Shen Danyun stood there in tattered clothes, her hair a disheveled mess. Her eyes were fixed intently on the food spread across the table, a string of saliva trailing from the corner of her mouth.
Behind her, Shen Danyue and Shen Wentao—equally ragged and unkempt—shrank back in fear. They poked their small heads out from behind their eldest sister, peering cautiously into the room.
“You parasitic jinxes dare show your faces here? Get lost! Stay a moment longer and I’ll beat you to death!” Madam Liu Chen’s upper lip was thin and short while her lower lip was thick and fleshy; her withered face was a roadmap of deep wrinkles. Seeing the three children, she flew into a rage, brandishing her cane and swinging it toward them.
The three starving siblings had followed the savory scent of chicken here today. Little did they know that the moment they showed their faces, they would be driven away by Madam Liu Chen.
Danyue tugged anxiously at Danyun’s sleeve. “Sister, run!” She grabbed Wentao’s hand and turned to flee.
But Danyun was in a daze, her stomach growling so fiercely it felt like it was touching her spine. Seeing food right in front of her, she refused to leave. She lunged forward, grabbed a white flour bun, and stuffed it into her mouth. This sent Madam Liu Chen into a frenzy. She swung her thick wooden cane—as wide as an arm—and rained blows down upon Danyun’s head.
Focused entirely on eating, Danyun didn’t even think to dodge. A heavy blow struck her forehead, and she collapsed straight to the ground. Blood trickled down her cheek, staining the bun she had bitten but hadn’t yet swallowed.
“Sister!” Seeing Danyun fall in a pool of blood, Danyue screamed and rushed forward. Their mother was already gone; if something happened to her sister, what would she and her brother do? The small child’s heart was filled with sheer terror.
“Sister, wake up! Please wake up! Don’t scare me… Yueyue is so scared, wah…” Danyue shook Danyun’s arm vigorously, wailing. Beside her, little Shen Wentao began to cry as well, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Still playing dead, are you? You dare steal food? I’ll beat this idiot to death and throw her in the river to feed the fish!” Madam Liu Chen slammed her cane against the ground, cursing viciously. She raised the wood again, preparing to strike the three children on the floor.
“Grandmother, please stop hitting Sister! Her head is bleeding, wah…” Though she was terrified, Danyue shielded her younger brother with one hand and her unconscious sister with the other, crying out as she stood her ground.
It was near dusk, and the villagers returning from the fields or foraging heard the commotion and rushed over.
“Stop it! Even if they aren’t your biological grandkids, they’ve called you ‘Grandmother’ for years. How can you be so heartless? You’ve beaten the child unconscious and you’re still going!” Auntie Shitou from next door stepped forward, shouting her rebuke.
“You’re living in someone else’s brick house; the least you can do is raise their children. There’s no reason to beat a child half to death over a bun,” someone else chimed in.
Madam Liu Chen gritted her teeth in fury. These three unlucky brats were truly a curse. “It’s easy for you all to talk! If you’re so kind-hearted, why don’t you take them home? In times like these, even my own children don’t have enough to eat. Where would I get the extra grain to raise them?”
“Then get out of their house! You live in their home but won’t give them a bite to eat—you even beat them? What exactly are you trying to do?”
“Exactly! You want the benefits of their family’s wealth but refuse to give anything back. You want to have your cake and eat it too!”
“This house was built by my godson! If we don’t live here, are we supposed to let you live here? If it weren’t for the famine, we wouldn’t let them go hungry,” Madam Liu Chen snapped back, refusing to yield an inch to the crowd’s accusations.
“What ‘god-relative’? That connection was severed long ago! If you won’t raise these children, move out. If you won’t care for them, you have no right to stay here.”
“The girl’s head is bleeding and you won’t even call a doctor? Do you want her dead?” The crowd continued to bombard her with criticism.
The newly awakened Shen Danyun listened to the chaotic noise, unable to process things for a moment. Wasn’t I dead? Where is this?
