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Reborn as a Farmer's Wife: Raising Kids and Building Wealth
墨書 Inktalez
Xiao Li looked up at the lush green leaves of the tree overhead and thought to herself that this must be a dream. After all, she remembered it was winter, a time when snowflakes danced in the air. So, it had to be a dream. With that realization, she easily recalled the sad moments from her life, and her eyes immediately grew sore, tears streaming down her face, blurring her vision.
Xiao Li had gotten a divorce; her husband had found another woman because that woman could bear him children, and she was already pregnant.
Xiao Li and her husband were college classmates, both coming from rural backgrounds. They met at an alumni gathering and connected through their shared experiences.
After graduating, they got married and stayed in that city to build their lives together. They both had a dream of settling down in that city, having a home of their own, and eventually starting a family to live a happy life.
However, despite their good intentions, after paying for rent, food, transportation, utilities, and other living expenses, there was hardly any money left. They couldn't even afford the down payment on a house, let alone the monthly mortgage; the home they dreamed of seemed so far away.
Xiao Li became pregnant. Her husband insisted that providing a good environment and a stable home for their child was crucial, so they needed to secure a home before having kids. Xiao Li compromised. After taking medication for the second time, she still became pregnant. Not only were they unprepared financially, but she also worried about how the medication might affect the baby. They went to the hospital again. When they were older and Xiao Li wanted a child, she secretly stopped taking the medication and became pregnant again. Her husband saw her desire and sent her back to her hometown to give birth. However, once at her in-laws', she still had to work hard and ended up losing the baby.
This time, the doctor told her that it might be difficult for her to have children in the future.
Both of them were stunned; from that moment on, their home lost its vitality.
Xiao Li had not yet recovered from her heartbreak when her husband began an affair. A heavily pregnant woman came knocking on their door and told Xiao Li that she was just an eggless hen and should step aside.
Looking at that woman's belly made Xiao Li's heart ache intensely; she wanted children too!
After some turmoil, they divorced. Xiao Li drowned her sorrows in alcohol but ended up feeling worse. She thought to herself that she truly felt like a failure; no matter what happened, life had to go on. After all the struggles, she needed to be strong again. There’s a saying that memories can turn into nostalgia; it’s just that at that moment it felt so lost. She just needed to get through this hurdle to feel better.
As she comforted herself with these thoughts, Xiao Li suddenly froze because a leaf fell onto her eyes. The fresh yet slightly bitter scent of the leaf felt so real; the sensation of it landing on her face was so tangible. Could dreams feel this real?
Thinking this way made her head ache again. She realized this didn’t seem like a dream at all; people in dreams wouldn’t feel pain, right? Panic set in as she wondered where she was. She clearly remembered it being winter, yet this tree looked like it belonged in spring or summer or autumn—it certainly didn’t resemble winter!
Xiao Li struggled to make her hands and feet obey her, ignoring the pain in her head as she got up. When she saw the scenery around her, she began to doubt whether this was a dream. The surroundings showed no signs of winter; there were plenty of flowers, grass, and trees. That wasn't all—she also spotted houses in the distance, which looked like very old rural homes. She noticed a few people walking toward her, standing at a distance and looking at her. They were women, with hairstyles and clothing that resembled those of ancient times.
"This dream is too realistic..."
Xiao Li thought that no matter how much it hurt or how clear everything appeared, this had to be a dream because none of it resembled reality.
"Xiao Lihua! I knew you were faking it! Do you think we’re scared just because you pretended to be dead? Hmph, if you think you can get away with this, dream on!"
One of the women in a blue top said loudly with her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised and eyes filled with disdain as she spat to the side.
The other women were equally furious, pointing at Xiao Li and cursing at her.
Xiao Li widened her eyes, realizing that this felt nothing like a dream. What were these people calling her? Xiao Lihua? It was just one character different from her name. As she pondered this, a sudden sharp pain shot through her head, as if thousands of needles were piercing her brain simultaneously. She screamed in agony, darkness enveloped her vision, and she collapsed to the ground.
In a daze, Xiao Li felt fragments of memories surfacing in her mind—some clear, some blurry—like scenes from a movie playing out before her. The main character was a woman named Xiao Lihua, showing snippets of her life from childhood to adulthood. The memories were incomplete; some details were hazy while others were vividly clear. However, these fragments quickly flashed by, and Xiao Li only gained a rough understanding of this woman's life. Even the clearer images became indistinct.
