"Stop hitting, daughter-in-law, stop hitting..." he said, covering his head as he ran out.
Only when the couple's quarreling faded did Ah Jiu dare to exhale.
"What's going on? Has the weather changed? Mother actually dared to hit Father." Ah Jiu muttered to herself, was this return to fifteen years old still a dream, or had her soul not returned after death?
Meng Shaode insisted on pulling Cai Lihua into the kitchen and closing the door before speaking:
"Lihua, don't hit anymore. Fighting in front of the child is bad for your daughter's education. Don't you think so?"
Upon hearing this, Cai Lihua put down the water pouch in her hand. In her previous life, every time they did IVF, they had fantasized about how outstanding their future daughter would be.
"That's true."
"Don't you remember how much grievance this girl has suffered under us? Ah Jiu is angry with us now."
Cai Lihua was stunned. She pinched her temples and looked at her attire. With a dazed shake of her head, she said nothing.
Meng Shaode patted his forehead with heartache. Clearly, Lihua had no memory of the original owner. However, it was important to understand the situation for now.
Meng Shaode began to recount how Ah Jiu was looked down upon, how her life was cheap, and how she was instigated by Wang to sell them to Steward Li.
Cai Lihua gasped for air and then stopped breathing. Her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp like noodles.
"Lihua." Meng Shaode quickly hooked his wife's waist and pressed hard on her philtrum.
This helped Cai Lihua regain her breath. She flung her hand and slapped Meng Shaode:
"You beast, no matter how poor or difficult, you can't sell your daughter. Fortunately, you're a teacher who educates people. If your father knew, he wouldn't be able to rest in peace."
"I..." Meng Shaode was stunned by the slap. It was the original owner's doing, not his. Wasn't this slap more unjust than Dou E?
Just as Meng Shaode was about to explain, he met Cai Lihua's stance, hands on her hips, as if she would kill him if he didn't give an explanation. He immediately softened:
"Wife is right, I... I was wrong, I'll change in the future. Besides, our daughter wasn't sold, was she? If we, as a couple, dote on her more from now on, wouldn't that be enough?"
"Dote, we must dote on her." Cai Lihua snorted with her arms crossed. On the way here, she had seen their current situation. Her eyes widened:
"We can't let our daughter be thirsty or hungry. If there's nothing to eat, I'd rather eat your flesh than let our daughter starve."
"Wife is right, whatever wife says is right..." Meng Shaode wiped the sweat from his forehead. He also felt pressure. He, a kind-faced, humble, and polite high school chemistry teacher, had ended up in such an unpardonable body. He truly had no way to explain himself.
"Call me Madam."
"Yes, Madam."
Meng Shaode quickly agreed. After having died once, these essential survival skills were truly useful.
"Go, fetch two more buckets of water to fill our water缸, and then find something to eat. If you can't find anything, you'll be eating your own flesh for dinner."
Cai Lihua finished speaking and turned to check on her daughter. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Ah Jiu rushing out of bed.
Remembering that she had picked up a daughter, Cai Lihua's lips instantly bloomed into a smile as she turned: "Daughter, rest more, why are you getting out of bed?"
Ah Jiu suddenly remembered that her mother had been beaten to death by her father yesterday. Realizing this now, Ah Jiu feared that her mother had been beaten silly, which was why she dared to fight back. What if she was beaten to death again by her father?
To her surprise, her mother was standing there perfectly fine: "Mom? Are you... alright? Father didn't hit you?"
She looked her mother up and down. She didn't seem to have been beaten silly, but rather, it was as if her brain had been damaged and she had forgotten things.
She had vaguely heard one or two sentences from the kitchen in the west wing earlier, something about not remembering things.
"Ah?" Cai Lihua put her hands on her hips and spun around: "Mom is fine. Besides, would your father dare even if he had more guts?"
Ah Jiu was so frightened that her gaunt face seemed to be all eyes.