Planet Kroll, ordinary residential district, Apartment One in Light Vehicle City.
Mrs. Hans sat on a wooden chair in an elaborate, fluffy dress, holding a feather duster in her hand. Her eyes were filled with disgust as she looked down at the girl kneeling on the floor.
“Three eggs are more than enough to make pancakes. Who told you to use four?”
The girl knelt with both hands pressed against the floor, her small body trembling constantly. Large tears rolled from her eyes and fell onto the ground, making her look utterly pitiful.
“Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!”
The feather duster repeatedly struck her body. She sucked in several breaths of cold air as a searing pain spread across her back.
“Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!”
The crisp sound of clapping came from beside Mrs. Hans. A little boy of seven or eight, dressed in cotton clothes, clapped his hands excitedly and shouted, “She definitely stole that egg and ate it! Little thief, you deserve to be beaten!”
“I didn’t…” The girl cried softly, as though deliberately keeping her voice low in case Mrs. Hans became even more displeased.
Mrs. Hans struck her even harder.
“You didn’t? Lily said you stole it! There’s egg on your hands. If it wasn’t you, then who was it?”
Nearby, another equally thin girl tightly gripped her withered hands and nervously twisted the coarse linen fabric over her chest. Her face was full of guilt as she sobbed softly.
“Mom… please be gentle… You… you will beat her to death.”
Mrs. Hans hesitated for a moment, the hand holding the feather duster stopping in midair.
The little boy rolled his eyes at his sister and the girl, then lifted his chin and shouted indignantly, “I want pancakes made with six eggs!”
“All right, all right, my darling!” Mrs. Hans hurriedly dropped the feather duster and glared at the girl and the other girl. “What are you waiting for? Go make them!”
The girl gritted her teeth as she struggled up from the floor. Limping slightly, she silently lowered her head and walked into the kitchen with the other girl.
When Qian Li arrived in this body, the pancakes on the stove happened to be ready, and their sweet, fragrant smell rushed straight into her nose.
Wasn’t she at the mercenary training grounds?
Her head felt somewhat dizzy. She covered her growling stomach with one hand and felt as though her entire body was in so much pain that it might fall apart.
She wanted something to eat.
The painful cramping in her stomach left her no time to think about anything else.
Qian Li took a breath, supported herself against the wall, bent over and slowly stood up, then staggered toward the stove and picked up a fork and knife.
After swallowing a large piece of soft pancake, the burning sensation in her hungry stomach finally eased. She let out a sigh of satisfaction and prepared to finish every pancake on the table.
As she ate, the warmth gradually returned to her body, and the memories in Qian Li’s mind slowly became clearer.
The owner of this body was also named Qian Li. She had lived with her adoptive parents since childhood.
From the age of five, she had been responsible for the clothes and meals of the entire family. She handled most of the hard and exhausting work, while the small portion she could not manage was pushed onto Lily, who was her older sister.
From childhood until now, the original owner had never once eaten until she was full.
“Qian Li! You little wretch! What are you doing?”
A scream loud enough to shake the roof came into the room along with the loud bang of the door being pushed open.
Qian Li knew exactly who it was.
Having already made up her mind, she quickly swallowed the last bite of pancake and stepped aside, avoiding the incoming feather duster.
“You! You actually dare to dodge?!”
Mrs. Hans panted heavily, the excess flesh around her waist rising and falling with every breath.
Qian Li raised her eyes and stared at Mrs. Hans with her dark eyes.
“It is only pancakes made with a few eggs. If my younger brother can eat them, why can’t I?”
She was not the original owner. She would not spend every day starving herself until she died from low blood sugar.
The coldness in Qian Li’s eyes startled Mrs. Hans, causing her to instinctively take a step backward. However, she immediately placed one hand on her waist and began wildly swinging the feather duster in the other.
“How can you compare yourself to Mike? Mike is a boy! You and Lily are nothing but burdens! The family has to spend money raising you, yet you cannot even do a little bit of work properly! And now you dare to steal food?”
Qian Li curled the corner of her mouth. She casually picked up a slice of bread spread with strawberry jam, took a bite, and spoke while chewing.
“Oh! Since I am such a burden, why don’t you throw me out of the house?
After all, I am only your adopted daughter. What do you think?”
“Mom! How dare she talk to you like that? Beat her!”
