Dan Jingqiu developed a few suspicions after going through the story.

Based on her experience in the last world, she had realized that, even within the world of novels, anything that seemed illogical had actually followed logic, and changes to the plot were incidents that were possible in reality.

But the death surrounding the original host’s husband, Lin Jianguo, did not seem to follow the normal flow of logic.

How did an honest and obedient farmer suddenly get the urge to follow and do business with a smuggler?

It couldn’t have been for money, because they were already used to living in poverty.

After all, prior to separating households, Sun Jinhua had complete control over their family’s finances. Not even a single grain of rice could be hidden from her.

There was no illness nor emergency in the family that required quick cash, so why did Lin Jianguo suddenly get the urge to sell smuggled goods?

Not to mention, the original host was completely in the dark about this incident. If it weren’t for a returning villager who found him lying on the ground with a face full of blood and brought Lin Jianguo back, his body would have gone missing forever.

If his body had not suddenly been brought back along with his gathering basket, which contained a casual military outfit that he had traded with those smuggled goods. Then the original host would probably die without knowing what her husband was doing when he took a day off with the farming brigade.

Luckily, it was Sun Jinshu, one of the simple-minded villagers and also Sun Jinhua’s younger brother, who recognized Lin Jianguo as the body that was laying on the side of the road in his own blood. And so he rushed back frantically to inform Sun Jinhua. Upon hearing the news, the original host followed bewilderedly behind Sun Jinhua and saw the lifeless body of her husband —— and noticed that Sun Jinhua was hastily hiding whatever was inside the gathering basket.

Naturally, the original host was not the type of person to find it suspicious. She was still shocked and trying to come to terms that her husband had, without reason, left the house, died outside mysteriously, and ultimately left her a widow.

But just because the original host didn’t notice doesn’t mean Dan Jingqiu didn’t.

Weren’t these casual military clothes a popular trend item because it could be worn in place of the formal military uniform?

Other than Lin Jiandang and Lin Xinghua, who were given the opportunity to pursue an education in this family, was there anyone else who would need such flashy items? Who else in the family won’t be happy with just a rag over their heads?

But considering Sun Jinhua’s morals, these sorts of actions were unsurprising.

As her husband, Lin Yaoxi’s reputation in the village remained quite important to Sun Jinhua. After all, they relied on his brother, Lin Yaodong’s influence to get ahead around here. Sun Jinhua could not imagine what would happen if their family’s reputation was tarnished, especially how it would negatively impact the chances of her precious son, Lin Jiandang, from entering the military and getting a decent job!

So chasing away Dan Jingqiu before Lin Jianguo was even buried looked completely contradictory to how Sun Jinhua would usually handle affairs.

In the middle of all the chaos, Dan Jingqiu came up with a conjecture.

Of course, it would still need to be verified.

***

Watching Dan Jingqiu, seemingly lost in thought, Sun Jinhua lost her temper.

Based on her usual personality, after getting berated to this extent, this stupid daughter-in-law should have long cried her eyes out while kneeling on the floor and begging for forgiveness. But now she’s just standing there and staring back stupidly. Did she lose her mind?

Sun Jinhua could not help but feel a sense of loss. Though she had made the decision many years ago to not consider these unluckily children as her own, they were still a part of her flesh, so it was impossible to be unaffected.

But if she did not get rid of this daughter-in-law, what if…

With that thought, Sun Jinhua hardened her resolve. She must kick this woman out of the house today! As for the woman’s two young children, she’ll just keep them around and distract them with house chores.

Sun Jinhua viciously blocked what she was trying to hide with her leg and began wailing emotionally.

“My poor son! Your jinx wife is trying to curse your entire family. She wants your mother to die horribly. I shouldn’t have let you marry this jinx. It’s all my fault! Ohhh Jianguo…”

With that exaggerated and earnest expression, strangers would unknowingly mistake this person as a loving mother.

Dan Jingqiu towered over and observed the humorous antics of her mother-in-law.

The more exaggerated Sun Jinhua acted, the more she was certain about her conjectures and decided to compete with her acting. Dan Jingqiu also had a skill or two when it came to fake mourning.

“Jianguo, how can you just die like that?! How can our mother survive alone? Jianguo, how can you make me a widow and leave our children fatherless?!” As if regaining her senses, the previously cold and unfeeling Dan Jingqiu suddenly supported her hand against the wall to steady her wobbling body and shrieked dramatically.

Hearing her cries, Sun Jinhua felt overshadowed.

Who can blame her for lacking in sincere affections? Even if she did have any, it was all sacrificed for her self-interests.

Before she could react, Dan Jingqiu had pounced heavily over Sun Jinhua’s body like a hungry tiger overtaking its prey and brawling earnestly.

The original host and her family had never received sufficient nutrition. The original host could even be compared to a White Bone Witch,* whereas Sun Jinhua’s figure was chubby like a healthy pearl, which was not easy to achieve in this challenging era. (TL: A female demon from ‘Journey to the West’ whose original form is a bare skeleton.)

Dan Jingqiu aimed and landed on a critical joint on Sun Jinhua’s body with a smash, and then amplified her wails to cover up Sun Jinhua’s painful howls. Since Sun Jinhua had not done manual labor in years, she was unable to overcome the original host’s strength and ended up being viciously pinned down.

Feeling immense pain radiating through her body after being smashed by her bony daughter-in-law, the exhausted Sun Jinhua was about to swear up a storm. However, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of the biggest gossiper, Li Cuihua, from behind Dan Jingqiu’s lowered head, secretly watching their exchange, she had to quickly swallow up her curses.

