Title: Rebirth of the Evil Mother-In-Law

Chapter 1 - Previous Life (1)

The full-length mirror reflected a slender body. The woman in the mirror has light-colored skin. Her features weren’t as pretty as they were when she was young, but it has the attraction of an older woman. Her lips were curved slightly upward, and her temperament was elegant. The clothes on her might look simple, but all the designer’s uniqueness was hidden in all the details. 

Fang JunRong couldn’t help but feel perplexed. Her hand touched her face reflexively, and the woman in the mirror did the same thing. When was the last time she looked at herself that way?

She was dressed elegantly and exhibiting a tenderness of her own. She didn’t appear unkempt, disheveled, and looked down by all.

As one of the wealthiest men in the country and having a net worth of over tens of billions, her husband has an extremely prestigious status. Not to mention their outstanding and eminent son and their lively and loving daughter. Fang JunRong was what people referred to as the winner of life; unfortunately, her life took a turn for the worse ever since the appearance of Jiang YaGe, her daughter-in-law. 

Jiang YaGe was the daughter of her husband’s best friend from college. After her parents died in a car accident, her husband Li WangJin felt bad for her and took her in after considering the fact that her relatives were all plotting against her. Fang JunRong was quite nice to Jiang YaGe at the beginning as well, after all, Fang JunRong was also friends with Jiang YaGe’s father. Plus, Jiang YaGe was a pleasant and mature girl. This changed after the conflicts began between Jiang YaGe and Li XinYun, Fang JunRong’s daughter. 

Let it be her husband, Li WangJin, or her son Li ShiZe, everybody sided with Jiang YaGe. They would always pick Jiang YaGe’s side and blame Fang JunRong’s XinYun whenever there was a conflict between the two. So how could Fang JunRong continue to be fond of Jiang YaGe given the situation? In the end, her son Li ShiZe further fell in love with Jiang YaGe and butted heads with his mother repeatedly while treating his cold sister coldly. 

Jiang YaGe, on the other hand, was a drama queen. It was almost like she was blessed by some unseen power – no matter what happened, she would always be able to avoid anything bad happening to her, and it was always those who were around her who’d end up taking the brunt of it. XinYun, her precious daughter, was one of those people. Because of Jiang YaGe, Li XinYun ended up scarred on her face and became more and more reclusive.

By then, Fang JunRong hated Jiang YaGe’s guts and wanted to kick her out. Nevertheless, both her husband and her son unequivocally took Jiang YaGe’s side and criticized and loathed Fang JunRong.

“YaGe had suffered a lot too. How could you keep placing the blame on her? It wasn’t like she wanted it to happen. You are being so irrational right now. You are no longer that reasonable and loving wife that I have married.”

 “If my sister didn’t go out and befriended all these questionable people, this would have never happened. Once all this is settled, we will just  send her overseas to have a plastic surgery and all will be fine again.”

Their callous and estranged looks were burned into her memory, giving her a frigid feeling. Her family was wrecked. Fang JunRong wanted to take revenge, but Jiang YaGe was loved and protected by many bosses. Their interference foiled all of her plans, and she was finally sent to the mental institution by her own husband and son. 

When she was locked up in the mental institution, everybody called her crazy. That she couldn’t appreciate such an amazing daughter-in-law and wanted to hurt her any chance that she got. They thought it was her own fault that all her loved ones had betrayed her. Finally, when she heard that news that her daughter Li XinYun had committed suicide, Fang JunRong took her last breath surrounded by dark iciness. At the same time, Li ShiZe, her wonderful son, was having a great time with her amazing daughter-in-law on their honeymoon.

Thinking of that, Fang JunRong couldn’t help but let deep hatred crawl into her eyes. Her teeth bit down so hard that her lips almost started to bleed. Finally, the pain helped her clear her mind. She let out a deep breath and did her best to calm the conflicting emotions within herself. 

She had no idea why she went back to eight years ago after she closed her eyes. This was before Jiang YaGe had joined the Li’s, and her family was still the model family in everybody’s eyes. 

