Chapter 1: Is it a final burst of energy?

There was a breeze, blowing gently against her face, feeling quite comfortable.

This was the only sensation Hua Xiali felt as she lay in her deep slumber.

She did not know how much time had passed before she slowly opened her eyes. Her left eye was swollen and painful, making it impossible to open; she could only open her intact right eye.

What came into view were earthen walls covered in old newspapers. The entire room looked simple and empty, lacking even decent furniture, and there was a heavy scent of traditional Chinese medicine lingering in the air.

Gazing at the light filtering down from the roof, Hua Xiali blinked in confusion. This was the old house she had lived in from childhood; she had lived here for decades, both before and after her marriage. She couldn't be more familiar with it.

But later, the village land was requisitioned, and the house was demolished. Why was this house still standing perfectly fine now?

And she clearly remembered her ex-husband’s mistress coming to snatch her relocation apartment and pushing her down the stairs. Her old bones had been shattered, and she had breathed her last. Could this be a final flash of consciousness before death?

If it was a final flash, and she could see the house she had lived in all her life, could she also see her family?

She missed her father, mother, eldest sister, brother-in-law, younger sister...

She missed them so much; in the dead of night, the longing made her chest ache.

Could she be allowed to take one last good look at them?

Or could she be allowed to reunite with them in the afterlife?

She hadn't accompanied them well while she was alive; let her cling to their side after death. She didn't want to go anywhere else.

"Xiali, Xiali, get up for lunch." A crisp knocking sound came from outside the door, followed by a familiar voice calling her name.

Hua Xiali froze the moment she heard it. Was she hallucinating? Otherwise, how could she hear her mother’s voice? And the voice sounded so young, without a hint of age.

Could it be that the heavens had heard her cries and knew her regrets, allowing her to see her mother one last time before she died?

Thinking of this, Hua Xiali shouted excitedly, "Mom, Mom..."

Could she finally see her mother?

Hearing Hua Xiali’s urgent cries, Mother Hua was very worried and hurriedly pushed the door open to enter. "Xiali, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

When Hua Xiali saw Mother Hua, she rubbed her intact right eye in disbelief and asked in confusion, "Are you my mother? Why are you so young and beautiful?"

The Mother Hua before her looked at most in her early forties. Because of the wind and sun from farm work, her skin was a dark yellow, but her features were excellent—her cheek lines were smooth, her jawline was clear, her brows were thick, her eyes were large, and her nose bridge was high. There wasn't an ounce of excess fat on her face.

One could imagine how stunning she must have been when she was young; otherwise, it would have been impossible for her three daughters to be born so beautiful.

Mother Hua thought Hua Xiali was complimenting her, and a flush of heat rose to her cheeks. She chided, "You child, your mother is only forty; of course I'm young and beautiful."

She then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, lowering her head to examine Hua Xiali’s eye. "How could you be so careless? Seeing those children fighting, why did you have to get involved? You’re about to get engaged, and now that your eye has been hit by a stone like this, how are you supposed to get engaged? Later, I’ll boil an egg for you to roll over it..."

Listening to Mother Hua’s nagging, Hua Xiali felt no impatience at all; she felt incredibly warm. When she heard the word "engaged," Hua Xiali’s eyes widened, and she looked at Mother Hua in confusion. "What engagement?"

She was seventy or eighty years old, about to be buried; what engagement was there to talk about?

"Wang Liang and Ding Yong have been chasing you so hard. No matter who you choose, won't you be married by the end of this year? But Mom still supports you choosing Wang Liang. His home is in the next village, less than a ten-minute walk away, which makes it convenient for you to take care of our family. Plus, he only has one older sister, so there’s less drama. Ding Yong’s home is too far away, and he has three older sisters above him. If you marry him, it’s like having four mothers-in-law at once; you won't be able to handle it..." Mother Hua continued to chatter on.

Only when Hua Xiali heard the names Wang Liang and Ding Yong did she realize that her mother was talking about the year 1990, the year she was nineteen.

Before the New Year that year, she and her eldest sister went to the supermarket to buy supplies and met her sister’s two elementary school classmates, Wang Liang and Ding Yong. Both men pursued her fiercely. Following the advice of her mother and family, she chose Wang Liang, who lived nearby.

They got engaged in May 1990 and married in November.

After marrying Wang Liang, she gave birth to their eldest son the following year. A year later, when she found out she was pregnant again, Wang Liang disappeared. He never returned, nor did he bring back a single cent. Hua Xiali was left pregnant and raising a child alone. Her parents-in-law and sister-in-law didn't help, and they often came to bully her.

Especially that sister-in-law; one person was more troublesome than ten mothers-in-law combined.

Later, with the support of her maiden family, Hua Xiali raised her two sons. When her youngest son was ten, Wang Liang returned with a pregnant woman. To give this woman a status, he came back to divorce her.

It was only then that Hua Xiali realized what a piece of trash Wang Liang was. He had always had a girlfriend outside, but the woman wanted a dowry of several thousand yuan, which he couldn't afford. So, when he returned to his hometown and saw how beautiful Hua Xiali was, he pursued her. To make her willingly stay at his house and serve his parents, he stayed for two years just to get her pregnant and tie her heart down, then ran off when she was pregnant the second time.

Because he knew Hua Xiali wouldn't be able to leave.

The reason he came back for a divorce was because his girlfriend was getting older—she was already over thirty—and they had to get married.

Hua Xiali was someone who had finished high school and studied in the city for a few years; she wasn't a fool. After they had bullied her like this and made her suffer for twelve whole years, how could she let those two scumbags off easily? So, before going to get the divorce certificate, she went straight to the court to sue Wang Liang and his girlfriend.

Even if she couldn't get compensation, she would ruin their reputations or ensure the children severed all ties with Wang Liang.

It would also serve as a warning to women in the countryside: if your husband doesn't come home for the holidays and doesn't send money home, he most likely has another woman.

After all, they were just ordinary rural people with low incomes. If they were supporting one woman, they naturally couldn't support a second. But if they sent money home, the woman outside wouldn't want to be with them. Most men, in order to coax the woman outside, chose to mistreat their wives and children back home.