To make up for the debt owed to Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

"How could I have given birth to such a karmic retribution! If I had known you were such a lowly thing, I should have drowned you in a bucket of water when you were born!"

Her mother launched into a tirade against her, then grabbed a carrying pole from the doorway and prepared to hit her.

Zhao Di, who had been inside the room, rushed out and hugged Wu Axiu tightly, crying, "Mother, don't hit my eldest sister, please..."

"Get away from me!" Wu Axiu shoved her second sister away. "If I don't beat her to death today, she won't have crawled out of my intestines!"

"Second sister, go away." Lin Qingping also wanted to resolve this matter completely.

Just as Wu Axiu swung the carrying pole at her, Lin Qingping grabbed it tightly and questioned, "Mother, I want to ask you, are my second sister and I really your daughters?"

Wu Axiu was so angry that she tugged at the carrying pole, but couldn't pull it back. "What kind of unfilial brat did I raise! Does he not recognize his parents now that he's climbed up the social ladder?"

"If so, are you really willing to let your second sister go to such a family, be treated like a slave, and be beaten to death by men?" Lin Qingping felt heartbroken when she thought of her second sister in her previous life, who was thin and bony, had white hair at a young age, and died alone and miserable in the hospital.

Her mother was taken aback by the question, then straightened her neck and said, "Being beaten must be the woman's fault. How could she be beaten for no reason? Our Zhaodi is so obedient and hardworking. She should only enjoy a life of luxury after marrying into the family. How could she possibly be beaten?"

Victim blaming...

"Enjoying happiness? You call serving the whole family from morning till night, taking care of their every need, and washing their feet at night? Or is doing the work of two men in the fields by yourself considered enjoying happiness? And even after all that, you still get beaten every few days? You think that's happiness? Go enjoy that kind of happiness yourself! Ah—"

Before Lin Qingping could finish speaking, a sharp pain shot through her forehead as a large enamel bowl smashed into her head.

The person who hit her was her father, who had just returned from the fields.

Lin Qingping felt something trickling down her forehead. She touched it; it was blood…

The enamel bowl fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The second sister was terrified and quickly hugged her older sister, crying, "Don't hit my sister, don't hit her, I...I promise..."

"Don't agree!" Lin Qingping stood ramrod straight. "Come with me!"

She gripped her second sister's hand tightly, and suddenly made up her mind. Yes, she would take her second sister away. She couldn't stay here all the time. If she left, her parents would probably still accept the dowry and marry her second sister off. So, she might as well take her away!

Most importantly, she took it back so that her second sister could truly have time to study properly.

However, her words, "Come with me," stunned the Lin family.

Her mother first mocked her, "Go with you? My daughter whom I raised, what right do you have to take her away?"

"Fine, 500 yuan!" Lin Qingping said firmly. "Didn't you want that 500 yuan dowry? I'll give you 500, it's the same thing. I'm taking my second sister with me!"

"You...you really have five hundred dollars?" Her mother looked at her incredulously.

"Yes!" Lin Qingping replied. Gu Juncheng sends money home every month, and her mother-in-law gives it all to her. This time when he came back to visit, he also gave her all his savings.

Five hundred is no small sum; it would take up a huge stack of cash. Lin Qingping held her second sister's hand tightly. "If you trust me, just wait. I'll withdraw the money and bring it to you tomorrow. If you don't trust me, come with me now. We'll go to the bank to withdraw it."

She brought her money notebook with her when she went to the county town yesterday, ready to use large sums of money at any time. She forgot to put it away when she got back, and it's still in her little cloth bag today.

In matters like this, it must be said that her mother was truly decisive and efficient, immediately waving her hand and saying, "I'll go get it with you!"

Does this mean they've agreed to let her take her second sister away?

"Let's go." Despite the sweltering heat, Lin Qingping felt a chill in her heart. Blood was still trickling from her forehead, but clearly, her parents didn't care...

Some people are the same in both their lives...

Immediately, she took her second sister's hand and went with her mother to the county to withdraw the money.

In those days, there were no banks in their village.

As she was leaving, her father stirred as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed his words.

In the small savings bank in the county town, Lin Qingping counted out 50 ten-yuan bills with her mother.

The moment she handed over the money, she inexplicably felt that they were now even.

Holding his second sister in his arms, he felt a sense of relief, yet also a touch of bittersweetness.

"Alright! I won't discuss the marriage with Zhao Di anymore. Zhao Di, you and your sister will go and stay with us for a while..."

"It's not just staying for a while, it's you coming with me from now on!" Lin Qingping corrected her.

Her mother had just received the money, more than she had ever seen in her life. She could buy a lot of things for her son, so she didn't care about arguing with them for the time being. "Alright, alright, stay as long as you want!"

Then, happily pocketing the money, they went home.

The second sister, however, watched her mother pass away and leaned against Lin Qingping's chest, tears streaming down her face.

After all, he was a child who had never been separated from his mother, and he was only 18 years old.

“Let’s go home. Your brother-in-law is rarely home anyway, so you can sleep with me. We sisters will depend on each other from now on.” Lin Qingping touched her sister’s dry hair, her voice choked with emotion.

"Mmm." The second sister nodded in her arms.

Everything that happened today happened so fast, it was unbelievable. But she really didn't want to marry a man like that so early and then get beaten to death.

After making a fuss for most of the day, Lin Qingping was also hungry. Thinking that her younger sister probably hadn't eaten anything either, she took her to a state-run restaurant and had a bowl of noodles.

This was the second sister's first time eating at a place like this, and she found everything novel and exciting.

When the noodles arrived, all I thought was how delicious they were.

Lin Qingping looked at her, feeling slightly comforted, and smiled gently, "Is it delicious?"

The second sister nodded shyly.

"Is this place nice?" Lin Qingping asked again.

The second sister could only nod, and then blushed because she had never seen the world.

“In the future, I will make sure you eat better food than here and go to better places than here. Second sister, how about we change our names? Let’s call you… Lin Qingyun, so that you can rise to great heights from now on.” Lin Qingping said the name word by word.

The second sister finished the last sip of noodle soup and nodded, "Yes, I'll do whatever you say, sister."

"Let's go home."

Lin Qingping led her second sister back to their village.

Only after calming down did I realize that I had done something somewhat outrageous.

It's not a big deal to explain to her in-laws for now; it's not a big deal for her to bring her sister back to stay for a few days. But if she stays for a long time and gives her family 500 yuan, that's a big deal.

She decided to talk to Gu Juncheng about this first and see what he had to say.

Thinking this, she and her sister walked hand in hand back to the village, and slowly, it got dark.

When we arrived at the village entrance, we saw a bright spot that was flickering back and forth.