When Shen Erli turned around, he saw Shen Dali carrying the unconscious Shen Qingyuan as he ran toward the room.
He could no longer care about anything else and quickly rushed over to check on the situation.
Shen Qingyuan had fainted due to the injury on her head. When she woke up again, she found herself lying alone in her room.
Outside the room, Zhou Shi was speaking with Old Man Shen Youcai, who had just returned from the county town.
“I never expected that while I was away today, our daughter would encounter such a major incident. That damned Zhao family is so heartless—I must teach them a lesson!”
“Oh, old man, don’t get so worked up just yet. The most important thing right now is Qingyuan’s safety. We’ll talk about everything else after she wakes up.”
Shen Youcai sighed helplessly.
“If anything happens to my daughter, I will never let the Zhao family off. Take good care of our daughter these next few days, and make sure nothing else happens to her!”
“I know!”
Zhou Shi then turned to Shen Dali.
“Dali, bring Huiniang back tomorrow.”
Shen Dali’s face darkened.
“She insulted Little Sister. I won’t bring her back!”
“It’s common for family members to argue. Don’t be so stubborn—listen to me! No matter what, she is still the mother of Zhou’er and Xiaohua!”
Shen Dali fell silent. Shen Qingyuan felt that this stubborn mule would need her to step in and persuade him.
Eldest Sister-in-law must be brought back.
She remembered the System Space. Seeing that no one was around, she decided to take a closer look at her Golden Finger.
She closed her eyes and silently chanted “System Space.”
In the next moment, she entered the System Space.
In front of her, a semi-transparent large screen floated in mid-air.
The large screen was divided into two parts. On the upper left side were the words “System Mall,” while the lower left side was empty.
She raised an eyebrow.
What was going on? The System Mall had nothing in it?
This system was so poor!
She then looked to the right.
On the upper right side were the words “Daily Check-in,” and below it was the calendar for the current month.
Could it be that checking in would yield rewards?
With a try-it-out attitude, she pointed her finger at today’s date on the screen. When her finger touched the large screen, a light flashed beneath it.
[Congratulations, Host, for activating the Daily Check-in Reward event. Rewards are random. Today’s Check-in Reward is a pack of rubber gloves.]
The smile that had just begun to form on Shen Qingyuan’s face instantly vanished.
She felt as though a flock of crows had just flown over her head.
What was going on?
After finally getting a Check-in Reward, it turned out to be a pack of rubber gloves!
This thing couldn’t be eaten or drunk—what use could it possibly have?
She felt slightly dissatisfied.
“Couldn’t the system reward something better?”
The system did not respond.
“System, don’t play deaf and dumb. Please answer my question.”
The system still did not reply.
“What’s going on? In the system novels I’ve read before, the system could always communicate with the host. Why can’t mine?”
It seemed her system was quite different from others. Unlike other transmigrators who could chat freely with their systems, hers was just a broadcasting machine.
Oh well, if it wouldn’t talk, then it wouldn’t talk. She just needed to focus on completing her tasks.
After examining the large screen, she observed her surroundings.
The space around her was only about ten square meters. Aside from the large screen floating in the center, there was nothing else—everything around was a vast expanse of white.
Was this Golden Finger really that stingy? Couldn’t it offer a few more benefits?
Could it be that her Golden Finger needed to be developed?
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard footsteps gradually approaching. Her consciousness quickly returned to her body.
Opening her eyes, she saw Zhou Shi entering with a bowl in hand.
Seeing Shen Qingyuan awake, Zhou Shi’s tear-dried eyes moistened once more.
“Qingyuan, you’re awake?”
Shen Qingyuan’s heart tightened, and she quickly offered comfort.
“Mother, I’m fine, don’t worry.”
Zhou Shi helped Shen Qingyuan sit up, letting her lean against her chest.
“Drink this porridge. It’ll make you feel better and help your wounds heal faster.”
Shen Qingyuan looked down at the bowl before her—a thick white rice porridge—and instinctively refused.
“Mother, our family already has so little white rice. If I eat this, what will the rest of you eat?”
“Let’s focus on healing the wound on your head first. Nothing else matters. We’ll manage with whatever food we have—don’t worry about us!”
As she spoke, Shen Youcai, Shen Dali, and Shen Erli—the father and his two sons—also entered the room.
They were overjoyed to learn Shen Qingyuan was awake and urged her to drink the porridge.
Unable to decline their kindness, Shen Qingyuan thought that to earn money and repay her family, she first needed a healthy body.
She needed food to replenish her energy, so she stopped overthinking and drank the entire bowl of white rice porridge.
At dinner, while Shen Qingyuan continued eating white rice porridge alone, the others had coarse grain pancakes with wild vegetable soup.
After the meal, night had fully fallen, and everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
Dabao and Erbao went to sleep in Shen Erli’s room, while Sanya stayed in Shen Qingyuan’s room.
But before bedtime, Dabao and Erbao lingered by Sanya’s side, refusing to go back to sleep.
Shen Qingyuan knew they were worried about her and made another promise.
“Don’t worry, I won’t bully Sanya.”
Dabao snorted disdainfully.
“Now that we’re in your home, who knows what tricks you might pull.”
Erbao chimed in.
“We may be young, but we’re not easily fooled! If you want to hit someone, hit us. We’re boys—don’t bully Sanya, a little girl.”
Shen Qingyuan looked at their determined expressions and smiled.
Another pair of doting older brothers!
Just as Shen Qingyuan was about to speak again, Sanya, who was being shielded by Dabao and Erbao, spoke up.
“Big brother, second brother, I’m just sleeping with Mother. Nothing will happen! Besides, we’ll see each other again tomorrow morning. You should go sleep in Second Uncle’s room too!”
Dabao and Erbao turned to look at Sanya simultaneously, their eyes filled with anxiety, speaking in unison.
“Little sister!”
If they really left their sister alone with the wicked stepmother, who knew how she might be mistreated!
Sanya understood her brothers’ worries, but for some reason, she felt that Mother wouldn’t do that anymore.
Though still a bit uncertain, she chose to believe.
She also didn’t want her brothers to anger Mother.
If Mother lost patience and reverted to her former terrifying self, her brothers would be beaten again.
She didn’t want her brothers to be beaten, nor did she want Mother to become like she was before.
“Trust me, nothing will happen to Sanya.”
Dabao and Erbao glanced at Sanya, then at Shen Qingyuan, still uneasy.
Shen Qingyuan was exhausted and didn’t want to argue with the children. She grabbed Dabao and Erbao and led them toward the door.
“Don’t worry. If Sanya loses even a single strand of hair tomorrow, you can hold me accountable! I’m tired after a long day—let’s all get some sleep.”
Before Dabao and Erbao could react, they were pushed out the door.
Just as Erbao was about to knock and rescue Sanya, Dabao stopped him.
Today’s stepmother was indeed different from before. Not only did she not yell at them or hit them, but she also allowed them to eat at the table with the Shen family.
Even though she was very tired now and had driven them out of the room, there was not a trace of anger in her tone—only a hint of helplessness.
Could it be that the stepmother had truly changed for the better?
He still found it hard to believe.
But now they were in the Shen household, and under someone else’s roof, they had no choice but to lower their heads. They couldn’t anger the stepmother, or Sanya would be the first to suffer.
For the sake of his sister’s safety, they had no choice but to obey and obediently go to sleep in Shen Erli’s room.
However, that night, none of them slept peacefully.