Xie Changning clutched the pregnancy report, her expression crumbling as she looked at her parents, who had just told her they were abandoning her.
She had been abandoned by her parents and siblings just two months after transmigrating here, all because she'd discovered she was pregnant.
Xie Changning had been a chief aerospace engineer in the 21st century. She was tragically killed while researching upgrades for sixth-generation fighter jets and was reborn in 1970s Shanghai.
She became Xie Changning, the third daughter of Shanghai's "Furniture King."
Two months ago, the newly arrived Xie Changning had graduated from Beijing University and returned to Shanghai, ready to start her career. Unfortunately, due to her family's poor political standing, her job search was met with one rejection after another.
None of that was an issue. Xie Changning could overcome those obstacles. The only thing she couldn't overcome was...
...she had gotten drunk and had a one-night stand before returning home!
As a modern woman, Xie Changning didn't think it was a big deal. Her parents, however, were old-fashioned and insisted that she marry the man.
They even strong-armed him into marrying her.
The wedding was hastily arranged. The day after, her new husband returned to his military unit for a mission, leaving Xie Changning all alone in Shanghai.
After two months in Shanghai, Xie Changning developed food aversions, became sensitive to smells, and missed her period. She went to the hospital for a check-up.
As she had suspected, her guess turned out to be right...
"Changning, you're a married woman now," her father began. "The Xie Family can't afford to support so many people. Coincidentally, your husband has sent the papers for you to join him at his post. You should go."
Her parents made it sound so reasonable.
It wasn't that they wanted to abandon her, they claimed, but that the Xie Family was being targeted in the current political climate. Her staying behind would only cause trouble for her, and so on and so forth.
If Xie Changning hadn't overheard them planning to flee to Xiangjiang, she might have actually believed their lies.
It turned out they had never planned to take her—or rather, the original Changning—to Xiangjiang from the very beginning.
Xie Changning felt no emotional attachment to Mr. and Mrs. Xie. The moment she heard them tell her to join her husband, she began weighing the pros and cons.
"Mom, Dad, what about you? If I go join my husband, what are your plans?"
'Are you planning to run away with all the family assets?'
When asked about their own plans, Mrs. Xie's expression stiffened. "We're just waiting for orders from the higher-ups to see where we'll be sent." She even heaved a sigh, as if they were truly facing some terrible misfortune.
Certain now that they truly had no intention of taking her with them, Xie Changning put on a pained expression.
"But it's a two-day train ride from Shanghai to Chuncheng. Mom, I don't have any money..." Xie Changning began, starting to ask for funds.
The obedient third daughter had always "enjoyed" being self-reliant, so when she suddenly asked for money, Mrs. Xie's first instinct was to refuse. "Where would the family get..."
"Ahem!" Before she could finish her refusal, Mr. Xie, sitting beside her, coughed lightly.
Mrs. Xie stopped, looking at her husband in confusion.
'Why did he interrupt me?'
Mr. Xie shot his wife a sharp glance before softening his expression to look at Xie Changning. "Changning, you know how tense things are right now. The family doesn't have much money. I have one hundred yuan here. Why don't you take this for your travel fare?"
"Once you get to the base, you'll move into the family quarters. The army will provide subsidies for dependents then."
Mr. Xie made it sound so generous.
He was appealing to her with both emotion and reason. Whether she wanted money or not, all she was getting was his "fatherly love."
'As if she were that desperate for it.'
"Dad, you know our family has a bad political standing. If I go to the military base, life will probably be difficult even in the family quarters..." 'One hundred yuan? He has at least twenty thousand on him. Is he trying to get rid of a beggar?'
When one hundred yuan failed to placate Xie Changning, Mr. Xie's expression soured.
"Changning! You know full well that we're donating everything we can and selling off the rest! Do you really want me to be branded a capitalist and thrown in jail?!"
Mr. Xie's words were heavy with accusation.
The original Xie Changning might have caved.
But the original Xie Changning had already starved to death at school because of their cruelty. This was the new and improved Xie Changning—the one who had come to collect their debts.
"So, when you gave my brother five thousand yuan this morning, you weren't a capitalist then, were you?" Xie Changning looked utterly devastated, as if she were on the verge of a breakdown and spouting nonsense.
In reality, Xie Changning was perfectly calm inside.
The original owner of this body had encountered such injustices before, but she had always endured them. This had led Mr. and Mrs. Xie to make a habit of treating her poorly.
During her four years at university, they had given her a shocking total of one hundred yuan for living expenses.
For the last two years, as the purges against capitalists intensified, her treatment at school worsened. Her stipend was often late or not paid at all, but she had gritted her teeth and endured for two years!
Throughout that time, Mr. and Mrs. Xie never once asked how she was doing.
Xie Changning had to wonder if the original girl had even been their biological daughter.
'But it doesn't matter. I'm certainly not.'
"You! This is my money! I'll give it to whomever I please!" Mr. Xie, flying into a rage out of sheer humiliation, finally dropped his pretense.
Now that he had torn away the facade of a loving father and devoted daughter, Xie Changning saw no reason to maintain her own pretense.
The sorrow vanished from her face. "You should know, Dad, that I'm the smartest one in this entire family, right?"
"What are you trying to say?" Mrs. Xie asked warily.
"Do you think I'd fight a battle I wasn't sure I could win?" She had memorized every recent transaction she had witnessed—the accounts, the items sold, the things donated.
"If I report you to the neighborhood committee, do you two still think you'll be able to leave?"
Xie Changning smiled.
She preferred to ask for money politely. But if they weren't willing to give it politely, she had other, less polite methods.
"You..." The threat hit Mr. Xie right where it hurt.
He wanted to lash out, but Changning's desperate act—her 'if I can't be happy, no one will be' attitude—made him hesitate. He didn't dare provoke her further.
He hadn't transferred his assets out yet. If he got taken down now, everything he'd done would be for nothing!
"I'll give you three hours. Think about it."
Xie Changning was making it clear: she didn't want one hundred yuan, and she didn't want five thousand. She wanted more.
With that, Xie Changning turned and went upstairs, heading for a very plain, inconspicuous bedroom tucked away in the farthest corner of the hall.
「Downstairs」
Mrs. Xie shook her husband's arm frantically. "Are we really going to give her money? She's just a daughter who's already married off! What does she need money for!" 'They had already done more than enough just by raising her!'
Mr. Xie smoked in silence, not uttering a single word.
When Xie Changning pushed open the door to her bedroom, she wasn't greeted by the sight of her drab, dusty room. Instead, before her lay a vast expanse of black soil and two three-story buildings.
A metal plaque hung on one of the buildings, with words painted on it: MECHANICAL LABORATORY!