"Auntie Su, we had an agreement. You were supposed to give Sanyi to my Shitou as his wife, but now you've switched her for Erya. That's just not right. We paid a 300 bride price, you know." It was the dead of night, and most of the people in Lihua Village were already asleep. But in the main hall of the old Su Family residence, a candle still burned, and a woman spoke, her sharp voice full of displeasure.
"Oh, come now, Shi's mother. Our Erya is a good, innocent girl. You're definitely not getting a bad deal with her as a wife for your Shitou," Old Su said with a placating chuckle, pouring the woman a cup of sugar water.
"Hmph. Don't think I don't know. Your Erya is disfigured—a hideous freak. My Shitou is getting completely ripped off." Shi's mother took a sip of the sugar water and couldn't help but sneer. 'So stingy. They barely put in any sugar. They could pinch a penny till it screams.'
"Oh, come on," Old Su said quickly. "My Erya is a hard worker! She can handle everything, inside the house and out. Once she joins your family, you won't have to lift a finger. You can work her as hard as you like. Think of all the effort you'll save."
Shi's mother looked down and sneered again. 'As if I don't know what's really going on here. If it weren't for the fact that my Shitou is a fool who's already beaten two wives to death, and that our Sun family's reputation is so rotten that no one will marry him, I wouldn't waste my time listening to this old hag's nonsense.'
After a moment of thought, Shi's mother said, "Look, Auntie Su, this whole situation is a mess. You've switched the bride, and now you expect us to play along. If we still have to pay the full three hundred yuan, we'd be taking too much of a loss, don't you think? That bride price... it's got to be less."
The moment she heard about lowering the bride price, Old Su felt a pang of regret. But then she remembered what Sanyi had said and figured it wasn't such a bad deal after all. "Alright, Shi's mother," she said. "Let's talk it over then. How much are you offering? But let me be clear up front: I won't agree if you go too low."
"Fine," Shi's mother nodded. "Let's talk it over."
...
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Su Qing heard voices, sometimes near, sometimes far. She had always had excellent hearing, and after listening to the two of them talk, she couldn't help but frown. 'It's the apocalypse,' she thought groggily. 'Why are they still talking about money? Shouldn't they be bartering for supplies?'
Suddenly, Su Qing jolted fully awake. She found that her hands were tied. She was lying in a crude, simple room, and in the corner was a large pile of... 'Is that firewood?'
'Wait, what's going on? Weren't my team and I swarmed by a zombie horde? I haven't forgotten the pain of their foul mouths tearing at my flesh. There's no way I should have survived. So what is this?'
Just as she was thinking, the door suddenly let out a CREAK as someone pushed it open. Su Qing quickly shut her eyes, feigning unconsciousness.
The person who entered was the Su Family's third daughter, Su Tao.
Su Tao carefully pushed the door open. When she saw Su Qing still unconscious on the bed with her hands tied behind her back, she smirked, her eyes filled with malice and vindictive pleasure.
Su Tao closed the door, walked over to Su Qing's bedside, and muttered, "Su Qing, I am so happy to see you in this state. Congratulations. Your life is about to get much more... interesting. I can't wait to see how that fool beats you."
Su Tao had hated Su Qing since childhood. When her Second Uncle and Aunt were still alive, Su Qing was treated like the Su Family's little princess. Even their grandparents, who heavily favored boys, would never say a harsh word to her. And as for her parents? They doted on their only daughter, spoiling her absolutely rotten.
But what about her? She had a younger brother, and her parents were outrageously biased, always making her give way to him. The result? Her status in the Su Family was the lowest of the low. Anyone could order her around and yell at her. And even though Su Qing had never treated her that way, she still hated her. It was Su Qing's fault for making her look so pathetic in comparison.
That was why she had to ruin Su Qing's life. Su Qing would spend her entire life paying for the humiliation Su Tao had endured as a child. Only then would she feel a little better.
Hearing Su Tao's words, Su Qing, though still bewildered by her surroundings, kept her eyes shut and continued to feign unconsciousness. She had to figure out her current predicament as quickly as possible.
Su Tao rambled on in a low voice, "You probably don't know, do you? That scar on your face? I'm the one who burned you, on purpose. Or maybe you did know. But what could you do about it? You're not the old Su Qing anymore. There's no one left to spoil you. You just have to take it, right? It makes me so happy. Your face ought to be uglier than mine; that's only right."
Rage flared in Su Qing's heart as she listened. 'That bastard.'
Seeing that Su Qing still hadn't woken up, Su Tao felt a twinge of regret that her cousin couldn't be conscious to hear all this. Still, she didn't dare wake her. If Su Qing started screaming, it might ruin the plan.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing you definitely don't know," Su Tao's voice dripped with smug satisfaction. "Marrying you off to that fool from the Sun family? That was my idea. Brilliant, isn't it? Just you wait. I absolutely cannot wait to see the moment you are utterly ruined and disgraced."
After speaking, Su Tao fought the urge to step forward and slap Su Qing hard across the face. In the end, she restrained herself, shooting Su Qing one last vicious glare before quietly leaving the room.
Only after Su Tao had gone did Su Qing slowly open her eyes. She'd managed to piece together some information from Su Tao's monologue. 'Based on all this... could it be that I've transmigrated?'
The moment the thought occurred to her, a sharp pain shot through Su Qing's head. A flood of memories, not her own, poured into her mind. The agony made her brow crease, but thankfully, her willpower was strong enough to keep her from passing out.
After a good while, Su Qing finally managed to sort through the memories. They belonged to a girl who had lived a short sixteen years. As she processed it all, Su Qing couldn't help but sigh. 'What a poor, pitiful girl.'
'So be it,' she thought. 'Since you didn't want to go on, I'll live this life for you. And while I'm at it, I'll be sure to teach those people who harmed you a proper lesson.'