Hearing this, Lan Sisi’s heart softened immediately. She reached out and patted his head, reminding him not to go into the mountains alone again.
Lan Sinian nodded in agreement and subconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Just now, his sister had looked truly frightening.
“And also, don’t casually bring home strangers in the future, alright? It’s just the two of us at home. What if you run into a bad person? But since you’ve already brought him back, we can only wait until he wakes up.”
Lan Sinian nodded repeatedly. Whatever his sister said was right.
Seeing how obedient he was, Lan Sisi could not help but smile. The worry and anger in her heart gradually faded.
When Lin Ruihai woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar place. It was already dark outside, and the room was dim. He closed his eyes briefly. His last memory was rolling down from the mountain. Had he still been captured? He wondered what kind of torment awaited him. That person truly had a ruthless heart.
His body, frozen for too long, felt stiff. As he slowly moved, his joints made faint cracking sounds. From not far away came the faint sound of voices, along with the aroma of food. His stomach let out a low rumble.
Just as he was slowly trying to get off the bed, the door opened, and a girl walked in. Because it was dark, he could not see her clearly, only her silhouette.
“Oh, you’re awake? Then get up and have something to eat. Sinian, bring the dishes inside,” she called out, the latter sentence directed outside.
Soon, the light in the room was turned on. Under the dim yellow glow, a bright-eyed, beautiful girl stood before him. Lin Ruihai was momentarily stunned. He had imagined many possibilities, but he had not expected that he had actually been saved.
“How did you end up lying in a ravine covered in blood? You’re not from our village, are you?” Lan Sisi asked tentatively.
“I fell down by accident. The wounds were caused by hitting rocks. I’m not from this village, just passing through,” Lin Ruihai replied.
His answer had some inconsistencies, but everyone had their secrets. Seeing that his gaze was clear and clean, not like that of a vicious person, Lan Sisi did not press further.
Lan Sisi had made fish soup using crucian carp from the farm, stir-fried a pot of fragrant and spicy crayfish, cooked a pot of sweet corn porridge, and made dumplings from wild vegetables. The aroma filled the air, making Lin Ruihai’s stomach growl even louder.
Lan Sisi placed a bowl of porridge and a bowl of fish soup in front of Lin Ruihai, while she and Lan Sinian happily dug into a basin of crayfish and vegetable dumplings.
Lin Ruihai ate the bland porridge, staring longingly at the crayfish. He wanted to try it…
“What are you staring at? You’re too weak to eat spicy food,” Lan Sisi said bluntly.
Lin Ruihai lowered his head and resigned himself to drinking porridge.
“Sis, this crayfish is so delicious!”
“Right? Later I’ll add some noodles and mix them in. That’s when it really tastes amazing.”
Lan Sinian nodded repeatedly. At this point, he felt that everything his sister said was right.
As Lin Ruihai drank his porridge, listening to their simple and warm conversation, he felt his heart gradually calm.
After a warm meal, his body slowly regained warmth, and the stiffness eased.
“You were brought back by my younger brother. Once you recover a bit, contact your family to come pick you up,” Lan Sisi briefly explained what had happened.
Family? Did he still have one?
Lin Ruihai felt that this dilapidated little house, and this simple meal, felt more like a home than anything else.
“I don’t have parents. I don’t have family,” he said softly, his voice still hoarse.
Lan Sisi was slightly stunned. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright… Thank you for letting me stay here to recover. Once I’m better, I’ll leave,” Lin Ruihai said.
A heavy sense of sorrow lingered around him. Lan Sisi suddenly felt that she might have been a bit too cold.
Perhaps it was the weight of his sadness, or perhaps his face was simply too persuasive, but she found herself saying, “The New Year is coming. Why don’t you stay until after it’s over?” After saying it, she mentally shook her head. Beauty truly clouded judgment.
“Really? Wouldn’t that trouble you?” Lin Ruihai asked.
“No, it’s just me and my brother anyway. It’ll be livelier with one more person,” Lan Sisi said awkwardly, as she had only intended it as a polite remark and had not expected him to agree so quickly.
“Alright, thank you. I can pay you,” Lin Ruihai said, a faint smile appearing on his handsome face, making Lan Sisi’s heart beat a little faster.
“We’ll talk about that later. To others, we’ll say you’re a distant relative from my mother’s side. You can stay in the room in the corner,” she said. As an unmarried young woman living with a man, even if she did not mind, the gossip in the village would be unbearable. Claiming he was a relative was the best solution.
“Sis, didn’t you say he might be a bad person?” Lan Sinian whispered when they were alone.
Lan Sisi fell silent. What could she say? That she was swayed by looks? That her judgment followed appearances? She felt helpless.
Lan Sinian, unable to get an answer, fell into deep thought.
“Sisi, Sinian! It’s time to distribute grain!” Early in the morning, Aunt Sun’s voice sounded from outside.
Lan Sisi and Lan Sinian had already woken up early, waiting for this very moment.
As soon as Aunt Sun stepped inside, she saw Lin Ruihai, still wrapped in bandages. She paused.
The bandages had been applied while he was unconscious, to prevent his recovery from seeming too fast and raising suspicion.
