The old woman slapped the ground again and again, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her face was a mess of snot and tears. She was a pitiful sight.

Watching his mother cry, Chen Lin felt a knot tighten in his chest.

It wasn’t because his mother’s crude behavior embarrassed him. It was because he couldn’t stomach it—why was he stuck selling flatbreads on the street, dirt-poor all year round?

Meanwhile, his older brother was not only a respectable county deputy, greeted and fawned over wherever he went, but he could also afford to give his niece a dowry of gold, fertile land, and even a shop.

’If he gives so much to a daughter who’s marrying out of the family, my brother must have far more silver tucked away, right?’

’He was only promoted this month. Before that, he was just an insignificant constable at the government office, and only for three years...’

’It’s just as people say: it doesn’t matter what color robes the officials in the government office wear—their hearts are all black.’

Chen Lin’s face was a mask of grief and indignation. "Mother, why did you even give birth to me? Why didn’t you just let me be reborn into a better family? If my parents held power, if they controlled thousands of acres of fertile land and countless shops, would I be mixing with all this riffraff? Would I have let them talk me into taking out a high-interest loan! Oh, Mother... you’ve ruined my life."

The mother and son clung to each other, weeping bitterly. They didn’t notice that in the west wing, Chen Wanyue and her mother were watching, their expressions dark and grim.

When Chen Lin broke out in blisters and was diagnosed with syphilis, Mrs. Li had started clamoring to take her two sons, divorce him, and return to her family home.

Of course, she wasn’t allowed to take her sons. Chen Lin and the old woman, enraged by her faithlessness, pinned her down and gave her another beating. That very night, Mrs. Li packed her belongings and fled back to her family.

But life at her family home was no easier.

If she had some silver, it might have been manageable. She could have at least bought some meat to bribe her sisters-in-law into putting up with her for a few days. But all her private savings, along with the valuables and property deeds she’d extorted from that young widow, had been snatched away by the old woman and Chen Lin.

In fact, aside from a tael or two of emergency silver sewn into the hem of her clothes, she didn’t have a single coin to her name.

That silver was her only safety net, and she couldn’t bear to spend it on her family.

After shamelessly imposing on her family for several days, enduring her sisters-in-law’s daily indirect insults and their threats to marry her off to an old widower, a turning point came.

Chen Lin didn’t have a venereal disease after all; they were just ordinary blisters.

The moment the news reached Mrs. Li, she couldn’t wait another second. She packed her belongings, grabbed her family’s big goose, and hurried back to her husband’s home.

Unfortunately for her, the old woman had come to despise her, and even Chen Lin wished she were dead.

Mrs. Li couldn’t even get into the main room and had no choice but to squeeze into the west wing with Chen Wanyue.

Now, peering through the small window of the west wing at the farce outside, Mrs. Li cursed Chen Lin for being such a disappointment. ’He and Chen Song had the same father, so how could they be so different?’

At the same time, she was filled with resentment. ’Look at that pathetic wretch, Chen Lin. He wants to be reborn into a good family? Heaven isn’t blind! A man like him deserves to be begging for food on the streets!’

’He wants a father with immense power and a mother of boundless wealth? Why not just dream he’s the Emperor?’

Cursing him brought Mrs. Li a savage satisfaction, but her heart ached with bitterness.

She cursed the matchmaker from all those years ago. Why had she been so dead set on Chen Lin?

Even Chen Bai would have been a far more dependable choice.

Mrs. Li began to sob, turning to Chen Wanyue. "We have such bitter fates, you and I. If there’s a next life, let’s make sure we’re born into a good family. It doesn’t even have to be that great—just a family like your cousin’s would be enough. To have doting parents who spoil you your whole life, and capable brothers to protect you..."

Chen Wanyue lowered her eyes, a resentful glint in them.

Her mother’s words were harsh, but they were also true.

For a girl from the village, her cousin was indeed living a superior life.

’She does have good parents and two good brothers,’ she thought. ’But she married the wrong man, so her life can’t be all that great.’

"If Zhao Jing never amounts to anything, how good do you think my cousin’s life will be? What’s so great about being like her? Her parents must have had their eyes plastered with shit to pick a husband like that for her. He’ll never earn an official title, and all their hopes will turn to dust."

Mrs. Li faltered, then argued defensively, "But what if your grandmother’s dream isn’t real?"

"It is real. It was a vision from the Bodhisattva. It can’t be wrong."

"You certainly trust your grandmother. I don’t know what potion she’s fed you to make you so bewitched."

"She hasn’t fed me any potion. It’s just that Grandmother has eaten more salt than I have rice—she has more experience. And since she’s favored by the Bodhisattva, it can’t be wrong to listen to her."