In a mud house in a village on the outskirts of Changyu City, Suzhou, the woman who had been sleeping heavily on the kang suddenly woke up and looked at the dark and oppressive scene around her in surprise.

"Light Aoi, but you have a nightmare?" The woman sleeping next to her was awakened by her big movements, and asked in a gentle voice half-propped up. Chu Qingkui shook his head and got up and put on a coat: "I'm okay sister-in-law, you go to sleep first, I'll go out to breathe." Xu is too stuffy to sleep well. ”

Sister-in-law Chu Yun was still a little worried, but before she could say anything, Qingkui had already opened the door and went out, she pursed her lips and glanced at the boy who was sleeping peacefully across the bunk from her, and went over to pinch the quilt corner for him.

Chu Qingkui didn't go far, just leaning under the tree outside the courtyard. There are several large rocks here, all of which are used by neighbors in the neighborhood to sit here idly and pick vegetables and chat.

She looked at the large courtyard where she lived, and the brick houses were the best houses in the village on the outskirts, but she and her brother and sister-in-law could only live in dusty mud houses.

Because this is not their home.

The moonlight poured down, shining on Chu Qingkui's face through the gaps in the leaves, and only then could the woman's appearance be seen slightly. Chu Qingkui didn't look very old, with red lips and white teeth, and a pair of sword eyebrows added to the heroic posture.

Chu Qingkui squinted her eyes and looked coldly into the air, and she couldn't help but recall the things she had just experienced and made her puzzled now.

She remembered that she was on the way up the mountain with her younger brother, and was pushed off the cliff by the children of her uncle's family, how could she suddenly come back here? And there was no pain on the body, it didn't look like it had fallen. Could it be that her memory is confused? Or was it a dream?

Chu Qingkui sighed lightly, his father and brother were selected by the local yamen to serve in the army to guard the territory half a year ago, but now his life and death are uncertain, and he doesn't even have a letter. Uncle and aunt began to bully her and sister-in-law everywhere after her father and brother left for half a month, and her cousins often laughed at her younger brother, pointing at his younger brother and scolding him for having no mother. She always thinks about putting up with it, and it's okay to wait for her father and brother to come back.

At that time, she and her sister-in-law and brother will be able to go home, but now that they were pushed off the cliff, they remember vividly, whether it was a mistake in their memory or other circumstances, Chu Qingkui did not plan to swallow his anger anymore.

The candle flame in the earthen house suddenly lit up, and seeing the figure swaying in the candlelight, Chu Qingmu was afraid that her sister-in-law would come out to look for her, so she quickly got up and entered the house.

"I was about to go out to look for you, and you were sick in the cold at night." Chu Yun's family loves this sister very much, and her words are full of concern, but her weak temperament can't protect her.

Chu Qingkui responded, glanced at his younger brother who was sleeping in the innermost part of the earthen kang, and said softly: "Sister-in-law, how did I come back today?" ”

Chu Yunshi was puzzled, and looked at her with some doubts: "You didn't go out today, aren't you infected with the wind cold?" Now they're all talking nonsense. Chu Yun was full of worry, and reached out to touch her forehead.

Chu Qingkui didn't dodge either, the scene in the 'dream' was too real, which made her unconsciously have an idea in her mind.

"Sister-in-law, what month is it now?"

Chu Yunshi withdrew his hand, and was curious to see that she was not sick, but he still responded: "April 18, Qingkui, what's wrong with you?" ”

Chu Qingkui buzzed in his head, on April 18 of the third year of Yongchang, the Uighurs intended to attack the frontier of Zhenguo, and the new emperor ordered conscription, and his father and brother were selected to leave for three days, and they were also sent to his uncle's house for three days. Chu Qingkui couldn't help but chuckle, raised her eyes to look at her sister-in-law who was sitting on the kang with uneasy eyes, and said with a serious expression: "I'm fine, I just miss my father and brother." Sister-in-law, when my father and brother don't come back, I won't let you and my brother suffer. I'll protect you. ”

Chu Yunshi was stunned for a long time before sighing sadly, they came here for three days, and their uncles and aunts bullied them openly and secretly, and she missed her husband more and more in her heart, but she and her husband separated soon after they got married. Chu Qingkui gently comforted her sister-in-law, who was in the sadness of separation, and she didn't think much about her abnormal thing just now for a while.

After a long time, Chu Yun's family fell asleep, Chu Qingkui put his hands behind his head and looked at the beams in the room and began to be in a daze, his father and brother left home for fear that they would be bullied at home, after all, they were women and children and the place where they lived was not safe, so they were sent to their uncle's house.

However, the uncle's family bullied them everywhere, and the aunt often beat and scolded the sister-in-law, just because the sister-in-law was a little slower in her work, and even the slightest unpleasant thing had to be angry with them. And she and her brother are even more unhappy, being beaten and scolded is commonplace, and she has always thought it was a dream, but now it seems that being pushed off the cliff is real.

She didn't know why she was reborn half a year ago, but God took pity on their family so that she had a chance to live again.

Those injuries that he had suffered, Chu Qingkui was ready to return them all this time. Whoever bullied her relatives, don't blame her subordinates for being ruthless.

Chu Qingkui squinted his eyes until Yin, when he heard the rooster crowing, he gently turned over and got dressed on the ground, washed up briefly, and went out.

