As soon as those words came out, Song Kuo and Zhou Zhiyun exploded as well.
“Big Sister-in-law, you’ve gone too far! It’s one thing not to hand over your salary, but how can you take money to subsidize your parents’ family and even fill the hole for your brother? That’s four hundred yuan!” Zhou Zhiyun shouted first. “Even when I take a little something back to my parents’ home, I tell Mom about it. And I’ve never taken money back!”
“Exactly! Back then we worked so hard to support you, Big Brother, through college. Now that you’ve graduated and made something of yourself, you just ignore us? How can that be? Mom’s right—how can you be so heartless, even favoring outsiders over your own family!” Song Kuo followed up.
As long as Mom got the money, all he had to do was sweet-talk her like before. Wouldn’t it be easy to get money from her again?
In his eyes, the money Wen Yifan mentioned already belonged to him!
Song Huailin’s expression grew even uglier. He knew Shen Que had been supporting her parents’ family, but he hadn’t realized she had given away so much money!
He glared viciously at Shen Que. “Shen Que, is what Mom said true?”
Shen Que trembled, instantly feeling guilty, but she still argued stubbornly, “So what if I did? That’s my own younger brother! If I didn’t help, should I just watch him go to jail?”
As she spoke, her voice even carried a hint of tears. “My parents worked so hard to send me to college. What’s wrong with me repaying them? Let me make this clear today—I absolutely will not agree to take out nine hundred yuan, and I won’t agree to hand over fifty yuan every month in the future. Otherwise, I’ll divorce you! I’m not living this suffocating life anymore!”
She didn’t believe Song Huailin would really divorce her over this.
Hearing the word “divorce,” Song Huailin’s momentum immediately weakened. He was furious yet miserable.
“I don’t care whether you divorce or not. If you want to move out, the money must be paid! Even if you don’t move out, from now on you must hand over fifty yuan every month! Otherwise, I’ll go to your workplace and tell your leaders how filial you really are to me! Let’s see if you can still keep your jobs after your leaders and colleagues find out!”
After saying that, Wen Yifan turned to Song Kuo and his wife. “And you two—starting from now on, you must also hand over part of your wages every month. I don’t want much. Twenty yuan a month.”
“That’s enough. Do you have to push the children to a dead end like this?” Song Yanchuan couldn’t stand it anymore.
“If you’re willing to pay for them, then I won’t push them. Are you going to pay?” Wen Yifan looked at him coldly, her voice laced with mockery.
“Where would I get the money?” Song Yanchuan was completely baffled.
“Since you don’t have money, then shut up!”
Wen Yifan said fiercely, “I’ll make this clear today—if you can’t come up with the money, see whether I’ll let any of you live in peace!”
With that, she slammed the table hard, making the bowls and chopsticks rattle.
“Mom, I’ve thought about it. We won’t move out after all. We’ll just continue living at home for now,” Song Huailin said, realizing that Wen Yifan was truly not to be messed with today.
“Even if you don’t move out, you still have to pay,” Wen Yifan said coldly. “And from today on, the housework will be done in rotation. You are not allowed to make your little sister do it for you. She’s about to take the college entrance exam. If her studies are delayed, I’ll hold you accountable!”
After saying that, she stood up and walked out, ignoring everyone’s reactions.
Having finally been reborn, she certainly wouldn’t waste this precious time. She would exercise properly, recover her health, and live for herself. She couldn’t ruin her body again like in her previous life.
After leaving, Wen Yifan headed toward her family’s farmland. This year the weather was dry, and the harvest was poor. As someone who had lived through it before, she knew the drought would last another two months.
A famine was coming soon! She had to prepare in advance.
The fields were covered with large patches of rice, but due to the drought and lack of water, the grains were shriveled and empty. Suddenly, the mechanical electronic voice sounded again in her mind: “Congratulations, Host, for discovering wild dandelion.”
At the same time, an electronic screen appeared before her. On it were clusters of dandelions growing along the edges of the field ridges. Beside them was a price tag: [Wild dandelion, two yuan per jin.]
Wen Yifan cautiously bent down and picked a few dandelions. Sure enough, the mechanical voice sounded again in her mind: “You have obtained three liang of wild dandelion, worth sixty cents. Would you like to sell?”
Wen Yifan silently replied “Yes” in her heart. The dandelions in her hand instantly disappeared, replaced by sixty cents.
Staring at the money in her hand, her eyes widened.
The electronic panel in front of her transformed into something resembling a modern online shopping platform. Wen Yifan scanned through it—there was a wide variety of goods, even items that only existed in the future.
She had struck it rich!
With this system, she wouldn’t have to worry about nearly starving to death like in her previous life! She could even rely on this system to build wealth and reach the peak of her life!
After all, in this era, opportunities were everywhere. As long as she seized them properly, getting rich was no dream!
With that thought, Wen Yifan decided to dig up more dandelions to earn more money.
“Sister Wen, how can you run into my field and pick my crops? I’ve already said there’s nothing between Brother Song and me. You’ve already beaten and scolded me. We, a widow and her child, don’t have it easy. I beg you, please stop forcing us. Spare us a way to live.”
A choked, aggrieved voice suddenly rang out.
Wen Yifan paused and looked up, meeting the red-rimmed eyes of Widow Bai.
The villagers working in the surrounding fields also lifted their heads at the commotion and saw Wen Yifan indeed standing in Widow Bai’s field.
They had all heard about what happened earlier in the day and immediately felt sympathy for Widow Bai.
“Sister Wen, that’s enough. Do you really have to push a widow and her child this far?”
“Exactly. Grain is precious these days. Your family has factory workers and people working in government offices—you might not care about this bit of food, but for us, this grain is what keeps us alive. Taking someone’s grain is taking their life! We’re all from the same village. Do you have to go this far?”
“Widow Bai already tried to kill herself once today. Are you trying to force her to die a second time? How can you be so cruel?”
…
Wen Yifan’s face turned cold. She had been so focused on picking dandelions that she hadn’t noticed she had walked into Widow Bai’s field.
In these times, stealing grain was a serious crime—it could cost someone their life!
This damned white lotus—she hadn’t even gone to settle accounts with her yet, and now she had come looking for trouble!
“You say I’m stealing your grain? What, have the dandelions growing all over the field ridges become your family’s grain now?”