Chapter 1 - 001 Past Life
"If it wasn't for my poor family status back then, would I ever marry a loser like you? Without me propping up this home, you, Tian Fugui, would still be clueless about where to beg for mercy!" The middle-aged woman ferociously cursed at the man in front of her, a tall figure with a spiritless demeanor.
"Zhong Juying, stop flattering yourself. If I hadn't been broke back then, I wouldn't have ended up with a worn-out woman like you. Don't push your luck. Either we stay together, or we split up!" The man retorted with a stiff neck, shouting angrily.
"Tian Fugui, you think I'm dying to cling to you or something? Fine, let's divorce! The house was bought by me, and all the stuff at home was set up by me. Consider the clothes on your back charity from me. Sisi comes with me; you better get lost right now," the woman retorted unwillingly.
"Pah, the law states that marital assets are split equally. Zhong Juying, don't even think about swallowing it all by yourself. Humph, I don't want Sisi even if you'd give her to me. She was born just eight months into our marriage; who knows whose seed she is? I've been wearing the damn green hat for over a decade," the man sneered, refusing to give up on the property.
"Tian Fugui, how can you say such heartless things? You know very well whose child Sisi is. The doctor said she was premature, but you just wouldn't believe it. Say whatever you want, if you want to leave, leave, but don't you think about taking anything from this house," the woman said, her hands trembling with rage.
After another ten minutes of arguing, they finally came to blows. Tian Sisi, returning home from school, could hear the screams from her house from afar. Her footsteps faltered. Was it happening again? She shook her head and hurriedly walked home.
"Sisi, you're back from school, huh? Go and give your parents a good talking to; don't let them fight every other day. It's disturbing everyone's life." Sisi's house is in one of the earliest developed residential areas in Sui City, with poor soundproofing. The slightest louder noise could be heard by the entire apartment, which is why the neighbors above and below Sisi's house were quite resentful.
Sisi gave an embarrassed smile, nodded perfunctorily, and then rushed toward her apartment on the third floor. Just as she pushed open the door, a glass came hurtling towards her forehead.
"Ouch!"
Tian Sisi cried out and snapped awake, her back drenched in cold sweat. She instinctively touched her forehead; smooth and untouched unlike the large indent she had in her past life. There it was again, that dream of her lousy mother and father from her previous life. Tian Sisi let out a long sigh, and the moonlight filtered through the window frame, shining on the big red-lacquered camphor wood chest. She reached for her familiar cellphone on the bedside table, but it wasn't there — then she remembered she was no longer Tian Sisi from 2012, but Tian Zhaodi, the 10-year-old adopted daughter of Tian Manjin from Wangjiazhen in Yuequan Village of Sui City in the year 1972.
Tian Sisi gave a bitter smile. Judging by the moonlight, it was still the middle of the night, but she simply could not fall back asleep. Who would have thought that simply going to the supermarket to buy vegetables could lead to her death? She swore to heaven that she was only driven by curiosity to have a quick look because there was a crowd, she just wanted to have a glimpse.
But unexpectedly, as she edged closer, two large, plump women pulled her to the back, and with a slip on the spilled rice on the ground, Tian Sisi lost her balance and fell backward heavily. When she woke up, she had become the 10-year-old adopted daughter, Tian Zhaodi, in Tian Manjin's family in Yuequan Village of Wangjiazhen, Sui City.