Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback

CHAPTER 67: The 1960s Marriage Swap: Marrying a Cook (21)

　　In her second year of marriage, she gave birth to a baby girl, but the entire in-law family looked down on her for it. Two years later, she finally had a son as she wished.

　　But right after she finished her confinement period, her mother-in-law snatched the child away and rarely allowed her to even see him.

　　Over the years, she had spent day and night serving the whole family. On top of giving birth and raising two children, she even had to work during her confinement with no one to take care of her, which left her with a long list of health problems.

　　Her eyes were no longer bright like when she was a young girl. Instead, they were dull and hollow with exhaustion. White strands of hair were already hiding in her head, and fine lines and deep wrinkles marked the corners of her eyes and around her mouth.

　　Her two sisters-in-law had married off a few years ago, but they kept coming back to stay at their parents’ house, dragging their whole families along with them.

　　Mother Tan still had plenty of energy, even more vigorous than her. There was no sign she would ever die.

　　Tan Jun only came home once or twice a year. She had waited every year, hoping to go and live with him in the army, but he always refused and brushed her off, clearly showing his dislike for her.

　　Whenever Ye Liu felt like she couldn’t hold on anymore, she would comfort herself with fantasies of a better future. Once they had money, she would eat well every day, take care of her skin, ride in cars everywhere, and have people waiting on her hand and foot.

　　She was living inside the lies she had built for herself.

　　Then the sensitive period arrived, and Red Guards filled the streets everywhere.

　　And just by coincidence, the child Tan Jun had adopted from his fallen comrade ended up secretly involved in a trade and was caught on the spot.

　　Since the child was only ten years old, the authorities came looking for the adults responsible.

　　Mother Tan feigned ignorance and knew nothing. Her sisters-in-law packed up and ran away immediately, leaving the whole mess squarely on Ye Liu’s shoulders.

　　“It was her who made me do it. If I didn’t go, she pinched me. Look, my arm is all bruised from it.”

　　The child was shockingly bold in his lies, even lifting up his arm to show the bruise he had accidentally bumped into.

　　Immediately, people started pointing and whispering. Ye Liu snapped in fury at him.

　　“You little brat! I serve you every day, taking care of you nonstop all these years. Haven’t I been good enough to you? Why are you making up lies just to cause me trouble!”

　　She was someone who either hit or scolded even her own daughter, yet she had indulged this little troublemaker again and again. Now he had turned around and bitten her back. She honestly felt like strangling him on the spot.

　　The boy immediately plopped down on the ground and wailed.

　　“Wahhh, I never get enough to eat, and she keeps scolding and abusing me. It was her who told me to do it. I’m the descendant of a hero. My dad in heaven won’t let you bad people get away with this…”

　　People instinctively sympathized with the weak. A child of around ten years old surely wouldn’t lie, so they all assumed Ye Liu had been secretly mistreating him.

　　In the end, Ye Liu was taken away as well.

　　After investigation, it was confirmed that the child really was the descendant of a hero. And with the strict crackdown happening at the time, Ye Liu was directly detained.

　　Back at the army base, Tan Jun received another phone call. When he heard that Ye Liu had abused the child of his fallen comrade, he flew into a rage and immediately demanded a divorce.

　　Ye Liu, locked up and ignored by everyone, finally received a letter from Tan Jun. But it turned out to be a divorce notice.

　　She could not accept it. She completely broke down, crying and making a scene, but no one paid her any attention.

　　After a few days of detention and “education,” she was released and returned to the Tan family, only to see her five-year-old daughter washing clothes.

　　Mother Tan was sitting in a chair in the sun, holding her grandson, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds.

　　She called out, “Mom,”

　　“What are you still doing back here? Get out! My son already divorced you. You are not allowed to stay here anymore. Go move your household registration back to your own family. Just seeing you gives me a headache. Useless, nothing ever goes right with you.”

　　Mother Tan kept scolding without pause and walked right up to shove her out the door.

　　Ye Liu’s three-year-old son was still laughing, clapping his hands as he said, “Grandma is chasing away the bad woman~”

　　Her five-year-old daughter stood silently by the basin, washing clothes with a blank, numb expression. She muttered under her breath, “Wash clothes to get food. I want to eat.”