“Aunt Sun, this is a distant relative from my mother’s side. He has no family left and ended up finding his way here by chance,” Lan Sisi quickly explained.
“Hello, Aunt Sun,” Lin Ruihai greeted politely.
Aunt Sun’s expression softened immediately. “I see. What a handsome young man. Your mother used to talk about her family. What about your grandmother, any news? And these injuries…”
“No news about my grandmother yet. He was traveling through the mountains and fell accidentally,” Lan Sisi added.
“Oh dear, you must be careful.”
“Let’s go quickly, Aunt. If we’re late, there will definitely be a crowd today,” Lan Sisi urged.
They locked the house and hurried toward the grain depot. Originally, Lin Ruihai had been told to stay home, but out of curiosity, he followed them anyway.
The grain depot was where grain was usually dried and stored. In front of the building was a large open space. By the time they arrived, some villagers were already waiting, including Liu Guihua’s group. Today, their grandfather Lan Tianzhu, Eldest Uncle, and Third Uncle were all present.
In the original owner’s memories, Lan Tianzhu was completely submissive to his wife, quiet and never daring to oppose Liu Guihua. It was precisely this indulgence that had made life so difficult for the second branch.
Liu Guihua glared at Lan Sisi, muttering something under her breath. Lan Sisi did not need to hear it to know it was certainly more insults.
Beside Fang Shi stood a bespectacled young man and a girl with a high ponytail and an arrogant expression. These must be Lan Junsheng and Lan Hehua, whom she had not yet met since transmigrating.
Lan Meili, who used to act arrogantly toward Lan Sisi, now followed behind Lan Hehua like an eager flatterer, saying something ingratiating. Lan Hehua responded indifferently, a hint of impatience in her expression.
Many people were curious about Lin Ruihai beside Lan Sisi. Aunt Sun, worried about Lan Sisi’s reputation, explained that he was a relative. Only then did everyone show understanding.
Soon, the team leader and the village chief arrived with the record book. Everyone was excited. After a year of hard work, this was what they had been waiting for.
After Lan Aimin’s death, Lan Sisi and Lan Sinian together could only earn seven to eight work points a day. However, when Lan Aimin had still been alive, he had consistently earned ten points daily. As a result, the grain and money they received this year were not small, including rice, flour, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. Aunt Sun’s husband, Uncle Zhang, and Ergouzi helped them load everything onto a cart.
“Mother, look, those two jinxes got so much grain,” Yu Shi whispered to Liu Guihua.
“Hmph, those ungrateful wretches. If the second son were still alive, all that grain would belong to our family. It’s all because of those jinxes, bringing misfortune to their parents,” Liu Guihua said angrily.
“Enough, the second son is gone. What’s the point of saying this?” Lan Tianzhu frowned.
“What? I can’t say it? He came from my womb. Why can’t I speak?” Liu Guihua’s voice immediately rose.
Lan Tianzhu fell silent, allowing her to rant without another word.
Their voices were loud, and Lan Sisi and the others heard everything clearly. Lin Ruihai also realized that these people were actually the siblings’ relatives. The one who cursed the most viciously was their own grandmother, each word harsher than the last, as if she were speaking about enemies.
Lin Ruihai felt a sense of shared misfortune.
“Don’t pay attention to her.” Lan Sisi squeezed Lan Sinian’s tightly clenched hand. When a dog barked at them, there was no need to respond.
Lan Hehua and Lan Junsheng also looked toward Lan Sisi. A trace of surprise flashed in Lan Hehua’s eyes. She remembered that the siblings had once been thin and dark from malnutrition. Now, they had gained weight, and their skin had become much fairer. Especially Lan Sisi, her face looked soft and pale, almost as if it could drip with water when pinched. She had to admit that Lan Sisi was far prettier than herself, and what she disliked most was women more beautiful than her.
But so what? She had taken Lan Sisi’s job and would marry into the city in the future. She was the real winner.
In truth, Lan Sisi’s transformation was thanks to the farm’s food. Not only her and Lan Sinian, even Ergouzi, who had once been as dark as charcoal, had become noticeably fairer after eating their food a few times. Aunt Sun, unaware of the truth, simply thought it was due to the winter.
Lan Meili also noticed Lan Sisi. She stood quietly, listening to Aunt Sun, with a faint smile and dimples appearing on her cheeks, completely different from the girl who had kicked her down before. The more she looked, the more irritating it seemed.
Lan Sisi ignored all hostile gazes. To borrow a famous saying, there were plenty of people who disliked her, and none of them mattered.
The commotion on the other side grew louder. The village chief looked over the crowd and fixed his gaze on them, his expression turning stern. “On a day like this, you still want to cause trouble? Lan Tianzhu, what kind of man can’t even manage his own wife?”
Lan Tianzhu pulled Liu Guihua, signaling her to stop embarrassing herself. Lan Aijun also gave Yu Shi a warning look, telling her to stop instigating. Yu Shi lowered her head, feeling wronged, believing she had only spoken the truth.
Liu Guihua muttered a few words but eventually fell silent. They still depended on the village chief for grain distribution and did not dare make a bigger scene.
Each member of the family harbored their own thoughts.