President Xia felt a lump of anger lodged firmly in her chest.

She hadn’t managed to say the word Mom out loud—but Liu Fen had knelt down and begged for her sake.

Now she had become Xia Xiaolan.

She had inherited the original owner’s identity and most of her memories, yet the injustice of Xia Xiaolan’s past still made her feel stifled. The original Xia Xiaolan had been born with a face that could ruin nations—a foxlike beauty—but an empty head to match. Every smile, every glance carried a trace of allure. Thirty years later, she would have been worshipped as a goddess.

But in the 1980s, women like her were branded with a single word.

Frivolous.

Villagers didn’t use refined language. They had a simpler term for Xia Xiaolan.

Slut.

Because of her looks, Xia Xiaolan’s reputation had never been good. Worse still, she was accused of stealing her cousin Xia Ziyu’s boyfriend—of stripping naked in broad daylight to seduce her future brother-in-law. She’d been drowned in the village’s spit and scorn, rejected even by her own family.

The truth about stealing a man was debatable.

But stripping naked in broad daylight to seduce someone?

That never happened.

Unfortunately, no one believed her. Some even swore she’d been rolling naked in a haystack with a local hoodlum from the next village. The rumors spread from mouth to mouth, across villages and fields. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t defend herself. The Xia family fanned the flames. In the end, the original Xia Xiaolan chose to end her life by smashing her head against a pillar.

President Xia had seen too much of the world to be surprised by injustice. Wronged people were everywhere—she couldn’t possibly right them all.

But now that she was Xia Xiaolan?

She refused to shoulder this blame.

The Xia family looked at her like demons, bent on driving her to death. The woman kneeling on the floor was this body’s biological mother—and the only person in the Xia family who had ever truly loved Xia Xiaolan.

President Xia decided she’d had enough.

“Mom. Get up first.”

She pulled Liu Fen up with force. Liu Fen didn’t struggle, afraid of hurting her daughter’s still-injured head.

Calling her Mom turned out not to be as hard as she’d imagined.

There were two things President Xia had always envied about Xia Xiaolan: one, her beauty—exceptional beauty; and two, a mother who loved her wholeheartedly. President Xia had lost both parents as a child. She’d never known this kind of affection.

She was President Xia—the iron-fisted executive.

And she was also Xia Xiaolan, the girl who had died in a storm of rumors in the 1980s.

There was no choice.

The two identities merged into one.

“Xiaolan, listen to your mother. Go apologize to your grandmother properly…” Liu Fen’s face was etched with worry.

Liu Fen had always been the one who endured—enduring her mother-in-law, her sisters-in-law, her husband, even her children. She believed patience would bring peace.

But no one in the Xia family respected that.

The more she endured, the more they bullied her.

Even the original Xia Xiaolan hadn’t been innocent in that regard.

Old Madam Xia shrieked, “I don’t have a granddaughter who sleeps around! Shameless little bitch—trying to steal Ziyu’s man!”

Xia Xiaolan’s temples throbbed violently.

She hadn’t fought head-on with street-level shrews in years.

But the skills she’d used to tear apart scheming saleswomen and punch debt-dodging suppliers?

They were still very much intact.

“Grandma!” She shouted with all her strength, finally overpowering the old woman’s screeching.

“Even if you don’t acknowledge me as your granddaughter, I’ll still call you Grandma. I care about the Xia family. But calling me a ‘slut’ and a ‘bitch’ over and over—aren’t you just inviting the whole village to laugh at us? I may already have a bad reputation, but what about my sisters? They still need to marry. Is it glorious to be related to a ‘slut’?”

Old Madam Xia choked, speechless. Third Aunt’s face darkened as well.

There were three older girls in the family. Xia Ziyu was twenty—already in university, with a devoted boyfriend. Xia Xiaolan was eighteen and considered unmarriageable trash. Third Aunt’s daughter, Xia Hongxia, was seventeen and about to start looking for a match.

Third Aunt hated Xia Xiaolan so much her teeth itched—but she still lowered her voice and hissed.

“You’ve got the nerve to say that? Our Hongxia was delayed because of you! Why didn’t you just die?!”

Xia Hongxia glared at Xia Xiaolan from behind her mother, eyes full of resentment.

Liu Fen flushed red with anger. “Sister-in-law, Xiaolan just woke up—”

Her thin body blocked her daughter protectively, but her timid nature made her stumble over words. Xia Xiaolan gently pulled her behind her.

“Don’t rush. I’m not arguing. I’m just reasoning.”

Old Madam Xia wished she could strangle this living curse—but the curse merely smiled.

“I smashed my head once and even the King of Hell didn’t want me. Now I plan to live properly. If I live well, anyone who makes me miserable—I’ll make them miserable first. Since everyone’s unhappy with me here, why don’t I move out?”

Move out?

Where could she go?

Liu Fen panicked. An unmarried girl moving out—what kind of disgrace was that?

But Xia Xiaolan was tougher than ever, like a piece of sticky iron. She nearly gave Old Madam Xia a stroke.

Third Aunt, however, was delighted. Better for Xia Xiaolan to disappear than embarrass the family.

“Where would you move to? Don’t tell me you’ll hide at your maternal grandma’s place and sneak back in a few days.”

Xia Xiaolan replied calmly, “Isn’t there an old house by the riverbank? One end of the village to the other. I’ll live there—out of everyone’s sight.”

Old Madam Xia refused immediately.

“You disgrace the family. You’re lucky you weren’t beaten to death, and you still want a room?”

That house was falling apart—mosquito-ridden in summer, freezing in winter, right next to the cowshed. Still, Old Madam Xia didn’t want Xia Xiaolan to have it easily.

Something about her had changed since she woke up. Still stubborn—but sharper. Calculated.

Xia Xiaolan smiled sweetly. “Then I won’t move. Food and shelter aren’t bad here. My reputation’s already ruined—might as well stay home and be an old maid. Big Sister’s a precious university student. She wouldn’t let her little sister starve, right?”

This girl was impossible. Even First Aunt felt her eyelids twitch.

Was Xia Xiaolan trying to cling to Xia Ziyu’s family?

First Aunt quickly stepped in. “I don’t believe the rumors. Xiaolan’s just acting out of anger. An unmarried girl can’t survive alone. I’ll talk to your grandma—let’s all step back and calm down.”

She dragged Old Madam Xia outside. Third Aunt followed.

The younger generation glared at Xia Xiaolan with hatred. Liu Fen sobbed softly.

Xia Xiaolan sighed. “Mom, stop crying. I can’t survive staying here.”

She could endure insults—but why should she? She’d been reborn once. Why live suffocated again?

Not long after, Old Madam Xia returned.

“You can live in the old house. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with the Xia family!”

Xia Xiaolan pushed her luck, wanting to take household items. Old Madam Xia, helpless against her, finally threw her a small sack of sweet potatoes.

“Get lost!”

— — —

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