With a crisp slap, Bai Jingjing, holding her swollen cheek, looked in disbelief at the old woman who'd hit her. Ever since her supernatural abilities had upgraded, nobody had dared to slap her like this.
Before she could even react, another slap came toward her. The old woman cursed her, using profanity that was too vulgar to be repeated in polite company.
Fuming, Bai Jingjing grabbed the fat hand of the woman, the murderous intent clear in her eyes. "Dammit, I gave you an inch, and you took a mile," she thought, "You dared to hit me? Back when I was fighting for survival in the apocalyptic era, I feared nothing!"
Unexpectedly, there was a weird moment of silence and then, more tragically, the counterattack Bai Jingjing was expecting never came. Instead, the old woman hit her even harder.
However, Bai Jingjing was too shocked to retaliate.
Her powers... my god, where were her powers? The weapon she used to rule the world in the post-apocalyptic era was gone.
"You impudent girl," the old woman scolded, "You've lost your supper tonight. If it weren't for the ten ounces of silver you bring in each year, I would have kicked you out ages ago."
The old woman, still unsatisfied even after her last word, kicked the stunned Bai Jingjing a few times before leaving her there.
Stunned and still sitting there, Bai Jingjing could only wonder, where had her powers gone?
She sat there for a whole day, only awakened from her stupor by the rumbling of her stomach. She had to accept her new identity.
Bai Xiaoqi, an ugly and insecure peasant girl, lost her father at ten and her mother at eleven. Her brother was taken in by a friend of their father. An ugly girl like her, naturally, was not a desirable ward.
An insecure, ugly girl left alone in a brick and tile house. The outcome was predictable.
Taking advantage of her, her uncle, Bai Dong, claimed her fields in the name of adoption. If he had genuinely wanted to adopt her, things might have been different. Unfortunately, his wife, Chen, was an insatiable woman, wanting both the property and to avoid having to support this burden.
Living up to the saying, she ate less than a cat but worked harder than an ox. Waking up before dawn to serve the dozen members of the Bai family, she could only sleep in the firewood room at night.
In the end, the original Bai Xiaoqi died of cold and hunger, leaving an advantageous situation for someone like Bai Jingjing, who had been transmigrated from the apocalyptic era.
Upon receiving these messages, Bai Jingjing could only say one thing, "What a soap opera!"
Her stomach growling, she had never suffered such a humiliation even in the apocalyptic world she lived in.
She would certainly get back at the person who had slapped her twice.
But for now, satisfying her hunger is priority.
In the pitch black night outside, she relied on her original body's memory to locate the kitchen. A betrothal feast was just held in the daytime, so there must have been food left in the kitchen.
After a hearty meal, Bai Jingjing didn't forget to stash some non-perishable dried food in the straw stack outside the courtyard wall.
Having settled everything, she retired to the firewood room, preparing herself for an upcoming battle the next day.
As the sky began to brighten, Bai Jingjing was awakened from her sleep by curses.
"Who is that damned person who stole my chicken and white buns...God damn you..."
Hearing the cursing, Bai Jingjing cleaned her ear wax. This old woman was indeed fierce, and did not repeat her curses.
But Bai Jingjing didn't have the heart to laugh. She spent most of the night trying to recover her powers, but there were no signs of recovery. Now, she truly became a weak girl who couldn't lift her arms.
Just as she was thinking, the door to the firewood room was kicked open.
"You little slut, it must be you! You must be the little harlot who stole my food. Watch me beat you to death."
After saying this, she pulled out a firewood stick and headed toward Bai Jingjing.