CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42: REBIRTH OF THE FACE-SLAPPING ERA’S WOMAN

Three years later

An Jie fled from the Gu family, her body covered in wounds.

Throughout these three years, An Jie had no idea how many beatings she had endured.

Her head had been injured and bleeding, her ribs broken, and her arms and legs had been fractured and then set back into place numerous times.

To prevent her from escaping, the Gu family kept her locked up at home, making it difficult for her to step outside.

That day, the Gu family had all gone out to visit relatives.

Because she had behaved relatively well recently, seemingly having lost the desire to flee, Gu Ahu had relaxed his vigilance over her this period of time.

So, she took advantage of the Gu family’s absence to figure out a way to escape.

Upon leaving, An Jie managed to take her identification and some money with her.

She sneaked out of the village and took a bus back to Xiaogou Village.

During these three years, An Jie had especially longed to return to Xiaogou Village.

She missed Lin Aiguo and Wang Cuihua, her home-cooked meals, and even Anning and An Ping.

Once on the bus and seeing no one pursuing her, An Jie’s racing heart finally began to calm down.

Upon reaching the entrance to Xiaogou Village, An Jie felt as though she had passed through a long-lost world.

She tightened her clothes around her and hurried along.

She hadn’t gone far when she heard the sound of a joyful wedding procession.

An Jie looked in the direction of the noise, but couldn’t tell whose wedding it was.

She stepped aside and watched silently.

After the wedding procession had passed, An Jie overheard a few bystanders chatting, "Did you see? They’re all cars, the first of their kind in our Xiaogou Village."

"Yes, the Xue family has really struck it rich this time."

"Who would’ve thought Xue Feng could be so successful."

"The guy went to college in the Capital, graduated, and stayed there. Married a girl from a wealthy family, didn’t he strike it rich?"

"But then again, Xue Feng is married now, why isn’t there any news about Anning?"

"Sigh, she’s not getting any younger and ought to be settling down, but she doesn’t seem interested in it at all, just busy with her research. That soil-less cultivation project in our village is also her doing."

Listening to people talking about Xue Feng and Anning, An Jie really felt a complex mix of emotions within her.

In her past life, Xue Feng had eloped with her to the Southern region, where they lived a miserable life. She resented Xue Feng for not making enough money, constantly fought with him, and during her angry fits, she would berate him as worthless and no real man.

An Jie hadn’t expected at all that if Xue Feng hadn’t eloped with her, he would’ve been able to attend college.

She could never have imagined that Xue Feng would achieve such great fortune.

Did this mean that she had hindered Xue Feng’s destiny in her past life?

Dazed for a moment, An Jie saw a person wearing worn clothes approaching from afar.

This person was very familiar to her; it was her ex-husband, Su Zhiqiang.

Su Zhiqiang looked particularly dejected, wearing old clothes and with a stubbled beard, looking much older than he was.

Seeing Su Zhiqiang, An Jie felt even sadder.

She remembered the last time she saw Su Zhiqiang in her past life.

At that time, he was riding the crest of success, dressed in a well-fitted suit, looking clean and handsome, his eyes filled with tenderness whenever he looked at Anning.

The Su Zhiqiang of her past life was dashing and commanding, but the current Su Zhiqiang was just an ordinary aging farmer from the mountains.

Comparing the two, An Jie didn’t dare to look at Su Zhiqiang again.

She covered her face with her hand and hurried past.

Su Zhiqiang didn’t glance at her even once.

After all, the current An Jie had completely changed in appearance, and it was likely that Su Zhiqiang didn’t recognize her at all.

An Jie let out a bitter smile and quickened her pace.

The deeper Lin Anjie walked into the village, the more she could feel the transformation it had undergone.

The original bumpy mud roads had become clean cement paths, lined with trees and blooming flowers. Further out, the fields were planted with various agricultural and cash crops.

Additionally, there were plots of land dedicated to flowers and other plants that Lin Anjie didn’t even recognize.

