The man's hoarse voice didn't intimidate Su Xiaofeng in the slightest. However, the force he applied on her arm was indeed quite painful.
She slowly opened her eyes.
The mottled ceiling, the dim room, a window covered with spiderwebs, with a layer of oiled paper pasted over it—the oiled paper had yellowed, clearly old.
Next to the bed stood a square table with peeling paint, on which lay a few books, a teacup, and a beautiful Bronze Mirror, nothing else.
Old Su held a bamboo whip about a meter long in his hand, his dark face betraying no emotion. Only from his eyes could one see that he was very angry at the moment.
"Su Xiaofeng." As soon as Old Su saw that she had woken up, he snapped the bamboo whip on the square table, which resounded obligingly several times, "Tell me, whose child is in your belly? Is it that rascal's from just now?"
She lifted her hand and glanced at it—this pair of hands was rougher and not hers.
The unfamiliar environment, the unfamiliar faces, and an unfamiliar body caused a brief blank in her mind. Her forehead ached where she was injured, and in that moment, memories that didn't belong to her intruded into her brain. Those strange, alien memories just barged in like that.
She, Su Xiaofeng, a single entrepreneur of advanced age from the 21st century, wanted to have her own child without getting married, and in the process of sleeping with men, she used substandard medicine and sent herself back to the year '93.
The original Su Xiaofeng was timid and weak, quiet and self-conscious. After being molested by a rascal and found out by her father, she hit her head on a rock during the argument and died.
That wasn't the most important thing, though. The important thing was, the original owner was already two months pregnant.
Knowing this news, Su Xiaofeng felt like laughing out loud three times, ha ha, perfect! She could have a child without sleeping with a man, precisely her ideal from her previous life.
What was this called? Looking everywhere for shoes, only to find them effortlessly.
"Xiaofeng, tell me, is the child in your belly that Liu An's?" Stepmother He Ximei saw the strange smile on Su Xiaofeng's face and asked anxiously.
She cursed Su Xiaofeng at the bottom of her heart for not knowing what was best for her, that girl. Why get involved with a rascal? She would have been better off marrying Pengzi.
Su Xiaofeng reined in her smile, her hands subconsciously resting on her belly, just about to speak, when commotion erupted outside.
"Sister-in-law, Liu An and his dad have arrived, holding two catties of pork and two catties of pastries, claiming they're here for a marriage proposal." He Ximei's brother burst in shouting.
"He dares to come." Old Su glanced at the bed, "Dead girl, I'll deal with you later."
With that, he went out.
Old Su wasn't called that because there was something wrong with his feet; on the contrary, he was strong and healthy. It was said that as a child he loved to imitate the way old people walked, so the villagers gave him the nickname 'Old Su'.
Upon hearing that Liu An and his father had come to Old Su's house to propose marriage, the villagers all gathered around, forming layers both inside and out, blocking the way.
Liu An was very pleased with this turnout. The more people who knew that the child in Su Xiaofeng's belly was his, the better. This way, Su Xiaofeng would have no choice but to marry him.
Old Su's house was the oldest in the village. While every other household lived in whitewashed brick and tile houses, Old Su's family still dwelled in a mud hut with a roof so tattered it looked like a newly built cattle shed compared to others' homes.
Liu Da Tou, holding two catties of pork and two catties of pastries, saw Old Su come out, and raised his drake-like voice, "In-law, I heard that Xiaofeng is pregnant, and the child is Liu An's. The boy immediately sent me over to propose marriage, as a sign of sincerity."
"Right, Uncle Su. I was being thoughtless earlier, a bit too hasty. Uncle Su, I'm not irresponsible. If Xiaofeng has my child, I'll definitely own up to it. Just give the nod, and I'll bring Xiaofeng into my home right away." Liu An, looking slick and sly—his appearance could be summed up in a phrase: sharp-chinned and monkey-cheeked.
"Ptui!" He Ximei spat at Liu An, "Liu An, you shameless thing. Look at yourself, you have the gall to long for swan meat."
Liu An was a rascal, lazy and good-for-nothing, never engaging in honest work, not the sort any decent family would allow their daughter to marry.
"Auntie, I don't like hearing that," Liu An said with a grin. "Do you know why Xiaofeng is with me? Because she said, you wanted to marry her off to an idiot. She stated that she would rather be with me than with an idiot for the rest of her life."
After finishing, Liu An laughed loudly, "Folks, Xiaofeng's thought isn't wrong, is it? An idiot can't provide for a family, and who knows if he could even consummate the marriage. Marrying me is certainly better than being stuck with an idiot."
"He Ximei, did you hear that? Xiaofeng would rather be with Liu An than an idiot. Tsk tsk, only you could push a stepdaughter to this point," villager Hu Xiulan said with a tsk.
"Indeed, I heard that you wanted to use Xiaofeng as a marriage exchange. Otherwise, why would Xiaofeng make such a rash decision, to be with someone like Liu An and even have his child?" Villager Zhang Jiuying chimed in.
"All said and done, it's you who have ruined Xiaofeng. If it weren't for you, how would Xiaofeng have fallen to this point? It's always said, a stepmother is indeed a stepmother, once there's a stepmother, there's also a stepfather," Hu Xiulan spoke up again.
He Ximei had an idiot son, whose IQ couldn't match that of a nine-year-old child. Though he was tall and strong, the villagers considered him good-for-nothing, a lost cause for his lifespan. Old Su's family was poor, and with a son like that, no girl would willingly marry a fool.
Even if they were He Ximei, they would set their sights on Su Xiaofeng.
Hearing Hu Xiulan's words, He Ximei, who naturally had eyes like a cow's, glared even wider in anger, "Hu Xiulan, you're talking nonsense. When have I ever forced her?"
Although she was self-interested, she definitely never forced Xiaofeng.