She looked down reflexively at her wrist and saw a jade bracelet on her pale wrist. The bracelet was uniform throughout and almost translucent in color. It was dazzling under the light. There was a darker shade of green on it that looked like the silhouette of mountains. This bracelet was given to her when her grandmother passed away. Worried that she might inadvertently nick or chip it, she had always kept it stored safely inside the safe and had never worn it. In her previous life, the bracelet has gone missing. She was enraged at the time and looked all over for it. Finally, her son was the one who told her that it was stolen by a maid. 

The bracelet should be lying quietly inside the safe right now. This was a peculiar discrepancy from her previous life. 

Or was her previous life nothing but a nightmare?

No, that couldn’t be. No nightmare would have so many details and be so heartbreaking. Just recalling the past events was enough to make her body shiver from hatred. 

“Mom, where is my favorite dress? The one that Aunty designed for me? Which closet is it in?” came a crisp and lively voice.

Fang JunRong, who was immersed in her own pain looked up abruptly. She saw a girl with slightly curly hair and still a little bit of childishness in her look. The tip of her hair was dyed a red color and made her look cute and playful. This was her precious daughter Li XinYun.

She looked at her daughter’s simple and cute look rapaciously, as though she was in a dream. When was the last time she saw her daughter so lively? Ever since she was defaced, her daughter had locked herself up and never left her room, as though she had lost all will to live. 

“Mom.”

“Mom!”

A series of cries brought her back. Fang JunRong blinked and got rid of the moisture in her eyes.

Title: Rebirth of the Evil Mother-In-Law

Chapter 2 - Previous Life (2)

Fang JunRong tried her best to control her emotions as she asked, “Which dress? You dyed your hair?”

Feeling a little guilty, Li XinYun touched the tip of her hair before she defended herself, “I have already graduated high school. You said before that I can dye my hair after the university entrance examination. Mom, where’s that dress that was given to me by Aunty? I can’t remember where I put it. I want to wear it on my birthday.”

Her daughter XinYun was the only thing that kept her going when she was in the mental institution. She had reminisce over every memory of her daughter and every little bit of it seemed like it had just happened yesterday. 

“It's over on my side. You didn’t want to misplace it so you put it over on my side specifically.”

“Oh yeah! I had forgotten all about it!” said Li XinYun as she stuck her tongue out briefly, feeling silly. Then, wrapping her arm around her mother’s, she said to her mother affectionately, “Mom’s the best. Oh, right, mom. Do you think I can invite my classmates to my birthday?”

Fang JunRong had never been able to resist puppy eyes from her daughter. Now that she had gone back eight years and knew what was installed for her daughter, how could she let any sadness touch that smile of hers?

“Of course you can. You can invite as many people as you want.”

“Heh, I knew mom loved me the most.” Li XinYun went on jabbering about herself. Fang JunRong looked at her smile and couldn’t help but recall another detail. Jiang YaGe’s parents passed away on the same day as XinYun’s birthday. In her previous life, XinYun looked forward to her birthday so much and coordinated everything herself yet her husband Li WangJin used “it would upset YaGe” as an excuse and cancelled it. Even her son stood on his side. XinYun was his real daughter, but he’d put Jiang YaGe ahead of her on everything. 

This was the beginning of XinYun’s displeasure with Jiang YaGe, and everything else snowballed from here on out. 

XinYun might have a little bit of a temper, but she was not a petty person. If the other two didn’t place Jiang YaGe before her on just about anything, she never would have hated Jiang YaGe so much. 

This time around, she wouldn’t let her daughter feel a shred of grievance. Her man? She didn’t want him anymore. Her son? She’d just pretend that she had given birth just to a placenta. She owed them nothing. Any last bit of love she had for her son was gone during her time at the mental institution. The timing of her rebirth wasn’t the best. She still had a lot of faith in her husband then, and he had control of the company. If she was to divorce him now, she wouldn’t be able to come out ahead. 

She has time. She could take her time and plan it all out. She would take back everything that was hers!

