Chapter 5: No Shame in One's Background

Wufu sat cross-legged at the doorstep, watching the setting sun in the west and listening to the intermittent cries coming from the kitchen, gently shaking her head.

She didn't mean to provoke Madam Zhou, in the original memory, Madam Zhou often told Wufu how her father was and how he had promised to come and take them back.

But what was the reality?

Speaking of the origins of her own flesh, Wufu sighed lightly.

Actually, her Aunt Madam Lu wasn't wrong in saying that, to outsiders, calling her a bastard could make sense, because she was born before Madam Zhou and her so-called father had formally married.

A dashing young scholar, studying abroad, and a peasant girl from the countryside caught each other's eye, pledged themselves to one another, a night of passion led to a secret pregnancy, and then the young man's family came, saying that the family's elder had passed away and he had to rush back for the funeral.

He hurriedly wrote a Marriage Certificate, promised that once family matters were settled, he would come back to fetch Madam Zhou. But once he left, fourteen years went by without a trace, and yet, Madam Zhou still firmly believed that he would come for her.

By the age of sixteen, Madam Zhou gave birth to Wufu under the odd glances of others, no matter how much whispering there was, she felt righteous because she had the Marriage Certificate.

Over the years, Madam Zhou often instilled into Wufu that she was a lady of nobility, the blood of a scholar, teaching her to be dignified and gentle, the very embodiment of a true lady's grace.

When she was young, Wufu also believed her mother's words, that her father would eventually come to take them back, and firmly refused to accept being called a bastard, hence often getting into fights, leading to clashes with her cousins that resulted in her death from the injuries.

Wufu scoffed, such a melodramatic plot, it was clear that she had been cheated by that noble young master – he took advantage and then refused to acknowledge it. But Madam Zhou, foolishly optimistic, why couldn't she see the truth?

No, perhaps she knew it all along, she just didn't want to admit it!

Some people prefer to live in fantasy rather than face reality, and Madam Zhou was one of them.

By following the Female Precepts and seeing her husband as her heaven, imagining that he would come for her probably made her days a bit more bearable.

But no matter what, Madam Zhou's love as a mother was real. Regardless of how others pointed fingers at them, even when her own family saw it as a shame, she insisted on raising her daughter, moved to the edge of the mountain, and lived by doing embroidery work to support the two of them. Although life was tough, they survived to this day.

It was also because of such memories that Wufu was patient with Madam Zhou, after all, she was the mother of this body, which gave a bit of warmth to herself, who was an orphan in a previous life.

"Wufu, time for dinner!" Madam Zhou called from the kitchen doorway.

Wufu stood up, dusted off her skirt, and walked over calmly while Madam Zhou looked like she had something to say but hesitated.

"In the future, don't say those things." Madam Zhou put a piece of chicken in her bowl and whispered, "After all, he's your father!"

Wufu gave her a look.

Seeing her gaze, Madam Zhou felt a twinge in her heart and then lowered her gaze, taking a while to say, "Also, today you shouldn't have done that, she's your Aunt!"

"What else could I do? Just because she's my Aunt, we should let them walk all over us and treat us like dirt? You've forgotten? I nearly died!" Wufu said indifferently, and added in her mind, I was already dead.

Madam Zhou opened her mouth, looked at Wufu's stubborn face, and lowered her head to her chest, "It's my fault, I've wronged you!"

Wufu furrowed her brows, feeling extremely irritated. She put down her chopsticks and got up, "I'm full!" As she walked out the door, she paused and said, "Mother, I've already died once. The Wufu now isn't the same one who used to be bullied by others."

Soon, she heard crying again. She couldn't help but kick at the empty air, this weakness – it was truly suffocating!