ran: "It's all my fault, I'd better die, okay?"
"Ruoqiu——" Chen Jidong wanted to chase after her.
"If you dare to pursue her, there's no need for us to get married..." Qiao Zhixia grabbed Chen Jidong, who looked anxious.
Chen Jidong looked back at Qiao Zhixia. On one hand, they were childhood sweethearts of twenty years, and on the other hand, he was struck by love unexpectedly. After struggling for a while, he still stayed. Qiao Zhixia finished the wedding banquet absent-mindedly.
However, that afternoon, Wang Ruoqiu jumped into the river.
She left a pair of cloth shoes and a suicide note by the river. The suicide note was full of self-blame for ruining the marriage between Qiao Zhixia and Chen Jidong, so she simply ended her life in the hope of getting Qiao Zhixia's forgiveness.
At the same time, she also admitted that she did like Chen Jidong, but she had always kept this love hidden in her heart. She hoped that Chen Jidong would choose her in the next life.
After Chen Jidong received the news that Wang Ruoqiu committed suicide, he almost went crazy when he rushed to the river.
It had rained heavily a few days before, and the water level in the upper reaches surged, causing the water level of the entire river to surge, with turbulent rapids and turbulent mud and sand. There was no chance of survival if someone jumped in.
After Wang Ruoqiu's death, although Chen Jidong did not blame Qiao Zhixia at all, his eyes were full of resentment when he looked at Qiao Zhixia.
He treated her as a stranger and didn't even speak to her.
On the anniversary of Wang Ruoqiu's death one year later, Chen Jidong committed suicide by burning charcoal.
He died for love with Wang Ruoqiu.
Qiao Zhixia flipped through the letters that Chen Jidong had written to Wang Ruoqiu over the past year, all filled with crazy longing for the deceased, as well as hatred and curses against her "evil" wife.
Qiao Zhixia finally realized that her 20-year relationship with Chen Jidong was a joke.
When she was discouraged and wanted to leave the Chen family, she was locked up by the Chen family.
The mother-in-law and sister-in-law blamed Qiao Zhixia for Chen Jidong's death, thinking that she was the one who killed Chen Jidong, so they vented all their anger on her.
They broke her legs alive, and then sold her to a small mountain village which was even poorer than Jingyang Village without telling her mother.
She was tied to a pigsty by that family and became a tool for the family to continue their family line.
She lived a humiliating life for two years, unable to live or die. After suffering several miscarriages, she finally stabbed the men who bullied her to death with a sharp branch, and then ended her own life.
After Qiao Zhixia's death, her soul did not leave immediately, but wandered between Jingyang Village and the small county town she was familiar with, staying for forty years.
She watched helplessly as her mother's hair turned white in anxiety trying to find her. They went to the Chen family again and again, but the mother and daughter told them that she didn't want to be a widow after her husband died, so she stole their money and ran away to the city with a wild man.
They spread rumors that she was engaged in prostitution in the city.
As the saying goes, "three people make a tiger", my mother and sister were affected by the rumors and did not dare to go out for a long time.
Qiao Zhixia wanted to strangle the vicious Chen family to death, but she could do nothing.
My mother passed away when she was less than ten years old due to serious illness. My elder sister was abused by the man in her husband's house and finally jumped into the river with her eldest daughter and died.
The tragedy of their family started when Qiao Zhixia married into the Chen family.
However, the culprit, Wang Ruoqiu, was not dead at all.
Not only did she not die, she also married a deputy factory director in the city, gave birth to a son and a daughter, and the family lived happily in the compound.
Qiao Zhixia's soul followed Wang Ruoqiu for three years before she figured out that she had never committed suicide.
So he left a suicide note and fabricated the illusion of jumping into the river to die, purely to avenge Chen Jidong and to disgust Qiao Zhixia at the same time.
Wang Ruoqiu was an educated youth who came to the countryside from the provincial capital. Chen Jidong's father was the leader of the production team at that time. In addition, Chen Jidong was born with a clean, handsome and good-looking appearance, so Wang Ruoqiu always approached him intentionally or unintentionally.
Although Chen Jidong had already been engaged to Qiao Zhixia at that time, it was difficult for a girl to pursue a boy, and Chen Jidong still couldn't resist Wang Ruqiu's enthusiasm.
At first, the two of them just kissed, and then they went into the haystack. They agreed not to go in at first, but ended up doing the whole thing.
"Wuwu~ What should we do? We are sorry to Zhizhi."
"Zhizhi, she won't let me touch her. I'm a normal man...she will understand."
At first, Chen Jidong did feel guilty about Qiao Zhixia, but perhaps it was because he felt particularly excited to do it secretly, and he soon became addicted to it again.
The two of them secretly fell in love without telling Qiao Zhixia. At that time, new policies began to come down from above, and many educated youth were allowed to return to the city.
However, Wang Ruoqiu missed the opportunity to return to the city because of Chen Jidong, but Chen Jidong still failed to marry her in the end.
So she hated him, and she faked her death to punish him, making him feel guilty for the rest of his life and also making Qiao Zhixia feel annoyed for the rest of her life.
Her plan to fake her death was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but was premeditated.
When Wang Ruoqiu went to the countryside, he also had relationships with several other male educated youth.
Just two months before Chen Jidong and Qiao Zhixia got married, one of their male educated youth finally contacted Wang Ruoqiu and promised to help her return to the city.
Although the Chen family is considered well-off in the local area, Chen Jidong has opened three clothing stores in the county town, and his life will definitely get better and better in the future.
But after all, the opportunities are not as great as in big cities, so she decided to give up Chen Jidong. However, even if she left, Chen Jidong would feel that he had let her down, and she couldn't let Qiao Zhixia have an easy life.
After leaving his suicide note and shoes, Wang Ruoqiu went directly to the guesthouse opposite the county station, preparing to leave by long-distance bus the next day.
She came back to her senses and this time she broke the cup again. As expected, everyone started to blame her for being ignorant, just like they did last time.
Wang Ruoqiu bit her lips in humiliation, about to cry: "Is it okay for me to die? Wuwu..."
Chen Jidong looked at Wang Ruoqiu who ran out, and pushed Qiao Zhixia hard against the cabinet.
"Qiao Zhixia, I'm not done with you because of Qiuqiu this time."
This time, Chen Jidong did not choose to stay and attend the wedding, but chased after her immediately.
Apparently, he was also born again.
Qiao Zhixia looked in the direction Chen Jidong left and smiled coldly: "For the rest of your lives, you two will be locked up together!"