Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

While she recuperated, Li Changliang often found time to visit. He’d tell her how many rooms the house was being partitioned into, how many chicks his mother had hatched, and how he’d asked his sister-in-law to help hatch some ducklings. He spoke of the pigs they owned and what he planned to plant. Seeing him so animated and full of excitement, Liu’er’s spirits soared as well.

She found her appetite growing, and she desperately craved rich foods like red-braised chicken, braised pork, and savory fish. But Meizi and Juhua paid her no mind, continuing to cook plain rice porridge and a light soup of fish and greens for her meals. For variety, they would sometimes steam buns with a shepherd’s purse filling, though they were still quite plain with only a few bits of cured meat mixed in. Other times, they simply made thin pancakes.

One day, Li Changliang caught some loaches, and Juhua stewed them with tofu into a thick, wonderfully fragrant, amber-colored broth. She served a bowl to Liu’er. After finishing it, Liu’er wanted more, but Juhua and Meizi, the two mothers-to-be, had already ladled out huge bowls for themselves. They slurped down their soup with gusto, and in no time, the pot was scraped clean.

Liu’er watched them, disgruntled. "Meizi, Juhua, are you two cooking for me or for yourselves? I’m starting to think you’re just making this for you!"

Hearing this, Meizi and Juhua turned away to hide their smiles. Lately, under the pretext of cooking nutritious food for Liu’er’s recovery, they had been concocting all sorts of tasty dishes. Juhua’s own appetite had improved considerably, so she had been eating her fill. This loach soup, for instance, was truly excellent. She had polished off a large bowl of the broth and tofu—the loaches themselves had been stewed so tender they had dissolved into the soup.

Feeling a little guilty, Juhua told Liu’er, "You can’t overeat, no matter what it is. It’s always best to stop when you still want more. If you eat too much, you’ll get tired of it. Since you like this loach soup, we’ll just make it again tomorrow. It’s easy for Brother Changliang to catch more loaches anyway."

Liu’er was convinced the two were using her as an excuse to make food for themselves and that tending to her was just a convenient side benefit. The three of them continued to tease each other endlessly.

Ever since that night, Liu’er’s mother had been living in constant terror, afraid that someone from the Li Family would come to report Liu’er’s death. No matter what Li Changliang had said, the Sun Family was still Liu’er’s family. If Liu’er really died, the Lis would certainly come to deliver the news.

But now, not only had Li Changliang forbidden her from visiting, but Li Laoda and Li Changming had also turned away other members of the Sun Family, saying that Liu’er needed absolute quiet to recuperate.

Liu’er’s mother knew her daughter’s condition better than anyone—she doubted mere rest could cure her. Subconsciously, she found herself waiting for the Li family to announce the inevitable. It wasn’t that she wished for her daughter to die, but Liu’er had seen countless doctors and taken all sorts of medicine at the Tang family’s home, and all their efforts had failed to nurse her back to health. Now that she had returned, what hope was there for her to live?

And yet, as she waited and waited, no one came to announce a death.

Suspicion grew in her heart. Then, Sun Tiezhu came back with news he’d gathered: the Li Changliang brothers were hiring people to renovate the large courtyard of the old sausage workshop, intending to make it a home for the young couple. When she heard this, she was even more bewildered.

Could it be that Liu’er was actually better?

One day, unable to bear it any longer, she rushed over to Li Changming’s house, determined to see Liu’er for herself. "What kind of twisted logic prevents a mother from seeing her own daughter?" she muttered, psyching herself up. "There’s no justice in that, no matter who you ask."

Bolstering her own courage, she strode into the Li family courtyard, telling herself she wasn’t afraid of that lout, Li Changliang. As it happened, the courtyard was empty, so no one was there to stop her. From a window on the west side of the house, she heard a burst of laughter. She recognized her Liu’er’s voice, clear and bright, seemingly arguing over some food, even complaining that Juhua had eaten her share.

Liu’er was truly well!

Her heart instantly eased, and she was flooded with immense joy. Leaning against the wall beneath the window, she began to wipe tears from her eyes.

But after wiping away her tears, she listened more closely to the cheerful chatter inside, and a new wave of fury surged through her. *That Juhua! Doesn’t she have food at her own home? Coming all the way to the Li’s to freeload? She doesn’t even let Liu’er eat her fill! Liu’er complains, and she dares to say overeating will make her sick of the food? What a load of nonsense! Her daughter is recuperating; of course she needs to eat a lot to get better quickly.*

*And that blockhead Li Changliang! He sounded so sincere in front of everyone, claiming he’d liked Liu’er for a long time. Yet now that he has her back, he isn’t taking proper care of her! Forget killing a chicken or scrambling some eggs, he just brings back a few loaches from the ditches and doesn’t even let her eat her fill! It’s outrageous! How is Liu’er supposed to get better like this?*

Hearing how energetic Liu’er sounded, her mother was suddenly invigorated. She decided she had to be the one to step in and put a stop to this. No matter who it was, a woman without her own family to back her up was helpless. Even though Liu’er had been divorced and sent back, she couldn’t be treated this way. Liu’er’s mother had always been fiercely competitive and proud; how could she tolerate such a thing?

With that, she spun around and stomped into the Li family’s main hall, then burst into the room.

Liu’er and her two friends were in the middle of teasing one another when the door flew open and her mother charged in. They were all stunned into silence. Meizi and Juhua were speechless, and even Liu’er didn’t know what to say to her mother.

Before she could think of anything, she saw her mother pointing a finger at Juhua and yelling, "Did your family run out of food? Do you have nothing to eat? Coming here to mooch off others? Those loaches were caught by Changliang! It’s bad enough you’re eating them, but then you trick her by saying she’ll get tired of it if she eats too much? Do you take everyone for a fool?"

Juhua, startled by the woman who was advancing on her with spittle flying, didn’t even try to argue. She spun around, scrambled onto the bed with lightning speed, and hid behind Liu’er, not even having time to take off her shoes.

Why? She was scared!

If this madwoman recklessly shoved her, it would be a disaster. Killing her afterward wouldn’t fix anything. So, like any smart mother-to-be who knew not to pick a losing fight, she quickly took cover. Arguing with someone like that was just asking for trouble.

Meizi stared dumbfounded as Juhua scurried onto the bed in a flash, peeking out warily at Liu’er’s mother from behind Liu’er. She couldn’t help but find it amusing—it was amazing how nimble she was despite being pregnant. She quickly tried to reason with Liu’er’s mother, "Aunty, Liu’er isn’t supposed to eat too much at once. She needs to eat smaller, more frequent meals. Juhua was saying..."

Liu’er’s mother roared, "You believe Juhua’s nonsense too? Then why is she eating so much herself? Look how thin Liu’er is! They don’t make her proper, nourishing food, and when they do catch a few loaches, they don’t even let her eat her fill. They’re deliberately trying to keep her from getting well, aren’t they? Bullying her because she has no family here to stand up for her? Is that it? Well, the Sun family isn’t dead yet! That blockhead Li Changliang brings her back just to treat her like this? He won’t even spare a single chicken..."

Liu’er could no longer stand it. "Mother," she snapped, her voice sharp with anger, "what nonsense are you talking? This has nothing to do with you, so go home. I’m perfectly fine! We were just joking around a moment ago."