The pain…
It hurt so much…
Lin Wanxing clutched the back of her head, where the throbbing felt as though it would split her skull open, and suddenly opened her eyes.
Instead of the bright ceiling light in her apartment, all she saw was a dark, soot-stained roof beam draped in cobwebs.
Taking a deep breath, she caught the strong smell of mold in the air.
“You’re awake? Then get up and start the fire! What, do you think you’re some pampered young lady who can lie in bed all day?”
A shrill, harsh voice rang in her ears.
With difficulty, Lin Wanxing turned her head and saw an elderly woman standing beside the bed with her hands on her hips. She wore a coarse gray cotton jacket, her hair combed into a shiny, tightly wound bun. Her triangular eyes looked down at Lin Wanxing with contempt, and the corner of her mouth curled into a sneer.
That face…
Why did it look so familiar?
Before she could think further, a flood of unfamiliar memories poured into her mind.
The original owner of this body was also named Lin Wanxing, a sixteen-year-old village girl from Qinghe Village.
Four years ago, after her mother, Madam Li, gave birth to her younger sister Lin Yaya, she had been forced by Old Madam Lin to work in the fields before dawn and chop firewood until midnight. During her confinement after childbirth, she hadn’t even been allowed a single egg to eat.
In the end, she was worked to death.
Her father, Lin Leshan, spent most of the year away doing odd jobs. Six months earlier, a severe drought had struck their hometown. He had gone even farther away in search of work and had never returned. No one knew whether he was dead or alive.
Without their parents’ protection, the three siblings had spent years being treated like beasts of burden by their eldest uncle, eldest aunt, and grandmother. They worked endlessly and were rarely given enough to eat.
And the old woman standing before her…
Was the original owner’s grandmother.
Old Madam Lin.
The culprit who shamelessly favored her eldest son’s family and personally pushed the original Lin Wanxing into hell.
Lin Wanxing’s heart sank.
Then she remembered.
Just last night, she’d been complaining about how pitiful the cannon fodder supporting character in this farming novel was.
And today…
She had become that very cannon fodder.
This Lin Wanxing also lived in Qinghe Village. When the drought forced the entire village to flee, Old Madam Lin, persuaded by Liu Cuihua and her husband, sold the original owner to human traffickers midway through the journey.
All so she could exchange her for two sacks of coarse rice to feed her beloved grandson, Goudan.
The original owner was sold from one trafficker to another three different times. Because she was fairly pretty, she eventually ended up in a brothel, where she was forced to entertain wealthy nobles and officials.
Her eight-year-old younger brother, Xiaoshi, and four-year-old younger sister, Lin Yaya, were abandoned in a ruined temple after she was sold away.
One froze to death from illness.
The other starved to death while begging.
As for the treasured grandson Goudan…
He later earned great merit by supporting the Ninth Prince. When the prince ascended the throne, Goudan became one of the emperor’s favored officials.
Years later, when he crossed paths with Lin Wanxing again, he found her existence embarrassing.
So he had her killed.
Her corpse was dumped into a mass grave.
What shocked Lin Wanxing even more was how the original owner had died this time.
Yesterday, Old Madam Lin noticed that nearly half a handful of coarse rice was missing from the rice jar.
Without any evidence, she immediately accused Lin Wanxing of secretly taking it to feed her younger siblings.
In a fit of rage, she shoved her.
The back of the girl’s head struck the corner of the table leg.
She died on the spot.
“You little bitch! Worthless money-losing brat! What are you staring at? Deaf, are you?”
Seeing that Lin Wanxing still hadn’t moved, Old Madam Lin stepped forward and reached for her arm.
Her rough, calloused fingers were just about to grab Lin Wanxing’s wrist.
Instinctively, Lin Wanxing leaned aside.
The old woman’s hand missed.
Old Madam Lin froze.
She clearly hadn’t expected her usually timid granddaughter to dodge.
Her face darkened immediately.
“Oh? Hitting your head gave you some guts, did it? You dare dodge me now? You ungrateful little wretch! Have you forgotten whose food you’ve been eating all these years?”
