In my previous life, I tried to save a neighbor trapped in a car fire, but my own leg got stuck in the process.

By the time I reached the hospital, it was too late and half of my leg had to be amputated. Afraid of compensating me, the neighbor spread rumors, saying I was playing the hero and that even if I hadn’t intervened, firefighters would have saved them.

I became seen as a meddler by everyone. Eventually, I grew depressed in my hospital bed and passed away within a year.

When I opened my eyes again, thick smoke was billowing from the neighbor’s car.

——

"Help! Somebody, help!" A familiar cry for help echoed.

I opened my eyes to see the familiar sight of the area below my apartment. I stood there in a daze for a long time. When I came to my senses, the elderly lady from my neighbor's house was pulling me forward.

Looking down at my fully functional legs, I nearly burst into tears, now certain that I had been reborn. And it was before I had tried to save the neighbor.

This time, I decided I would no longer "meddle."

In my previous life, I risked everything to save them, only to be met with ridicule. Not only did they never visit me in the hospital, but they also openly blamed me, saying I was just loud and impulsive, always playing the hero. They claimed that even without me, the firefighters would have saved them.

They said my involvement only added to the firefighters' workload and caused more trouble. Yet, at the time, no one had even called the fire department. The elderly lady from the neighbor's house was too busy taking things out of the car and it was only after people saw me trying to save someone that someone finally suggested calling for help.

By the time the firefighters arrived, I had already pulled the woman out of the car, but I got stuck between the seats and couldn't free myself. Without me, that young woman wouldn’t have escaped so quickly.

Yet, they insisted I had meddled unnecessarily.

I glanced at the elderly lady, who had pulled me toward the burning car and a faint smile crossed my face.

Fine, in this life, I wouldn’t meddle anymore.

The elderly lady looked at me with hope in her eyes, "Alexa, my daughter-in-law is still inside. Could you help me get her out?"

In my previous life, the neighbor's daughter-in-law wasn’t very talkative, but she would always exchange a few words with me whenever we crossed paths. We weren’t exactly close, but we weren’t strangers either.

From a distance, I saw her desperately struggling in the car seat, unable to unbuckle her seatbelt. Without a second thought, I rushed over to help.

But what happened afterward?

When she saw my amputated legs, she said I made her feel uncomfortable. Honestly, she might as well have just said I disgusted her.

Watching the flames not far away, I casually said, "Sorry, I don’t dare to help."

The fire grew larger and the car was on the verge of exploding. A crowd had gathered downstairs, but not a single person dared to intervene.

Inside the car, the woman's heart-wrenching cries for help echoed, "Someone, please save me! It hurts so much! Can anyone kind-hearted pull me out?"

Yet, no one dared to step forward.

Mrs. Grace, panting and carrying bags of rice, flour and oil, pleaded with me, "Alexa, even if this old lady has to beg you, please, help save my daughter-in-law, Bella."

I stared at her in confusion and asked, "She’s your daughter-in-law, not mine. If you’re not going to save her yourself, why expect others to? Even if I dared, I couldn’t. I have a heart condition and can’t run too fast. Looking at you, pulling out someone who weighs about 40 kilograms shouldn’t be much of a problem, so you should do it yourself."

What I said wasn’t wrong.

When the electric car caught fire, Mrs. Grace first scrambled to grab the rice, flour and oil she had just bought from the supermarket, hurriedly escaping from the car without a second thought for her daughter-in-law’s cries for help.

In her eyes, the rice and flour were more valuable than her daughter-in-law.

To her, Bella was nothing more than a brood hen meant to continue their family line.

In my previous life, she begged me to help because she saw that I lived alone without my parents around to back me up. If anything happened, she wouldn't be held responsible. She specifically picked on me, a young girl, knowing I was easy to manipulate.

Mrs. Grace immediately started shedding crocodile tears. "I'm just an old woman, what can I do? If I could still run, I would’ve saved her already! Bella was always the closest to you. She often talks about you at home. You can’t just stand by and watch her die at such a crucial moment, can you?"

Bella wasn’t close to me at all. She could exchange a few words with anyone, but she wasn’t truly close to anyone.

It was simply because their whole family liked to take advantage of others, always sneaky and dishonest. Bella would chat with us briefly and some neighbors, like me, were too soft to confront them. Even when we knew they took things from the hallway, we let it slide. After all, we saw each other often and exchanged a few words here and there.

But in my previous life, my genuine efforts were repaid with a knife to the heart.

I was determined to watch how this ungrateful family all met their bad ends, one by one.

As the fire grew uncontrollably larger, I finally suggested, "I can’t save her. You should call the fire department!"

Even if they called now, it would take at least ten minutes for them to arrive. By then, who knows if Bella could hold on.

Sure enough, Bella started struggling inside the car, her leg trapped between the seats.

An older woman in the crowd, eager for drama, chimed in, "Come on, we’re all neighbors. They’ve begged you like this, what’s the harm in helping? It’s not like you’ll die, right? If I were you, I’d risk my life to save her!"

Trying to use moral guilt to pressure me into helping?

Sorry, but having lived this life again, the only thing that could threaten me was my own life. Nothing else could coerce me. In this life, I had no sense of moral obligation.

I flashed a faint smile and said to Mrs. Grace, "Look, someone is eager to help save your daughter-in-law. Hurry and beg her! She said she would risk her life to help if you asked."

Sure enough, Mrs. Grace’s eyes lit up and she quickly turned to the older woman, "You’re a kind-hearted person, please save my daughter-in-law!"

The woman, feeling somewhat embarrassed, responded, "I can't, I have high blood pressure!"

With that, she hurried away as if her backside were on fire.

Mrs. Grace had no choice but to turn her attention back to me. "I really didn’t expect you to just stand by and watch. Bella always speaks highly of you!"

I sneered. "Bella also constantly talks about how great her mother-in-law is! But when it came to a critical moment, she was the first to get out of the car. And oh, she didn't forget to take the rice and flour with her, but she wouldn’t lift a finger to help her daughter-in-law."

I was so angry that I laughed.

This family was both sneaky and greedy. Unable to get big benefits, they settled for small ones.

In my previous life, when I tried to help, they treated me like the farmer in the fable of the farmer and the snake.

They said that people who weren’t family didn’t belong together. I thought Bella must be different from her family, but she turned out to be just as ungrateful—a wolf in sheep’s clothing, not worth any sympathy.

Mrs. Grace, with a red face, replied, "I... it’s just that we needed these things at home and they were easy to grab."

I exposed her mercilessly. "Just say you can't bear to part with these things. They weigh more than 45 kilograms in total and your daughter-in-law only weighs 40 kilograms."

She couldn't argue with me, so she squatted on the ground and cried.

Faintly, I could still hear her muttering, "It was obviously you who saved her!"

I was not sure and wanted to listen carefully, but then I saw the fire trucks coming from afar.

By the time the firefighters arrived, Bella was already on the verge of death.