Chapter 2: A Woeful Life

  At night, lying in bed, Qizhen'er couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. Today her actions pleased Qifeng'er, so she didn't report to Liu Shi. But even so, she still got scolded, and she had no idea when this kind of day would end? Was she going to follow the same path as her previous life?

  Ten days ago, she woke up and found herself lying on the broken bed at home in Qijiayuan Village. She cried bitterly! They all thought she was crying because of her injuries, but only she knew the reason. She had dreamed of returning home!

  Even if her family was cruel to her, she still had a younger brother, the one who kept her alive! The one she was willing to sell herself for to earn money to save his life! Her father, bedridden with serious illness, repeatedly instructed her to take good care of herself and her brother. She remembered holding her frail father's hand and nodding heavily in agreement. At that time, her father wanted to tell her not to rely on her honest grandfather or weak grandmother.

  Qizhen's father was Qisan Niu, the third son of the Qi family. He had two older brothers, Qi Lao Da and Qi Xingwu, and a younger sister, Qi Mei'er. Just by their names, you can tell that Qisan Niu wasn't favored at home. After Liu Shi entered the household, she took control of the Qi family's finances, and her husband was a stubborn man who always listened to his wife. They didn't want to spend money on Qisan Niu's wedding, so they kept putting it off until Qi Mei'er was already engaged, and only then did they think about finding a daughter-in-law for Qisan Niu.

  The Qi family heard that the Yang family in the neighboring village had five daughters and one son, and they were so poor that they couldn't even afford a decent dowry. In order to save up for their youngest son's betrothal gifts, they spread the word that they would marry off their daughter with just a few pieces of cloth as dowry. It was truly a case of "sleeping on it and someone sending you a pillow". The Qi family didn't even bother to find out about the Yang daughters' temperaments before agreeing to the engagement. Fortunately, all the Yang sisters had good tempers and were kind, hardworking, and diligent. After marriage, they lived happily with Qi San Niu.

  But the good times didn't last long, and in the second year after Yang's marriage, she gave birth to Qi Zhen'er. As it was their first child, the couple still doted on her. However, for two or three years afterwards, Yang's belly remained still, and some people couldn't wait any longer. Liu took advantage of the opportunity to mock Yang a few times, and even pushed household chores onto Yang. Qi Lao Ye didn't manage household affairs, and Qi Lao Tai thought that in the future when they would divide the family property, she would live with her eldest son, so she turned a blind eye to Liu bullying Yang. Yang had a good temper and could tolerate it, so she endured. As for Qi Zhen'er's second uncle's family, because they had support from his wife's side of the family, they ran small businesses in town and rarely returned to the village. Qi San was a filial son, and as a grown man, he couldn't intervene in his sister-in-law's affairs. Therefore, there really wasn't anyone who would stand up for Yang when Liu bullied her.

  At the age of five, Yang finally became pregnant. This was a very exciting news for Qisan Niu and his wife. Although Qizhen was young, she had heard rumors from the villagers since childhood, and everyone said that Yang could not give birth to children. A woman who cannot give birth has a low status, Qizhen is not very clear but also vaguely knows it's not good. Because Yang did not give birth to a son, Liu dared to bully Yang so much, even Qizhen was bullied by Qifeng several times.

  Even when she was pregnant, Yang didn't get enough rest. The work that should be hers wasn't reduced, and the work that shouldn't be hers wasn't reduced either. When she was more than seven months pregnant, on a very cold day, she still carried a large basin of clothes to the edge of the pond to wash clothes, most of which were for her husband's family. Qizhen followed her mother there and remembered it clearly.

  At over nine months pregnant, Yang was feeding pigs when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and went into labor. Her body had been weak to begin with, and since she hadn't rested well during pregnancy, the delivery was extremely difficult.

  In the end, she didn't make it through and gave birth to her younger brother Hu Zi. Yang died of severe bleeding after childbirth.

  After Yang's passing, Qi Zhen'er took on the responsibilities of an elder sister, taking care of her little brother. She also had to take over Yang's duties, making breakfast for the family and feeding the chickens and pigs.

  It's possible that Qizhisan Niu also realized that Yang Shi's death was partly the responsibility of his family members. If they hadn't given Yang Shi such a heavy workload, she might not have had a hemorrhage either. From then on, his attitude towards his family members became much worse. Especially when he saw Liu Shi, it was as if he hadn't seen her at all.

  In order to give Qi Zhen'er and her younger brother a better life, Qi San Niu worked very hard every day, and during the slack season, he even went to the city to work as a laborer to earn money. In the end, he also left due to overwork. At that time, Hu Zi was only three years old and didn't understand anything, but Qi Zhen'er remembered it clearly, which marked the beginning of their hard days.

