Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

When Liu’er’s mother saw that her sincere concern for her daughter was met with a cold shoulder, she felt deeply hurt. Suddenly, her eyes blazed with fury as she stared at Juhua. She was convinced Juhua had turned Liu’er against her; ever since Juhua had spoken with Liu’er that one night, her daughter had been ignoring her.

For some unknown reason, she had always detested Juhua. It was a deep-seated loathing, mixed with a hint of fear.

She didn’t know that Juhua detested her just as fiercely. Most of the villagers were kindhearted. Even if they had their flaws, like Granny Hua’s occasional greediness and gossiping, Juhua never took it to heart. But Liu’er’s mother was different; Juhua felt a deep, visceral dislike for her.

The more Liu’er’s mother stewed over it, the angrier she became. She started cursing at Juhua, "You shameless hussy, turning a daughter against her own mother! How can you be so cruel? Aren’t you afraid of retribution...?"

When Liu’er heard the vile words coming from her mother’s mouth, she quickly cut her off. "Mother, if you keep spouting nonsense, don’t blame me for getting angry! I only recovered because Juhua helped nurse me back to health. How can you just start cursing at someone without knowing the first thing about the situation?"

Just then, Granny Hua returned from playing outside with Li Jingwen in her arms. Hearing Liu’er’s mother shouting inside, she rushed in, her face dark. "What are you doing here? Weren’t you told not to come? Liu’er would get better faster if you stayed away. When you show up, she gets all stressed out, and it might make her sick again."

Liu’er’s mother flew into a rage. She wasn’t afraid of Granny Hua. Pointing at the clay pot of congee on the table, she shrieked, "Bullshit! If I hadn’t come, who knows how you’d be mistreating her! Look at this! What is this she’s eating? Just congee? And not just congee, it’s mixed with vegetable leaves! Are you feeding pigs? You cooked a few loaches, and your daughter-in-law and this shameless hussy took most of them! Is this how you’re taking care of her?"

In years past, they only mixed vegetable leaves into the cornmeal porridge when they were short on grain, so the sight of this glistening green mixture made her stomach turn.

Granny Hua had been helping Juhua and Meizi look after Liu’er for a few days, so she’d picked up a thing or two. "She can’t eat that rich food," she retorted angrily. "This is what will make her better. You don’t know shit! Congee is easy for her to swallow, and besides, there’s meat in it!"

Liu’er’s mother scowled. "Nonsense! I’ve never heard of anyone getting their strength back just by eating congee. Why do you think women eat chicken and eggs during their postpartum confinement? And you call that meat? You could jump in naked and not find a piece bigger than an eye booger! It’s bad enough you’re all too stingy to buy her decent food, but you have chickens right here! You can’t even bear to kill one? It’s not like the old days when you were so poor you had to save the hens for their eggs. Why did you even bring her back home?"

Juhua’s eyebrow twitched. ’Jump in naked to fish it out? The things she comes up with. The meat was minced, so it’s true you wouldn’t be able to grab a big piece. A strangely brilliant description, actually.’

Granny Hua was no match for her in a shouting match and was furious. She just yelled, "If you’re so generous, why don’t you take care of your own daughter? You almost drove her to her death with your nagging the first day she came back! The whole village saw it!"

Those words hit Liu’er’s mother where it hurt. She grew even more enraged, stomping her foot as she cursed, "You’re full of shit! When did I ever say I wasn’t willing to take care of my daughter? I was just trying to do what’s best for her! I didn’t want her to be divorced and sent back home! With the Tang family, she had the best of everything to eat and wear, and it was easy to see a doctor. Not like here, where you just feed her congee with not even a speck of minced meat. Oh, wait, I take that back. There are some specks, just a tiny bit bigger than an eye booger..."

Juhua had been planning to have some of the congee herself later, but after hearing Liu’er’s mother repeat the phrase "eye booger" over and over, she wouldn’t touch it for anything. She wondered how Liu’er could possibly manage to drink it.

Hearing her belittle their family, Granny Hua shot back, "So the Tang family is so great, are they? They fed her the best every day and nursed her until she was half-dead! Our family is poor, and we eat congee. But look at Liu’er now! Her spirits are up, and her body is healing. You got a problem with that?"

Liu’er’s mother was struck dumb. She stared at Liu’er, who was glaring back at her with a taut expression, and was unable to utter a single word.

Meizi saw the two going at it and had tried to mediate earlier, but what good would it do? The two old biddies wouldn’t listen to her. She couldn’t shut them both up, so she could only let them argue. Juhua certainly wasn’t going to get involved. She already regretted coming over today. Running into this woman was just asking for trouble. There was no reasoning with her; the only way to end it would be for Li Changliang to come and give her a severe tongue-lashing.

Little Li Jingwen stood on the floor, craning his neck to watch Liu’er’s mother arguing ferociously with his grandmother. After listening for a moment, he saw them fall silent, just glaring daggers at each other. He stuck out a tiny finger, pointed it at Liu’er’s mother, and chirped in his toddler voice, "Bad lady! Not allowed in my house! Go away!"

Liu’er’s mother was already smarting. Hearing this, her temper flared right back up. She jabbed a finger at Li Jingwen and snapped, "A little brat this small is already cursing people! He won’t learn anything good from an old hag like you! He’ll grow up to be a real piece of work..."