"Si Ya, are you feeling better?" Her father, Xia Zheng'an, entered the room and asked haltingly, feeling too guilty to look at Xia Tian.
Looking at her useless father, Xia Tian felt a surge of anger. Grandma wanted to sell her off, and her mother had at least talked back to Grandma a couple of times, even if it was pointless.
But her father had just squatted in a corner of the courtyard, holding his head in his hands, without so much as a peep.
Xia Tian ground her teeth and said fiercely, "Dad, go tell Grandma that I agree to the marriage, but on one condition. I want to eat right now. Have Grandma make me a bowl of noodles—pure white flour noodles. Also, I want one tael of silver for my dowry. If Grandma doesn't agree, then she can just wait to collect my corpse!"
In the Xia Family, only her fourth uncle, who was studying in the county town, was qualified to eat white flour noodles. Grandma Xia usually guarded them jealously. If anyone got a craving and wanted a bite, she would point her finger and curse them out for half a day.
As for silver, that was even more out of the question. Grandma Xia had always been one to take in money but never let it out, except for her fourth uncle.
Why make her father be the one to say it?
Naturally, whoever made the request would be the one to get cursed out. And who asked her father to be such a pushover all the time? When his own mother bullied his wife and children, he never dared to utter a word of protest, only telling his wife and children to endure it.
This time, with the original owner being married off to a sickly man, her father hadn't dared to make a sound.
If she wasn't going to pit her dad now, when would she?
She would just consider it getting justice for the original owner.
Watching her father leave the room with slumped shoulders, Xia Tian finally felt her anger subside a little.
Before long, the sound of Grandma Xia's furious shouting came from the main house.
Listening to the scolding from the main house, Xia Tian rubbed her ears. Her body slowly relaxed, and her head felt groggy. In no time, she had actually fallen asleep.
She didn't know what her father had ultimately said to Grandma Xia, nor how long she had slept. When Xia Yue woke her up, she opened her eyes and stared at the old wooden roof, dazed for a long while before she came to her senses.
Seeing that Xia Tian was awake, Xia Yue quickly handed her the old porcelain bowl and chopsticks in her hands.
Xia Tian took the bowl and saw that it was filled to the brim with white flour noodles, with a tender white poached egg resting on top. Only then did the resentment she felt toward her father lessen a bit.
This dad of hers wasn't completely useless after all.
At that moment, her stomach let out an uncooperative growl. Xia Tian smiled sheepishly at Xia Yue.
"Big Sis, do you want some?"
"I've already eaten. You should eat quickly, Si Ya," Xia Yue said gently.
Xia Tian was starving by now, so she didn't stand on ceremony. She held the bowl and began slurping down the noodles.
Sigh, I never thought plain noodles could be this delicious, Xia Tian lamented inwardly. In her past life, she was always on a diet, refusing to eat this and that. Well, look at her now. Even if she wanted to eat, she couldn't get her hands on it.
Watching her younger sister wolf down the food, Xia Yue's heart ached. Si Ya was only fifteen, yet she was about to be married to a sickly man who might not live for much longer.
This sister of hers had always been feisty and strong-willed. She had no idea what kind of life awaited her.
Halfway through her meal, Xia Tian's stomach felt more comfortable. She looked up and noticed Xia Yue staring at her.
"Big Sis, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. Hurry up and eat."
Xia Tian nodded at Xia Yue. Just as she was about to continue eating, the door curtain moved, and two children about six or seven years old rushed in.
One boy and one girl. They were the original owner's younger twin siblings, Xia Shi and Xia Chen. Xia Chen was the youngest sister, and her nickname was Wu Ya.
In reality, the two children were both nine years old this year. Because they were constantly underfed and had to work, they were both thin and small, making them look only six or seven.
"Fourth Sister, you're awake! Does your head still hurt?" Xia Shi asked with concern, clutching Xia Tian's sleeve. Wu Ya stood beside him, her face full of worry.
"Fourth Sister is fine. It doesn't hurt anymore," Xia Tian replied with a smile, reaching out to ruffle her younger siblings' hair.
"Sister, we were so worried about you. Mom said you were sleeping and wouldn't let us in," Xia Shi said aggrievedly, and Wu Ya nodded along.
The original owner had a fiery personality and was fiercely protective of her own. At home, she was the one who defended these two younger siblings the most, so Xia Shi and Xia Chen were very attached to her.
Seeing the two little ones' dependence on her, Xia Tian felt a warmth spread through her heart.
"Shi, Wu Ya, can you two do your sister a favor?" Xia Tian asked, her heart aching as she watched her younger siblings secretly eye the noodle bowl and swallow.
"What favor? Tell us, Fourth Sister," the two children asked, looking up with wide eyes.
"Help me finish the rest of these noodles. Fourth Sister is full, a little too full," Xia Tian said, patting her stomach and handing the half-full bowl over.
Xia Shi and Xia Chen looked at each other and shook their heads in unison. "Sister, you eat it. We've already eaten."
Looking at the sensible children, Xia Tian deliberately tried to scare them. "Then what should we do? I'm full, and Big Sis won't eat it either. How about we give it to Third Uncle's son?"
Watching from the side, Xia Yue also felt a pang of sadness. The two little ones had never eaten white flour noodles in their lives. Of course, neither had she.
Xia Yue understood Xia Tian's intention—she just wanted to let her younger brother and sister have a taste of white flour noodles. So, she played along. "Then let me take it over to Xia Nan."
"No," Xia Shi and Xia Chen cried out at the same time. "We're not giving it to Xia Nan! Third Aunt is always bullying us, and Xia Nan loves to tattle on us so Grandma will hit us."
Xia Nan was Third Uncle's youngest son, who was six this year.
Speaking of the names of the Xia family's children, they were relatively normal, much better than the "Goudan" (Dog Egg) or "Chutou" (Hoe) common in the village.
This was because Xia Tian had a fourth uncle studying in the county town. Although he had taken the exam for many years without even passing the Tongsheng level, he put on quite the scholarly air.
To show off his culture as a scholar, her fourth uncle had given all the children in the family proper names a few years ago. Even though they were still things like directions—east, south, west, north—or geographical features—mountains, rivers—they were at least much more normal than the names other villagers came up with.
However, family members and villagers were still used to calling them Er Ya, San Ya, and Si Ya.
But at their fourth uncle's strong insistence, the boys' names had been changed to their proper ones.
Watching her younger brother and sister happily eating the noodles, Xia Tian wondered if her father had managed to get that one tael of silver for her.
Until it was time to sleep that night, no one else besides the members of her immediate family came into the room.
With matters weighing on her mind, Xia Tian fell asleep at some point without realizing it.
The next morning, just after the rooster had crowed twice, Xia Tian was woken up by her mother.
Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, she estimated it was probably around three or four in the morning.
Xia Tian sat up, fumbled to put on her clothes, and felt around beside her. Xia Yue, who slept next to her, was already up. Now, only the sound of Xia Chen's shallow breathing could be heard from the kang bed.
Xia Tian got off the kang bed as quietly as she could, felt for her shoes, and lifted the door curtain to go outside.
This was the first time she had left the room since transmigrating yesterday. It was just a pity that it was too dark to see anything clearly.
Seeing Xia Tian dressed and out of the room, Chen Shi urged her to hurry up and wash.
Xia Tian felt much better today than yesterday. The bump on her head had gone down a bit, and she wasn't as dizzy.
Hearing Chen Shi's urging, Xia Tian first went to the latrine in the backyard. After coming back, she found a wooden basin and slowly went to the kitchen to ladle water to wash her face.
By the time she finished washing up, a sliver of light had appeared on the horizon.