No longer caring about the Gao family's reaction, Chun Mian grabbed an older woman's hand, squeezed out a few crocodile tears, and sobbed, "Aunt Qiang, I... I'm so heartbroken. I just want to pack my things and go back to my parents' home for a while."
"Oh, you poor child. Going home for now is fine." Aunt Qiang considered Old Mrs. Gao's vicious behavior. If Chun Mian stayed, her life would be a living hell. "You have to look past this," she added. "You'll have children again in the future."
Hearing Aunt Qiang's words, Chun Mian smiled bitterly. She wiped her tears and returned to her room, quickly packing Wei Shumei's clothes and her meager savings.
When Chun Mian walked out again, she glanced at the now-conscious Old Mrs. Gao and Gao Jianmin, who still hadn't managed to get up. After thanking the village women, she grabbed her small basket of eggs and headed out.
"Don't you dare leave! Leave those eggs right here!" Seeing the eggs and brown sugar walnut cookies practically sprouting legs to run away, how could Old Mrs. Gao tolerate it?
Ignoring the women chattering around her, Old Mrs. Gao lunged forward with surprising agility. She showed absolutely none of her usual 'my back aches and my legs hurt' ailments that flared up whenever she was asked to work in the fields. She moved so fast that the other women didn't even have time to react.
Old Mrs. Gao thought her speed would definitely knock Chun Mian to the ground. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to take a literal bite out of Chun Mian, completely disregarding whether the eggs would break from the impact. Unfortunately, dreams were beautiful, but reality was another matter entirely. As Old Mrs. Gao lunged at her, Chun Mian merely shifted her feet and took two steps forward, causing the older woman to face-plant into the empty dirt.
"Shumei, you go on ahead," Aunt Qiang laughed out of sheer anger at Old Mrs. Gao's antics. Because she had been standing right next to the action, the back of her hand had been struck and reddened by Old Mrs. Gao's furious charge. Filled with indignation, she naturally took Chun Mian's side. Besides, Chun Mian was only going back to her parents' home for a visit; it wasn't as if she was leaving for good.
"Thank you, Aunt Qiang." Chun Mian pressed her lips together, playing the part of the timid daughter-in-law. When she turned her head, however, a quiet smile graced her lips. Carrying her belongings, she happily set off on the road to her parents' home. As for Old Mrs. Gao, who had fallen to the ground but was still relentlessly spewing increasingly foul curses? Who cared?
The sun was directly overhead, marking the hottest part of the day—hardly the ideal time for travel. Chun Mian, however, didn't mind the blazing sun. After all, her physical foundation belonged to her true self. Why would she fear such trivial elements? Having landed directly in a metaphorical battlefield, she hadn't yet had the chance to observe her current surroundings.
Surrounded by green hills and clear waters, the scenery was quite beautiful, and the air was fresh. It was nothing like Seventy-nine Stars, which constantly reeked of a strange, lingering odor.
None of the villagers had suspected her true identity just now. It seemed the Door Spirit hadn't lied about this detail; although she was the one who had entered this world, it could effortlessly disguise her as Wei Shumei. It was quite magical. Of course, the Door Spirit's magic extended far beyond just that.
In the upper right corner of Chun Mian's vision floated three large grid squares. This was the portable inventory the Door Spirit had mentioned, somewhat similar to the Space Buttons used in the interstellar era. However, while a Space Button boasted massive storage capacity, the inventory provided by the Door Spirit consisted of merely three slots, complete with strict limits on the quantity and weight of items. Moreover, before entering a dimensional plane, these three slots could only be filled with items purchased from the Door Spirit's shop. Naturally, these purchases consumed the Wish Power it so desperately craved.
Once inside a minor plane, these slots could temporarily be used as a regular inventory, though different types of items could not be stacked together.
This was her first plane. Although the Door Spirit had mentioned that she could buy on credit, Chun Mian had left in such a hurry that she completely forgot about it. Now, her inventory slots were completely empty. Only after entering the mountain woods did she discreetly take out the original host's hidden stash—a crumpled wad of small bills—and place it into one of the inventory slots.
Wei Shumei had managed to secretly save up ten yuan in total.
The current year was 1985. Chun Mian knew very little about this era of history. In the interstellar era, very few ancient books had been restored, and the Star Network offered sparse information about this period. Living on the backward Seventy-nine Stars, her access to information had been even more limited. Everything Chun Mian knew about this era came from Wei Shumei's memories. Ten yuan was not a small amount of money in this day and age.
Wei Shumei's maiden home was in Xiao Wo Village, separated from Beigang Village by another settlement. Walking there took about an hour. Chun Mian walked fast and reached the village in just half an hour.
The summer noon was sweltering, so the villagers usually waited until two or three o'clock in the afternoon before heading out to work in the fields. It wasn't even two o'clock when Chun Mian returned. After greeting the familiar aunts and uncles in the village, she headed straight to the Wei family home.
"Shumei, what's wrong?" Mrs. Wei was momentarily stunned to see her daughter return. Snapping out of her daze, she stepped forward, took the items from Chun Mian's hands, discreetly peeked inside the basket, and asked with deep concern.
"Shumei is back?" Hearing that his eldest daughter had returned, Old Man Wei also came out to take a look.
"Dad, Mom, I... WAAAH!" Chun Mian burst into tears the moment she saw them.
Chun Mian knew all too well that the crying child gets the candy. It wasn't that Wei Shumei hadn't understood this principle. However, as the eldest sister at home and the eldest daughter-in-law in her marriage, she possessed a fiercely independent and proud nature. She had locked herself into countless rigid rules and expectations for her entire life, yet never received a shred of benefit in return. Therefore, Chun Mian would absolutely not follow her example!
"Why is the child crying like this? Don't cry. Tell Dad, did the Gao family bully you?" Catching sight of the items in Chun Mian's basket, Old Man Wei already had a suspicion. He barked the question fiercely, then, afraid of scaring his daughter, forced down his anger and tried to comfort her as gently as possible.
Between her sobs, Chun Mian clearly and articulately recounted all the grievances she had suffered during her year of marriage.
It was impossible for Wei Shumei's parents and family to be completely oblivious to the hardships she endured, but since she never spoke of them, her family couldn't easily intervene. Now, hearing Chun Mian explain that she had just lost her child and that the nourishing food her family had sent her almost fell into Old Mrs. Gao's hands, Old Man Wei flew into a raging fury. He stormed into the storage shed, grabbed a pickaxe, and charged toward the gate.
In the end, it was Wei Shumei's eldest brother, Wei Qifeng, who stepped forward and forcefully held him back. "Dad, don't be impulsive. Let's hear what my sister has to say first."
"You silly child, why did you keep all your grievances bottled up inside? What if you made yourself sick from holding it all in? You foolish girl," Mrs. Wei said. Although she was equally furious, comforting her child was the priority. As she spoke, she also began wiping away her own tears.
"I used to think that because little Anna was so young and lost her father so early, she was truly pitiful. But this time, I've finally seen things clearly. I understand them and my heart aches for them, but they don't know the meaning of gratitude, and they certainly don't care about me!" Chun Mian sobbed pitifully as she held onto Mrs. Wei.