Chapter 3: Returned to the Time Before Becoming a Poisonous Woman

However, the doctor thought Gao Qingmiao was being neurotic and refused to order an X-ray.

Before the system could find anything, her parents rushed over.

Seeing her parents as they were forty years ago, Gao Qinghe felt as if she had lived a lifetime.

It was just past the middle of February, and the Lunar New Year’s fifteenth day had only just passed. Qing County was experiencing a late spring cold snap this year, and the temperature was still quite low.

Huang Ying, thirty-nine years old this year, had no fine lines on her face yet. She had a round face, unremarkable features, and thick, jet-black hair cut to ear-length and tucked behind her ears.

She was tall and sturdy, standing at 1.65 meters and weighing 140 jin. Full of vitality, she had possessed an inexhaustible amount of strength since she was a child.

She wore a yellow and red checkered cotton-padded shirt, and underneath it, an orange semi-turtleneck sweater that her husband, Gao Chongyi, had knitted for her when he was courting her in his youth.

On her lower half, she wore navy blue Dacron trousers, and on her feet were green cotton-padded liberation shoes.

Gao Qinghe remembered that this was the outfit her mother always wore when going into town; she was too frugal to wear it for farm work, saving it only for trips to the city.

"Bao'er, how are you? Are you feeling any better?"

As soon as Huang Ying walked into the ward, her vibrant energy immediately brought a fresh vitality to the gloomy room.

Gao Qinghe suppressed the sob rising in her throat, shook her head, and reached out, calling out coquettishly, "Mom."

Who could have imagined that this strong, spirited woman would eventually be tortured by cancer until she was nothing but skin and bones?

Huang Ying grabbed her daughter’s outstretched hand, and upon feeling how ice-cold it was, she was startled.

"Your sister's hands are this cold, and you didn't even think to put a hot water bottle in for her?"

This was directed at Gao Qingmiao.

If it were anyone else, having taken care of their sister all by themselves only to be questioned like that by a parent, they might not have voiced their grievances, but they would have felt at least a little unhappy.

Yet, Gao Qingmiao looked full of chagrin, muttering self-reproachfully, "I'll pay attention next time."

"Still talking about next time?"

Gao Chongyi walked in, carrying a thin quilt folded into a neat square. "Let there not be a next time. This one time was scary enough."

The patients and their families in the opposite beds stared in surprise at Gao Chongyi as he walked in.

At forty years old, he was tall with long, thin legs, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a high nose bridge. Most importantly, his skin was fair. He wore glasses and a modified grey Zhongshan suit, looking just like a movie star.

No wonder the sister and brother in the opposite beds looked nothing alike.

Even with a bruise on her head, the sister was beautiful enough to make one feel pity for her.

The brother tried his best to follow trendy fashions, wearing a denim jacket and dyeing his hair yellow, but aside from his height, his face was so plain it would be lost in a crowd.

So, it turned out the sister took after her father, and the brother took after her mother.

Gao Qinghe noticed the surprise from the opposite bed and felt deeply moved.

Who would have thought that in a few years, her father would suffer from male-pattern baldness and develop a "Mediterranean" hairstyle?

Gao Chongyi first checked the large bump on his daughter's head and asked if it hurt.

Gao Qinghe shook her head, and her parents immediately grew tense, telling her not to move around.

Gao Qingmiao said, "The doctor said my sister just has low blood sugar. She just needs to eat on time from now on. I have medicine for the injury on her head; apply it three times a day, and it should be gone in a couple of days."

"I'll buy you a tin of milk powder later, Dad will make sure you get properly nourished," Gao Chongyi said, his heart aching for her.

A nurse came over to say they could be discharged. Gao Chongyi went to settle the bill, and Huang Ying helped her daughter tidy her hair.

Gao Qinghe’s soft, long black hair, which had come undone, was braided into a single plait hanging over her shoulder. A few stray locks fell across her forehead, making her pale, delicate face look even more endearing.

Looking at her daughter’s face, Huang Ying couldn't help but feel proud in her heart—marrying Old Gao was worth it!

Both daughters in the family took after their father and were exceptionally beautiful.

