Afterward, when he came to the capital with the Wang family, he dared not do anything further, fearing it would be discovered and the marriage would end.
Since then, he had come up with various excuses to delay things, hoping to push back the inevitable, but in the end, it would come out.
Cheng Zhaohua had already guessed this day would come, so he went straight to the study.
The next day, everything seemed as if nothing had happened, just like usual.
Cheng Yue’er behaved even more obediently. Even when she heard what had happened the previous night, she pretended not to know.
Only Wang Huixin seemed to have aged years in a single night. Occasionally, she would glance at Cheng Zhaohua with cold eyes, and Cheng Yue’er, noticing this, quickly lowered her head and awkwardly changed the direction of her chopsticks.
As the news of Cheng Zhaoyang, Cheng Zhaohua, and Xiong Shi’s deaths spread, Qingli relayed it to the Luo family.
Luo’s father, who had long since let go of any grudge against the Cheng family, was a simple scholar who had never seen bloodshed. He had only heard the news and didn’t care much about it.
Over the next two years, movable-type printing technology spread across the country, drastically reducing the cost of books, and more and more people began to read. Qingli’s students grew in number as well.
She returned to Huaiyang City with the Emperor’s decree, and the local magistrate personally built a school for her, accepting students from all walks of life, regardless of gender. She poured all her efforts into her role as a teacher, shaping the pillars of the country and training capable individuals.
A year later, foreign forces began invading, hoping to seize at least one or two cities to raid for food. But as soon as they began their attack, they found themselves bombarded with black balls, causing a thunderous explosion.
Without any effort, the black balls sent the enemy scattering in all directions, and they lost all courage to continue the assault.
The world declared that divine forces had intervened to protect the kingdom.
Only Wang Yongming faintly suspected something. He hadn’t heard a single word about such a powerful weapon when he was a third-rank official. But such a potent weapon could not have emerged so suddenly in just three years—there must have been someone assisting behind the scenes.
Three years ago, the teacher of the successful scholar must have delivered more than just movable-type printing!
Now in his third year of service, Wang Yongming, his body aging and frail, trembled. He lowered his head deeply, picked up the stone in front of him, and reluctantly continued his work.
He had been too arrogant.
He thought that as a high-ranking official, he could ignore the rules. Little did he know, he had unknowingly hit a wall, and now he deserved this fate.
Just as Wang Yongming had suspected, a movable-type printing press could earn the Emperor’s attention, but it wouldn’t be enough to make him sacrifice a third-rank official. The court couldn’t afford to lose a capable official over something like this.
But this special formula… it was something else entirely.
However, the latter was of significant importance. To avoid drawing attention to herself, Qingli used movable type printing as bait. No one would have thought that this powerful and suddenly emerging invention was from a seemingly ordinary female teacher.
Only later, after Chen Wen, who had already settled in a position of power, guessed part of it. However, no one explained anything further.
Qingli was content to be a teacher, while also honoring the original owner’s parents. In this life, Qingli did not remarry, but the people who respected her were scattered all over the country.
When she woke up again, Qingli found herself lying on the floor, the back of her head throbbing with pain. Her head was tilted to one side, and she couldn’t look up directly without sharp pain, breaking out in a cold sweat with even the slightest movement.
Apart from the pain at the back of her head, the rest of her body was perfectly fine. This body was the healthiest one she had had in recent travels.
There was no one around, and there was no immediate danger. Just as Qingli was about to start absorbing the memories, she suddenly heard a “hissssss” sound. Immediately, her hair stood on end, and she sat up in alarm.
At her feet, a small snake was slithering on the ground.
Qingli quickly got up, decisively pressing her hand on the snake’s seven-inch spot, applying pressure with her fingers. The snake writhed in a frenzy, hissing loudly, but after a short time, it went stiff, its tail flopping lifelessly.
Once she confirmed the snake was dead, Qingli released her grip and set it down, then surveyed her surroundings. She noticed a crab, about the size of a palm, crawling aimlessly on the ground. It seemed unable to find an exit and eventually stopped at the doorway.
The room she was in seemed to be a bedroom. It had a modern feel, yet some antique touches, resembling something from the 70s or 80s.
The door was tightly closed, and light filtering through the wooden door showed it was daytime.
The atmosphere seemed peaceful, but faint voices, resembling children’s chatter, could be heard. However, because this body wasn’t trained to pick up on such sounds, Qingli couldn’t make out the words.
Since there was no immediate threat, she continued absorbing the memories.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Qingli closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling a rush of memories flooding her mind along with a storyline.
After processing the memories, Qingli felt a headache coming on. This was a “village novel” about a girl who worked hard for a living.
The story took place in 1977, shortly after the resumption of the college entrance examination and during the early days of China’s reform and opening up. The female protagonist, Song Dongyun, is from Songjia Village in the countryside. Her family was poor, and she couldn’t afford to attend school, so she started working in the fields from a young age. Her family was also biased towards boys, and she bore the brunt of the hardest and most exhausting tasks. She was worked to the point of sickness. In this moment of hardship, a modern-day girl, Song Dongyun, was reincarnated into her body.
