"Mom! Mom! Don't scare us!"

In the hot summer of 1976, within an old red brick house, a woman laid on a bed of red lacquered wood, her belly bulging high. She was drenched in sweat, and her face was pale as she labored to breathe, clutching at her stomach.

Four children of varying ages stood around the bed, yelling in panic.

"Mom... what's wrong with you?"

"Mom, wake up please!"

On the bed, the woman's eyes were tightly shut, cold sweat trickling down her forehead, her face as white as paper.

"Help... help!"

Suddenly, Su Xuemei's eyes shot open, gasping for breath like a fish on the brink of death.

"Mom!"

"Mommy! Don't scare Piggy, Piggy is so scared..."

Upon hearing the whiny childish voice, Su Xuemei froze.

Piggy?

Her youngest son?

She turned her head and was met with the sight of her four sons, their eyes red-rimmed as they were peering anxiously at her from the bedside.

The eldest, Song Dashu, the second eldest, Song Erdong, were the twins from her first childbirth.

The third and fourth children, Song Sanye and Song Zhuzhu – they were her second set of twins.

Wait…

Didn’t she… wasn’t she already dead? She had died on the day of their difficult birth.

After her death, her soul had floated in the sky, observing everything.

That's when she discovered that this world was just a novel.

The female lead was a girl named Xiao Lili from the 70s, and her family, they were just cannon fodder, created to support the main character’s story.

In the novel, her own character was only described briefly - it merely mentioned her death because of difficult childbirth.

After her death, her husband, Song Jin, unable to accept her demise, staggered through his days like a living dead and finally died accidentally.

And her four children, they were adopted by Xiao Lili's parents, who were her younger brother and his wife. Her children then became obsessed with pampering their new sister.

Every day, they would dote on Xiao Lili, treating her like a beloved treasure.

They would fulfill her every request unconditionally.

In the end, in order to protect Xiao Lili, all four of them died.

Their death was gruesome... it was a sight too horrific to bear.

And Xiao Lili, she only wept once over the bodies of her brothers, then continued onto a path of prosperity and lived a wonderful life…

Every thought of her sons' tragic ending made Su Xuemei's

her

heart wrench in agony.

The next second, a heart-wrenching pain came from her abdomen.

A heat wave surged out, soaking the bed sheet in an instant.

Su Xuemei shuddered all over her body.

Disaster!

Her water broke!

Could it be, even though she reincarnated, she couldn’t escape the fate of dying from a difficult labor?

No way!

Absolutely not!

“Da Shu, you... you quickly take your brothers to find the midwife, Long Langzhong, and call back your dad and your grandma... Hurry!” She barely managed to get out these words before gasping for air.

Song Dashu, the eldest son in the house, was old enough to understand the situation.

Seeing Su Xuemei's condition, he realized she was about to give birth.

He immediately turned around and ran out the door with his three younger brothers: “Mum! Rest assured! We'll be back soon! You must hold on!”

Su Xuemei covered her stomach, curled up on the bed, biting her lips and groaned quietly.

She lowered her head to look at her bulging belly, her eyes filled with steadfast resolve.

My dear baby, you must bear it...

Just then, a sharp and grating voice suddenly came from the courtyard.

"Zhao Hong! How low can you be? There are only a few eggs at home, and you secretly ate two! Do you still want others to live?"

"Ah!" Zhao Hong screamed.

"You're playacting!" Qian Taozi said in exasperation, "I didn't even use force, don't pretend to fall, understand? Today, if you don't spit out those two eggs, I won't let you off!"

Upon hearing these two voices, Su Xuemei's figure stiffened slightly.

In her past life, her water broke and she happened to encounter her second and third younger siblings quarreling.

Struggling to go out for help, she wanted them to take her to the county hospital.

Who would've known that not only did they ignore her, but they also started fighting. During this scuffle, they accidentally knocked her over.

She fell to the ground and immediately felt severe abdominal pain, which led to a difficult labor and her subsequent death.

