Lin Erxia suddenly realized that she had already been admitted to high school, and her personality was nothing like the supporting female character in the novel. Did that mean she wouldn’t repeat that character’s fate?
But the problem now was that her family refused to let her attend high school. Rubbing her head, Lin Erxia noticed a bowl of sweet potato rice by her bedside. There was far more sweet potato than actual rice, so the yellow-orange broth looked thin and watery.
It must have been brought to her at noon by her mother. At the sight of it, her stomach immediately began to growl.
Ignoring the fact that the food had long gone cold, she quickly wolfed it down. The soft, sweet potatoes and the pitiful amount of rice filled her empty stomach, leaving her satisfied.
Hearing the chatter outside, she knew the family had already returned from work.
Shaking off the slight throbbing in her head, she stretched and moved her limbs a bit. Nothing felt unfamiliar—after all, she had already lived here for fifteen years.
This small room was shared by the three sisters. A single bed took up nearly half the space, and beside it stood a small table with a broken leg, propped up with bricks to serve as their makeshift vanity.
Carrying her empty bowl and chopsticks, she stepped out. Across from their house stood another row of three rooms, almost identical to theirs—these belonged to her second uncle, Lin Yongping.
Between the two houses was a large vegetable patch planted with cucumbers, long beans, eggplants, corn, and more.
Passing through a small doorway cut into the western wall, she entered the west courtyard, where her grandfather Lin Dayong and her eldest uncle’s family lived. The layout was similar, though slightly larger, with one extra room.
Along the eastern wall was another vegetable patch, next to pig pens and chicken coops.
On the western side stood a kitchen, two storage rooms, and a shed.
Each side had its own entrance, but a doorway connected the two courtyards since the Lin family had not yet split up—they still ate together.
The moment Lin Erxia stepped in, the noisy chatter of children and the conversations of adults abruptly fell silent. Everyone turned to stare at her.
Unbothered, she smiled and greeted them while holding her bowl and chopsticks.
“Grandpa, Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, Dad—you’re back from work.”
The Lin family patriarch had three sons and one daughter. All three sons lived with him, while the daughter had married into the county.
Grandpa Lin Dayong was nearly sixty, but tall and sturdy—almost 1.8 meters—with no sign of frailty. Her eldest and second uncles had clearly inherited his build: tall, broad, with dark, muscular arms—obviously hardworking men. Indeed, both of them usually earned full work points.
Her father was also tall but leaner, with fairer skin and a constant smile, looking more like a scholar than a laborer.
But in reality, although her father also worked, he earned less than her uncles and sometimes even skipped work.
The courtyard was crowded with children from all three households: her eldest uncle’s second son, Lin Yuliang, twenty; her second uncle’s second daughter, Lin Erhua, seventeen; fourth sister Lin Sanhua, fifteen; third brother Lin Yuze, twelve.
Then there was her own younger sister Lin Sanqiu, twelve, and younger brother Lin Yubao, nine. Among the girls of the Lin family, Lin Erxia ranked fifth.
Her eldest uncle had three children—two sons and a daughter. Her second uncle had three daughters and one son. Her own family also had three daughters and one son. The eldest uncle’s eldest son, Lin Yudong, was already married and lived in the county.
Her second uncle’s eldest daughter, Lin Dahua, was also married. The rest still lived at home.
Neither Lin Erhua nor her elder sister Lin Dachun were in the courtyard—they were probably busy in the kitchen. As for the novel’s heroine, Lin Zhuer, she rarely came out and mostly stayed in her room.
Her father saw her carrying the bowl and grinned, wiping his face as he spoke, showing a mouthful of white teeth.
“Oh, my second daughter is awake! You must be exhausted from today. Go ask your grandma to steam you an egg for nourishment.”
Hearing such unreliable nonsense, Lin Erxia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. If she dared say that to her grandmother Chen, she’d get slapped immediately. The only reason she hadn’t been hit earlier was because she had fainted—there was no way she’d provoke her now.
Her uncles remained silent. Grandpa focused on rolling his tobacco, as if he hadn’t seen anything.
Lin Erxia turned and went to the kitchen. Inside, Grandma Chen was directing everything in an orderly manner. Lin Dachun and Lin Erhua were tending the fire; her second aunt and mother were washing and chopping vegetables; her eldest aunt stirred the pot while chatting with Chen.
But Chen’s face was dark. Lin Dachun and Lin Erhua kept their heads down, not daring to speak. They glanced at Lin Erxia briefly before returning to their tasks.
Grandma Chen was a short old woman with bound feet. Her hair was neatly pinned back with black clips. Her eyes showed more white than black, her brows slanted downward, and her lips were slightly dark. When she stared at someone, her sharp gaze was unsettling—no one dared meet it.
Ever since Lin Erxia walked in, Chen kept rolling her eyes. Lin Erxia almost worried she might faint from it.
Seeing the empty bowl in her hands, her mother immediately set down her work, took it from her, and gave her a meaningful look.
Lin Erxia, however, remained calm. “Grandma, Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt.”
Her eldest aunt, Sun Xiaoyun, stirred the pot, put down the lid, and turned to look at her.
“Well, look who’s awake—our good student. Came to eat because you’re hungry?”
Sun Xiaoyun had gained favor with Chen by giving birth to the Lin family’s eldest grandson right after marriage, followed by two more grandsons. As the eldest daughter-in-law, she held authority over the other two branches.
In recent years, with her son showing promise, she saw her family as superior and always spoke with a hint of sarcasm.
The women of the second and third branches feared her—but Lin Erxia did not. As she grew older, she even dared to talk back occasionally.
“Eldest Aunt, whether I’m a good student depends on whether the family lets me be one. This is my home—if I’m hungry, of course I’ll come eat. Who could stop me?”
If you speak sharply, so can I.
Sun Xiaoyun clicked her tongue. This fifth girl from the third branch was becoming more and more unruly. Clearly, she hadn’t given up on going to high school.
“Fifth girl, listen to yourself. Who could stop you? No one in this family has a worse temper than you, and no elders are more patient than ours. In any other household, you’d have been beaten half to death already—for yelling at elders and smashing things.”
“Well, no other family is this openly biased either. We’re all family—why does she get to go while I don’t? If you don’t let Lin Zhuer attend high school, then I won’t go either. How about that, Eldest Aunt?”
Lin Erxia knew very well how much Sun Xiaoyun favored Lin Zhuer. She had even bragged in the village about her daughter ranking fifth in the county—there was no way she’d stop her from attending high school.
Sun Xiaoyun choked back her anger and shot her a glare. “Why? Because your grades are bad. Don’t you know that yourself?”
Looking at that identical eye-roll—just like Grandma Chen’s—Lin Erxia held back her own. She was afraid it might become a trademark of the Lin family.
Seeing Chen continuing to snort and roll her eyes, and Sun Xiaoyun doing the same, Lin Erxia suddenly said:
“Eldest Aunt, the pot’s burning.”
Startled cries erupted from Sun Xiaoyun and Chen, followed by a scolding: “That fifth girl is talking nonsense—filthy mouth!”
Meanwhile, Lin Erxia casually walked out of the kitchen, running into Lin Yubao, who had been eavesdropping nervously.
The moment their eyes met, Lin Yubao forced a stiff smile and immediately ran off.
There was no helping it—he had been afraid of this sister since childhood. Lin Erxia never coaxed him gently; his crying only earned him a real slap. He knew others only pretended to hit him, but hers actually hurt.
So from a young age, he learned not to waste his tears on her.