She didn't go to the yard but went to the back mountain to box, which her father and brother taught her. One is that she is afraid that she will be bullied in the future, and the other is to let her be healthy.

Chu Qingkui punched neatly and knew that she had a lot of strength when she heard the fist wind, and this punch would definitely be purple and swollen when it hit someone.

She is not short, and she is even much taller than women of the same age, and her long hands and feet are good-looking. Chu Qingkui practiced until dawn, estimating that it was time for the eldest uncle's family to wake up, so he wiped his sweat and went down the mountain.

This mountain is her family's mountain, and his father's wallet was planted with tea trees in this place. When my uncle and aunt saw this, they took possession of the land at the foot of the mountain and built a house. Originally, the land at the foot of the mountain was also the place where it was originally contracted, but the eldest uncle's family refused to vacate the place, and brought wood and bricks to build a house on the same day, and her family had covered the mountain because of the money, and his father didn't blame his eldest brother's family much, so he had to take them to continue to live in the mountain.

Not to mention that the mountain roads are difficult to walk, and there are often wild beasts. Where would the father and son of the Chu family let a few of them live there alone, and there was no way to send them to the eldest aunt's house at the foot of the mountain.

Before leaving, Chu's father also gave the eldest uncle's family a sum of silver, just to let them take good care of the children and daughter-in-law.

Chu Qingkui frowned, and when he saw that he was about to enter the courtyard, he suppressed these memories.

"How can the Chu family have a daughter-in-law like you? It's so procrastinating to burn a fire, and when you finish cooking, the whole family will starve to death. ”

The eldest aunt's sour voice came into Chu Qingkui's ears, and Chu Qingkui entered the courtyard and said lightly: "Then the eldest aunt has done it herself, why bother letting her sister-in-law do it?" ”

The eldest aunt pinched her waist and rolled her eyes, pointed at Chu Yun's and said, "What? What's wrong with marrying into my Chu family and having to work? It's just a couple of sentences, and you dare to refute it, it's really unruly! ”

"Auntie, you also married in, did someone treat you like this at the beginning?" Chu Qingkui squinted her eyes and walked to her sister-in-law's side, and the eldest aunt raised her voice in annoyance and shouted: "This is my house, you must be honest and obedient under the fence, and let you work!" It's better to know some rules in other people's homes, what's wrong with me educating juniors as an elder? ”

Chu Qingkui sneered and said, "Father and brother have just been gone for three days, and my aunt is like a change. When I took my father's money, I repeatedly promised that he would take care of us, so that's how he took care of us. ”

Chu Qingkui's voice was clear and cold, and it was not mixed with a trace of emotion. When the eldest aunt saw that she mentioned the money, she didn't want to talk about it anymore for fear that she would ask for the money back, but anyway, she also said it happily, and it would be bad for the neighbors to hear if she continued to argue, so she snorted and turned around and went into the house.

Chu Yunshi sighed, looking at Qingkui who was helping her work, and frowned in confusion: "Why are you arguing with her?" Sister-in-law is fine...... Just wronged you and Xiao Ci. Don't do it next time, after all, it's really a fence. Fortunately, my aunt is just a little ...... It's not that he's a great evildoer. ”

Chu Qingkui knew that her sister-in-law was weak, and at the beginning, her aunt's family really just liked to take advantage of some small advantages and like to complain, and then it became even worse. And it was because she listened to her sister-in-law's words that she endured it again and again, but now she is no longer the Chu Qingkui she was at the beginning, and she is not a person who can be coaxed with a few good words. This time, she will not back down half a step!

"Sister-in-law, why don't we move back to the mountains? Although it is not convenient to walk, there are no wild animals during the day, and I am here at night. In the end, this skill should be more than enough to deal with some beasts. Chu Qingkui is serious, she doesn't want her sister-in-law to be sin here all the time! I want to protect my brother from accidents.

Chu Yunshi hesitated for a long time and shook his head: "Zuo is still a family, and the eldest aunt has no malice." The road on the mountain is difficult, but I am okay, but Xiao Ci is too small, in case of greedy play and ran into the forest...... "The place where they live is not far from Xishan, Xishan is a place of origin, and there are many wild beasts in it."

When Chu Qingkui heard this, she no longer forced her sister-in-law, originally she also asked for her sister-in-law's opinion, but her sister-in-law didn't agree to it, after all, she just moved over, where can she see her true face? She is not in a hurry about this matter, and there will always be a chance to take her sister-in-law and younger brother away in the future.

Even if Chu Yun's clan was so cowardly, Chu Qingkui still respected her very much. Because she is sincerely good to herself and her younger brother, she has also taken on the responsibilities of sister-in-law.

At first, when they first arrived at the aunt's house, the aunt was very kind to them. At that time, she also listened to her aunt's words, but gradually the aunt treated them worse and worse, revealing their true colors.

When she and her younger brother were abused, it was their sister-in-law who protected them, and when the eldest uncle and aunt deliberately did not give them food, it was also the sister-in-law who secretly picked wild vegetables to feed them. Obviously, I also think about my husband, but I never mention it, and I just bear everything silently.

Chu Qingkui looked at the firewood in front of him, and his eyes couldn't help but feel a little colder. The younger brother and sister-in-law are her bottom line, if the aunt and uncle in this life are still so hypocritical and don't miss family affection, she will definitely not give up!