When Wang Xiulian died, it was the coldest day of the twelfth lunar month. She lay in a drafty side room, listening to the laughter of her mother-in-law, Zhang Guilan, and her daughter-in-law, Li Juan, coming from the main room. They were dividing up the money she had saved for her old age, all the while muttering, "At last, that eyesore is gone."
When she was young, she thought being "virtuous and considerate" would earn her people's affection. She obeyed her domineering mother-in-law in everything, supported her idle husband, and put up with the gossiping neighbors. In the end, she fell ill with no one to care for her, had her money stolen, and died alone and abandoned.
When Wang Xiulian opened her eyes again, she was back at thirty, on the very day her mother-in-law was forcing her to give her dowry house to her husband's younger brother, and her husband had gambled away money and run up debts.
Looking at those familiar faces, she felt the last remnant of warmth in her heart turn to ice.
Don't understand how people work? Then she'll learn.
Her mother-in-law fakes an illness to win sympathy? Wang Xiulian cheerfully carries over a bowl of medicine to "look after" her. Her husband wants to gamble with her money? She gets her bankbook into the bank first. The neighbors badmouth her? She turns around and "accidentally" spreads the dirt about their family.
She won't be the pushover who swallows every insult anymore. She'll simply be an ordinary person who can read the room and stand up for her own boundaries. The rain still falls beneath the eaves, but in this life, Wang Xiulian has learned to hold her own umbrella. She can also see the schemes and sincerity hidden beneath the smiles of those standing in the rain.
This book is both vivid and emotional, and the description is not boring. It is a rare good book!!! 🤤