The little boy rushed over to Mrs. Hans and deliberately fanned the flames.
“You! You!”
Mrs. Hans raised the feather duster with a trembling hand and brought it down.
The little boy revealed an arrogant smile, looking utterly superior.
Qian Li tilted her head slightly and took another bite of bread. With her other hand, she swiftly grabbed something and pulled it toward herself.
“Ouch! Ouch!”
The feather duster landed wildly, but every strike hit the boy instead. He immediately covered his head and cried out in pain.
Mrs. Hans froze with the feather duster still raised high in the air. After standing there in a daze for a moment, the color drained from her face until she became deathly pale.
She dropped the feather duster and immediately hugged the boy, checking his injuries with trembling hands.
“Mom didn’t mean to. Mom didn’t mean to hit you…”
Qian Li watched the scene coldly. Meeting Mrs. Hans’s venomous gaze, she sneered.
“You feel sorry for your own son now? Then why don’t you throw me out? Is it because of that fixed payment you receive every month?”
“Let me calculate… I will be eighteen this year. You have received that money for eighteen years without doing anything… Without that money, how could you maintain such a respectable life? Wouldn’t you have to move straight into the slums?”
Mrs. Hans’s eyes trembled when she looked at Qian Li, and she began to avert her gaze guiltily.
Damn it, how did she know?
“Mom! Mom!” The little boy grabbed Mrs. Hans’s clothes and shouted loudly, “Mom! Why are you afraid of her? It’s just…”
“Enough!” Mrs. Hans snapped quietly. Holding the little boy, she shoved Lily aside as she stood at the doorway and hurried away.
Qian Li picked up another piece of bread, spread strawberry jam over it, and held it out toward Lily.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Lily bit her lower lip, turned around, and ran out.
Qian Li took a bite of bread and shook her head as she watched Lily’s retreating figure.
If she did not want to eat, then so be it. Food should not be wasted.
Besides, this body would soon turn eighteen. Once the large monthly adoption payment stopped, she would definitely be thrown out of the house.
However, how could she possibly leave so easily?
At dinner, Lily carried roasted meat and bread into the dining room. For the first time, Qian Li had not been called away to work, so she fried herself a steak and ate it.
Before long, Lily tugged nervously at the hem of her dress and told Qian Li that Father Hans wanted to see her.
Qian Li raised an eyebrow.
Mrs. Hans would not complain about her, but the little boy might.
With that thought, she looked at Lily.
Lily avoided her gaze and bit her lip.
Qian Li pushed another freshly fried steak toward her, then straightened her dirty dress.
Inside the dining room, the head of the household, Hans, was neatly cutting a steak and placing the pieces in front of the boy. The boy held up his fork without even saying thank you and stuffed one piece after another into his mouth.
When Hans saw Qian Li arrive, he wiped his hands with a handkerchief and gave her a gentle smile for the first time.
“Qian Li, tomorrow is the day of worship. I heard that the Light Saint will be coming too, and there will be a celebration in the city. You don’t need to go to work at the café tomorrow. Just prepare properly with Lily. Tomorrow, we will take a carriage with Lord Aaron and go to the church.”
Planet Kroll was an F class frontier planet of the Empire that worshipped the God of Light. Lord Aaron was a business tycoon who controlled the interstellar transportation industry on Planet Kroll and belonged to its upper class.
These wealthy people especially loved reviving old fashioned customs to display their refined taste, and riding carriages was one of them.
Unfortunately, Lord Aaron’s wife had died less than half a month ago, and he had already begun looking for a new wife.
In the past, Aaron had tried to force Lily into kissing him. Whenever he grabbed the original owner’s hand, he would knead it repeatedly while looking at her with an extremely lecherous gaze. He was clearly a complete pervert.
Obviously, Hans intended to squeeze out the last bit of value from Qian Li and sell her off.
Qian Li sneered inwardly.
Seeing Qian Li’s cold expression, Hans frowned slightly.
Suppressing his own displeasure, Hans spoke in a warm tone.
“I bought new clothes for you girls. Dress up nicely and don’t embarrass me.”
Mrs. Hans glanced at Hans’s expression before finally speaking in a calmer voice.
“Tomorrow, when the church distributes bread, you… you and Lily, remember to take a few extra portions.”
PS: My dear, this book went completely off track, or, so it is ending here.