Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

Zhu Yu's gaze drifted into the distance, as if stepping into a long-forgotten past.

Her eyes were instantly filled with sadness, yet a faint trace of tenderness also lingered within them.

"My mother's name is Ba Mei. She didn't have a name; she was just Ba Mei from birth. She told me that when she was a child, her family was so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat. They were sold for five taels of silver to Wang Shi, a butcher from the neighboring Sanchao County."

Wang Shi was an alcoholic. Every time he got drunk, he would beat and verbally abuse Ba Mei. It wasn't until she became pregnant that he stopped hitting her, only her face. Later, the child was born, a girl. Before she could even be named, Wang Shi took her away. Ba Mei, weak from childbirth, chased after him all the way to the outskirts of the county, but ultimately failed to catch up.

Wang Shi went out of town to resell a batch of dead pig meat, and casually threw the baby into a ravine. Luckily, his business was doing relatively well at the time, otherwise he might have turned the child into a ghost infant to bring himself good fortune and wealth. You've all heard about the shady dealings in Sanchao County."

Zhu Yu's voice lowered: "The poor baby, in February it was snowing, the snow in the mountains was more than a foot deep, and she froze to death in the freezing cold. Before she died, she didn't even get a drop of her mother's milk."

"Later, Wang Shi became addicted to gambling. His family fortune couldn't withstand his extravagance, and just then, his eighth sister became pregnant again. Wang Shi cursed her every day, calling her unlucky and a slut who couldn't even give birth to a boy. He said that if she had given birth to a son as her first child, it would bring him good fortune, and he wouldn't have lost so much. He made a harsh statement: if she gave birth to another money-losing child, he would turn the child into a ghost baby to improve her luck."

Eighth Sister was terrified. She wasn't afraid of being beaten, but she feared her child would truly be harmed. So she prayed to heaven and earth every day, only wishing for a boy in her womb. But the child was born, and it was still a girl. Fortunately, Wang Shi was being chased by debt collectors at that time and had escaped for a while.

Eighth Sister knelt before the midwife, kowtowing until her forehead was ulcerated, begging her to save the child's life. The midwife softened and agreed to keep it a secret. Eighth Sister then raised her daughter as if she were a son, repeatedly instructing her never to undress in front of others.

A year later, Wang Shi, who had been hiding from his debts, returned home and was overjoyed to see a chubby little boy. The child grew up to be fourteen years old. The neighbors had long sensed something was amiss, but Wang Shi, as the father, never noticed.

Firstly, he spent all his time gambling, and secondly, his eighth sister took care of everything at home, so he never paid any attention to the children. If he had paid even a little attention, he would have noticed something was amiss long ago.

The child knew from a young age that her mother's face was always covered in bruises, never completely healed. Coupled with growing suspicion from the neighbors, she made up her mind to venture out on her own and make a name for herself.

She thought that the world looked down on women simply because they were confined to their homes. If she could go out and explore a wider world than men, she could make Wang Shi bow his head, change the world's perception, and make her mother stand tall.

Upon hearing that his "son" was going out to do business, Wang Shi readily agreed.

From then on, she packed her bags and left home.

On the day of departure, her mother filled her luggage with meat buns and took off the wooden ring from her finger, putting it on the child's hand. Wang Shi had never given Eighth Sister any jewelry; this wooden ring was something she had painstakingly crafted herself in her spare time.

Tears welled in her mother's eyes as she said, "Yu'er, go, go as far away as possible, and never come back. Find your sister, and build her a proper grave..."

But home is where Mother is; how could she not come back?

She secretly vowed that one day she would return home in glory.

At first, she worked as a porter at the dock, carrying sacks weighing twenty pounds each, sometimes for an entire day, eating and living with the porters. No matter how careful she was, some people couldn't help but secretly make sarcastic remarks about her acting like a young girl.

So she specifically chose to work in the sunniest places, enduring the wind and sun, which made her face rough and dark, and she only ate fatty meat.

Being both fat and rough, no one suspected her anymore.

She did all sorts of jobs: kitchen help, errands, juggling... and later she gradually learned to do business.

They get up earlier than chickens and go to bed later than dogs.

Heaven rewards those who persevere, and she succeeded! At the height of her business, half of the entire street in Xunzhou capital was occupied by her shops, and everyone who saw her would respectfully call her "Boss Zhu!"

At this point, tears welled up in Zhu Yu's eyes, and her heart was filled with emotion.

But Chai Xiaomi could see clearly that she was just downplaying the hardships she had endured.

Zhu Yu should not be very old, but the hardships she endured over the years have made her look mature as she does now.

Chai Xiaomi asked softly, "Later, Boss Zhu went back to his hometown?"

"Yes..." Zhu Yu's eyes drooped sadly, and her voice deepened, "She killed Mother."

She originally thought that by returning to her hometown with the shop deed and silver notes, she could save her mother from her misery and never have to be subservient to others again. However, when Wang Shi learned that she was a woman, he was furious. Even the people in the county, upon hearing that a lowly woman was showing her face in public and was actually doing quite well, were all filled with indignation.

Wang Shi and his men confiscated all her belongings and wanted to marry her off to an eighty-year-old man in the county, since younger men wouldn't be interested in her appearance.

On their wedding day, they tied her up tightly and stuffed her into the bridal sedan chair.

Amidst the deafening sounds of gongs and drums, Eighth Sister appeared, carrying a hoe.

She was beaten by Wang Shi her whole life, and all she could do was cry; she never fought back.

But that day, she used a hoe to carve a bloody path through the crowd.

That kind of momentum was truly unstoppable, like killing gods or Buddhas if they couldn't get in its way.

She cut the hemp rope and desperately pushed the plump bride in her wedding dress out of the crowd.

Wang Shi chased after him and smashed his head with a hoe.

Eighth Sister, her face covered in blood, screamed towards the edge of the crowd: "Run! Run as far away as possible, and never come back! Find your sister, and tell her that Mother didn't abandon her..."

Zhu Yu suddenly stopped, broken sobs choking in her throat, her whole body trembling.

She hugged the ghost baby in her arms even tighter, as if trying to draw some warmth from it, but the ghost baby was ice cold all over.

So she started shaking even more violently.

Her eyes were filled with despair as she held her only remaining family member, who was already dead.

"How about I hold it for a while?" Chai Xiaomi reached out her hand. Zhu Yu had been talking for so long and was still holding the ghost baby. It looked tiring.

Zhu Yu hesitated for a moment, recalling that after the ghost baby was recalled, the first person it sought out was this girl, and it even begged her to hold it, clearly showing that it liked her very much.

So she placed the ghost baby into Chai Xiaomi's open arms.

Chai Xiaomi's way of holding the baby was very clumsy. Afraid of waking the sleeping baby, she didn't dare to adjust her position. She could only stiffly clamp her arms together and maintain the position without moving.

Before long, my hands were sore from crying.

But she was the one who asked to hold the child, and she only held him for two minutes before sending him back. It felt like she was just pretending to hold him. Besides, Zhu Yu held him for so long without complaining of soreness. How could she be so pampered that she couldn't even handle this little bit of fatigue?