And after the original owner made such a scene, Shen Yue had given up on finding a partner altogether. So Shen Yue’s mother had come to hate the original owner, that was the bad news the system had mentioned.
The original owner was proud and arrogant, thinking the matchmaker had insulted her by introducing someone with a scarred face.
The original owner, who thought she was perfect in every way, couldn’t possibly swallow such treatment. When she came home, she got squeezed out by her three sisters-in-law too. Then, not having found a job despite graduating high school, she simply got herself to death in anger, and when she woke up, she was Su Yue with a mission.
“System, what about information on the female lead?” Su Yue asked.
“The male lead will sacrifice himself in an operation two years from now, so there’s no female lead.” The system’s cold voice made Su Yue’s throat tighten.
The male lead had spent his entire youth serving the nation, and in the end even gave his life for it, so tragic, and yet he’d been dismissed and looked down on by every girl. So unfortunate.
“Host, you are now the original owner, Su Yue.” The system said quietly.
Su Yue: …
“What’s the male lead’s current favorability?” Su Yue asked anxiously. She hadn’t even started the mission yet, please don’t be…
“Favorability -30.” The system reported and immediately disappeared, afraid of being scolded.
Su Yue: …
“My precious baby, if something happened to you, how would Grandma even live!” The dazed Su Yue was suddenly pulled back to reality by this cry, watching a wizened old lady throw herself at her.
Su Yue: this much enthusiasm really isn’t necessary.
“Grandma, I’m fine, sorry for worrying you.” Su Yue patted Grandma Su’s back soothingly. The original owner had been sweet-tongued and good at coaxing people, otherwise Grandma Su wouldn’t have treasured her like a lifeblood.
“You must have fainted from not being nourished these past couple days. Grandma’s going to stew you an egg custard to build you back up.” Grandma Su was the energetic type, and before Su Yue could stop her, she’d trotted out on her little feet. Su Yue could only sigh and give up.
In the original owner’s memories, all the eggs in the house belonged to the original owner. When she went to school, Grandma Su would save eggs and exchange them at the supply store for money, then use that money to spend on the original owner.
The other adults never even thought about it, and even the five kids in the house could only eat eggs on their birthdays.
But the original owner had grown tired of eating eggs and had never once thought to share them with the other people in the house. All the adults worked in the fields earning work points, except for the original owner and Grandma Su who stayed home cooking, plus the five kids.
The original owner’s food and clothes all came from others, yet she didn’t even put anyone else in her eyes, clearly a selfish person.
Su Yue didn’t want to dwell on these things anymore. The more she thought, the more frustrated she got. The opening move was a losing position, what could she do?
She was here to do a mission, no matter how difficult, she had to do it. Next, she’d need to figure out how to find a job in the county town. One reason was to avoid the Su family members, after all, her personality was different from the original owner’s. The other reason was, of course, to get close to the male lead, Shen Yue.
With the first step planned out, she relaxed a bit. She walked out the door, the Su household was just a simple farmhouse courtyard. The yard was big and very clean.
The original owner shared the east main room with Grandpa Su and Grandma Su, separated by a grass curtain. The west main room was occupied by Su Daqiang and his wife.
The eldest brother’s family lived in the east side room. The south side was the kitchen. The second and third brothers’ families lived in the west side room. The back was a vegetable garden where a family of over a dozen people got all their vegetables for the year.
The five kids were all clustered around the kitchen door, in an era of scarcity, getting an egg was a rare treat.
The moment Grandma Su pulled out two eggs, the five kids knew what was going on. The oldest, Su He, was only seven years old. Little kids could understand all kinds of things, even if they couldn’t eat, they wanted to smell.
When the egg custard was placed in Su Yue’s hands, she felt like she was holding a live grenade, the kind that exploded on touch. Five pairs of eyes, both timid and hopeful, were fixed on the egg custard. Scary, right?
Su Hu and Su Miao were only three, drooling so much their entire shirt fronts were soaked.
If it had been hungry, predatory eyes like she’d seen in the orphanage, she wouldn’t have minded at all, it would have even stirred her fighting spirit. After all, the orphanage had been full of eyes like that.
But the problem was she was an adult now, and these five kids were her nephews and nieces in this body.
“Precious, eat quickly, it won’t taste good cold. Grandma’s in the back garden, call out if you feel unwell.” Before leaving, Grandma Su had even glared at the five kids, the threat very clear. The five shrank their necks instinctively.
“Let’s play a game, you each get one spoonful of this egg custard, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.” Once Grandma Su was gone, Su Yue spoke to the five kids.
Her stomach was singing an empty tune, but she couldn’t eat. She wasn’t a good person, but she wasn’t cold-hearted either, she couldn’t do the selfishness of eating alone.
The five kids nodded enthusiastically. As long as they got to eat egg custard, so what if they got beat afterward, they’d been beaten before anyway.
“Little Auntie, I’ll wash the bowl.” As the oldest of the five, Su He definitely had a bit more sense than the others. Once he took the bowl, she couldn’t back out even if she wanted to.
“Fine.” Su Yue pretended not to see his little scheme, wandered around, then went back inside.
“Is Little Auntie crazy?” Five-year-old Su Hai asked his older brother with innocent, clear eyes.
“Stop chattering, just eat, one spoonful each.” Su He scooped one out and handed it to the youngest, Su Hu.
Su He didn’t achieve perfect fairness, since he ended up eating one spoonful less himself. A seven-year-old kid who couldn’t eat eggs more than twice a year managed to do this, that took real effort, and showed that Su Jianguo and his wife had raised their children well.
Back in her room, Su Yue rummaged through the original owner’s things and found an unexpected bonus: 3 yuan and 50 cents. Don’t let the amount fool you, in the 1970s, that was good purchasing power.
She noticed the original owner had three sets of clothes, one newer, two older, with the common feature that none had patches. Looking through the memories of the other Su family members, they all had patches piled on patches. Even Grandma Su’s clothes had patches.
As befitted the family treasure, while others were worried about getting a single outfit, the original owner had three.
As evening shadows fell, the Su family members started returning home. Just as Su Yue was wondering whether to go help with dinner or stay put like the original owner and wait for ready-made food, the door opened.
A dark-skinned man came in with a slightly stooped back and graying temples.
“Grandpa,” Su Yue called out instinctively. It was Grandpa Su, already sixty but still working in the fields like a young man every day.
“Hungry, Little Yue? Your sister-in-law is cooking, we’ll eat soon.” Grandpa Su sat on a small stool and let out a long breath. No point resisting age, at his years, after a full day of labor, his bones felt like they were falling apart.