In her previous life, Song Dongyun never had a romance. After crossing over, she fought against her difficult family, and to escape her unbearable home life, she chose to marry.
At the same time, a young man, who had served in the military, came to her for a marriage match. He had three children and had been married twice. His first wife passed away after bearing three children. His second wife, a cruel stepmother, secretly abused the children, turning once-vibrant kids into timid, fearful ones. The most serious of them became withdrawn.
Upon discovering this, the man chose to leave the military, divorce his second wife, and stay to care for his children. However, his parents were concerned about him living alone, so they insisted on finding him a new wife. They found Song Dongyun, who was well-regarded in the village.
The man was handsome, had military experience, and exuded a masculine aura. Although he had three children, he was only 28 years old.
Song Dongyun instantly took a liking to him. They married, and she worked hard to win over his three initially rejecting children, also chastising his ex-wife for abusing such cute kids.
Her kindness moved the man, and he fell in love with her. The children no longer rejected her, and they lived happily as a family of five.
However, this wasn’t the reason Qingli felt a headache.
The body she inhabited was that of Du Qingli, the man’s second wife—the one who had been abusive to the children.
But the original owner had initially wanted to treat the children well!
The original owner’s situation was different from Song Dongyun’s. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father, a highly respected worker, never remarried out of love for his daughter. He raised her like a princess.
Though her temperament was a bit spoiled, she wasn’t a bad person. She had received an education, but due to her pampered nature, she hadn’t studied much.
At that time, the college entrance examination hadn’t been reinstated, and the local school taught very little. She found it uninteresting and didn’t pursue it further, spending her time at home.
Suddenly, the college exams were reinstated, but by then, she had forgotten most of what she had learned. At the same time, her father died unexpectedly while on business, and she was left feeling lost and directionless.
In her confusion, her grandmother took her pension money, leaving her with nothing. Her aunt advised her to marry quickly to have a home.
The marriage had been arranged by her father, but now that he was gone, her aunt insisted, and in her vulnerable state, the original owner agreed to an arranged marriage.
Five days ago, she met the male protagonist, Xiang Lifeng, for a match.
They met twice in three days, and the man’s appearance and character fit the original owner’s preferences. The original owner liked children, and since he was a soldier, she agreed to marry him. The dowry was settled yesterday.
In this region, the custom was to have a trial marriage. After a successful match, the woman would stay with the man for some time. If it was their first marriage, they would stay until the woman became pregnant before officially marrying; if it was a second marriage, they would stay for three months.
The original owner was now living with him, undergoing a trial marriage.
After the match, the man quickly arranged things and went back to the army, leaving the original owner alone to deal with the three children.
She didn’t know if someone had said something to the children or if they had always been this way, but the three kids were truly mischievous!
The day after the man left, the original owner spent the day cleaning the chaotic house. She had been spoiled by her father, but now, for a man, she was exhausted and still had to cook for the three kids.
She thought this would win the children over, as food was scarce in that era. The money she used to buy food came from her savings.
Her aunt had told her that the family had spent all their money burying her father and didn’t have much left, so she had to understand.
So, she begrudgingly gave them her food, even though she was starving.
However, when she tried to rest for a while at noon, she found a poisonous snake, a fierce crab, and a withered dead rat waiting for her under the blanket!
The original owner was terrified, her mind racing. In her panic, she hit her head on a pillar and fainted.
This was when Qingli arrived in this world.
Had Qingli not come, the original owner would have lain on the cold floor all afternoon. Her face would have been bitten, and at night, she would have had to go to the barefoot doctor with her swollen, snake-bitten face.
Unfortunately, the barefoot doctor had poor skills, and because it was already late, the original owner had to wake him up to get medicine. The doctor gave her bad medicine, and although the swelling went down after a few days, the wound had begun to rot!
The original owner was furious and caused a scene at the barefoot doctor’s, demanding compensation. She eventually got proper medicine, but her face had been permanently disfigured.
She was left with resentment, but now that her face was ruined, remarriage seemed impossible. She could only endure and continue trying to win over the three children.
During this time, Xiang Lifeng came back several times.
The three children ate well and were well taken care of but secretly complained that the original owner was mistreating them. Xiang Lifeng didn’t believe it and, feeling guilty about the original owner’s face, scolded the children, leaving money for the original owner to properly discipline them.
The children, feeling abandoned by their father, grew to dislike the original owner even more.
But the original owner endured it all, developing a strong affection for Xiang Lifeng and growing increasingly reluctant to let their marriage fall apart.
Three months later, they officially married, and held a banquet, and soon after, the original owner discovered she was pregnant. She was overjoyed and sent a telegram to the army to report the good news, completely unaware of the hateful glares from the three children.
After the original owner became pregnant, the children seemed to calm down, becoming more obedient. Everyone assumed that with the new baby on the way, the children had finally grown up.
The original owner believed this too, until one night, while pregnant, she got up to use the bathroom and stepped on a pit on the previously flat floor. She twisted her ankle and fell to the ground…
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152