"No marriage, no children? Independent and single?" Mu Yaojia was stunned, taking a long moment to recover before turning to look at her daughter.
Mu Yuting met her gaze without flinching, her eyes resolute.
"Tingting, are you serious? A woman's life isn't complete without marriage and children." Mu Yaojia's mindset was still steeped in the traditional and conservative views of the older generation, always believing that a woman must follow the conventional path of marriage and childbirth to be considered normal.
"Is there a standard measure for a woman's life? Must we live a certain way?" Mu Yuting countered calmly.
"If we don't live like that, is life incomplete?"
"Then who sets these standards? And why should we follow them?"
Mu Yaojia couldn't answer a single one of these questions. After thinking for a while, she said, "These are life experiences. Having them makes our time on earth worthwhile."
Mu Yuting had already lived through these experiences in her previous life, and they weren't fond memories. But she didn't want to say so. Her mother wouldn't believe such a bizarre concept as "rebirth" anyway.
"Without these experiences, life is like a blank sheet of paper, empty and meaningless. Don't you find that dull?" Mu Yaojia also posed a question, still hoping to dissuade her daughter from these strange ideas.
Mu Yuting answered without hesitation, "I don't find it dull. There are many life experiences to be had—I can build my career, meet like-minded friends, travel to see mountains and rivers, savor delicious food, and do many meaningful things."
"These are all life experiences, and marriage and childbirth are just a trivial part of them, not the main theme of life."
Steadfast and determined, moving forward with confidence. Mu Yuting believed she could do it, advancing steadily toward her goals, unafraid of storms, and calmly facing all difficulties and challenges.
Mu Yaojia had nothing more to say. She found it increasingly strange—it seemed that since the broken engagement, her daughter had grown up overnight, forming her own firm and unwavering opinions. If her daughter hadn't been by her side all along, with no change in daily habits, she might have suspected she'd been replaced.
Returning late that evening, after washing up, Mu Yuting turned on her computer, wrote a chapter, and prepared to sleep. She casually moved all her drafts into the storage box and set them for timed release.
While setting the timer, she suddenly remembered the old saying on Green River about "catching metaphysics" at 2 a.m. It was supposedly due to a system bug on Green River.
If authors on Green River manually posted at exactly 2 a.m., the lucky ones could land their novels on the top three pages of their genre tags. This exposure would last for twenty-four hours. If readers searched using that tag, they would see the novel, equivalent to a one-day featured spot.
This kind of exposure was purely luck-based, hence the term "catching metaphysics."
To catch this metaphysical chance, authors often set alarms, waking up at 2 a.m. to post, not only speeding up hair loss but also increasing the risk of heart attacks.
Years later, Green River, for the health (and hair preservation) of its authors, fixed this bug and changed the metaphysical time to every three hours. That is, posting at the top of every third hour would grant a three-hour exposure on the tag list.
Mu Yuting touched her smooth, dark hair and, for the sake of her hairline, reluctantly gave up on the 2 a.m. metaphysics.
Take good care, health first! Early to bed, early to rise, and never go bald!
After drinking a glass of milk, she took another beauty nap.
For the past two days, the Du family hadn’t caused any trouble or bothered Mu Yuting. Of course, they were all in detention, so they couldn’t exactly "go out" to stir up trouble anyway.
Their only hope, Du Dazhi, was away on a cross-province business trip with his superiors and wasn’t expected back for at least a week.
Over the phone, Du Dazhi had made it clear: if they caused any more trouble, he wouldn’t bail them out. They could stay in jail for a few years and get properly re-educated.
Stuck in detention with nothing to do, they passed the time cursing at each other. Since their cell was at the far end of the hallway, as long as they didn’t scream hysterically, a bit of shouting and swearing went unnoticed outside.
The first couple of days, Du Daqiang relentlessly berated his wife Zheng Xiangmei and eldest son Du Dawei, using the filthiest language imaginable until they were practically fuming. Zheng Xiangmei wasn’t there, so Du Dawei bore the full brunt of his father’s rage.
By the third day, driven mad by confinement, Du Daqiang began hurling the most vicious curses at his wife and son. Finally, Du Dawei couldn’t take it anymore and started shouting back, which soon escalated into a physical fight.
Du Daqiang threw the first punch. Outmatched verbally by his son, he relied on his seniority and brute strength, lunging suddenly to attack.
His fist connected squarely with his son’s nose, instantly causing it to bleed. His rough nails accidentally scraped Du Dawei’s face, tearing off a small piece of skin. Even after it healed, the scar would remain.
Coming to his senses, Du Dawei touched the wound on his face and clutched his bleeding nose—then completely lost it. He charged back furiously. A ruined face was unforgivable! How was he supposed to find a wife or charm women like this?!
But Du Daqiang believed it was only natural for a father to hit his son—no justification needed. "I gave you life, allowed you to open your eyes and see the world—how dare you fight back? You unfilial brat, I’ll beat you to death!"
Du Xiaowei quickly hid in a corner, protecting himself. Clever and always obedient to his father, he had rarely been beaten growing up.
Du Dawei, with his short temper, took more after his father. He had tolerated the abuse for two days because he didn’t want to cause more trouble in detention. But pushed past his limit, he fought back fiercely and ended up overpowering Du Daqiang.
"Damn you, you son of a turtle! Striking your father—may lightning strike you dead!" Du Daqiang gasped for breath.
Du Dawei sneered, twisting Du Daqiang’s arms behind his back and pressing a foot into his spine. Leaning down, he said, "Damn you? You’re the damn dog! If I’m a son of a turtle, what does that make you? The turtle? If someone like you isn’t afraid of lightning, why should I be?"
Enraged, Du Daqiang spat and cursed, "Pah! You little bastard, your father is no turt—" Before he could finish, his body suddenly convulsed, and he collapsed unconscious.
"What’s going on?" Du Xiaowei cried out, eager to stir up drama. "You killed him! Bro, you killed Dad!!"
"Someone’s dead, help!" Du Xiaowei shrieked. He had to call for help immediately, distance himself from the incident—it wasn’t his doing, and he refused to take the blame.
The police arrived very quickly. After some questioning, they coordinated with medics to transport Du Daqiang to the nearest hospital.
They suspected that the hypertensive patient had become overly agitated, triggering a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular condition. Du Daqiang's mouth was twisted, his face numb, and he was drooling uncontrollably.
They weren't wrong—the doctor said the same thing.
"This patient's uncontrolled high blood pressure has led to a stroke accompanied by hemiplegia..."
"Hemiplegia? Bedridden for life? Needing someone to take care of him forever?" Du Dawei's eyes widened, and paired with his grotesquely swollen nose, the effect was almost comical.
[EN: This is the last free chapter and the end of the preview translation.]
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