Listening to her daughter’s coquettish voice, the darkness around her started to dissipate. 

“XinYun, why are you still gluing to your mother all day long like an immature child?”

The smile on Fang JunRong’s lips disappeared after hearing her husband’s voice. The man whom she was supposed to spend the rest of her life was one of those who hurt her the most.

“XinYun will always be a child in my mind no matter how old she is. I like her around me,” said Fang JunRong mildly while exercising her best self-control to not jump up and scratch the hell out of that face. 

Appearance-wise, Li WangJin, who was already in his 40s, was well maintained and looked to be in his thirties. That plus his incredible net worth caused him to have many admirers over the years, but he had turned them all down and earned the reputation of being a good husband in the eyes of the public. Fang JunRong had once been very proud of that. But she never expected that great husband of hers would one day be able to watch his own daughter suffer and watch his wife taken to the mental institution and suffer the way she did there. 

When the public thought that it was Jiang YaGe who was not familial, it was Li WangJin who stood up and stamped the approval that Fang JunRong had bad temperament and was the source of all the problems. He blamed his wife for mistreating Jiang YaGe. In his eyes, everything was Fang JunRong’s fault.

Thinking of that, the burning hatred inside of her hit her like a tidal wave and almost drowned her. Up until the end of her life, she never figured out why he treated Jiang YaGe better than his own daughter and why was he able to be so ruthless to her and her daughter. 

Li WangJin put on a resigned look as though he was going along with them. “The two of you are always on the same side. I can never win.”

Li XinYun said gloatingly, “Mom loves me the most.”

“Then can XinYun let me borrow your mother for a few minutes? There’s something I wanted to talk to her about,” said Li WangJin. 

Li XinYun wasn’t an immature person. As though she had misunderstood something, she winked at Fang JunRong and let go of her. She bounced away and her voice came from afar, “Don’t worry. I won’t eavesdrop on the adults’ secrets!”

Fang JunRong, on the other hand, had a pretty good idea what Li WangJin wanted to talk to her about. It was probably about how he wanted to bring over Jiang YaGe; it was about that time. 

After their daughter was gone, Li WangJin let out a sigh and a disturbed look. “JunRong, do you remember the kid Jiang YaGe?”

How could she not? 

Fang JunRong snickered to herself but said calmly, “The one who’s lost her parents to a car accident, right?”

“Yes, that one,” said Li WangJin as a hint of pain flashed through his eyes. “Originally, I figured that even though she had lost her parents, they have left her with plenty of money so she would still be alright. Who’d have thought that her relatives could be so ruthless that they had taken away her money and her house with the help of her grandmother?

“Not only did they leave her nothing for her college tuition, they even wanted to marry her off to some old man back in the village. Her father was my roommate back in college. I can’t just stand around and let this happen to her, so I would like to bring her over.”

Those were the exact same words from her previous life. 

That was truly not a dream. 

Fang JunRong’s nails were about to dig into her own palm. Back then, she had been friends with Jiang YaGe’s father and also felt bad learning about what had happened to her and agreed to Li WangJin’s suggestion right away. But this time around…

“What do you think, JunRong?”

Perhaps, she had remained silent for too long, so there was a rare sense of anxiousness in Li WangJin’s voice.

Fang JunRong looked up and put on the perfect look. She frowned slightly as those she felt for her and said, “What had happened to her was very awful.”

She paused for a little and carried on, “But if she is to stay here without an official title, she’d have to withstand a lot of gossip for living in someone else’s house.”

Her words had, indeed, gave Li WangJin some hesitation.

Fang JunRong continued to say, “Why don’t we make it official and adopt her? That way she won’t be looked down upon.”

Li WangJin was ecstatic, “JunRong, you are indeed the most caring and reasonable person in the world.”

Fang JunRong did not fail to notice the irony in this whole situation. Anyone who didn’t know better would think that Jiang YaGe was his real daughter. He had never been that nice to XinJun before. But since he looked at Jiang YaGe as his own daughter, it was her duty to make sure that was the case. They’d be long divorce by then, and Jiang YaGe wouldn’t get any of her inheritance anyway. 

