"If you could return to when you were 13, could you change the course of your life?"
In a daze, Shu Wanwan heard someone ask her this, but before she could answer, she bumped her head on the back of the bus seat. "Ouch, that hurts!"
She quickly opened her eyes, disorientated. Why was she on a bus?
"Let me see, where did you hit your head? I told you not to sleep. The bus is crammed. It would be much more comfortable to sleep at home on the bed," a gentle voice said. Her forehead was soothed by a large hand.
Shu Wanwan turned her head in disbelief. Sitting beside her was her mother, Feng Shuxia.
"Momma..." Her eyes welled up, almost spilling tears.
Was this a dream?
Just a few days ago, she had personally scattered her mother's ashes in the cemetery, ending her mom's troubled life.
However, her mother looked decades younger now. Her hair was still pitch black, and the wrinkles on her face were far less.
Without much thought, Shu Wanwan, filled with excitement, hugged Feng Shuxia tightly, crying out, "Mom!"
Feng Shuxia was confused, thinking her daughter was crying because she had hit her head. She hastily comforted her, "It's okay, don't cry. Your forehead is just a bit red. It will be fine after you sleep."
Wait, how could she feel pain in a dream?
Shu Wanwan felt a jolt. Could it be possible that all this was not a dream?
Had she really returned to when she was 13 years old?
Following that, the bus broadcast started announcing the stations: "We have arrived at He Run Garden. The next stop is Jinxiu neighborhood."
Jinxiu Community, wasn't that her former home?
Looking at the badge pinned on her clothes, she carefully recollected. That summer when she was thirteen years old, she had participated in the piano grade examination held in Jishan City. This was the badge she used!
At the bottom right corner of the badge, the words "Jishan City Piano Examination Special" were clearly marked.
In her previous life, she returned a day early by bus after the examination to save on hotel expenses. The moment she and her mother, Feng Shuxia, arrived home, they bumped into a couple passionately entangled on their couch...
Her mind was in turmoil. The man on the couch was her very own father, Shu Tingguang!
And the woman he was cheating with was her godmother, Miao Aiqin.
Her mother was furious. She rushed up without hesitation, getting into a fight with the pair of deceitful man and woman.
Shu Tingguang was continuously shielding Miao Aiqin. The three of them pushed and shoved, causing a loud ruckus that attracted the whole community.
Soon after that, her parents started a messy divorce. Even though her father was the one at fault, he didn’t want to give a single penny of his hard-earned wealth to his ex-wife and daughter!
Not only did he not share his property and refused to provide child support, but he also transferred his assets, fabricated a debt of over one million, and drove Feng Shuxia to bankruptcy.
Since then, Shu Wanwan, the once carefree little princess, became a burden to her single mother.
Wherever she went, she was always the topic of discussion and was ostracized.
It wasn’t her fault, yet people treated her as an oddity, always picking on her.
She felt inferior and desolate, afraid to go to school, afraid to leave the house, even afraid to meet strangers, let alone endure their judgemental stares.
This drastic family change, one could say, completely altered her life.
Her mother was tormented by life to the point of mental disorder, later, for the sake of her grandmother, she married a disgustingly evil man, and in the end, she met a disgraceful death...
"The next stop is home, it's so hot." Feng Shuxia continuously fanned herself with the fan distributed on the street. "There's not even a fan in the city bus, let's rush home as soon as we arrive."
They were getting closer to home, and Shu Wanwan's anxiety was increasing.
She had really returned to being thirteen years old, this time, she couldn't rush to expose Shu Tingguang's affair!
After all, the money at home was controlled by Shu Tingguang, rushing to destroy their relationship would not benefit her and her mother.
"Mom, where did my watch go?" As she spoke, she secretly stuffed her watch into her backpack.
"What watch?" Feng Shuxia asked anxiously.
"It's the watch you bought for me in the mall, the one that costs several hundred!" Shu Wanwan pretended to be anxious, rummaging all over.
"What?" Feng Shuxia's voice rose in alarm, "Why are you always losing things, just threw away a watch that costs several hundred? If your dad finds out, he won't let you off lightly."
"Mom, I remember now, it seems like I left the watch at the competition venue." Shu Wanwan took her mother's hand, "Let's rush back to get it?"
As she spoke, she shouldered her backpack and led Feng Shuxia off the bus at their neighborhood.
The mother and daughter ran across the street to wait.
It was noon, the sun was blazing, and they couldn't even open their eyes, mother and daughter were soon drenched in sweat.
Shu Wanwan couldn't bear the heat, she went to a nearby shop to buy a bottle of iced water.
Finally, the city bus arrived. Seeing her home getting further and further away, she secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
"Mom, my stomach hurts so much, I think it's because of the cold water I drank."
Feng Shuxia complained impatiently, "What now? There's a restroom at the piano competition site. Can you hold it in?"
"I can't hold it in any longer," Shu Wanwan’s tone changed. She pointed to the stop ahead, "The next stop is HeRun Garden. Auntie's house is right there. I'll go to her house to solve it."
Her watch was in her bag, and she didn’t need to return to the competition site. She just wanted to find a place to stay for a while.
But, drinking cold water in the scorching heat of summer was soothing until your stomach couldn't bear it.
Seeing her daughter's pale face, Feng Shuxia felt some heartache, "Alright, let's go to your aunt's house first."
Shu Wanwan nodded. She would take the initiative to protect her mother from harm. The most important thing now was to stay calm and hide the matter of the affair, and then plan how to make that scumbag father pay.
She couldn’t bear to watch her mother suffer the same fate again, being gossiped about and tolerated because she didn't want to divorce.
Even if she's been dealt a lousy hand, she wouldn't give up.
A few minutes later, the two rang the doorbell to their aunt’s house.
Their aunt opened the door quite quickly, "Isn't this Wanwan? Come on in."
"Wanwan has a bad stomach and secretly drank cold water. Now she has diarrhea. We came to your house to use the restroom," Feng Shuxia explained.
"Fine, no one's in the bathroom. Wanwan, go on in quickly!"
Shu Wanwan immediately entered the bathroom and happily resolved her personal issue.
When she came out, her aunt had prepared some hot water for her to drink and kept reminding her, "Wanwan, don't indulge yourself in cold things in the future. If your stomach gets upset, you will suffer."
Looking at her aunt's familiar face, Shu Wanwan felt extremely sad.
