“Mother, you can’t die!”
“Mother, if you die, what will I do? If you die, I’ll have to observe three years of mourning and won’t be able to take the imperial examinations!”
“Mother, wake up—I told you to sell Second Yat!”
“Grandma~ Grandma~ tell me where the candy is, I want to eat it!”
……
Ye Manshu felt her eyelids heavy, as if she were dreaming. She couldn’t open her eyes.
Voices buzzed in her ears, noisier than the small rented house she once lived in beside a busy road.
“Hiss—” It hurt!
Why did her head hurt so much? She didn’t remember being injured.
“Shut up!”
In irritation, Ye Manshu opened her eyes.
Someone exclaimed in surprise, “Mother, you’re not dead! That’s great!”
She had been single since birth for nearly thirty years, yet a twenty-something “Bear Two” in front of her was calling her mother. She suspected she was dreaming.
Before she could react, another teenager of about seventeen or eighteen said coldly, “Mother, since you’re not dead, hurry up and sell Second Yat. I urgently need ten taels of silver.”
There was also a couple in their twenties. Though they said it was good that “Mother wasn’t dead,” their eyes showed a hint of disappointment.
Damn it…
Just as she was about to brush off this absurd dream, a flood of memories rushed into her mind like a tidal wave.
A dying person suddenly sitting up in shock…
Ye Manshu suddenly widened her eyes.
She was a doctor, specializing in traditional Chinese medicine. In the hospital, she used both Chinese and Western medicine. She was usually so busy she felt like she was dying from overwork. Occasionally, when free, her hobbies were watching videos of muscular “gods” with eight-pack abs and reading online novels to indulge herself.
How did staying up late land her in the body of a thirty-eight-year-old “extreme-grade” old lady in ancient times?
So she skipped dating, marriage, childbirth—everything—and jumped straight to being a grandmother?
Even video game leveling didn’t go this fast.
Three sons, two daughters, and also a grandson and two granddaughters.
This production rate was far beyond anything in her 2025 world.
But the quality… was truly worrying.
The eldest son and daughter-in-law only knew how to flatter, always scheming and trying to embezzle the family property.
The second son was filial to a fault, unable to resist, and his attitude toward his wife and daughters changed according to his mother’s mood.
The youngest son only thought of himself, caring nothing about his family’s survival, even willing to sell his nieces to fund his studies.
Relying on the original owner’s extreme favoritism toward sons and preference for grandsons, he acted tyrannically, treating the two granddaughters like donkeys.
The two granddaughters and second daughter-in-law were as timid as quails, terrified by even the slightest movement in the household.
This time, the youngest son, Cheng Qian, who was studying, demanded ten taels of silver. But the family had already been drained by his education.
They couldn’t produce even one tael, let alone ten.
So Cheng Qian set his sights on his two nieces.
The eldest girl, Daya, was five years old, but had been injured before—pushed down stairs by a cousin and left with a lame leg. She wouldn’t fetch a good price.
The second girl, Erya, was four years old and quite pretty. She could be sold for ten taels.
But this time, the second daughter-in-law suddenly fought back like a madwoman, protecting her child and refusing to sell her even while being beaten severely by the original owner.
Five-year-old Daya, limping, tried to stop it, and in the chaos, the original owner slipped, fell, and hit her head on a stone—sending her straight to meet the King of Hell.
Ye Manshu had read many novels and knew it was hard to return after transmigrating.
“Mother, say something. Don’t scare me. If you’re still angry… then… then we can sell Daya too.” Seeing her silent, the second son Cheng Kang grew anxious.
Ye Manshu looked at this overly filial son and felt irritated.
Why do women make things hard for other women?
She was from the modern era and had no such outdated preference for sons over daughters.
But hearing Cheng Kang say this, Cheng Qian sneered, “Exactly, Mother, sell them all. Even if Daya is lame, she can still fetch three or four taels. I still need money for my studies.”
The eldest son Cheng Yuan and his wife Yang Shi stood by indifferently, as long as it wasn’t their daughter.
If they could get money out of selling the girls, they wouldn’t mind at all.
“Sell what sell?!” Ye Manshu couldn’t hold it in anymore.
The original owner was already outrageous—preferring sons was one thing, but how could she be so cruel as to sell her granddaughters?
She had already sold her own daughters off with high dowries.
It sounded nice to say “married off,” but in reality, it was selling them.
Cheng Kang thought she was asking him, and quickly said, “Sell them, definitely sell them! If Mother is still angry, then sell my useless wife too.”
Ye Manshu: “……”
Damn it…
She couldn’t take it anymore and kicked Cheng Kang hard.
“Sell your mother!”
Cheng Kang froze, then immediately knelt down. “Mother, don’t say that! Even if I had to sell myself, I wouldn’t dare sell you.”
Cheng Yuan quickly realized something was wrong and smiled, “Mother, do you not want to sell Erya? Everything is up to you, Mother.”
His words were sweet, but his thoughts were dark. Ye Manshu gave him a slap on the head too.
“Put away your little schemes. I know exactly what you’re thinking. You’d love for me to die so you can inherit everything!”
Cheng Yuan panicked—this was something he could think, but not something that should be exposed.
He immediately knelt as well. “Mother, I’m innocent!”
Yang Shi also knelt quickly. “Mother, Cheng Yuan would never think that way.”
Cheng Qian felt that after his mother woke up, something was off. Relying on her favoritism, he pressed again:
“Mother, if we don’t sell Erya, we’ll have to sell land. I need money for my studies!”
Ye Manshu grew even angrier.
The eldest son was scheming but not truly vicious.
But this youngest son—he was truly ruthless.
The original owner couldn’t see through him, but she could.
Cheng Qian absolutely did not need that much money for studying.
Cheng Yuan had once told the original owner that Cheng Qian studied in the county but often ate and drank luxuriously at restaurants.
The original owner didn’t believe it.
But she did.
A normal student’s monthly expenses were only about three hundred wen.
Yet Cheng Qian constantly demanded money for books, new clothes (claiming embarrassment wearing old ones), social expenses, and more.
Altogether, it came to two or three taels of silver per month.
How could a poor family’s scholar afford such expenses?
Now he even claimed he needed ten taels for exam tutoring and “elite teachers” to predict exam questions.
Back then, it was also Cheng Qian’s idea to marry off the two daughters for high dowries.
The eldest daughter Cheng Yi, now nineteen, was married off three years ago to a crippled man ten years older than her, from a neighboring village, for eight taels and no dowry.
The second daughter, Cheng Qian’s twin, now seventeen, was married two years ago to a poor family in the mountains for ten taels.
Most of that money was spent by Cheng Qian.
A small portion was tricked away by Cheng Yuan.
And now, Cheng Qian had set his vicious eyes on the two little granddaughters.
Truly despicable.