  The child without a father or mother has no one to care for her. When she was young, she saw that Qi Feng'er, who was one year older than her, didn't do anything, and Liu Shi raised her like a young lady from a wealthy family. Qi Zhen'er was both envious and jealous, and also quarreled with Yang Shi. Yang Shi had no choice but to hold her and cry, but looking at Yang Shi, who was obviously younger than Liu Shi by several years, yet looked much older, she knew that even though they were both granddaughters, she and Feng'er were different. Later on, she stopped causing trouble and did whatever she was told, because only then could she avoid being scolded less often. After Qi San Niu passed away, her feelings about these things deepened. The only comfort was that her younger brother Hu Zi was very obedient and considerate.

  Later, Hu Zi fell ill and needed a lot of money to buy expensive medicine to save his life. Liu Shi cried bitterly, Qi Zhen'er was at a loss, and even the emergency fund left by Qi San Niu was not enough. Coincidentally, someone from the town came to the Qi family saying they wanted to buy a concubine for the fourth young master of the Qi family, it was a dead contract. None of the families in the village with some savings were willing to sell their daughters, Qi Zhen'er had no choice but to let her father-in-law sell her to raise money for her brother's medical treatment.

  Everyone envied her, saying that it was a good thing to be able to enter the Qi family as a maid, either for the young master of similar age or for the household. It's truly a blessing from their ancestors. Moreover, the Qi family estate is indeed owned by the Qi family, and they are all tenants of the Qi family's land. The steward said that as long as she could enter the Qi family as a maid, the rent would be reduced by two levels. She still remembered that the day she went to the Qi family was the only day when her family members smiled at her.

  She didn't have a good life in the Qi family either, although she had enough to eat and wear warm clothes, but it wasn't a human life. Qi Si Shao Ye was a spoiled young master with a violent temper, relying on his family's wealth to do whatever he wanted. His favorite thing to do was play a game called "Hunter" with his friends in the family's private hunting ground. They would ride horses and hunt, while the "prey" were the dead contract servants they had bought. They would chase them from one end of the hunting ground to the other, shooting arrows at will. To increase the excitement, there was a reward: if you killed someone, you got five taels of silver; if you didn't kill anyone but reached the other side safely, you only got 500 big coins.

  Qī Zhēnér had been working hard since she was a child, and her legs were very agile. Many times, she dodged the arrows shot by them, of course, this also had to do with their initially inaccurate archery skills. Later, when their archery skills improved, Qī Zhēnér didn't get much benefit from it, and getting injured became a common occurrence for her. Even when she was ill, she couldn't bear to spend money, and the money she earned with her life was given to Liú Shì every month when he came to visit her, so that he could bring it back to treat his brother's illness. Now thinking about it, with Liú Shì's cold personality, that money must have been embezzled by him. In her previous life, she went to be a maid, and her brother might not have died from his illness. And in her previous life, she was also killed by an arrow shot from behind during hunting, one arrow pierced her heart and she died.

  She only realized when she woke up again that on the Qingming Festival, two eggs were lost. Liu suspected that she had stolen them and beat her without distinguishing between black and white. In the countryside, she got a reputation for having dirty hands and feet, and from then on, her reputation was ruined. Even if she didn't care about herself, there was still her younger brother, Hu Zi. She firmly refused to admit to stealing anything, no matter how Liu beat her, and in the end, Liu punished her by making her kneel in the courtyard for a whole night. The next morning, just as the sky was brightening, she couldn't help but faint from exhaustion. Liu was also afraid of causing a death, so she found Village Granny Ma to take a look at her. This way, everyone in the village knew about this matter.

  Ma Pozi is a midwife. Everyone in the village gives birth with her assistance, and she also has some basic medical skills, just in case something unexpected happens during delivery.

  The old woman said at the time that she might not be able to save her, and she could only try. It was also fortunate for Zhen'er that she had a strong life force, and even without advanced medical skills or expensive medicine, she was still able to survive.

  After waking up, Zhen'er was thinking about how to spend the rest of her days. Given the situation at home, even if the same thing happened again in a past life, she believed that her family's choice would still be the same, but she didn't want to make the same choice again. It was okay for just herself, but there was also a five-year-old brother who didn't understand anything, and she really didn't know what to do.

  Heaven gave her a second life, she couldn't disappoint heaven again. No matter what, she couldn't let her brother die with her in vain!

  But she also knew that her strength was not enough, what could a teenager do to take care of a five-year-old brother? After rebirth, she thought about it and decided that she must have an adult on her side to resist the overbearing Liu family. For the past few days, she had been intentionally or unintentionally lingering around her grandparents, hoping they would show some concern for the two orphaned children who had always been neglected by them, even if it was just a little bit of sympathy, so that they would have the courage and determination to resist the Liu family.

  But she was disappointed!

  Grandfather and grandmother looked at her with a little concern and pity, but as soon as Liu stepped aside, they would pretend not to see the suffering and hardship that Qi Zhen'er's siblings were subjected to!

  If she encountered the same situation as in her previous life, she believed that Dabo's family would still make the same choice! However, she was unwilling to live such a life again. As long as she thought of a solution before the Qi family came, she believed that her and her brother's lives would definitely be different!

  New book new sprout, needs care and sunshine~~~~~~~Please, all the uncles and aunts who have walked by, give me a ticket if you have one, or a collection if you don't.

  Yunshui thanks everyone here!