“Oh my poor son, how can you leave us like that…”

Sun Jinhua quickly resumed her cries. Perhaps due to her fat figure, when she actually put in the effort, her voice finally covered up her daughter-in-law’s sounds, and just as Sun Jinhua was about to call her a husband-killing jinx again, Dan Jingqiu had leaned against the side of her ear. Her voice instantly brought along a chill.

Dan Jingqiu had used the opportunity to lean over to whisper into Sun Jinghua’s ear.

Knowing that she could hear everything clearly.

“Mom, do you think other people knew that Lin Jiandang’s mother was involved in smuggling?”

This caught Sun Jinhua’s attention, and she immediately froze, but seeing Li Cuihua from her periphery, she dared not stop crying. Only she knew that hidden within her desperate wails was a deep sense of dread.

How, how did she know?

Did Jianguo tell her? Impossible! Where would he find the guts?

Can’t even die without giving her worries!

While she was immersed in her crying act, each word from that faint whisper continued to intrude into Sun Jinhua’s ear.

“Mom, this is a full set of casual military wear. It’s not the only thing in this gathering basket, right?”

“Mom, say, what do you think was sold to exchange for so much?”

“Do you think our family would be okay if I alerted the authorities?”

“I’m just a woman who lost her man anyway. Worse comes to worst; I’ll just remarry. I heard from our youngest uncle that the new trend in the city was ‘righteous justice against one’s family for the greater good.’ I’m an uneducated soul, so Mom, what do you think that means?”

Sun Jinhua was hoarse, but she needed to continue crying. Dan Jingqiu was using every ounce of strength to hold her tight, and only she knew just how painful she was holding her.

But who cares if the pain was physical or mental.

One thing is for sure; this issue was destined to have a bad ending!

Lin Xinghua and Li Cuihua, who were watching on the sidelines, were flabbergasted,

Lin Xinghua was wondering why her mother was tearfully hugging her sister-in-law when she was only just insisting that she would chase that woman away and claim the house for her daughter!

Could it… Could it be that her older brother’s ghost was the cause of it?

Thinking about it gave her goosebumps. But, even if she wanted to pretend to mourn, the tears just wouldn’t fall.

Li Cuihua, who was previously hiding behind the door and secretly watching, was now blatantly staring at them with her hand on her hip.

She thought this was strange. As the village’s number 1 gossipmonger, she was quite familiar with Lin Yaoxi’s family situation.

If Sun Jinhua was capable of caring for her eldest son, then sows can climb trees.

Just to set the record straight, when they were poor back then, Sun Jinhua almost sold off her eldest son!

So what’s happening here? Did she finally grow a conscience, or was there a ghost pulling strings?

Li Cuihua rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Could she have overimagined just how bad the other party was? Was Sun Jinhua only a little biased when it came to her children?

Turning her gaze away, she quickly ran off. Something as strange as the sun rising from the West had occurred. How can she keep this news to herself?

Didn’t she run all the way here while pretending she needed to use the bathroom just for this piece of gossip?

She must hurry and spread the news to everyone —— Sun Jinhua had changed! She finally came to her senses after the death of her son, and not only was she upset for her oldest son, she even treated her daughter-in-law like a human being! These two were seen hugging each other tightly and crying together!

…

After an excruciating effort, Sun Jinhua was finally able to escape from her daughter-in-law’s “(bear) hug,” but she still could not fathom just how her deeds became exposed.

She had repeatedly reminded her son never to tell his wife. Did her son really dare to oppose her?

She could not understand it no matter how much she tried, and it’s not like she could go ask her dead son!

Vexed from her racking her brains, Sun Jinhua decided to regroup with the rest of her family that night before making another move. After all, Dan Jingqiu did not look like she was pretending to be cornered.

She could not afford to test her boundaries further, lest she accidentally hit a valuable vase while trying to hunt a rat!

Sun Jinhua rubbed her painfully throbbing arm as she walked. She sighted Li Cuihua in the center of a group of middle-aged women from a distance, expressively gesturing and narrating loudly to the crowd.

Did something else happen recently? Why’s that spinster hag from the next village making a fuss?

When she joined in to listen to the rabble, her complexion darkened.

“Sun Jinhua was hugging her eldest daughter-in-law and mourning. The two of them were on the ground crying their hearts out together! Ay, it’s so pitiful. Who’d have thought Jianguo would just die after getting hit by a rock!” Li Cuihua’s voice was loud and crystal clear.

The bystanders could not help but join in.

“Ay, it’s so pitiful to be widowed with young children. No wonder Jinhua stopped bullying her daughter-in-law.”

“Yes yes yes, Sun Jinhua cried so hard that she lost her voice. She was still crying even though she had no more tears left, Ay…”

…

The group of gossipers turned towards the approaching Sun Jinhua.

With a face as black as thunder, Sun Jinhua was so angry that her voice came out in heaving puffs of air: “I…” The moment she spoke, the pain from Dan Jingqiu’s hug was so immense that the remainder of her sentence was stuck in her throat.

Seeing that Sun Jinhua’s body was covered in dirt (from rolling on the ground), with an ashen expression (from anger), while tightly holding her arms in a helpless fashion (from being painfully squeezed), and above all, the loss of her voice, had made everyone see her in a different light.

This instantaneously verified Li Cuihua’s words and erased any doubt in everyone’s minds.

—— Ay, this Sun Jinhua, what were you doing? Do you now understand the meaning of regret now that your son is gone?

—— Sun Jinhua did not have it easy either. Looks like Jianguo’s death was a huge blow to her!

Though she could not hear the thoughts of the people around her, Sun Jinhua was about to vomit blood when she heard their persistent condolences. Who knew these people would crown her as some reformed good mother who regrets her past choices?!