"Freya Flynn, heaven has given you another chance, this time you can't miss it again!"
It was the summer of 1975. Under the locust tree in a small yard, cicadas chirped endlessly, while an old yellow-brick house stood silent under the sun.
Inside the cool room on the west side, a beautiful woman with porcelain-white skin was lying on a wooden bed, whose red paint had flaked off. At this moment, the woman’s eyes were tightly closed. She was covered in sweat, trembling as if trapped in a nightmare.
"Freya, wake up. It's time to eat!"
A familiar voice outside the door awakened Freya from her deep sleep.
She abruptly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with fear, like a dying fish, panting heavily.
"Freya?"
Her mother's voice echoed outside the door, young and full of strength.
Freya's pupils dilated in shock. She sat up abruptly, lifted the mosquito net, and stared in disbelief at the familiar room.
Clay walls, red mahogany tables, a floral quilt.
And on the table, a white enamel mug with the words "Serve the People".
This... this was her maternal home!
The place where she had lived for decades!
She had really been reborn!
Reborn in 1975, the day she had been upset with her mother-in-law and had come back to her mother's house to stay!
"Ding dong!"
A sudden prompt sound came from near her ear.
"The 'Blissful and Harmonious Family' system has been successfully bound, congratulations, host, you have been given a new life!" As the system's prompt fell, Freya Flynn couldn't help but break into tears that flowed like rain.
So it turned out, that voice wasn't deceiving her, it could truly send her back to the past.
Taking her back to 1975, the year when she just turned 22.
In her previous life, her mind was filled with unrealistic fantasies. She believed that marrying a soldier would let her enjoy a life of luxury, and become a respectable military wife.
She was constantly creating disturbances, never content with leading a quiet life.
She looked down on her husband's family, despised her husband, and even didn't care for her son!
After becoming pregnant, because she couldn't follow her husband to the army, she had to stay at her in-laws. She then started making a fuss.
She didn't just create conflicts with her in-laws but also vented her anger on the unborn child in her belly.
Later, she even associated herself with educated youths, dreaming of escaping to the big city to live a better life.
She cheated her husband out of his savings, robbed her family of all their money, and ran away to the big city.
But she was wrong.
Going to the big city was just the start of a nightmare.
She almost got abducted by human traffickers to the deep mountains to serve as a birthing tool for an old man, and she almost got tricked into being sent to a construction site on the southern coast, forced into prostitution!
Fortunately, she was quick-witted and managed to escape, fleeing away and eventually resorting to begging for survival.
However, she never made it back to her hometown.
She died on a day of heavy snowfall, froze to death on the streets.
After her death, she regretted her past choices.
Her spirit lingered in the air, watching as her despised husband found her body and cried as he carried her home.
She stayed with her husband, watching him devastated to the point of complete despair.
He eventually retired from the military, returned to his hometown, and started farming in a state of extreme sorrow and weariness.
Only then did she realize that the husband she had despised actually cherished her all along.
It was just that he was not good with words, nor expressing himself.
But it was too late as she was already dead, and what was the use of regretting then?
Afterwards, their son grew up. Due to lax discipline, he became lawless and turned into a street thug.
In the end, he committed a crime and was sentenced to death at a young age, which ended his life early.
Before execution, the police asked the son if he regretted his actions.
He casually replied, "I never had a motherly figure growing up, my home didn't feel like a home, no one cared for me, no one loved me. I couldn't stand seeing other families in harmony, so I wanted to destroy their happiness."
Right up to his death, the son never realized his own mistakes.
But could anyone blame him for it?
The distorted values given to him by his original family were, in the end, fundamentally her fault as his mother!
Her gullible husband could not bear the loss of both wife and son and was diagnosed with lung cancer at just over forty years of age.
Before his death, he held her portrait, tears streaming down his face as he vowed to find her in the next life.
At this thought, Freya could no longer keep her emotions in check. She hugged her knees and broke into gut-wrenching sobs.
What wrongs had she committed in her previous life!!
She had let down her deeply loving husband and neglected the son she gave birth to, causing him to meet his end by a bullet.
She had made profound mistakes, very profound indeed.
Fortunately, heaven had shown mercy to her, unbelievably granting her the chance to be reborn.
She remembered that she was already walking on the bridge of No Return in the afterlife.
Suddenly, a strange sound rang in her ear.
The voice asked if she had any regrets from her life.
If she had truly repented, would she be willing to go through great trials to be reborn?
Without hesitation, Freya agreed.
She regretted it, regretted it deeply.
She longed for a chance to do it all over again, to cherish her husband and son, to tenderly manage their little family.
Later, her soul went to a dark place, where she suffered punishment for forty-nine days.
Several times, she almost couldn't hold on, but she persisted through the pain, fortified by her feelings of guilt towards her husband and son.
Fortunately, she wasn't deceived by the voice.
She truly did get reborn!
"The Happy Family System has been successfully bound. Comrade Freya, we hope you take advantage of this opportunity to create a harmonious and happy family."
Upon hearing the system's voice, Freya wiped her tears and nodded firmly.
"Thank you, system, I will definitely cherish this opportunity!"
Unexpectedly, there was an additional system following her rebirth.
It was a pleasant surprise.
"It's just a helping hand, perhaps you're not aware, entering the 21st century, the number of people getting married is decreasing, and happy families are becoming rare... Alright, enough said, I hope you can start anew and properly manage your family!"
