"Take a good look at yourself. What talents do you even have? Besides that chest of yours and your halfway-decent face, what makes you worthy of the village chief? He's come to invite you back several times, practically begging, and you still refuse to go home? Who do you think you are? Do you have any idea what kind of man the village chief is? It's your good fortune that he even looks your way. How can you be so ungrateful!"
"I'm warning you, don't even think about coming back here to freeload. We raised you all these years; it's about time you did something for this family! All you do all day is eat our food and contribute nothing. Do you feel no shame for all our efforts?"
The person speaking was Yang Yunhua, the original owner's mother.
After her husband passed away, Yang Yunhua had taken her older daughter, Song Qingya, with her when she remarried, and she later gave birth to a son.
Her young son became the apple of her eye, someone she could never bring herself to hit or scold.
Her older daughter, however, was met with daily beatings and verbal abuse.
Despite knowing full well that her daughter was frail, she always forced her to do manual labor.
In her past life, Song Qingya had often been attacked by trolls online and had long since developed a thick skin.
But hearing such words from a mother's mouth still sounded utterly unbelievable to her.
'Just what kind of life had the original owner of this body been living all these years?'
"Yun Hua, don't talk like that!"
Her stepfather, Sun Qiang, had been listening outside for who knows how long.
He walked in just then, trying to smooth things over.
"Qingya is the Village Chief's Wife now. Her status is different. We need to show her a little more respect and stop treating her like this."
"Village Chief's Wife? Don't you know everyone outside is laughing at her?"
Thinking of all the vicious rumors spreading outside, Yang Yunhua grew even more furious.
"So what if I scold her a little? The village chief is getting ready to divorce her! How are we supposed to live then? Do you have any idea how much trouble she's caused this family?"
She remembered that when Fei Jin left, his face showed clear displeasure.
'Her daughter is so lucky to have married such an outstanding man,' Yang Yunhua thought.
Such an excellent man wasn't easy to come by.
He's only twenty-seven and he's already the village chief—so young and promising.
His future was bound to be bright and full of potential.
'And this wretched girl doesn't even know how to appreciate it!'
'What a headache.'
After this round of scolding from Yang Yunhua, Sun Qiang came over, grabbed Song Qingya's hand, and said with feigned concern,
"Qingya, your mom's just got that kind of personality, a bit too blunt. Don't take it to heart. You can stay home for as long as you want."
'Besides, if she stayed home, it would be easier for him to take advantage of her.'
Seeing that even while sick, Song Qingya still had rosy lips and captivating curves, he felt an insatiable itch of desire.
Song Qingya, however, felt a wave of instinctive disgust and violently shook his hand off.
"Don't touch me!"
The words flew out of her mouth almost subconsciously.
Sun Qiang awkwardly pulled his hand back, his expression stiff.
'So she's putting on airs now!'
'Starting to act all high and mighty. As a child, she never would have dared to speak to me like that!'
'Back then, she was so meek and obedient; she had no idea how to resist.'
At this moment, Song Qingya suddenly understood why the script was written that way.
The male lead and his wife never consummated their marriage.
'It was because the original owner suffered from trauma.'
This stress made her unable to form intimate relationships with anyone.
Ever since she was a child, her stepfather had constantly been getting handsy with her.
And her own mother either turned a blind eye or simply ignored it completely.
'It's no wonder she had issues, living in an environment like this!'
The original owner's mental state had always been fragile, so it was no surprise she would later make such a choice.
'Now that I'm here, I absolutely will not let this happen again.'
Song Qingya turned to Yang Yunhua, her face cold. "Mom, you saw that. I'm in my nightgown, and Uncle Sun just grabs me like that. How is that appropriate? I'm a married woman now. If word got out, what would people say?"
Sun Qiang immediately denied it flatly.
"Don't talk nonsense, who would want to touch you?"
His voice held a trace of panic.
Yang Yunhua also chimed in to agree.
"Your Uncle Sun was just looking out for you. You have the nerve to mention being married? You caused such a huge scandal! More than half of Qi City saw you jump in the river trying to force a divorce."
Song Qingya knew her mother would continue to pretend she hadn't seen anything.
So she brought up the influential male lead.
"Who said that? I am still Fei Jin's wife."
The room fell silent the moment she said it.
Yang Yunhua was stunned.
"Then why did you jump in the river?"
"I just accidentally fell in the river. How did that become 'jumping in'? Now I understand. No wonder everyone outside is gossiping—the rumors came from my own family."
Dealing with these kinds of housewives was a piece of cake for Song Qingya.
"You… What nonsense are you spouting? I didn't spread any rumors!"
Yang Yunhua was left speechless, completely stunned and unable to come up with a rebuttal.
She was so angry she couldn't speak, and she raised her hand to slap her.
"Song Qingya, do you really think I wouldn't dare to hit you just because you married into a good family?"
Yang Yunhua's tone became extremely vicious.
Song Qingya was no fool, she quickly got out of bed to run away.
She dashed for the door, almost on instinct.
Just as she opened the door, she found a tall, sturdy man standing outside, completely blocking her path.
Fei Jin was back.
Fei Jin had come to bring her a change of clothes, along with some ration tickets.
He held these things in his hand, his eyes filled with disbelief.
'This is the last time I'm coming here,' he decided.
That weekend, he planned to go with Song Qingya to file for divorce.
After Song Qingya was pulled from the river, she had opened her eyes to see him.
She had pounded on his chest, screaming that he had ruined her life, before throwing a tantrum and running back to her parents' home.
Faced with her emotions, Fei Jin felt a wave of helplessness.
All of her behavior had completely extinguished the last shred of goodwill Fei Jin felt for Song Qingya.
Every time he saw her, it only strengthened his resolve to get a divorce.
But they were married, after all.
Even though their relationship had long existed in name only.
But in name, they were still husband and wife.
Thinking of this, Fei Jin's mood grew heavy.
They had the title of a married couple, but not the reality of one.
The irony of it all was not lost on him.
The only thing Fei Jin could do was ease his own conscience by ensuring her material needs would be met, so she wouldn't be left destitute after the divorce.
Song Qingya slammed headfirst into his chest.
Even through the clothes, Song Qingya could feel those firm muscles.
'This guy's actually in great shape!'
Fei Jin saw her run out barefoot and almost subconsciously grabbed her wrist.
"It's so late, where are you going?"
Song Qingya's actions left him completely baffled.
The moment she saw Fei Jin, Song Qingya felt an inexplicable sense of security.
It was no wonder she felt this way. After she'd finished reading the script last night, her one takeaway was that the male lead was incredibly reliable.
The female protagonist, Wen Xiuxiu, actually didn't have high emotional intelligence.
Sometimes, she was even more difficult than the original Qingya had been.
The methods she used to deal with bad neighbors and relatives were all petty tricks.
But whenever something major happened, the male lead would always resolve it behind the scenes.
He was the very definition of security.