"Unfortunately, you can't give birth, Miss Lin. There's nothing else we can do... But we can advise you to file for adoption... haha, of course, with that you would need a husband."
Doctor Wen laughed awkwardly as I just stared at him without saying a single word. My face was absolutely blank at this moment.
I have never wanted anything more than to have my own children, but even that I can't have.
Find a husband? Men are absolute scum! Do I really need a husband to have children? Why?
I stood up and walked out of the hospital. It was already 7 in the evening, so it was getting dark.
I branched towards my favourite convenience store and loaded my handbag with a bunch of wine, heading straight home.
I returned to my apartment just a few minutes away, and just entering, I could hear the sounds of my neighbors arguing again. I remembered when they moved in, they were both full of love and bliss. And now? Pffts. They argue over the littlest things.
That's one thing about marriage and why the hell I've been running from it for the past thirty years.
I entered my apartment and collapsed softly on the couch before bringing out my wine and bursting it open with just my teeth.
I was a pro when it comes to drinking, one thing I learned from living a free and carefree life.
I gulped down a whole bottle in one go, and another, and another, until I had drunk up to four bottles in less than an hour.
Sincerely, I felt like laughing at this point. I was thinking of getting an IVF instead of going through the normal process, but I can't... because I'm barren.
I finished almost the entire six bottles I had purchased, and at this rate, I felt like I was floating with the clouds.
I stood up and made my way upstairs to take a shower, but just as I was about to climb a step, I slipped and fell hard on the ground.
The next thing I remembered? Absolutely nothing.
It all went pitch black!
---
I woke up to the sounds of people bickering; their voices were loud and disturbing.
"She is dead? What do we do about her mother?" an ugly-looking man whined to a middle-aged-looking woman.
"What else, you idiot? Toss her body into a hole and bury her!" the middle-aged woman replied rudely.
"B-but won't the villagers and neighbors ask why we didn't hold a proper burial for her? What if they hold us accountable for her death?" a young girl asked, her face covered with so much makeup she could draw her face by just hitting a wall.
"Enough! Enough! None of the villagers would care. After all, her late father was an ex-convict, and it's not like we intentionally buried her without any ceremony. Her dowry is so little... we could only use it to support her children."
The middle-aged woman muttered as she covered her words with an evil laugh, and her children laughed along with her.
"Thank goodness that bitch is finally dead. We can use her dowry to send me to the state exam," Lu Fong laughed, as his mother and sister followed along with him.
"What about those three pets of hers? What do we do about them?" Lu Fei questioned.
"Argh! Forget about them. They are just little children... I'll sell them off and make more money out of them. Then we wouldn't have to live a single day without food. Isn't that amazing?"
Their words sank into my ears as I looked at them, confused.
Where the hell was I? This isn't my apartment, nor is it a hospital. I am pretty sure that with that fall earlier I would have landed either in a hospital or in the afterlife. But where the hell was I?
I stared at the three before me, and they were all dressed in brown Chinese attires, like they were cosplaying in a drama or something. But wait... they were all strangely familiar.
Oh! Now I remember! They were the characters in a TV show that was popular some months back.
If I remember clearly, the middle-aged woman is the aunt of the male lead, and the two ugly people beside her were her children.
But why the hell were they here? Why am I here as well?
Suddenly, something hit me on the head as I felt my entire mind spinning.
They were memories, but these memories weren't mine. Instead, they belonged to the former owner of this body.
I was taken to another world, a world from a literal TV show. What the hell?!
Just then, someone barged in. It was a small figure. She looked about six, with her obviously malnourished body and small collarbones.
She walked toward me, her eyes teary. "Mama! Bao Bao is not feeling well... you need to come now!"
If I wasn't sure enough, I would say this was the part where the female lead had passed away, and her son, who was very sick, also passed away.
No way! There was absolutely no way I was going to let any of those children die. If I was their new mother, then so be it. My life was boring anyway, and who wouldn't want three cute children without even a husband?
I stood up slowly, cracking my neck and wiping the dry blood at the corner of my mouth. My body ached, but my mind? Sharp.
I turned to the three clowns in front of me—the so-called "relatives."
Their laughter died immediately upon seeing me.
Complete dead silence.
Lu Fei's mouth dropped open like a broken door. Lu Fong stumbled back, knocking over a stool. The aunt paled like she'd seen a ghost.
Well… to be fair, she kind of did.
"I thought you said she was dead!" Lu Fong screeched.
"I—I—I checked her pulse!" the aunt stammered. "She wasn't breathing!"
"Oh? Sorry to disappoint," I said, dusting off my sleeve. "Seems the underworld didn't want me either. Guess I'm just too much to handle."
"You—you're not supposed to be alive!" Lu Fei blurted out.
"And yet here I am," I said, stepping forward. "Very much alive. And not in the mood for your nonsense."
I looked down at the little girl beside me. Her face was red, eyes wide with confusion and hope.
I placed my hand on her head gently. "Lead the way. Let's go see your brother."
"But wait!" the aunt snapped, trying to grab my arm. "You shouldn't be walking around. You just fell down and—"
I slapped her hand away like she was an annoying fly.
"You were just planning to bury me and sell my kids," I said, voice cold. "Now you care?"
Her face twisted. "So what if we were trying to sell your children? You at least owe us that much, after all these years you have been feeding off us! And anyway, we were just trying to survive!"
"Oh really? Then survive without me. Or my dowry. Or my children. Starting now."
I turned to Lu Fong. "And you... touch my children, and I'll break that crooked nose of yours."
He flinched.
"Come on," I said to the small girl again, walking past them all. "Let's go save your brother. After that, I'm burning this entire house down, metaphorically… for now."
Their jaws were still hanging as I walked out of that dirty room like I owned the place.
Rest in peace, Lin Xu. I'll take things from here.