"I will definitely do it, don’t worry!"
After the system heard her promise, there was another 'ding', followed by a robotic voice.
"Functional mode has been activated!"
"This mode is for: Task Exchange."
"Comrade Freya, you are requested to embark on your mission independently. Those who excel in completing the task would receive suitable rewards."
Freya couldn’t contain her excitement.
What good deeds might she have done in her past life that she has found such a grand opportunity? That she has been granted such blessings?
It seemed in this life, she must carry out acts of kindness and accumulate virtue to repay this found fortune.
Freya took a deep breath and climbed from under her floral-print quilt and stepped off the bed.
Gazing at the room, which was simultaneously familiar and strange, her eyes grew gradually redder.
This was her first day back to her parents' house, and the ridiculous reason she had impulsively chosen to return was merely a bowl of plain white rice.
Reflecting on it now, she could see how very capricious and wilful she had been.
"Freya, the sun is high in the sky now, how are you still in bed?" Lyra’s voice called from outside once again. "I made you a bowl of custard. Better rise up and eat it while it's hot. I'm going to work in the fields."
Upon hearing her mother's gentle voice, Freya’s nose tingled as she felt the sting of emotions.
In her previous life, when her mother had learned of her death, she was unable to bear the shock and sobbed until she lost her eyesight.
Her father also fell seriously ill due to extreme sorrow.
She was truly fortunate to be blessed with parents who loved her so dearly.
In her previous life, she didn't manage to fulfil her filial duties. In this life, she decided she would make up for it twofold!
And she also vowed to treat her beloved brothers well!
Freya cleared her throat, trying hard to mask her choked-up voice, "Mother, I'm getting up right now!"
"Good, don't forget to eat the egg custard."
"Okay!"
After a quick wash, Freya went to the stove to get her breakfast.
A bowl of golden egg custard, two corn cakes, and a small plate of pickles.
In 1975, this breakfast could be considered a luxurious meal.
In other homes, which sister-in-law would tolerate a young sister who got married but still came back home to eat like this?
But in her past life, she often went home and her brothers never complained.
Her sisters-in-law never said much.
Because she was the only daughter in the family, the only little sister of her brothers, they spoiled her like a treasure.
But in her previous life, she not only didn’t cherish it, but took it for granted.
Holding that bowl of egg custard, Freya felt immense guilt.
How precious were eggs at that time, even her nephews rarely got to eat them.
Yet whenever she returned home, her mother would always make it for her.
Looking at the kids in the yard – her nephews and nieces – all ready with their baskets to go pick pigweed, Freya suddenly had an idea.
"Damien, Xavier, Alex, Scott, come over here! Your aunt has some nice treats for you all!" She called out to the children.
The four little ones in front of her, were the children of her eldest and second elder brothers.
From the eldest brother's family: Damien and Alex. One seven years old, the other four.
From the second brother's family: Xavier and Scott. The elder one five years old, the younger one three.
The handful of little ones stopped in their tracks, exchanging glances with each other. None dared to approach her.
This aunt of theirs had a proud and overbearing temperament, was difficult to deal with, and rarely ever showed them a pleasant face even though she returned home every few days. Why was she suddenly calling out to them with a sunny smile today? Did the sun rise from the West?
Noticing the little ones' hesitation, Freya felt helpless and could only feign the impatience she had in her previous life.
"Come over here already! Do you want me to come and grab you all?"
The little ones shuddered, surprise mixed with horror showed on their faces.
Damien, who was the bravest, mustered his courage to step forward first, with the others following him closely.
"Auntie..." Damien stood at a distance, his eyes careful as he watched her.
The sight of their fearful faces made her sigh inwardly.
The thought of her own son, Ethan, who always gave her the same gaze made a surge of sorrow well up in her heart.
Suppressing the bitterness, she beamed, "Come, let Auntie let you all taste some steamed egg."
The little ones stared at the bowl in Freya's hand, swallowing saliva.
After a while, the youngest, Scott, licked his lips and slowly approached. "Auntie, are you really giving us food? Grandma said this is yours, you should save it for..."
"Good kid, if Aunt says it's for you, then it's for you." Freya took advantage of Scott opening his mouth and directly fed him a spoonful.
Seeing Scott enjoying the food, Alex also couldn't help but approach.
Freya fed her two bites with a smile.
When Xavier saw this, he gathered his courage and stepped forward, and was immediately fed two bites.
Finally, Freya passed the bowl to Damien, who had not moved at all.
"Damien, finish what’s left. The younger siblings have already eaten, hurry up, Aunt has to go do something."
Afraid of holding up Aunt’s affairs, Damien finished the rest in no time.
It was so delicious!
They used to only watch their Aunt eat, while hiding on the side, swallowing their saliva.
They didn’t expect Aunt to be so generous today and fed them too!
Freya took the bowl back, waved at them and said, "Okay, go back to your duties."
The four little ones obediently picked up their baskets and went up the mountain to find pigweed.
Seeing the back figure of these little ones, Freya missed her own son even more.
Upon returning to the room and taking a glance at the calendar on the wall, she abruptly stopped, stiff as a board.
How could she forget about this!
On this day in her previous life, a significant event happened!
No! She must change the course of events from her previous life!