What Fang JunRong really wanted to find out was, with the added sibling title between them, would her wonderful son still fall madly in love with Jiang YaGe

Title: Rebirth of the Evil Mother-In-Law

Chapter 3 - So They Have Never Been A Family Since The Very Beginning (1)

Fang JunRong hated her son, Li ShiZe, even more than she hated her husband. She had given up on Li WangJin a long time ago, but she could never get over the behaviors of her son. Before Jiang YaGe came to their house, Li ShiZe had always been impeccable when it came to his parents and his sister. He remembered everyone’s birthday and cared a lot about his sister. He had always been her pride and joy.

But ever since he had run into Jiang YaGe, he seemed to have given up all of his other roles. He was Jiang YaGe’s Li ShiZe, and she was the only thing left in his life. He was no longer her son; no longer the brother of Li XinYun. Anyone who dared to stand in front of Jiang YaGe would be his enemy. 

She couldn’t help but see his cold look in her head, like a frigid winter in December, making her shudder in its coldness. 

“I wouldn’t let anyone hurt YaGe in front of me in any way, not even you.

“From this day forward, we are no longer mother and son.”

***

Every time she recalled that day, she felt as though her heart was being cut into pieces. As painful as it was, she had gotten used to it after a while. 

Fang JunRong took a deep breath and suppressed all of her emotions. In front of her, Li WangJin was still jabbering on and on in front of her about how nice Jiang YaGe was, trying to increase Fang JunRong’s fondness for her. 

“YaGe would be delighted when she found out about this. Have you met before? She really isa very kind and very mature girl. You’ll like her once you’ve met her. 

I hope that XinJun will take a page from YaGe’s book after YaGe has joined us. XinJun is a little spoiled. I’ve heard that she has turned to you for an allowance again?”

Fang JunRong pursed her lips a little and said, “We have plenty of money. Our little princess shouldn’t have to suffer. If we are talking about spending money, one of those paintings you bought cost more than her entire allowance for the year, no?”

In her previous life, Li WangJin had always compared the two girls with each other, specifically praising Jiang YaGe and talking down on XinJun. As much as XinJun wasn’t a petty girl, after being talked down time and again, it was inevitable that she started feeling resentful toward Jiang YaGe. 

Li WangJin was a man with double standards. While he felt that XinJun spent too much money, he also spent a lot on birthday parties for Jiang YaGe and bought her all sorts of gifts. Perhaps, in his mind, it was worth it to spend as much as he wanted to on Jiang YaGe, but it was simply wasteful when he spent it on his own daughter. Fang JunRong had no idea what kind of curse Jiang YaGe had casted on him.

Even though Fang JunRong had no more feelings for him, thinking of that still brought back anger in her. Her tone turned cold. 

“Raising a daughter cost money. If we can’t even afford one girl, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about adopting a second one. We don’t want to not be able to treat her nice after she comes over. Or you can reduce the number of times you go to auctions.”

Li WangJin changed colors and said, as though appeasing her, “I am just kidding. Don’t take that so seriously. XinJun is our child. Of course I want to spoil her too.”

As though he was worried that she didn’t believe him, he immediately transferred another $1 M allowance to XinJun. 

Fang JunRong no longer wanted to waste time on talking to him and quickly sent him away. Right now, the most important thing was to figure out the situation with their money, so she knew what she was getting into when they got their divorce. With the exception of their house and land, the most valuable assets of The Fang’s was Ayron Corporation, Li WangJin’s electrical company, and Meifang, a newly founded company for skin care products. 

Later on, her bbq pork son even gave away their skin care product company to Jiang YaGe. Words had it that Jiang YaGe had some formulas for skin care products, and she was able to make a ton of money with them. From there, she was able to befriend quite a few bosses to back her. 

The timing of her rebirth wasn’t the worst. She still has her people in finance, human resources, and research & development. Among all of them, Xu WeiWei, the manager of finance, was a good friend of hers from her college days