　　Ye Liu had just been locked up for days and was completely exhausted from hunger. She was no match for Mother Tan at all.

　　In the end, she was kicked out of the house and collapsed outside the door, crying in a miserable heap.

　　Tan Jun wanted to divorce her. Her son no longer acknowledged her. How had everything ended up like this?

　　As night fell, Ye Liu had nowhere to go and thought of returning to the Ye family.

　　But she was chased out by her own parents as well. They said there were too many nephews and nieces at home and no space for her. Besides, a married daughter was like water spilled out, gone once it left.

　　Back then, they hadn’t even gotten much of a bride price. Ye Liu had insisted on marrying into another family with nothing in hand. That was her own choice, so how could she have the nerve to come back now?

　　With no other option, Ye Liu could only wander outside. During the day, she stayed near the Tan family gate, secretly calling her daughter out.

　　She lived like this for a while.

　　Then suddenly, Mother Tan asked a matchmaker to start looking for another wife for her son.

　　That became the final straw for Ye Liu. She finally understood that Tan Jun truly did not want her anymore.

　　Why was it that she worked herself to the bone serving that family for so many years, only for someone else to enjoy the benefits in the end?

　　Her last flicker of hope in her eyes went out. Without another word, she went straight to report the Tan family.

　　Mother Tan had a questionable background. In earlier years, she had been a maid in a landlord’s household, and Tan Jun was the son she had with that landlord. The family was also hiding valuables, buried in a hidden compartment under the earthen bed where Mother Tan slept.

　　Ever since Ye Liu once saw Mother Tan secretly counting money at night, she had been watching her closely. Over the years, she had uncovered quite a few of her secrets.

　　As for Tan Jun’s birth, it had been mentioned during Qingming Festival the year before. Mother Tan, while secretly burning paper offerings, cried and confessed her past, saying she should have been the lady of the house, and that Tan Jun was the landlord’s flesh and blood.

　　Ye Liu had overheard it and was shocked. Still, since she was already married to Tan Jun, she never dared to speak about it.

　　This was the era of strict crackdowns, especially targeting capitalists and landlord descendants.

　　After a thorough investigation, they really did find a number of ancient calligraphy pieces, paintings, and jewelry hidden in the Tan household.

　　Tan Jun was later thoroughly investigated as well. Once everything was confirmed, he was dismissed and sent to the countryside for labor reform.

　　The rest of the Tan family was also sent to remote rural areas for hard labor and reeducation.

　　As long as they carried the Tan surname, all of them were sent down.

　　Mother Tan held her grandson and wailed, cursing Ye Liu as a jinx who brought disaster.

　　The two sisters-in-law were also driven out by their in-laws and tearfully followed their mother.

　　Ye Liu could not bear to part with her son and tried to snatch him back, but the boy clung tightly to his grandmother, shouting that she was a bad woman.

　　Her daughter stayed silent, only repeating, “Work hard, then you get food.”

　　In the end, the Tan family house was sealed.

　　Ye Liu was divorced, so she did not have to go through labor reform, but she had nowhere left to go. In a daze, she just sat at the doorway, completely empty.

　　Her last pillar of belief collapsed, and she became completely lifeless, like a hollow shell. In the end, she walked straight out of the city.

　　And jumped into the river.

　　Suicide.

　　When Ye Su saw Ye Liu’s ending, she stayed silent for a long time.

　　It really wasn’t worth it. Even with a chance to restart her life, she still never cleared her head.

　　If you want love, you have to learn to love yourself first. If you don’t even value yourself, what can you expect from others? Having children without responsibility only made things worse. The saddest part was still her daughter.

　　Ye Su stayed in this world until she grew old naturally.

　　She and Duan Ziyu had a son and a daughter. In the 1990s, they became part of the first wave of people who got rich. She brought her parents to live with her, making sure they were well-fed and comfortable. She also stayed on good terms with her two older brothers’ families, and everyone’s lives kept improving year by year.

　　Ding!

　　“Congratulations, Host. Mission completed. You have received 100,000 points.”

　　Ye Susu opened her eyes again and found herself back inside the time travel system. She stretched lazily, already used to these long-term missions.

　　The system reminded her, “Host, would you like to start the next mission?”

　　Ye Susu replied, “Start it.”

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