At sixty-five, Chen Qiuhua closed her eyes and looked back on a life full of misery and regret.
Her mother-in-law was cruel, her husband was a mama's boy, her son had been raised to be selfish, and her two daughters had been hurried into marriages in exchange for dowries.
She endured it all until her mother-in-law died, then secretly learned martial arts and won fifth place in a city tournament. But by then, her life was already in shambles.
When she opened her eyes again, she was twenty years old, three months into her marriage.
Her drunken husband was raising his hand to slap her, while her mother-in-law sneered from outside the door.
This time, Chen Qiuhua didn't cry.
She clamped a hand around her husband's wrist and twisted him against the wall. Her voice was cold as ice:
“From today on, I make the rules in this house.”
After that...
Her husband handed over every last cent of his wages. If he dared complain, she'd spar with him until he learned better.
When her mother-in-law tried to throw her weight around, Chen Qiuhua split off from the family and moved out on her own. “Stay if you want. If not, the door's right there.”
She packed her son off to the army, where the military's crucible taught him responsibility.
She stayed up late tutoring her two daughters, stacking their textbooks higher than the stove. “The biggest regret of my life was not making sure you got an education.”
Later on...
A commendation for her son's service arrived at the neighborhood office. In his uniform, he looked every bit the proud soldier.
Both daughters got into college, and their acceptance letters covered the old wall.
Her once-timid husband became a key technician at the factory and learned to bring groceries home after work.
Even her stubborn mother-in-law clasped her hand on her deathbed and whispered, trembling, “Qiuhua... you won.”
Amid the laughter and chatter at a family feast, a mechanical voice rang out of nowhere:
[Perfect Life System at your service! Regrets from the Host's previous life detected. An opportunity to optimize your reborn life is available...]
Chen Qiu
