Chapter 5: The King of Hell Won't Accept Me

Yang Ruoqing felt a bit like laughing.

In Tan-shi’s eyes, she couldn't detect even the slightest hint of that deeply hidden maternal love!

This mother of hers was a total pushover; even when someone slapped her, she would still stand in the other person’s shoes and make excuses for them!

"Mother, Grandma says Qing'er is just a fool who only knows how to eat. Am I really a fool?" Yang Ruoqing suddenly asked again. From the tone of Tan-shi’s voice, she didn't sense malicious slander, but rather a factual accusation and disdain.

Sun-shi was slightly startled. Looking at Qing'er’s face before her, her nose suddenly felt sore, and a sense of sorrow welled up from within, nearly bringing her to tears.

She held back the tears in her eyes, gently pulled Yang Ruoqing into her arms, and stroked her back. "Your grandma was just speaking in anger. My Qing'er is very smart, not a fool, not a fool at all..."

Is that really the case?

A doubt lingered in Yang Ruoqing’s heart: was the original owner really a fool?

However, she had taken over this body, yet she hadn't received any of the original owner’s memories.

Yang Ruoqing wanted to ask something more, but a loud noise came from the doorway of the side room. It turned out that Tan-shi had slammed her laundry club against the door. "Third daughter-in-law, are you dead? What are you dawdling for with that fool daughter of yours? Leaving a huge pile of chores undone—are you trying to defy the heavens?"

Sun-shi hurriedly let go of Yang Ruoqing and turned to reply toward the door: "Coming! I'm coming!"

She turned back, helped Yang Ruoqing lie down, and pulled over a quilt that smelled of dampness and mildew to cover her. "Qing'er, sleep a little longer. Mother will come to see you after I finish making lunch!"

Yang Ruoqing nodded obediently, watching Sun-shi hurry out of the west side room. In the dim room, she was left alone once again.

She lay quietly on the hard wooden bed, staring blankly at the yellowed, washed-out canopy above her head.

Forget it. Even if the original owner was a fool, that was only in the past. From the moment she arrived, everything would be rewritten.

She didn't know how long she stared like that, until her head began to spin and ache. She raised a hand to touch her forehead.

Damn, it was burning hot. She was running a fever again.

Her throat felt like it was on fire, as if a large mass of flames was scorching her throat and chest.

She struggled to open her mouth, letting out a few hoarse sounds, but they were extremely weak.

It was agonizing. She wanted a drink of cold tea, but this dark little room felt as if it were isolated from the rest of the world.

In her delirium, she seemed to hear footsteps in the courtyard outside, along with the loud voice of a strange woman, but no one noticed her weak calls from the small room.

Her body felt as if it were being roasted over charcoal, or soaked in ice water. She curled up, the quilt having long since slid to the floor.

Suddenly, fragments resembling scenes from an old movie began to drill into her brain like snowflakes. Strange scenes and images of life flashed chaotically through her mind, colliding with her original memories, making her skull feel like it was about to split open. She hugged her arms to herself, her teeth chattering, rolling on the bed in agony as her consciousness gradually blurred...

She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard someone gently pushing her. A familiar voice was calling her anxiously by her ear: "Qing'er... Qing'er, why are you lying here? Wake up, quickly..."

Yang Ruoqing slowly opened her eyes and found that she was sleeping on the floor. Sun-shi was bent over, her arms wrapped around her waist, trying to lift her from the cold, damp ground. But this body of hers was simply too fat, and Sun-shi had been malnourished for so long that she couldn't muster any strength; she tried several times but couldn't lift her.

"Mother, I'll do it myself."

Yang Ruoqing felt a bit embarrassed.

She gently pushed Sun-shi away, braced her hands against the damp, cold earthen floor, sat up, and climbed back onto the bed.

Waking up this time, she clearly felt that there were many unfamiliar memories in her mind.

They were very blurry and messy fragments of life, like the world seen through the eyes of a five or six-year-old child.

But who was Yang Ruoqing? As an elite secret agent in her past life, she could peel back the layers of even the messiest things to find a clear path.

This "cheap" mother before her, and the "cheap" father who had gone to town to buy medicine and hadn't returned yet—the couple had spent thirteen years, day after day, painstakingly raising this mentally disabled daughter. They had endured countless cold stares and suffered so much, yet never uttered a word of complaint.

Just recently, the foolish version of herself had gone to the village entrance and, because of a single sentence from the boy she was betrothed to, had foolishly jumped into a pond. She had been fished out in the end, but it had nearly cost the couple half their lives.

Yang Ruoqing lowered her head silently, her forehead covered in black lines.

Although those shameful, ridiculous things weren't done by her, this body was now under her control. Naturally, she would have to bear the consequences of what the host had done.

Sun-shi touched Yang Ruoqing’s forehead; it was cool, and she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She pulled the quilt over to cover Yang Ruoqing, unable to help but mutter to herself: "I was only gone long enough to cook lunch, and you rolled onto the floor. I don't know how long you slept there. Bodhisattva bless you, I hope you don't catch another cold!"

She couldn't help but look up at her daughter, seeing her hanging her head, not acting like a child and clinging to her for affection as she usually did when being scolded.

A trace of inexplicable loss flashed through Sun-shi’s heart. Suddenly thinking of something, her heart tightened, and she hurriedly held Yang Ruoqing’s body. "Why are you so listless? Daughter, what's wrong? Did you bump into something? Quick, let Mother see."

While saying this, her eyes had already scanned Yang Ruoqing from head to toe, front to back, carefully. Only after confirming there were no obvious bruises or injuries did she feel a little more at ease.

"Mother, I'm fine, don't worry. I'm just a little hungry..."

Yang Ruoqing suddenly raised her head and said in a hoarse voice.

Sun-shi was slightly startled, looking at Yang Ruoqing in surprise, unable to believe what she had heard.

"Daughter, Mother isn't dreaming, right? You... you can speak clearly now?"

Yang Ruoqing felt a headache coming on. The former her was mentally disabled, her brain didn't work well, and she couldn't speak clearly. She didn't even know how to say she needed to pee, only knowing how to shout "pee-pee"...

She nodded gently, wanting to bring some joy to this kind "cheap" mother.

She wanted to reach out and hold Sun-shi’s hand, but as soon as she brought her hand out and caught a glimpse of her own "pig trotters" with black dirt under the nails, she felt ashamed and pulled it back.

"Mother, I feel like I just had a dream. Now, the dream is over, and I'm awake," Yang Ruoqing said.