Gao Qingmiao helped his sister off the bed, picked up her shoes to put them on for her, carefully draped her coat over her shoulders, and finally tucked both her hands into her pockets, not daring to let them get cold again.

Gao Qinghe accepted her brother’s care with ease, because in this family, she was the treasure who couldn't lift a finger or carry a heavy load.

In her past life, Zhou Zhenghua had said she was too delicate and wondered what she would do once she got married.

At the time, she hadn't noticed the worry and resentment in his tone regarding their future, and had naively said

"Isn't there still you?"

She hadn't seen the awkward, pressured look on Zhou Zhenghua’s face at all.

Only later did she realize that, aside from her closest family, no one could stand someone as delicate as her.

No, wait—there was one other person who could.

But back then, she hadn't taken him seriously, relying on his love for her to act recklessly and do whatever she pleased.

With her left hand holding her brother and her right hand holding her mother as they walked out of the hospital, Gao Qinghe thought silently to herself.

This time, I must treat them well!

Gao Chongyi didn't return after paying the bill. Huang Ying explained

"Your dad asked Little Li from the next village to bring his tricycle to pick us up. He went out to meet him; let's wait at the entrance for a bit."

Gao Qinghe nodded obediently, looking up at this familiar yet nostalgic place.

After the country opened up, Qing County saw many individual businesses, and a large number of factory workers flooded into the city.

The low wooden houses had been torn down, and tall buildings had been erected, though none higher than six stories.

There were shops on the ground floor and people living above. Ropes were strung across the corridors and walkways, filled with freshly washed clothes.

On the widened and paved concrete road, white passenger buses were parked casually by the roadside, and travelers were loading luggage onto the roofs.

A duck’s head poked out from a bus window, its beady black eyes meeting Gao Qinghe’s for a second.

The next moment, its owner grabbed it and stuffed it back into a bamboo cage.

The supply and marketing cooperative on the street diagonally across from the hospital had changed its name to a "Department Store," and customers were streaming in.

The winds of fashion from the big cities had just begun to blow.

Among the crowd dressed in simple clothing, one could see many young people wearing bright, fashionable outfits and sporting permed hair.

Ignoring the strange looks from those around them, they gathered in front of the video hall, laughing and discussing the popular songs, dances, and movies of the day.

The cloudy sky cleared, and the sun emerged, casting warm rays upon her face.

Gao Qinghe smiled gently, truly feeling that she had returned to a time before she became a wicked woman.

Lively hawking sounds drifted over from the snack stalls on both sides of the hospital gate.

Steaming buns, roasted sweet potatoes, and roasted corn—the enticing aroma filled the air.

"Mom, I want to eat a roasted sweet potato."

Gao Qinghe leaned against her mother’s shoulder, acting spoiled.

Although she had aged well, she was still sixty years old; her teeth were no longer as strong as they were in her youth, and she couldn't eat anything cold or hard. This soft, hot roasted sweet potato was just right.

Thinking this, Gao Qinghe paused.

She was a twenty-year-old young woman now; her teeth were perfectly fine, and she could eat anything!

"And a roasted corn cob too!"

Gao Qinghe quickly called out in the local dialect to her brother, who was rushing to buy the sweet potato.

"Got it!"

Gao Qingmiao smiled on the surface, but his heart was aching.

His total secret savings amounted to only two yuan and fifty cents. A roasted sweet potato was thirty cents, and a roasted corn cob was twenty cents.

One-fifth of his secret savings was gone.

When he bought the food back, he handed everything to Gao Qinghe as if it were only natural.

Gao Qinghe looked at her brother’s eyes, which he was trying hard to look away, and felt a pang of sadness.

"Let's share it. One portion for each of us, and Mom and Dad should have some too. Save Dad’s portion for him first."

Gao Qinghe handed the large sweet potato and the roasted corn back, telling her brother to divide them.

Gao Qingmiao was so pleasantly surprised that his hands holding the food were trembling, showing just how excited he was.

Huang Ying also wore a look of pleasant surprise, as if her daughter had finally learned to care for her parents, and her eyes instantly turned red.

Gao Qinghe cursed herself in her heart: You really were a piece of work before!

(End of chapter)