Thinking of this, Su Xuemei's eyes darkened.

In this life, she would never tread the old path again.

She would fight for her own destiny!

Su Xuemei struggled to sit up, leaning against the head of the bed, protecting her belly, and quietly listening to the commotion in the courtyard.

She just had to wait quietly now, wait for Long Langzhong and the midwife to come.

As long as she didn't leave this room, she and her child would be fine.

In the courtyard.

Zhao Hong and Qian Taozi were arguing more and more fiercely.

Just then, a cry of despair suddenly rang out.

"Oh, heaven above! My pitiful daughter! She married into the Song family, yet she's still bullied by her sister-in-law!"

"Everyone, come and see! Song family's second son is assaulting people! He has beaten my daughter Zhao Hong to the point she can't get up!"

Su Xuemei was panting, her pale lips tightly pursed.

This was Zhao Hong's mother, old Madam Xiao. If she remembered correctly, her plight in her past life - a difficult birth caused by a rough handling, was because of her!

There were four branches in the Song family.

The elder was her man, Song Jin.

The second son, Song Shuangmu, had a wife, Qian Taozi, who was notoriously tempestuous.

The third son, Song Sanjin, was clever and shifty. His wife, Zhao Hong, was timid, always bowing her head in submission, frequently bullied by Qian Taozi.

However, her mother, old Madam Xiao, was a notorious shrew, abrasive, unreasonable, and incredibly difficult to deal with.

Today, for some unknown reason, Zhao Hong surpassed her usual timidity and called her mother and two brothers for reinforcement.

Facing the outnumbering opposition, Qian Taozi had no choice but to call for her ten-year-old son to bolster her side.

She boldly stood her ground with her hands on her hips, berating old Madam Xiao vociferously.

"Which eye of yours saw me hitting her? She sneaked off and ate eggs, am I not allowed to say a thing as her sister-in-law?"

"Such a minor issue, and she calls her family over, isn't this clearly her feeling guilty?"

Because of two eggs, Qian Taozi nearly caused an upheaval in the family.

In these times, one egg cost five cents, two eggs worth a dime!

The family hasn't split yet. A dime less means that she loses two cents!

This kind of loss, she cannot bear!

Zhao Hong was helped up by her older brother, her eyes red, her head hung down.

A lean body, a yellowish-black face.

She kept agreeing, choked up as she defended, "I didn't steal the eggs, I really didn't steal them."

Qian Taozi shouted out loud, managing to draw the entire neighbourhood over.

"If not you, then who else?"

"During these days, you were the one who cooked at home!"

Zhao Hong gestured with her fingers, trembling as she said, "These… these past few days, Mom has been saving the eggs to make nutritious food for my sister-in-law's postpartum recovery. I...I worked these days, I really don't know why the eggs would be missing."

"It is possible that my pregnant sister-in-law was hungry and she boiled them to eat..."

Hearing this, Su Xuemei's pupils contracted.

Zhao Hong...

It's actually her!

Unexpectedly, the seemingly meek and submissive Zhao Hong is hiding a cunning heart beneath her weak exterior!

She's the one fanning the flames in the shadows, escalating the situation.

She fully knew I would give birth in a few days, yet she intentionally caused a ruckus, disturbing the peace in the house!

Su Xuemei clenched her fists, her eyes filled with pain and anger.

As expected, the next second, Old Madame Xiao, acting like she just caught a thief, scurried towards Su Xuemei's room.

"Well, well! I was wondering who the thief was! Turns out it's you!"

"Being pregnant doesn't make you special! Everyone's given birth! You really thought you're carrying Queen Mother of the West's child, daring to steal eggs!"

Old Madame Xiao stormed in, fiercely kicking the door with her foot.

Bang! A deafening noise.

Su Xuemei was scared, her heart pounding.

The next second, her abdomen spasmed violently!

"Uh!"

Su Xuemei bit her lip, clutching her stomach, letting out a pained cry.

This is bad!

The baby... is coming...