Gu Manman felt a severe headache and struggled to open her eyes. Where was this?
Gu Manman glanced around, she was in a dimly lit room where the walls were made of woven bamboo and plastered with thick mud, which was already starting to peel off. The ceiling was covered with black tiles, and she was lying on an uneven mud floor.
Had she been kidnapped and sold to some mountainous region that was destitute? She was clearly taking a bath when she suddenly fainted and woke up here.
She needed to find a way to escape. There was no sound, and it seemed like no one else was in the house, which made her feel relieved. They didn't even bind her, which could work to her advantage.
As she stood up, Gu Manman was taken by surprise. How could this bed be so tall? She stood up and the bed was positioned slightly above her waistline.
And this cupboard, she stretched out her hand; this wasn't logical. She was five foot five, yet she couldn't reach the top of the cupboard.
On second thought, her hands were also wrong. Such a small pair of hands, like chicken feet, most importantly, the big mole on the back of her hand vanished. She scanned around the room and found a mirror on a low cabinet by the bed. She picked it up to take a look.
She had thick eyebrows, double-eyelids, high nose bridge and small mouth. Although she seemed malnourished, with a yellowed skin and dried hair, it was clear from her facial features that she would grow into a beautiful woman with proper care.
This was not her. She was also a beauty, but the person in the mirror only looked to be eleven or twelve, while she was already thirty. What was happening?
Just as she was perplexed, she experienced a sharp pain and fainted, falling once again onto the floor. Meanwhile, undeclared thoughts began flooding her mind.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
The sound of the evening bell rang out, signaling that it was time for everyone to finish their work and head home. After dinner and a short rest, they would go back to work. The Gu Family lived together and ate together, and Gu Manman was usually the one who prepared the meals. But everyone came back and didn't see any smoke from the chimney.
"Manman must have prepared the meal early today, let's go back quickly. We don't want the food to cool down."
Gu Jiantao, also known as the Third Gu, was already hungry. There was only a bowl of thin porridge in the morning with very few grains of rice, which barely filled his stomach.
"All you think about is eating, I didn't see you so enthusiastic when it's time to work."
Seeing her husband like this, Aunt Gu couldn't help but laugh, even though she herself was also hungry.
Aside from Gu the Fourth having slightly more rice in his bowl, everyone else's bowls were quite thin. However, this was decided by her father-in-law and mother-in-law, as a daughter-in-law, she didn't want to say much.
"We don't have much rice at home. Wait until the autumn harvest, food will be divided and things will be fine." The old lady of the Gu family knew very well what her sons and daughters-in-law were thinking.
Just that her own man has been a veteran cadre for many years and now the secretary of the commune, whenever he sees families in the village who are especially in need, he always manages to squeeze some grain to give them.
Although not much is given, a bit to this family, a bit to that family - doesn’t this mean that their own grain supplies are not enough?
They were the only family in the entire team with lots of strong laborers, earning many work points, yet still going hungry. No one would believe if this were spoken out loud. "Even the Secretary's family is starving, who would believe that?"
"As long as Dad doesn't give away our grain again, we won't have to starve. All the grain we worked so hard to earn for a year, all gave to strangers." Gu the Third muttered resentfully.
In fact, not only him, Gu the Fourth, who managed to eat enough, also had complaints. But, owing to the pressure from his father, no one dared to bring it up. Only the blunt Third Brother dared to voice it.
"Aren't you hungry? And yet you still have the strength to speak." Gu the Second stopped him, there were many people here, it wouldn't be good if outsiders heard about it.
The people all fell silent for a while, dragging their heavy steps, heading home. Upon entering the main room, there was nothing on the dining table, no smell of cooking in the house, clearly, no fire has been kindled yet.
"What's wrong with that girl today? Could it be she forgot the time while playing outside? Wait till I deal with her later."
Seeing everyone looking gloomy, Chen Feng decided to take the initiative to avoid her own daughters being scolded by her sisters-in-law.
"I'll go cook the meal now, so it won't delay the afternoon work."
Feeling guilty, Chen Feng proactively took up the task and turned into the kitchen.