She raised her hand to strike again.
Just then, two timid voices came from outside the door.
“Grandma… please don’t hit Big Sister…”
“Grandma, Big Sister didn’t steal the rice. I… I was so hungry yesterday that I wanted to grab a handful to cook porridge, but Big Sister stopped me…”
Lin Wanxing turned toward the doorway.
Two children, so thin they looked like walking sticks, stood there.
The boy wore filthy, tattered clothes covered in patches. Even in the early spring weather, he shivered from the cold.
He tightly held the little girl’s hand.
He was the original owner’s younger brother, Xiaoshi.
The little girl wore two crooked little pigtails, with a smudge of dirt still on her face. Her large round eyes were filled with fear.
Yet she still clutched Xiaoshi’s sleeve and softly repeated,
“It wasn’t Big Sister…”
Xiaoshi…
Lin Yaya…
Seeing how frightened the two children were, yet how they still tried to defend the original owner, Lin Wanxing felt as though someone had squeezed her heart.
According to the original owner’s memories, these two children were the only warmth she had ever known in this cold household.
And yet such kind, sensible children had met such tragic ends.
“Hmph! You still dare defend her?”
Old Madam Lin glared at Xiaoshi.
“If it weren’t for your worthless little sister eating every day, would our rice have run out this fast? And you! You’re a boy! Instead of working properly, you’ve learned to protect these useless girls! Just wait until your father comes back. I’ll make sure he hears about this!”
Xiaoshi’s body trembled.
Even so, he quietly pulled Lin Yaya behind him and said in a shaky voice,
“Little Sister is still young. She can’t work yet… I’ll chop more firewood. Grandma, please don’t scold her.”
Old Madam Lin was about to continue yelling when a commotion erupted outside the courtyard.
Mixed among hurried footsteps were villagers shouting,
“The village chief is calling everyone to the big locust tree at the village entrance in half an hour! He says there’s something important!”
Old Madam Lin’s attention shifted immediately.
She shot Lin Wanxing one last vicious glare.
“Get up and start the fire! If you delay my business, you’ll see how I deal with you!”
Then she pointed at Xiaoshi and Lin Yaya.
“You two don’t stand around either! Go split the firewood in the yard. If you don’t finish two bundles today, don’t even think about eating!”
After barking her orders, Old Madam Lin hurried outside to find out what was happening from the other villagers.
At last, the room fell silent.
Supporting herself with one hand, Lin Wanxing slowly sat up.
The pain in the back of her head became even more obvious.
She reached back and felt a large swollen lump.
“Big Sister, does it hurt?”
Xiaoshi hurried over, carefully looking at the swelling with eyes full of worry.
“I’ll go get some herbs for you, okay? Last time I cut my hand while chopping wood, Granny Zhang gave me some medicine. It worked really well.”
Lin Yaya also shuffled closer.
She gently tugged at Lin Wanxing’s sleeve with her tiny hand.
“Big Sister… Yaya isn’t hungry. Don’t argue with Grandma anymore. Grandma will hit you…”
Looking at the innocent, sensible faces of the two children, Lin Wanxing felt her eyes sting.
She took a deep breath, forcing back the bitterness in her heart, and smiled gently.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore. Yaya, don’t be afraid. From now on, Big Sister will protect both of you.”
She knew this wasn’t the time for sentimentality.
According to the novel’s plot, the village chief’s meeting today was to announce that the entire village would flee the famine.
The drought had already lasted half a year.
Not a single crop had survived.
Even the nearby rivers had dried up.
If they stayed, everyone would eventually starve to death.
The exodus would begin…
In three days.
Three days.
She had only three days to prepare.
If she followed Old Madam Lin during the refugee journey, the fate awaiting her and her younger siblings would be exactly as described in the novel.
She absolutely could not let history repeat itself.
She was a university graduate who had majored in traditional Chinese pharmacology.
Surely she could support herself—and two children.
“Xiaoshi, Yaya.”
Lin Wanxing took both children’s hands.
Her gaze was steadier than it had ever been.