Everyone was stunned by Sun-shi’s sudden outburst.
Old Madam Chen shot up in fury, slamming her chopsticks down hard on the table.“Second daughter-in-law! What’s gotten into you? I haven’t even had a bite yet, and you’ve already divided up the eggs! Do you still have any respect for me at all?”
Sun-shi curled her lip. “Mother, it’s just a plate of eggs, no need to make such a fuss. Ruolan and Jiyi eat them all the time—they’re sick of them already. I just wanted to give Dabao and Erbao a treat. What’s wrong with that?”
“A treat? You call that a treat? You practically emptied the whole plate!”
“So what if I did?” Sun-shi snapped back. “You’re the one playing favorites! All the eggs before went to the third branch’s family—why should we, the first and second branches, always give in to them?”
She’d been swallowing her resentment for too long, and now that it burst out, she no longer cared who she offended.
“I’ve broken my back for this family, done everything without complaint, and you throw a tantrum over a few eggs! Do I even count as part of this family anymore? What’s my worth here? I’ve had enough of this life! Let’s just split up the family. If the eldest branch isn’t afraid of starving, neither are we!”
Chen Zhanliang, her husband, also spoke up with discontent.“Mother, Ruolan and Jiyi may be your grandchildren, but aren’t Dabao and Erbao your grandchildren too? Why are you so biased? Third Brother studies all day and hasn’t even passed the scholar’s exam yet, but you already favor him like he’s the emperor himself. When he really does pass, you’ll probably look down on the rest of us even more! My wife’s right—since you clearly don’t care for our branch, maybe it’s better if we go our own way.”
Sun-shi gave a cold snort and sneered, “You’ve got three sons and grandchildren, Mother. If you can’t even treat them equally, how can there be harmony? No wonder this house will never know peace!”
“You—you’re all rebelling, every last one of you!” Old Madam Chen’s face turned green with rage, her whole body trembling.
Chen Ruolan glared at her second aunt, fury burning in her eyes.“Second Aunt, even if I don’t like fried eggs, you shouldn’t have given them all to Dabao and Erbao. Grandpa and Grandma haven’t even had a bite—who gave you the right to divide them up?”
Then she gently rubbed her grandmother’s back and said sweetly, “Grandma, don’t be angry. Your health matters more than anything.”
“Ah, my dear Ruolan, always so thoughtful.” Old Madam Chen gave her a fond look, then turned her eyes back on the second couple with a face full of frost. “Ungrateful brats! You’ve got no shame! All right then—if you’re so eager to split off, fine! Go get the village headman. You can leave this house today!”
Old Man Chen slammed his fist on the table, forcing his voice to stay level.“Second son, think carefully. The eldest branch split off with only half a sack of bran to live on. Who knows if they can even make it through the winter. If you insist on dividing, your share will be the same—half a sack of bran and two mu of sandy land. After that, we’re strangers. And mark my words: if your younger brother ever becomes a top scholar, your sons won’t see a bit of that glory.”
At the mention of bran, Chen Zhanliang almost gagged.
That stuff had to be boiled with wild greens and salt just to be barely edible.
If they split, they’d be living on gruel.
If they stayed, they could at least eat coarse rice.
Leaving now would be pure stupidity.
He immediately forced a laugh, plucking the egg from his own bowl and dropping it into his mother’s.“Mother, come now, we were only joking! You know I’d never leave you. I barely get the chance to show my filial piety—how could I bear to part from you?”
Old Madam Chen didn’t truly want the second branch to split anyway—without them, there’d be no one left to do the hard work.
She seized the chance to let it go. “Hmph, at least you’ve got some sense left. It’s not about the food; it’s those ungrateful wretches in the first branch that made me so angry!”
Chen Zhancai, the third son, was seething inside.
These fools!
A mud-stained peasant dares speak to me like an equal?
When I pass my exams and rise to fame, they won’t even be worthy to shine my shoes!
He said coolly, “Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, Mother just pities me for studying so hard—she only gives me two eggs a day. If that’s enough to make you want to split up, then fine, I’ll stop eating them.”
Liu Fengjiao rolled her eyes but put on a virtuous smile.“Yes, yes, we’re one family. Second Sister-in-law, don’t make it sound like we’re strangers. Occupied’s right—no more eggs for us tomorrow.”
Chen Zhanliang’s hands clenched under the table, but he forced another smile.“Third Brother, you misunderstand. We were only speaking out of turn. Of course you should eat the eggs—after all, the whole family is counting on you to bring us honor.”
Sun-shi finally fell silent.
She hadn’t truly wanted to separate anyway—it was just angry talk.
She might envy the eldest branch, but how long could they really last? Sooner or later, they’d come crawling back. As for that Qing girl, no matter how sharp she was, she couldn’t escape Old Madam Chen’s control.
In the end, she’d still have to obediently marry Butcher Li.
..
Night gradually fell.
Lying on her crude wooden bed, Chen Qingqing’s mind was a mess.
So much for being a healer and saving lives—where was the “good karma” in all this?
She’d transmigrated to this godforsaken, famine-ridden village, only to wake up surrounded by lunatics—talk of splitting families, breaking ties, and everyone out to make her life miserable.
Where were the noble families and handsome princes she was promised?
No, no—this had to be a mistake! The underworld messengers must have sent her to the wrong place.
Maybe if she died again, she could go back and complain to them.
…No, bad idea. Dying hurt way too much.
Fine.
She’d just make the best of it. With her brains, she could carve out a pretty good life for herself here.
She lifted her hand, studying the ring on her finger.
Maybe this was some kind of magical artifact?
She whispered hopefully in her mind:
“System?”“Space?”“Cheat power?”
Nothing. Not a sound.
“Damn it! Don’t tell me those two ghostly idiots tricked me!”
Fuming, she remembered the last words she’d heard before waking up: ‘Enlighten yourself.’That meant the ring had to be special!
All right then. Maybe it needed a little blood to activate—like in those cultivation novels. Sure, it’d hurt, but pain was a small price to pay for a glorious future.
With that, she bit her finger and let a few drops of blood fall onto the ring.
“Come on, miracle! Space, system, power-up, anything!”
She waited.
Nothing happened.
Her finger was already scabbed over, and the ring was as dull and lifeless as before.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Did I seriously get played by a couple of ghosts?!”
Furious, she grabbed a stone from under the bed and started hammering at the ring.“Useless thing! I’ll smash you to bits!”
Hearing the banging and muttering from inside, Madam Lin rushed over in alarm.
She froze at the doorway, horrified to see Qingqing sitting on the bed, striking her own hand with a rock.
“Qing’er! What on earth are you doing?!”