Chapter 1 — Half a Life Lost, Half a Life in Peace

I Served My Mother-in-law Who Was Bedridden For Ten Years, Resurrected Then I Gave Her Back To My Biological Children When my mother-in-law passed away, the person who cried the most was me. Not because of nostalgia. Because only I know, the amount of 2,800,000 yuan in her bank card is every penny I have saved diligently over the years. But one day before the cremation, the lawyer publicly read the will she left behind. The house was left to my brother-in-law. The savings were left to my brother-in-law. Even the gold bracelet on her hand, which I bought myself, she specifically left for her brother-in-law's daughter. I took care of her for ten years. Feeding rice, carrying potty, wiping body, turning over. Working so hard that he dragged himself into the final stages of stomach cancer. But in the end, what I received was just a sentence.

"To Van has a tough personality and endures well, no need for me to worry."

I immediately spit out a mouthful of blood. Blood splattered on the white tile floor, like a rotten flower. My husband, Co Minh Vien, stood next to me and frowned and said:

"Mom is gone, what else are you causing trouble?"

The son I raised for twenty-three years, Co Niem, also looked at me coldly.

"Mom, can you not embarrass yourself like that?"

Co Minh Xuyen's brother-in-law held the will in his hands, hypocritically advising:

"Sister-in-law, don't blame mom. Mom just feels that I don't have the ability, so she favors me a little more."

I looked at them. The pain in my stomach felt like countless blades were churning inside. I want to say that the amount of 2,800,000 yuan did not belong to my mother-in-law. That's the money I sold for the dowry. It's money I quit my job to work as a nurse. It's the money I earn from selling street goods and working as hired laborers. For ten years I saved every penny, so frugally that I scraped money from between my fingernails to accumulate it. But as soon as he opened his mouth, what came out was just another mouthful of blood. Co Minh Vien hated taking a step back.

"Incitement."

As I fell down, I heard my brother-in-law's wife say in a low voice:

"Fortunately, my mother made her will early, otherwise she would definitely fight over it."

I want to laugh. Competing? What am I fighting over? I just want my own life back. When I opened my eyes again, above my head was no longer the cold white light of the hospital. It's the yellowed chandelier in the living room of the Co family's old house. The shrill cry of her mother-in-law rang out in her ears.

"Oh my god! My leg! Am I going to be paralyzed?"

My whole body stiffened and I slowly turned my head. The mother-in-law was lying on the floor, hugging her legs and crying. Co Minh Vien stood next to him, his face full of impatience. Co Minh Xuyen was anxiously walking back and forth, but other than screaming, he didn't know what to do.

"Sister-in-law, quickly think of a way!"

I bowed my head and looked at my hands. No more needle marks. There are no more prominent blue veins on the skin-and-bone-thin body of a patient with late-stage cancer. The watch on my wrist clearly shows: September 3, 2014. The day my mother-in-law just fell and broke her leg. I'm alive again. In my previous life, starting from that day, I quit my job and returned home to take care of my mother-in-law. One-time care... That's a full ten years. This time, the whole room full of relatives was looking at me. Exactly like the previous life. They wait for me stand out. Wait for me to proactively say:

"Mom, let me take care of you."

I slowly squatted down, picked up the thin blanket that had slipped off her body and covered her knees. My mother-in-law immediately held my hand tightly.

"From now on, I have to rely on you."

I looked at her. There was no gratitude in her eyes. There is only the obvious. In my previous life, it was this sentence that bound me for ten years. I smiled and gently pulled my hand out.

"Mom, don't worry."

"I still have my biological son."

The whole living room immediately fell silent. Co Minh Vien frowned.

"To Van, what do you mean?"

I stood up and looked at Co Minh Xuyen.

"I'm your biological mother."

"From now on, just let me take care of mom."

Co Minh Xuyen's face immediately changed.

"Sister-in-law, what are you kidding?"

I calmly replied:

"It's not a joke."

The mother-in-law's crying stopped. She couldn't believe it and looked at me.

"To Van, do you ignore me?"

I bowed my head to look at her.

"What are you talking about, Mom? I'm just a daughter-in-law, how can I surpass my biological son and make decisions for me?"

Co Minh Vien's face immediately darkened.

"To Van, now is not the time to be angry."

He was also like that in his previous life. Always standing on the sidelines, just using the phrase "it's not the time to be angry" to push all the responsibility onto me. My mother-in-law wanted to eat, so he told me to be more careful. My mother-in-law needed to turn over, he told me to be gentler on my arms and legs. The mother-in-law has incontinence in urination and defecation. He says he is a man and is inconvenient to take care of. And my brother-in-law only visits once a month. Sat for less than twenty minutes and it was gone. Yet Co Minh Vien still said:

"Minh Xuyen is busy with work, please sympathize with him a little."

I have been sympathetic for ten years. Sympathy to the point of sickness filled everyone. I looked at him.

"Then do it."

Co Minh Vien was stunned.

"I still have to go to work."

"I have to go to work too."

"How much money does your job make?" He blurted out. "Our family doesn't lack that little bit of your salary."

I laughed. In my previous life, I truly believed that statement. After quitting my job, I had to ask him for every penny in my house. Adult diapers for mother-in-law who need money. Medicine requires money. You also need money to go to the market. Even my sanitary napkins and stomach pain medicine have to beg for money. Every time he gave money, he frowned:

"Why do you spend so much?"

Later, I secretly went out to work part-time to make money. He criticized me for embarrassing my family.

"The Co family's dignity has been ruined by you."

Now, he's up to his old tricks again. I picked up my bag from the sofa.

"If you don't miss a bit of your salary, then there's no reason to force you to quit your job."

The mother-in-law was impatient, banged her hands on the floor and cried loudly.

"Minh Vien! Look at it!"

"I knew it right away! He has no conscience at all!"

"Mom isn't paralyzed yet and he already hates her!"

Surrounding relatives also spoke up one after another.

"Sister-in-law, the old man fell like this, don't say angry words."

"I'm the eldest sister, so I have to shoulder more burdens."

"Minh Xuyen and his wife still have to take care of their children, where will they find the time?"

I rolled my eyes and looked around. I have heard these words countless times in my past life. Whose child needs to learn more, come find me. If an elderly person needs to see a doctor, come find me. Any relative who comes to the city to stay will find me. I just refuse. I immediately became people who don't understand. I walked to the tea table and picked up the phone.

"I've already called 120 ambulance."

Everyone was stunned. I keep saying:

"We'll do whatever the doctor arranges."

"Who takes care, who hires a nurse, who spends money, goes to the hospital and discusses together."

The mother-in-law's eyes immediately wavered. What she fears most is wasting money. Sure enough, right after that she spoke loudly:

"Don't go to the hospital!"

"Mom just twisted her leg, go back to your room and lie down and rest."

Same in previous life. She absolutely refused to go to the hospital. Lasts until the bone breaks out of place. In the end, the surgery plus rehabilitation cost more than one hundred thousand yuan. But that money... Of course it's still me who spent it. I calmly said:

"No way."

"Injured falls must be checked."

Co Minh Xuyen immediately chimed in:

"That's right, that's right, I have to go to the hospital."

As he spoke, he sneaked back towards the door.

"Brother, sister-in-law, I'll go pick up the child first, then I'll go to the hospital to visit my mother later."

I called him back.

"No need for a while."

Co Minh Xuyen's footsteps stiffened. I looked straight at him.

"You are my biological son."

"Must go along and sign the papers."

The smile on Co Minh Xuyen's face immediately froze.

"Sister-in-law, I..."

I interrupted:

"Didn't you just say you were worried about your mother?"