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

CHAPTER 109: The 1980s Villain’s Biological Mother (2)

　　Mu Shuhui was startled by the boy’s hostility. Worried that he might get too worked up, she had no choice but to gently set Er Ya down from her arms.

　　As soon as Er Ya saw her brother, she hurriedly tried to explain, “Brother, Mom is not a bad person! A fairy healed Mom. We can stay with her forever now.”

　　The boy did not believe a word of it. He immediately pulled his sister behind him and said sharply, “Er Ya, don’t believe her nonsense! She’s even planning to marry someone else. She’s not going to take care of us anymore.”

　　Er Ya froze, staring at her mother in shock. Her lips trembled as if she were about to cry.

　　“Mom… are you not going to want me and Brother anymore?”

　　Not only was Er Ya stunned, even Mu Shuhui herself was completely confused.

　　She looked at the boy, who was like a little wolf cub bristling with hostility, and asked directly, “Who told you that? I don’t even know where you heard something like that.”

　　The boy let out a cold snort, grabbed his sister’s hand, and dragged her back toward the small earthen room beside the house. Er Ya struggled the entire way.

　　“Brother, Mom really has changed. She even hugged me just now…”

　　“She’s a liar! From now on, you’re not allowed to talk to her again.”

　　Mu Shuhui listened to the exchange between the two children and felt a wave of helplessness.

　　It looked like, for now, there was no way to ease the relationship between them.

　　But marriage?

　　That did not seem to exist in the original storyline at all.

　　It was probably just some baseless rumor they had heard somewhere.

　　Mu Shuhui did not dwell on it any further. Instead, she returned to the house and slipped into her space, looking for a mirror so she could see what this original body actually looked like.

　　What she saw made her pause.

　　Her face was swollen like steamed dough, her eyes reduced to thin slits. Her double chin was obvious, and her upper body looked broad and heavy, giving her a rather bulky frame.

　　There was no polite way to put it. She was plain out ugly.

　　Mu Shuhui only glanced once before quickly looking away.

　　After leaving the space, she rummaged through the original host’s wardrobe, planning to go back in and clean herself up.

　　But after searching for a long while, she barely found any usable clothes. The few pieces left were tight-fitting ones from before she had gained weight.

　　From what she remembered, after she became overweight and could not afford treatment, no one really cared about her anymore. Most of her clothes had been altered by stitching together old pieces into oversized, makeshift garments.

　　And because her appearance had changed so drastically, she grew increasingly insecure and rarely went outside. Every day was just cooking, washing, and taking care of the household.

　　Mu Shuhui finally found a loose robe that fit and went into her space to give herself a proper full-body wash from head to toe.

　　To put it mildly, there was at least two jin worth of grime on her body.

　　It was summer, and the original body sweated easily. On top of that, living in the countryside made bathing inconvenient, so she barely managed a few proper baths all year.

　　After just one shower, Mu Shuhui was almost drained of all her strength.

　　“This is not going to work. With this much weight dragging me around, I’m going to collapse. System, exchange for a bottle of Recovery Pills!”

　　“Transaction complete. Recovery Pills x10 obtained.”

　　After receiving the pills, Mu Shuhui hesitated for a moment, then broke off about a quarter and swallowed it.

　　She could not make the changes too obvious. It would be better to take it slowly, bit by bit.

　　Less than two minutes later, even the freshly cleaned skin on her body started to ooze out another layer of filth, dark and foul-smelling.

　　Mu Shuhui quickly pinched her nose and rushed to rinse again, scrubbing herself fiercely with body wash.

　　Finally, she wrapped herself in a bathrobe and stepped out to weigh herself.

　　When she first arrived, she was around 180 jin. Now she had already dropped to 165 jin.

　　The swelling in her face had eased slightly, the fat around her eyes was less tight, though the double chin was still there.

　　The most noticeable change was that the excess flesh on her stomach and limbs had visibly reduced.

　　Losing over ten jin all at once made her body feel much lighter. The effects of the Recovery Pill were clear too, her energy and spirit had improved, and the fatigue was gone.    

　　Mu Shuhui changed into the original host’s clothes. A careful look would reveal some changes, but overall, she still looked more or less the same.

　　If anyone asked, it would just be because she had not eaten for a couple of days, plus the stress of getting sick after falling into the water had made her lose some weight.