Danyun remembered she had been killed by a bomb while rescuing wounded soldiers. She hadn’t even had time to duck into her “Space.”
The Space… Danyun instinctively checked. When she saw the fruits and vegetables growing inside, the granaries full of food, the armory, and the medical supplies, her heart finally settled.
She had acquired the Space by chance after falling into a cave in a remote mountain range during a military mission. She had just finished stocking it when she was sacrificed on the battlefield before she could enjoy any of it.
As she thought, a sharp pain pierced her head. Memories that didn’t belong to her flooded her mind like a tide.
She had transmigrated—and into the body of a “fool”! Actually, she wasn’t truly a fool; she had been ambushed a year ago and suffered a head injury that left her in a dazed, simple-minded state.
“Sister, you’re awake! Thank goodness you’re okay!” Seeing her sister open her eyes, Danyue was overjoyed.
“Pah.” Danyun spat out the bloody bun. Looking at the two grimy, ragged “little radishes” in front of her, she frowned. “Why are you two so dirty? You look like little beggars.”
“Oh, so you’re not dead? If you’re not dead, stop faking it and get the hell out!” Madam Liu Chen barked, waving her cane.
“This is my house. Who are you telling to get out?” Danyun’s face darkened. Her gaze turned ice-cold as it locked onto Madam Liu Chen, an aura of killing intent instantly filling the air.
Terrified, Madam Liu Chen stumbled back, tripping and falling onto her backside, wailing in pain.
Liu Xiaofang rushed over to help her up. “Grandmother, are you alright?”
“Are you wishing I wasn’t? You useless money-loser!” Madam Liu Chen, needing a vent for her frustration, pinched the flesh on Xiaofang’s arm hard. Xiaofang winced in pain but didn’t dare make a sound, her eyes burning with resentment as she glared at Danyun.
The onlookers were stunned. What is going on? The ‘idiot’ girl doesn’t seem like an idiot anymore. Did that blow to the head actually fix her?
At that moment, Danyue, fearing her sister would be hit again, helped her up. “Grandmother, we’re leaving right now. Please don’t hit Sister again; her head is already bleeding.”
“Go! Get out! If you don’t leave, I’ll beat you to death!” Madam Liu Chen felt humiliated for being frightened by a fool, but that moment of eye contact had been terrifying. She felt that if she hadn’t backed away, she might have actually lost her life.
“You want to beat us to death?” Danyun patted her sister’s hand, signaling her to stay calm.
Meeting Danyun’s indifferent gaze, Madam Liu Chen felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine. For a moment, she didn’t dare utter another threat.
Danyue gently shook her arm. “Sister, let’s go back. If Grandmother gets angry again, she’ll hit us.”
Danyun replied, “She isn’t our grandmother. Don’t call her that anymore.”
Shen Wentao scratched his head. “But Father and Mother always told us to call her Grandmother.”
“That’s because she wanted the money Father earned,” Danyun said. “She played with their emotions just to get it. That’s why she made us call her that. Do you understand?”
Danyue blinked her large eyes, seemingly understanding but still confused. She whispered, “Father was so silly, giving all the money to other people while we stayed hungry.” Realizing she shouldn’t speak ill of her father, she quickly covered her mouth with her dirty little hand.
“Sister, we have no money for food. Why give it to others? Tao-tao’s tummy is so hungry,” three-year-old Wentao looked up, patting his small stomach piteously.
“Hungry? Sister will take you to wash your hands and then we’ll eat.” Danyun washed the two little ones’ hands and began leading them toward the dining table.
“No, Sister, no! Let’s go quickly, or the Fake Grandmother will beat us to death!” Danyue pulled at her sister’s arm in a panic, trying to drag her toward the door.
Meanwhile, little Wentao’s eyes remained glued to the food on the table, his throat bobbing as he swallowed repeatedly. He was just so, so hungry.