“I’m rich—really rich now.”
She had originally planned to take the elevator and check every floor one by one. But remembering that the mall had a surveillance room, she jogged quickly over to it.
Looking at the wall filled with surveillance screens, she saw shelves upon shelves of dazzling goods. The entire mall was empty—no one in sight. Didn’t that mean she could take whatever she wanted and eat whatever she liked?
She hurried down to the supermarket on basement level one. In the snack section, she grabbed a flaky sesame pancake and took two big bites. Seeing a jar of pickled vegetables beside it, she reached out and pinched a sour long bean.
In her previous life, after she was released from prison, she saved every penny she earned and mailed it to the Shen brothers. Aside from eating factory or work-unit boxed meals, she rarely spent money on days she didn’t work. At most, she would buy a pancake and some pickled mustard greens to make a simple meal…
Habit had become second nature. So when faced with all these ready-to-eat foods, the first thing she chose without hesitation was still a simple pancake.
Now, however, she had been reborn after fleeing famine. Her hometown had suffered devastating floods the year before. What had once been three meals a day had turned into two, and eventually they only ate a little dry grain when hunger made their heads spin.
So being able to eat her fill now was an incredible luxury for her weak body.
The feeling of a full stomach made her whole body tremble with excitement. She covered her mouth, trying not to laugh too loudly.
It took a long while before she calmed down from her near-hysterical laughter. She understood that the appearance of this “assistant” space wasn’t meant for her to live in comfort and indulgence—it was meant to help her make things right for the Shen brothers.
Besides, this was the 1970s—a time of planned purchasing and ration coupons. And she had fled here from famine, owning nothing but a thin quilt and the clothes on her back. If she suddenly produced so many supplies out of thin air, she would definitely be accused of profiteering…
Even if she possessed all the goods in the mall, she couldn’t squander them openly.
Thinking this, she suppressed her excitement. She only took a pencil with an eraser from the shelf, carefully slipped it into her pocket, and then returned to the small grove.
Hearing footsteps not far away, she suddenly felt a wave of fear. Had someone seen her when she entered the space earlier?
“Ka—”
She followed the sound and saw a thin little boy beside a patch of thorn bushes, his back bent as he carried a huge bundle of unknown wild grass.
His sweat-soaked face had turned from red to dark under the sun. His small hands were covered in scratches. After wiping the sweat from his forehead, he hurriedly steadied the pig grass on his back again.
He was only ten years old and hadn’t even had his birthday yet. While children his age cut pig grass to earn money for candy, he cut pig grass simply to avoid being beaten.
“Are you the new teacher?” Shen Lingkang asked. A flash of panic crossed his eyes as his small, uneasy hands tugged at the grass bundle on his back.
“Yes.” Lin Qiuman quickly stepped forward, taking the grass bundle from him. Fighting back tears, she said hoarsely, “I’ll carry it for you.”
“Teacher Lin… my pig grass isn’t going home,” Shen Lingkang said awkwardly, shaking his head at her enthusiasm. “Teacher… can you not tell anyone?”
“Alright. Where do you want to put it?” Lin Qiuman asked with a smile, though she didn’t quite understand.
“I want to hide it in the thorn bushes and bring it home in a few days,” Shen Lingkang explained timidly. “My third brother is home now. My eldest and second brothers won’t let me cut pig grass. I’ll bring it back after my third brother leaves.”
“Okay. I’ll keep it a secret. It’ll be a secret between the two of us, alright?”
“Thank you.” Shen Lingkang scratched his ear shyly and nodded when he saw how kindly she smiled.
“Then I’ll help you hide it.”
Lin Qiuman placed the pig grass deep inside the thorn bushes and used a stick to rearrange the branches until the grass was completely hidden.
“Teacher, my name is Shen Lingkang. My third brother is Shen Linghua—he’s really capable,” Shen Lingkang said, looking at the gentle young woman before him. Her smile was so warm and beautiful. If only she could become his sister-in-law.
Lin Qiuman turned around and crouched in front of him again, smiling. “I already met your third brother at the village committee. The village chief wanted him to take me home as a wife, but he refused. Even if I can’t be your sister-in-law, you can still call me ‘sister.’ If anything happens in the future, come find me. Your sister will look out for you.”
The Shen family had four brothers. The eldest and second sons were children from Shen father’s deceased first wife. Shen Linghua and Shen Lingkang were sons from his second marriage. Even though there were already two stepsons, who wouldn’t want children of their own?
Shen mother was more than ten years younger than Shen father and insisted on having her own children. That was how Shen Linghua was born.
But when Shen Linghua was thirteen, she unexpectedly became pregnant again. Not long after giving birth to Shen Lingkang, she passed away.
At that time, the eldest brother was already married and his wife was pregnant. The second brother was also preparing to marry. Shen father was busy working in the fields and secretly believed that Shen Lingkang was a debt collector—his birth had taken his wife’s life. He never even spared the child a proper glance.
So the responsibility of raising the young Shen Lingkang fell entirely on Shen Linghua.
Later, when the eldest brother’s wife gave birth, she occasionally fed Shen Lingkang some milk. After the second brother married, his wife sometimes helped look after him as well.
Because of this, Shen Linghua was deeply grateful to both brothers and their wives. Every bit of money and work points he earned were handed over without keeping anything for himself.
He usually worked as manual labor at the reservoir, sometimes only returning home once every one or two months.
During the days he wasn’t home, Shen Lingkang was treated like a servant by the two sisters-in-law. Using the excuse that they had fed him milk when he was young, they ordered the small child—only a few years old—to do hard labor.
But whenever Shen Linghua was home, the two sisters-in-law would put on an act, pretending to care deeply for Shen Lingkang.
Young and easily frightened by their threats, Shen Lingkang never dared to complain.
“Sister?” Shen Lingkang felt warmth in his heart when he saw genuine concern in someone else’s eyes for the first time besides his third brother. Yet he almost didn’t dare believe it.
“Yes.” Lin Qiuman nodded with emotion. She took the pencil from her pocket and smiled. “I noticed your pencil was very short. Take this one and use it to do your homework.”
Shen Lingkang stared eagerly at the pencil. His small dark hand twitched but he didn’t dare reach out.
Lin Qiuman placed the pencil in his hand and then turned to carry the wild vegetables and firewood forward.
“Sister, I’ll help you carry it!” Shen Lingkang secretly curled his lips into a smile, sweet as if he had just tasted honey, and hurried after her.
The shadows of the two figures—one big, one small—stretched long beneath the slanting evening sun…
“So you’re the one who fled here from the famine?”
At the entrance of the village, Li Qiang leered at Lin Qiuman from head to toe, his eyes practically glued to her body.
Shen Lingkang knew Li Qiang was no good. Instinctively, he tugged at Lin Qiuman’s sleeve.
Lin Qiuman also knew Li Qiang was a local hooligan. In her previous life, after Shen Linghua brought her home as his wife, Li Qiang had even gone to the village committee and the Shen family to make trouble—claiming he was already thirty and still unmarried, and that if there were refugee women, he should get first pick!
She should have realized earlier that Li Qiang would set his sights on her…
“You little brat from the Shen family! Why aren’t you hurrying home for dinner? Your brother’s been looking for you all over the village.”