Before falling off the cliff, only one thought remained in Qin Sang's mind: "Advise someone to study medicine, and lightning will strike."
If she hadn't been a medical student who couldn't get a permanent position for seven years after graduation, she wouldn't have gone hiking to relax in frustration, and naturally, she wouldn't have made a mistake that led to eternal regret.
"Mother, please agree to let your son split the family. I beg of you."
A painful, low plea rang in her ears. Qin Sang felt her temples throbbing painfully, so much so that she opened her eyes.
Dim light met her eyes. The mottled wall revealed the yellowish-brown surface underneath, making Qin Sang dazed for a moment.
Was she alive again?
She moved her fingers and clearly felt the dry heat in the air. She was really alive!
"Mother, since Big Brother wants to split the family, then we might as well split too. Later, Little Four and Little Five will follow you. Big Brother and I will each give you twenty catties of Millet per month—that's forty catties a month—and you, Little Four, and Little Five can have thick porridge."
Another man's voice rang out. Qin Sang turned her head and saw four people kneeling huddled together in the small room, besides the large locked wooden chest in the corner.
This...
Seeing these people, memories flooded into her brain like crazy. Qin Sang couldn't help but rub her throbbing temples.
In the brief moments of massaging, Qin Sang also understood her current situation.
Good heavens. As a medical student, she should have been an atheist, but now she had died and transmigrated. It was just a pity she didn't become a princess, a noble lady, or a top courtesan, but instead became a wicked country mother-in-law in an unknown dynasty.
Why was the Original Owner called a wicked mother-in-law?
The Original Owner was also named Qin Sang. Her husband was conscripted. At first, he was stationed nearby and could come home. The Original Owner was fertile; in ancient times, there were no contraceptives, so if she got pregnant, she had to give birth. She bore three sons and two daughters. Unfortunately, her husband was later transferred to guard the border and never returned.
On the day the youngest son was born, the county office happened to send fifty taels of silver as compensation. The Original Owner felt both sorrow and joy, pouring all her favoritism onto the youngest son and using the whole family's strength to support his education.
Now the youngest son, Tian Wenmo, was eight years old. Several years of school Tuition and expenses had nearly drained the once-wealthy family.
If the harvests had been good, things wouldn't be so tight. However, there had been a drought in the first half of the year. There had been no rain in Tianjia Village, the fields yielded nothing, yet they still had to pay imperial taxes. Seeing that they were about to run out of food, the Original Owner was still determined to send her youngest son to school.
This time, because the youngest son ran out of paper and brushes and needed to buy them in the county, and the family was short on money, the Original Owner planned to sell the Eldest Brother's only daughter, Eldest Girl, to a Human Trafficker. This way, the family would get some money and have one less mouth to feed.
Unexpectedly, the eldest son and his wife, who were usually dull, honest, and only knew how to work, hid their only daughter, Eldest Girl, overnight after learning of the Original Owner's plan. They refused to sell her no matter what, disobeying their mother for the first time.
For this, the Original Owner got angry and started a hunger strike to force the eldest son and his wife to agree to sell their daughter.
Surprisingly, not only was the eldest son determined to split the family, but even Third Brother, who the Original Owner usually liked, also proposed a split.
In ancient times, filial piety was greater than heaven.
The Original Owner didn't expect Third Brother to pressure her too. One should know that the money for Third Brother's wedding this year was only raised because the Original Owner married off her second daughter to a Butcher in town for a high price. It was precisely because of this shock that the Original Owner couldn't catch her breath, allowing the modern Qin Sang to transmigrate over.
Kneeling closest to the bed was the Original Body's eldest son, Tian Dazhuang. At this moment, he was prostrate on the ground, weeping bitterly:
"Mother, your son wants nothing—not the house, not the fields. As long as you agree to split the family and let me take Da Hua and Eldest Girl out to live on our own, I am willing to give you Millet every month as San Gui said. San Gui gives twenty catties, I... I will give thirty catties, Mother..."
Kneeling behind Tian Dazhuang was his wife, Zhou Dahua. Having worked for years without enough food or warmth, her body was so weak she looked like she would collapse at a gust of wind.
Even though it was June, Zhou Dahua was shivering as if she were in an ice cave, her voice trembling uncontrollably:
"Brother Da Zhuang, don't... say anymore, don't anger... Mother-in-law..."
Images of the Original Owner tormenting her eldest daughter-in-law appeared in Qin Sang's mind. One could only say that if this were in modern times, a wicked mother-in-law like the Original Owner would definitely be posted on Douyin and face cyberbullying from netizens.
What was that about eating eighteen pumpkins during her postpartum confinement?
To the Original Owner, that would have been too kind.
When the Eldest Daughter-in-law was in confinement, forget pumpkins, she could hardly even get a bowl of water. The few Eggs sent by her maternal family were boiled by the Original Owner and stuffed into the youngest son's pocket. She even said to the Eldest Daughter-in-law with disdain:
"A money-loser giving birth to another money-loser, how do you have the nerve to eat Eggs? Get up and work! Have the chickens been fed? Is the meal cooked? Are the clothes washed?"
Poor Eldest Daughter-in-law, having given birth in the dead of winter, had to work in the fields without even a padded jacket.
The eldest son was also caught in the crossfire and scolded:
"If you were useful, you'd divorce your wife. Why keep such a money-loser? Her family has five sisters; I'm afraid she'll never give birth to a son in her life. I shouldn't have been greedy for a cheap bride and married her. Living, she wastes food; dead, she'll ruin our family's Feng Shui."
The scolding made the eldest son and his wife unable to lift their heads at home or in the village.
The eldest couple did the most work, ate the least, and were scolded and beaten the most.
Qin Sang could only say that with this old woman dead, the eldest son's family was finally liberated.
Kneeling next to the eldest was the third son, Tian Sangui. He was also kneeling, but his head was just lowered, and his back seemed quite stiff:
"Mother, since Big Brother has said so, please agree. I and Huan'er will often come back to visit you."
In the main hall, Third Brothers Wife walked a few steps to the doorframe and said loudly:
"That's right. If Big Brother doesn't split, we won't. If Big Brother splits, we split too. They are all your sons, you can't be partial. And don't ask San Gui to give you thirty catties of Millet a month too. I'm carrying the Tian Family's Eldest Grandson; you have to leave some food for him, right?"
Qin Sang glanced at Third Brothers Wife. She was pretty. The third son had married at the beginning of the year, so the child in her belly should be four months along. However, perhaps because rural conditions were poor and the food and nutrition were bad, her belly wasn't showing much. Still, her complexion and spirit were much better than the Eldest Brothers Wife's.
Third Brothers Wife's maternal family was much better off than the eldest's. She had three brothers and was the only sister, so the Original Owner didn't dare torment her too much.
Kneeling at the very back was a young girl, the Original Owner's fourth daughter, eleven-year-old Tian Sijin. She looked no different from a seven or eight-year-old first-grader in modern times, but the Original Owner planned to find her a husband and marry her off as soon as she turned thirteen.
Seeming to sense Qin Sang's gaze on her, Tian Sijin knelt there, her small body curled into a ball, as if hoping no one would notice her.
In this short time, Qin Sang had barely learned about the Original Owner's past, but she still couldn't accept her identity as a wicked, feudal country woman in ancient times.
But this wasn't a matter of whether she was willing to accept it or not. The situation was right there; now that she had become this woman, she had to clean up the mess left by the Original Owner.
She pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and then spoke:
"I don't agree."