Rebirth in 1980: The Farm Wife Makes a Comeback

"Qin Xiangmei, you bitch, what has my nephew ever done to offend you? How dare you hit him? I'll tear your face apart," Guan Xiaojie was fuming with rage. She had recently been taunted coldly and mockingly by this sister-in-law, which had left her feeling unhappy. Being someone with a nasty temper, she wasn't used to taking any flak.

She went straight for Qin Xiangmei and grabbed her by the hair.

The moment Qin Xiangmei heard the word "bitch", she was also infuriated and became hysterical. The two sisters-in-law were grappling each other's hair, clawing at each other's faces, both sprawled on the ground—you tear at me, I yank at you.

Hu Li was startled by the ruckus outside and hurried out, only to see her own daughter and daughter-in-law tearing into each other. On one side, Guan Cheng was bawling loudly, and she herself was so shocked she stood there stupefied for a long time, not knowing whether to console the child or to separate the two.

The door creaked open. Song Wang stood at the doorway, coldly observing the two women tussling in the room, seemingly intent on ripping each other's hair out and scratching each other's faces to shreds, cursing with all the vile words they could muster.

A shrew really is a shrew. His mother was right; there is indeed a reason for matching social classes—children from a family like theirs wouldn't stoop to such lowliness, not to mention utter filth against someone's ancestors.

Yet he couldn't understand—both having the surname Qin and sharing the same blood—why Qin Xiangnuan didn't seem to come from this sort of family. Could it really be innate, Qin Xiangmei inheriting the flawed genes of Hu Li?

He had initially thought about bringing the child back, after all, Qin Xiangmei was the mother. Since life had already deteriorated to this state, why not make things easier for everyone? But now, seeing this, he sneered in cold detachment.

Some people, indeed, do not deserve chances.

"What are you doing?" Qin Pengfei's eyes bulged at the sight. He strode forward and pulled Qin Xiangmei and Guan Xiaojie apart, both women looking far from decent—hair tousled, faces sullied, scratches visible on their faces, necks, and hands.

"What is this?" Qin Pengfei roared at Qin Xiangmei. In his heart, how could his sister be closer to him than his own wife?

However, Guan Xiaojie, despite her aggressive nature, was not dumb and knew how to play the victim in front of her husband.

She tearfully grabbed Guan Cheng.

"Pengfei, look at Chengcheng's face, your sister did that to him. He's just a little child, how could she bear to hit him so hard? What if his ear got damaged, how am I supposed to explain this to my big brother?"

Qin Pengfei took one look at Guan Cheng's face and immediately lost his cool.

"Qin Xiangmei, what gives you the right to hit someone? Hitting Guan Cheng like that is like hitting me. Is it because you've had two children, and now you're mocking me for not being able to have any?"

Saying this, he rolled up his sleeves, ready to hit Qin Xiangmei to vent his own anger.

Qin Xiangmei dusted off her clothes, threw the newly-bought sofa cushions on the floor, then pointed towards the door, "Leave, get out this instant. My home can't support your whole family, living in my own house is apparently my mistake."

And there Qin Pengfei stood, his hand hanging in mid-air, unable to retract it, yet unable to bring it down either.

"Mom," Qin Xiangmei stepped over the couch cushion on the floor, no longer intending to keep it, she called out to Hu Li, who only then seemed to respond.

What's she calling her for?

"Mom, tomorrow you and dad go back home, and later you can visit whenever you like, I'll buy the tickets for you. But that whole family of theirs, it's better if they don't come. I don't want others coveting my house, smearing their snot all over it - I bought all this with money; if it gets dirty and can't be washed off, who will compensate me?"

Her words, both explicitly and implicitly, were taunting Qin Pengfei's entire family. Qin Pengfei's face turned red with embarrassment, feeling utterly ashamed. Qin Xiangmei wasn't just talking nonsense; Guan Xiaojie had mentioned more than once about wanting a house in the Capital City. Since Qin Xiangnuan had many houses and shops, they were resolved to get one or two of them to live off for several generations. They knew whether they pleaded softly or fought fiercely, if she wouldn't give it, she simply wouldn't. Moreover, these properties weren't even registered under the Qin surname currently, and with the relationship they had with Qin Xiangyang, they were even worse off than strangers - enemies, in fact.

There was no benefit to be sought from Qin Xiangyang, so they turned their sights on Qin Xiangmei, spurred on by Guan Xiaojie whispering pillow talk in his ear, suggesting that since the sister is enjoying the meat, she should at least let her brother sip some soup.

That's what Qin Pengfei thought too - with the properties in the Capital City said to only increase in value over time, Song Wang has money anyway, why not just buy another property for Qin Xiangmei?

Of course, all this was just his fantasy. They had discussed this so many times in the dark, already considering the house their own possesion. Maybe they spoke of it so often that even the young Guan Cheng had heard about it.

Now being criticized by Qin Xiangmei like this, naturally, Qin Pengfei couldn't save face, coveting someone else's property right in front of his sister and brother-in-law; it would embarrass anyone.

Song Wang sneered inwardly.

None of the Qin family members were any good.

He really wanted to slam the door and walk out, to smack the Qins in the face, but years of upbringing told him he couldn't do such a thing, so he stood by the door, coldly staring at the ugly, greedy faces of the family.

Qin Xiangmei had already had enough of Guan Xiaojie, and after this commotion, the Qin family members had no shame staying here. But they underestimated just how thick-faced the Qins were, allowing Guan Xiaojie to continue living the high life.

No matter how Qin Xiangmei ridiculed them openly or covertly, they were intent on not leaving.

Fine then, Qin Xiangmei was no easy fruit to squeeze; she'd been wanting to see her children anyway, and even if The Jians' parents didn't want to see her, at least they would provide her with food and drink.

With a slap on her butt, she had the property management cut off their water and electricity; she wanted to see how they'd live here now.

Originally, once Qin Xiangmei left, Guan Xiaojie thought she'd come alive, as if the house was hers, wanting to disgust Qin Xiangmei to death and clear her out of the house for good; she'd set her sights on it and wouldn't leave, come hell or high water.

But when evening came, suddenly there was no electricity at home, not to mention Guan Xiaojie was in the midst of taking a shower, her head full of suds, then suddenly the water stopped, no more hot nor cold water, and even the heating stopped – her hair nearly turned to ice.

"Mom, what did you do, why is the water cut off?"

She trembled with cold, shouting loudly towards the outside.

Hu Li didn't know what was happening; how would she know why the water and electricity were cut off, as she was in the middle of watching TV.