Gu the Fourth, seeing how his wife handles things, was very satisfied. The only thing that puzzled him was his daughter. Though she speaks less, a bit shy and introverted, she never neglects her household chores. Today, he didn't know what had happened.
"Let's have noodles for lunch, it's faster to cook."
The old lady, afraid that people might have objections, and being hungry for a long time, simply took this opportunity to have a good meal.
Everyone, upon hearing there were noodles to eat and finally being able to fill their stomachs, looked happier, and forgave their niece for being playful for a moment.
"Ah, it's okay. Children, who doesn't like to play? Manman, a young girl, has to cook for so many of us, it's hard work. It's understandable if she happens to forget one day."
Gu Lao San would rather not cook every day, possibly getting to eat more noodle meals.
However, that was unlikely. There was only so much food at home, not enough noodles for him to enjoy.
"Elder Brother, come quickly, look what's happened to Manman, I can't wake her up."
Everyone was sitting in the main hall resting and drinking water, when they heard Chen Feng's shout from inside.
Unable to wake her? This... could something have happened? They all rushed in hurriedly.
Even the children sensed the seriousness of the situation and followed in, except for Gu's eldest daughter-in-law, Deng Xiufang, and her son, Gu Gang.
Deng Xiufang was a petite middle-aged woman who always looked as if someone owed her a lot of money.
As for Gu Gang, he was tall and burly, with a face full of horizontal meat, which looked nothing like the delicate features of the Gu family.
When everyone entered the room, they saw Chen Feng squatting on the ground, anxiously holding Gu Manman. Seeing everyone come in, she looked helplessly at her husband.
Gu Lao Si quickly squatted down, and put his hand under his daughter's nose to check for breathing, and he heaved a sigh of relief when he felt it.
The old lady Gu picked up the water cup on the bedside, there was still water in it. She took a sip and then "Puff", sprayed it on her granddaughter's face.
When Gu Manman fell into unconsciousness, she realized that she had somehow undergone transmigration and reincarnation. Scattered images of the previous owner of this body’s brief life flashed through her mind.
She also learned that the original body's owner fell from bed because she was pushed by her so-called best friend. Her head hit a small mound of soil as she fell and, even though it was just a mound, years of trampling had made it almost as hard as a rock.
Just before the original girl slipped into unconsciousness, she languidly reached out, seeking help. Yet her friend chose to ignore her, rushing away instead. The original girl could only watch, wide-eyed, as her friend escaped. Swallowing her last breath, she died - and then Gu Manman arrived.
Subsequently, Gu Manman heard someone calling her. She tried to open her eyes, but they refused to cooperate. Abruptly, she jerked awake, gasping for air. She didn’t have the chance to take in her surroundings before someone grabbed her hand.
"Manman, what just happened to you? Did something happen?"
Her grandmother, an old woman who can be quite superstitious, was incredibly worried. She had begun to suspect that her granddaughter had been touched by something evil.
As Gu Manman glanced up, she recognized her grandmother from the original owner's memories. Twisting her head around, she saw her parents, along with her second uncle's family and third uncle's family all clustered worriedly around her.
"Granny, Mom, Dad, it was Huang Juan who pushed me off the bed. I hit my head and it hurts so bad, do you think I'm going to die?"
She had been hurt, and the girl responsible had just run away as if nothing happened. No matter what the reason was, now that she inhabited this body, she intended to seek revenge.
"What?" Everyone cried out in shock, "You used to be such great friends, why did she push you? Where is she now?"
"That's not a minor injury! She just ran off without even alerting anyone. What if something serious had happened?" Gu's second uncle was stomping with fury, veins popping out on his forehead.
Gu's second uncle once had a daughter who was incredibly beautiful and clever. However, at the age of seven, while they were working in the fields, she fell into a water storage tank and drowned without anyone knowing. By the time they found her, it was already too late.
The knowledge of his niece's ordeal shook him to his core. If they had come back from the field later that day, would the same thing have happened?
"Manman, tell your father what happened. Why did she push you?" Gu's father asked his daughter. The Gu family was not one to stir up trouble, but they weren't afraid to face incidents head-on - they wanted to understand the cause of the incident before seeking retribution.