　　In a household like this, apart from the two children, no one would really care about her. Even if there were some changes, the in-laws would not bother to pay attention.

　　The elderly couple had always resented her for “bringing bad luck” that supposedly killed their son, treating her like free labor and squeezing her as much as they could. Insults and scolding were a daily routine.

　　After getting herself together, Mu Shuhui left the space.

　　Er Ya had likely been kept under her brother’s watch, as she had not come over during this time.

　　Seeing the sun starting to set, Mu Shuhui decided to go ask the children what they wanted to eat.

　　The family’s surname was Wang. The courtyard had three rooms in total. The two children had originally lived with their mother, but after their in-laws forbade them from staying in the main house, they deliberately built two crude earthen huts and forced the three of them to live there instead.

　　The main house they had once lived in had been given to her eldest brother-in-law’s son.

　　The in-laws occupied one room, and the younger sister-in-law had another.

　　The earthen huts were built hastily after the original host’s husband passed away last year. They were cold in winter, hot in summer, with yellow mud walls and no windows, making the environment harsh and unpleasant.

　　At least Mu Shuhui’s room was slightly more spacious than the others.

　　She went over to the children’s small hut, and the moment she stepped inside, she was met with a narrow, dim space that barely let in any light. There was also a heavy, stale smell of damp and mildew lingering in the air.

　　Mu Shuhui nearly lost her temper on the spot. She quickly grabbed each child by one hand and hauled them outside.

　　“Mom…”

　　“What are you doing!”

　　Once she had brought them out into the courtyard, Mu Shuhui’s face darkened as she said, “Stay right here. Don’t move. And don’t you dare go back into that broken hut again!”

　　Er Ya jumped in fright and instinctively scooted closer to her brother.

　　The boy’s face flushed red with anger. He shielded his sister tightly, fists clenched as he said, “On what grounds…”

　　“Because I’m your mother!”

　　Mu Shuhui cut him off immediately. Rolling up her sleeves, she added, “As your mother, would I hurt you? Watch your sister. I’m going to find us a better place to stay.”

　　With that, while the rest of the family was still out, Mu Shuhui went straight into the original host’s old main room and started clearing it out.

　　She casually tossed the belongings of her teenage nephew from her eldest brother-in-law’s family straight into the courtyard, not caring where they landed.

　　Then she rummaged through the old couple’s room and found quite a few good things. There were brand-new wedding quilts and bedding that had belonged to the original host, which the old couple had kept tucked away, planning to use as their daughter’s dowry.

　　She kicked open a locked cabinet. Inside were milk powder, biscuits, and sweet pastries.

　　Mu Shuhui gathered everything up and handed it to the two children. “Take these back to the room and eat. Mom will go see what else we can find.”

　　Then she went off to rummage through the younger sister-in-law’s room as well.

　　Er Ya stood there with her mouth slightly open, nervously looking at her brother. “Mom… what if Grandma and the others come back and hit us?”

　　The boy’s name was Wang Chaoyang, a name their father had given him. But after their father passed away, even his name was taken away and given to the eldest cousin from the uncle’s family.

　　The eldest uncle’s son was originally called Wang Erzhu. After his name was changed, he became Wang Chaoyang.

　　And the boy who lost his name was left with nothing. His grandparents only called him “that troublemaker.” His little sister still called him “Brother,” while his mother… she always avoided him and barely spoke to him at all.

　　His feelings toward his mother had slowly shifted from disappointment to despair, and eventually into resentment and hatred.

　　But what had just happened left him completely stunned.

　　He stood there blankly, staring at the busy figure moving around the house, so dazed that he did not even notice his sister tugging at him.

　　“Brother…”

　　Er Ya kept pulling at his sleeve. She was scared of the way their mother was acting now, but even more afraid that Grandma and Grandpa would come back and hurt her.

　　“Don’t be scared. I’ll make you some malted milk drink.”

　　The boy held onto the tin of malted milk and a pile of snacks, then decisively took his sister’s hand and led her back inside.

　　In the room, the siblings prepared the drink and ate snacks they had not tasted in a long time.

　　By the time Mu Shuhui returned, she had already cleaned out quite a bit.

　　The younger sister in-law was the domineering type and had taken plenty of the original host’s belongings.

　　That included various ration tickets and local specialties sent regularly by the original host’s husband from the military, such as dried beef and dairy candies. 

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