It can be said that Xiaogou Village now had a beautiful scene at every step, with cleanliness and beauty everywhere.

As she walked on, she discovered that the houses in the village were also exceptionally well-built.

Many families had even constructed small western-style buildings.

Seeing Xiaogou Village in such a state, Lin Anjie couldn’t help but cry.

She truly regretted.

If she hadn’t been so callous upon her rebirth, intent on harming Anning; if she hadn’t been obsessed with Su Zhiqiang; if...

If she had spoken to her parents properly, figured out a way to cancel the engagement with the Su family, and then married Xue Feng, who loved her, she would surely be very happy now.

She would have understanding parents, a capable and kind-hearted younger sister, and a husband dedicated to protecting her... perhaps even adorable children.

The more she thought about it, the sadder Lin Anjie became.

She squatted on the ground, weeping until she was gasping for breath.

After crying for a while, Lin Anjie stood up, wiped her tears, gritted her teeth, and turned to walk out of the village.

She felt she had no face to return.

She didn’t want Anning to see her in such a sorry state, nor did she have the face to see her parents and relatives again.

After leaving Xiaogou Village, Lin Anjie took a bus to the Provincial City, then managed to buy a train ticket to head south.

At the same time as Lin Anjie left Baishi County, Gu Ahu, who had just returned from a trip, was cornered at home by the police.

It turned out that his past involvement in human trafficking had been exposed.

Those traffickers were caught, and one of them implicated Gu Ahu.

Gu Ahu ended up in prison for human trafficking, and with the crackdown being particularly severe, it would be difficult for him to get out again.

Upon learning of Gu Ahu’s sentencing, Anning felt a weight lift from her mind, and her whole being felt relaxed.

She had avenged the original host, and the original host’s relatives were now living well. Xiaogou Village was also getting better and better; she considered her mission fairly successfully completed.

As for Lin Anjie, Anning knew that she had run away from the Gu family.

However, Anning didn’t want to do anything about it anymore.

The original host had been entrapped by Lin Anjie and married off to the Gai family, where she suffered domestic abuse for over a year before dying.

Lin Anjie, on the other hand, had been subjected to domestic abuse for over three years. Although she was still alive, her health was thoroughly ruined, and even if she ran away, she wouldn’t live much longer.

Moreover, sometimes being alive can actually be more painful than death.

As such, Anning decided not to pursue it any further.

From that point on, she could focus wholeheartedly on studying agricultural knowledge and learn many other things she was interested in.

Five years passed.

Lin Anjie, who worked as a cleaner in a city in the Southern region, dragged her tired body back to her rented room. When she turned on the TV, she saw Anning on the screen.

The TV was reporting the contributions Anning had made to the nation.

She had developed high-yielding crops, cultivated sweet potatoes that could produce ten thousand kilos per acre, increased wheat yield to a thousand kilos per acre, and three years ago Anning started studying biopharmaceuticals. This year, she had even developed a drug that could treat diabetes, making a name for herself internationally.

With Anning’s fame came Xiaogou Village’s as well.

Xiaogou Village, known as a prosperous village famous throughout Hua Country and also for its beautiful environment, gained international recognition alongside Anning’s rise to fame.

On TV, Anning was being interviewed. Her face bore a smile, and she spoke eloquently and graciously to the journalists, her demeanor mild, elegant, and natural, immediately endearing herself to viewers.

Lin Anjie watched Anning. Anning hadn’t changed much; she was still so young and beautiful.

But Lin Anjie, while only thirty years old, already looked as old as someone in their fifties or sixties.

Gradually, Anning’s image before Lin Anjie’s eyes blurred, turning into a mere silhouette, everything Anning said became inaudible.

Her body leaned forward and collapsed onto the table.

Several days later, neighbors discovered Lin Anjie dead in her rented room. When the door was forced open, they were met with the sight and stench of her decomposing corpse.