"Tang Xiaomin! What time is it, and you're still not cooking!"
The shrill, scolding voice startled Tang Xiaomin awake.
Opening her eyes, she was bewildered by her surroundings.
Wasn't she dead?
Forced by her family to donate a kidney to their adopted daughter, Tang Yiyi, she had been left to die with her wounds festering on a cold hospital bed, at the age of twenty-three.
She had one kidney left in the living world, and her body was incomplete. Unable to reincarnate, she could only steal kidneys from other ghosts in hell to replenish herself.
Unfortunately, hell's organs were incompatible, so she had to keep digging out ghost kidneys to try.
Just as she was busy extracting a male ghost's kidney, a flash of white light appeared, and she was reborn.
"Oh dear, this is Miss Yiyi's branded shirt."
Aunt Xue, the housekeeper, snatched the crumpled shirt from under Tang Xiaomin as if calling a soul, her face a mask of displeasure.
"Tang Xiaomin, what are you good for? You can't even iron a shirt properly. You dare to hide here and slack off, sleeping when it's time to cook. Tell me, what else can you do?"
Tang Xiaomin hadn't recovered from her shock.
Seeing her dazed state, Aunt Xue looked at her with disdain.
"You can't even do this little thing right. What use are you? I even resigned for you to have a chance to prove yourself, and you still don't cherish it."
Aunt Xue was merely the Tang family's housekeeper, a servant, yet she dared to boss around Tang Xiaomin, the mistress of the house.
Thinking of her past self before she died, she truly was a pathetic wretch.
When Tang Xiaomin was seventeen, she discovered she was the true eldest daughter of the Tang family, lost and abandoned, and was brought back to the Tang residence.
At the time, she looked at her biological parents and elder brothers, filled with joy.
She voluntarily took on all the household chores, wanting to do whatever she could to mend the years of missed familial affection.
But what was the result?
Her elder brothers spoke in unison, telling her they would only ever acknowledge Tang Yiyi as their sister.
Her biological parents always treated her like an unpresentable bumpkin, ashamed to mention her in front of outsiders.
Until finally, Tang Yiyi suddenly fell ill and needed a kidney transplant. Even though she was unwilling, they sent her to the operating room and forcibly took her kidney without hesitation.
After the surgery, Tang Yiyi was carefully pampered, while she could only succumb to infection and die, unable to reincarnate even in hell.
Thinking of this, a dark glint flashed in Tang Xiaomin's eyes.
She ripped off her apron and threw it aside.
In the living room, her mother, Zhang Meiyu, was elegantly admiring her freshly done nails. The dignified woman indifferently glanced at Tang Xiaomin.
"You have no sense of time. Remember to cook on time next time. Oh, and Yiyi wants sashimi and lobster tonight."
Tang Yiyi.
In this family's hearts, there was always only Tang Yiyi, an outsider with no blood relation, never her Tang Xiaomin.
They were all murderers!
"I want to go home," Tang Xiaomin said indifferently and turned to leave.
"Stop right there!" Zhang Meiyu's cold voice came from behind.
"Finish cooking before you go. And remember to come back early tomorrow to make breakfast."
Heh.
This was her own mother, who treated her daughter like a servant, perhaps even worse. Servants got paid, but what did she have?
Did she expect this family to eat her cooking?
Even the demons in hell weren't as wicked as her family.
Tang Xiaomin sneered.
"How dare you think of eating my cooking."
Zhang Meiyu's eyebrows furrowed in anger, losing her previous elegance and composure.
"What kind of attitude is that? You've been doing the cooking for the past six months. If you don't do it, who will? Hurry up and get to the kitchen."
Aunt Xue, standing nearby, seized the opportunity and shoved the apron into Tang Xiaomin's hand.
Tang Xiaomin looked at the apron in her hand, gritted her teeth fiercely a few times, and then, without any courtesy, yanked the apron and threw it onto Zhang Meiyu's head.
Zhang Meiyu cried out in surprise.
"Oh dear, Tang Xiaomin, are you crazy? How dare you throw this dirty apron at me? Do you have any respect for me as your mother?"
Zhang Meiyu yanked the apron off and threw it on the ground, wiping her hands with a wet wipe in disgust.
Seeing this, Tang Xiaomin took a few deep breaths.
"I've been serving your family for months, and you think you can walk all over me. From now on, I quit!"
Tang Xiaomin dropped the apron and turned to walk towards the door.
"Tang Xiaomin, try and leave!" Zhang Meiyu yelled furiously from behind.
Tang Xiaomin continued to walk, as if she hadn't heard.
Aunt Xue, seeing this, quickly stepped in front of Tang Xiaomin to block her, rolling her eyes fiercely.
"Tang Xiaomin, who will cook dinner if you leave? Go back and cook right now. Don't defy Madam's orders."
Tang Xiaomin looked coldly at Aunt Xue, who dared to block her path, a sinister smile creeping up her lips.
"You're just a dog raised by the Tang family. How dare you stop me."
Aunt Xue's eyes were filled with disbelief. Tang Xiaomin, who had always been submissive, was now speaking to her with such venom.
Aunt Xue narrowed her eyes and said loudly,
"Madam, Tang Xiaomin is so rude. She must be properly taught etiquette, otherwise, she'll definitely bring shame to the Tang family..."
*Slap!*
A sharp slap landed squarely on Aunt Xue's face, instantly leaving a bright red palm print.
The crisp sound of the slap seemed to freeze time.
Aunt Xue covered her stinging cheek and looked at Tang Xiaomin in disbelief.
At this moment, Tang Xiaomin lowered her head, looking at her own hand, and shook her head.
She, the magnificent Kidney-Stealing Queen of hell, whom even ghosts begged for mercy, and whom the King of Hell himself couldn't stop.
After being reborn, her strength was so weak that she couldn't even slap a housekeeper to death.
Speechless.
"Madam, it's one thing that Tang Xiaomin hit me, but she also doesn't listen to you. She clearly doesn't respect you at all, Madam..." Aunt Xue said, exasperated.
*Slap!*
Tang Xiaomin swung her hand back and slapped Aunt Xue again.
"Madam..."
*Slap!*
Another slap, without hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, Aunt Xue had received three resounding slaps to her face.
She covered her face and glared at Tang Xiaomin with venom.
Tang Xiaomin's lips curved into a twisted, wicked smile.
"Scream! Keep screaming!"
Tang Xiaomin had already raised her hand, ready to deliver a symmetrical slap to Aunt Xue's face if she dared to blabber on again.
"Aunt Xue was just following Mother's orders. Sister, hitting Aunt Xue's face is like hitting Mother's face, isn't it?"
A sweet female voice chimed in.
Tang Yiyi, dressed like a delicate doll and wearing high-end little leather shoes, elegantly descended the stairs. Moments later, she arrived in the living room and affectionately linked arms with her mother.
"Mother, Sister is a young lady of the Tang family, yet she hit a servant. Her behavior is so crude; it will surely be said that the rotten foundation above causes the decay below, meaning Mother didn't teach her well."
"Poor Aunt Xue, she's been hit so hard, her face is all swollen."
Aunt Xue released her hand from her face, revealing her red and swollen cheeks from Tang Xiaomin's blows, and said aggrievedly,
"Madam, I'm just a servant. It doesn't matter if I get hit. What matters is your reputation, Madam."