Erdao River Village witnessed something novel.
Brigade Leader Song Liang's daughter, Siqi, turns out not to be his biological child. Due to expecting twins, his wife, Xia Guilan, gave birth in a city hospital and ended up taking home the wrong child.
Just a week ago, Song Yunuan, who had been brought back by a cadre couple from the city, was proven to be their real daughter.
Qin Siqi happily returned to the city with her real parents.
The girl who was sent back couldn't bear the hardships of rural life, looked down on the Song family, and, after a bout of screaming and shouting, hanged herself.
The Song household was thrown into chaos.
They barely managed to save her; now she lies on the brick bed all day without moving.
Brigade Leader Song Liang's hair turned half white from worry.
At this moment, Old Mrs. Song stood in the yard scolding Song Yunuan, telling her that she had the body of a mistress but the fate of a servant; she should swiftly accept reality and get up to work the fields.
Even the brigade leader's daughter has to earn work points.
Lying on the brick bed, Song Yunuan finally opened her eyes.
She couldn't do any work.
But she had indeed come to terms with reality.
It was just that after a sleep, she woke up inside a book.
This wasn't a tale of genuine and false daughters, but a female-led revenge story.
It tells of the eldest daughter Lin Qing and her sister Lin Jia repossessing their mother's legacy, dealing with their scumbag father and his mistress, and both hitting jackpot in career and love.
Of course, the real daughter Qin Siqi and the fake daughter Song Yunuan's fiancé, Lu Feng, also go through various hardships and eventually lead a happy life together.
As for her, she was just an insignificant character in the book, quickly killed off; a small-time villain too petty to be smaller.
Why was she eliminated?
She recalled the content of the book carefully.
[Alas, it seems too late. Lin Jia's sister Lin Qing will arrive in an hour, and the moment she sees how miserably Lin Jia is living at the Wang family's, she becomes so furious she wants murder.]
Song Liang, who was sitting in the yard waiting for lunch, suddenly started.
Where did that voice come from?
Lin Jia?
Isn't she Wang Zhuzi's educated youth wife?
Is she living miserably?
Wang Zhuzi loves to drink; when he's drunk, he beats his wife and children. Zhuzi's mother despises Lin Jia for not bearing male children and abuses her almost daily.
Song Liang squinted; it seemed like it had been a while since he had seen Lin Zhiqing.
Wait, who was speaking just now?
[Wang Zhuzi is a vile scoundrel who even broke Lin Jia's legs. These past few days, he didn't give her food, and he and the old woman are planning to sell both daughters.]
[Lin Qing arrives just in time. She takes Lin Jia and her daughters away, and then Lin Qing begins her revenge—first exposing my father's corruption, bribery, and negligence, letting villagers commit violence with impunity. In three days, my father is stripped of his position and thrown into the police station...]
Song Liang's heart skipped a beat.
Lin Qing, Lin Jia's sister?
Then he saw Song Yunuan, his newly recognized daughter, walking leisurely out of the house.
[They say my dad hoarded spring-planted seeds, thousands of catties of them hidden in the west granary. Let's see if it's true.]
Song Liang watched dumbfounded as his daughter walked towards the west granary.
[Eh, why is the granary door locked? Could it really be hiding embezzled seeds?]
Song Liang's legs couldn't hold him up any longer.
He collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Xia Guilan, who was busy cooking in the kitchen, ran out with a pale face; Old Mrs. Song, who had been scolding in the yard, felt like she couldn't breathe.
Three people glanced at each other, their eyes all widened simultaneously.
Could what they had just heard actually be Little Nuan's inner voice?
This bold conjecture shocked all the Song family members present.
An eerie silence suddenly enveloped the Song family's courtyard.
Song Liang looked incredulously at his daughter, whose mouth was tightly closed, his voice trembling as he said, "Little... Little Nuan, what you just said..."
He wanted to ask his daughter how she knew what she had just said, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Song Yunuan looked at Song Liang in confusion, scratching her head due to the unfamiliarity, not knowing what to say in that moment.
[What's with them, why are they all looking at me like that?]
Old Mrs. Song stared into Song Yunuan's bewildered yet clear eyes and suddenly remembered the legend of the Song family.
Her heart grew cold as she tremblingly slapped Song Liang's back, "I think I hear a child crying from Old Wang's family. That Old Woman Mrs. Wang, always beating the child, not letting them have a good meal even at noon; how do they expect them to work in the afternoon? You're the brigade leader, go check on the Wang family right now! What are you standing there for, hurry up!"
Xia Guilan untied her apron. Although she didn't quite understand, she knew that the root of the trouble was the Wang family.
Damn it, why should her man be dragged into this?
[I didn't hear any child being beaten, but maybe that's for the better. The Wang family is the root of the problem. I'd rather not have Lin Qing take it out on us. Otherwise, the only one left in the old Song family would be my sister-in-law, and she's already lost her legs...]
Song Ting, who had just come out of the house, widened her eyes and pointed at Song Yunuan, "You dead girl, you..."
She clutched her throat, panicking, unable to understand why she couldn't speak.
Old Mrs. Song felt like she was about to faint.
It would be just as the ancestors said: if a descendant with the power of prophecy emerged, then everything Little Nuan said was true.
How did fourteen members of their Song family die, leaving only one?
She and her husband had three sons and one daughter, three grandsons and two granddaughters. Although poor, their family was harmonious. So how could they all be dead?
She didn't care anymore, staring at her beloved youngest daughter, she urgently commanded, "Hurry up and cook. Your brother and sister-in-law and I are going to Old Wang's place."
Song Ting was stunned.
Song Yunuan's eyes lit up: [I want to go too, but how should I say it?]
Old Mrs. Song stepped forward and lovingly took hold of Song Yunuan, "My good granddaughter, let's go and watch the excitement together."
Song Yunuan hesitated for a moment, then obediently followed her out.
Song Liang and his wife were running ahead, their heads buzzing, while the old lady chased after them down the road. When they passed the neighbor's, the Sun family, she grabbed Old Mrs. Sun, "Come on, let's go to Old Wang's place to see the commotion."
Old Mrs. Sun dropped her grandson and ran after her.
While running, she glanced at Song Yunuan, thinking to herself, Oh, what a beautiful girl, with red lips, white teeth, and a face like a painting, like a little fairy from heaven.
Song Yunuan, however, was shocked beyond belief.
By the time they reached Old Wang's place at the eastern end of the village, her grandmother had pulled along six other old ladies. Song Yunuan looked back to see that more than a dozen women and children were following.
In those times, entertainment was scarce; people would watch even two hens fighting for half a day.
But the more people the better, the Wang family not only had many sons but were also overbearing; her parents were likely to be beaten.
It wasn't far away, and they soon arrived.
The gate of Old Wang's house stood open.
Old Woman Mrs. Wang and Wang Zhuzi were shouting loudly, and several women were also arguing, with the other men of the Wang family laughing carelessly, indifferent to the chaos.
Xia Guilan walked around inside and outside for a moment, then called out sharply, "Where is Lin Zhiqing?"
Old Woman Mrs. Wang glared with bulging eyes, "Xia Guilan, don't think I'm afraid of you just because your husband is the brigade leader. What business do you have barging into my house? What, do you fancy someone in my family..."
Immediately after, a figure swooped in. Old Mrs. Song grabbed Old Woman Mrs. Wang by the hair and swung her hand across her face, "You old hag, raised on dung, dare to insult my daughter-in-law, I'll dig up your ancestors!"
Old Woman Mrs. Wang fought back just as fiercely, grabbing Old Mrs. Song.
Song Yunuan was again shocked to see the two old ladies pulling at each other's hair.