Once all the scenes had passed, darkness engulfed Xiao Li's vision as she lost consciousness.
When Xiao Li woke up again, she felt that her hands and feet could move but lacked strength. Her head throbbed painfully from the back. She opened her eyes and first saw a ceiling without any covering; she could see wooden boards and beams along with an old mat made of dried reeds.
Trying to look around without aggravating the pain in her head too much, she found the room to be quite "clean." Aside from the bed where she lay, there were two boxes on it. The floor held only a cabinet and a table with a water jug and several small bowls that looked extremely rough. There were two chairs and a rack holding one basin above another basin below it, along with two pieces of fabric whose original color was unrecognizable—likely used for washing faces and hands. Additionally, there were various odds and ends that seemed like worthless junk to Xiao Li.
Xiao Li blinked as memories of Xiao Lihua's life flashed through her mind again; she recognized this room—it belonged to Xiao Lihua.
At that moment, Xiao Li felt a shiver run down her spine. No matter how much she had drunk before, she now realized this was not a dream. Remembering about drinking made her recall that she had been drinking outside when someone had pulled her away after she finished. She struggled against them but then seemed to be pushed hard by something before feeling a sharp pain and losing consciousness.
Was there a car accident? Did I really become this woman named Xiao Lihua?
Xiao Li had heard her younger colleagues talk about terms like time travel and reincarnation while at work, and they had dragged her into reading those novels. She enjoyed them because the protagonists could start a brand new life, a life that seemed so blissful as if they had fallen into a honey pot, which made her very envious. Now she was certain that she wasn't dreaming; it seemed she had truly become the woman named Xiao Lihua.
Xiao Li immediately raised her hand, recalling that many female protagonists in time travel stories realized they had become someone else or shrunk in size when they saw their different hands. She could only be the former. Upon seeing the hand in front of her, Xiao Li finally confirmed it.
It was a beautifully shaped hand, with a small palm and long, slender fingers. The oval-shaped nails were much prettier than her own previous short and somewhat thick round nails. There were some calluses on the hand, quite hard, confirming that this hand belonged to the Xiao Lihua she remembered.
Looking at this hand, Xiao Li thought to herself that she really had become Xiao Lihua. She felt an indescribable mix of emotions, but it seemed more joyful than sorrowful. There was no one left in that world worth missing; her husband had another woman, her parents had passed away long ago, and her relationship with her brother and sister-in-law was quite cold. They only called when they needed to complain or borrow money, and rarely reached out otherwise. Rather than living in a world where no one cared about her, it might be better to start a new life; perhaps she could be as happy as those female protagonists in the books.
With this thought, Xiao Li felt even happier.
Just as a smile began to form on her lips, she heard a knock on the door, and then a woman entered. She looked to be around thirty years old, with an oval face—not unattractive but somewhat dark-skinned. Her eyes were slightly upturned, giving off a shrewd and domineering vibe. She wore a light blue top adorned with white flowers and a green skirt, with an old silver hairpin in her hair, carrying a bowl in her hands.
"You’re awake? Just look at you! You went out to wash some clothes; the clothes aren’t even finished washing, and you come back with a big hole in your head! Do you know how much money we spent on the physician?! One tael of silver! A whole tael of silver! Do you know how much you can buy with one tael of silver? Do you know how much effort it takes to earn one tael of silver?! How many of those can we save up in a year?! And you just go and waste one tael like this! You really know how to fall! Our Xie Family has been cursed for generations to have someone like you causing trouble! Let me tell you, that tael of silver will not come from the public funds; we’ll get that silver back!"
The woman's sharp voice poured out like beans spilling from a bag, giving Xiao Li a headache as memories of this woman surfaced in her mind.
Xiao Lihua was already married to someone with the surname Xie. The couple had four sons and three daughters—a large family that hadn’t split up yet. Xiao Lihua was married to the Fourth Son, Xie Youshun; the other three were named Xie Youkang, Xie Youtai, and Xie Youhe. The names of the four sons together meant health and harmony, while the two daughters had simpler names: one was named Auspicious and the other Ruyi.
The woman speaking was the wife of the third son, Xie Youhe; her surname was Li and her name was Yincai. This name was considered quite pleasant in the countryside, and she was reasonably good-looking as well. However, she was somewhat competitive and stingy, having a contentious relationship with Xiao Lihua. Now that Xiao Lihua was injured and had cost the family quite a bit of money, Yincai seized this opportunity to scold her.
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