“Get out! Don’t touch me!”

“Beast! Did you hear me?”

In the dilapidated hut, the woman’s scolding voice gradually changed in tone.

The rhythmic “creak, creak” of the wooden bed echoed on the kang (heated brick bed) for over half an hour before finally stopping, accompanied by heavy breathing.

Slap!

A crisp slap struck Du Jianguo’s face so hard that his whole body shuddered. His scattered sight slowly cleared.

He instinctively looked down. Before him lay a woman, her body as smooth and delicate as white jade, her lips small and alluring, a pitiful expression on her face with a streak of tears.

Most importantly, she was completely naked!

There were several green bruises on her body, marks left by fingernails from being scratched too hard during the intense struggle.

Seeing Du Jianguo wake up, the woman acted like a frightened deer. She snatched the quilt, curled up into the corner, but even so, she couldn’t hide the spring light (a metaphor for her exposed chest) on her chest.

“Where am I?”

Du Jianguo was stunned. His brain hadn’t processed it yet; the latest memory he had was of his car colliding head-on with a large truck. Did I really get lucky and die in a crash?

“Go on! Just keep doing this! You only know this filthy business! You don’t raise the family, you don’t harvest the fields! Do you want to drag my daughter and me down to the grave with you?”

Liu Xiuyun trembled with rage. She grabbed her clothes from the bed and hastily threw them over her body. Her eyes were red, and she shot Du Jianguo a look full of hatred before turning over, stepping off the bed, and slamming the door as she stormed out.

“Liu Xiuyun… isn’t this my wife?”

Du Jianguo stared at the woman’s back disappearing through the door, his mind a chaotic mess. “But didn’t my wife die thirty years ago?”

He remembered the absurdity of his past life. When he was young and immature, he hung out in gambling dens day and night, associating with scum from all walks of life, racking up a mountain of debt.

He forced his wife to sell her dowry and then shamefully beg her own parents for money to fill the hole. But none of that was enough to satisfy his gambling addiction. In the end, he even signed a contract with an old man from the mountains, agreeing to sell Liu Xiuyun deep into the mountains for someone to abuse and bear children for.

“Is this… the time right before my wife tried to commit suicide?”

Du Jianguo remembered that yesterday, the day before he forced himself on his wife, he had snatched the three chi (yards) of cloth coupons and over ten yuan of savings that they had hoarded for their child, exchanging it all for gambling chips and losing every penny.

He was a man who was unreasonable, showing no concern for his wife or child. On top of that, the constant rumors from the neighbors had dripped into Liu Xiuyun’s ears, the filthy stories about Du Jianguo visiting brothels and gambling.

Liu Xiuyun simply couldn’t bear the humiliation any longer.

She bought two jin (1 kg) of flour and used her meat coupons to make dumplings. She mixed in the rat poison she had hidden away, intending to kill herself, her child, and Du Jianguo all at once. But in the end, the wife and daughter both died, while Du Jianguo surprisingly survived.

And so, the prodigal son returned to the straight path. He seriously learned hunting and gathering mountain goods. Decades later, he became a billionaire boss. Unfortunately, his wife and children were gone.

Thinking of this, Du Jianguo shuddered, finally realizing the truth. His voice trembled as he muttered to himself: “Could it be… I’ve been reborn?”

He remembered that in his previous life, when Liu Xiuyun was dying, her biggest regret was that she hadn’t been able to drag him down to death with her.

Hearing that thought, Du Jianguo’s heart felt like it was being pricked by needles, aching with bitterness. How could a human being be reduced to such a state!

If not for him using dirty tricks to force her into marriage back then, given Liu Xiuyun’s junior high education and her famous beauty in the surrounding villages, she should have married a good family.

And his own daughter, only four or five years old, hadn’t even had a proper meal until the day she died in the previous life.

Thinking of this, Du Jianguo’s eyes turned red. He quickly grabbed his jacket to wipe away his tears. It won’t happen again. None of this will happen again.

This time, returning to the 1960s, he would ensure his wife and daughter lived a good life!

Du Jianguo walked out of the house, only to see Liu Xiuyun sitting listlessly on a wooden bench. Before her was a washbasin; she was mechanically scrubbing clothes with her hands, radiating a sense of hopelessness, as if she had given up on life.

In the present, Liu Xiuyun’s heart held only bone-deep hatred for Du Jianguo.

Du Jianguo felt extremely uncomfortable under his wife’s resentful gaze. A wave of guilt surged in his heart. He unconsciously lowered his head, cleared his throat, and finally spoke:

“It’s almost harvest season. I’ll go to the fields in a moment to see if anyone has left any potatoes behind. I’ll bring a sack home for us.”

He couldn’t help but walk over, reaching out to take the washboard from Liu Xiuyun’s hands: “Just finished that… [sexual act]… why don’t you go wash up first? I’ll wash these clothes for you.”

Liu Xiuyun lifted her eyes suspiciously, her gaze filled with inquiry, trying to figure out his intentions. But after watching for a long time, her confusion slowly turned into deeper resentment. She snorted coldly and snatched the washboard back violently.

“I don’t need your fake kindness here! Did you ever care about what I became before?”

Du Jianguo sighed in his heart. Regardless of what he said, Liu Xiuyun was still wary of him in every way. Their relationship wasn’t like that of a husband and wife; it was more like true enemies. This ice layer couldn’t be melted in a moment; it had to be slowly warmed with sincerity and real effort so Liu Xiuyun could feel his sincerity.

Thinking of this, Du Jianguo didn’t force the issue. He cleared his throat again: “I know you probably think I’m putting on a show, or that I’m just trying to trick you for more money.”

“But this time, I truly realize my mistakes. From now on, we will carry this family together. I will never commit such beastly acts of selling out my own family again.”

“Xiuyun, can you give me another chance?”

Liu Xiuyun glanced at Du Jianguo and let out a tragic smile.

“I beg you, have some mercy. There is nothing left in this house for you to squander.” “The money and the cloth coupons I saved for two full years, just so I could buy my child new clothes. But you… you gambled it all away! Are you even a human being?”

As Liu Xiuyun said this, her voice trembled. In the past, even if she thought Du Jianguo was a brute or a beast, she always believed he had a bottom line, that he wouldn’t touch her child’s things. But Du Jianguo’s actions yesterday made Liu Xiuyun fully realize her mistake. She was wrong. This man was a true beast to the core, a man with the face of a human but the heart of a beast. Where was any trace of conscience left?

Du Jianguo took a deep breath, his tone sincere: “Wife, I won’t say much else.” “From today on, I promise to let you and the child live a good life. I will definitely get back the cloth coupons for the child’s new clothes.”

With that, Du Jianguo turned, went to the storage room, and fetched a basket and a sack, heading out toward the fields.

Liu Xiuyun watched his back, genuinely stunned. Du Jianguo actually volunteering to go out and work was a rarity one might only encounter once in eight lifetimes.

She was still lost in thought when a sudden knocking sound came from the courtyard gate, accompanied by a clear female voice: “Sister-in-law Du, are you there? The rat poison you asked me to buy in the city, I’ve bought it. Since your house has a rat problem, do you still want it?”

Hearing this, Liu Xiuyun’s heart skipped a beat. Her hand, resting by her side, clenched tightly. She took a deep breath before responding: “Yes! Wait, I’ll get the money right now!”