Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

Not only does he serve the whole family in terms of eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, sleeping, washing, cleaning and doing chores, but beating and scolding him is just a small matter. He is simply the lowest-ranking and cheapest free servant in the old house. He eats less than a chicken, works more than a cow, and still gets a free air pump.

Why is the third bedroom so different from the first and second bedrooms?

The fundamental reason lies in offspring.

I don’t know if it’s because the first and second wives of the Lin family took away all the luck of having a boy, leaving no luck for the third wife.

Poor third wife, that is, Lin Xiaoyue's father Lin Damu and her soft-hearted mother Miao Cuihua, the couple kept giving birth to daughters after they got married, five in total, named Lin Dahua, Lin Zhaodi, Lin Zaizhao (the name of the original owner of the body that Lin Xiaoyue traveled through), Lin Huanzhao and Lin Juezhao.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see from this series of vulgar moves how eager and persistent Lin Laosan's family was to have a boy.

Of course, in ancient times, if a family did not have a son, it would be considered a family without a son. After death, no one would carry the banner or smash the pot for the deceased. Instead, the deceased would go to the underworld and be severely punished.

Lin Laosan's family gave birth to five girls in a row, which made their mother-in-law, Old Lady Lin, point at their noses and scold them all day long.

Even though Lin Laosan's family ate the least and did the most work among all of Grandpa Lin's children, they still had no boy to look forward to, so they could only endure the old lady's torture in various ways all day long.

Fortunately, the honest and simple Lin Laosan was still protective of his daughter-in-law. He could not bear to see his daughter-in-law Miao being bullied by her parents every day, so he resolutely proposed to separate the family.

How could Old Mrs. Lin bear to see her son become estranged from her because of a hen that didn't lay eggs? The hatred in her heart was about to burst into the sky. She cried, made a fuss, and even threatened to hang herself at home every day. She kept making a fuss and forced Old Third Lin to divorce Miao.

There was no peace at home. Lin Laosan, who was caught between his mother and his wife, finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked the clan elders for help in dividing the family.

At first, Mrs. Lin refused to give in and threw a tantrum and made unreasonable demands. Finally, under the "kind persuasion" of her eldest and second sons, she forced Lin Lao San to leave the house and kicked all seven members of the third room to live in a shabby hut at the end of the village.

Logically, the matter of dividing the family should have come to an end here, but Lin's mother was still unwilling to give in. Not only did she spread rumors in the village that her daughter-in-law was a hen that did not lay eggs, causing the third branch to become extinct, she even disrespected her parents-in-law and instigated her son to divide the family.

There is no shortage of people with dark and twisted minds in this world, and with some fuelling of rumors, the rumors are spreading more and more intensely.

As time went by, Mrs. Lin's words gradually became deeply rooted in people's minds, causing everyone to subconsciously ignore the facts. Instead, Mrs. Lin pinned the hat of jealousy and unfilial piety on the third branch of the Lin family, making the third branch and its entire family the object of contempt and abuse by everyone in the village.

As the bad words spread by Mrs. Lin became more and more unpleasant, the original owner's eldest sister, Lin Dahua, who married to the next village, was implicated and was also labeled as unfilial. Not only was she criticized by neighbors every day, but she was also criticized and complained by her husband's family. Her life was extremely difficult and miserable.

The original owner's second sister, Lin Zhaodi, also broke off the engagement because her family was notorious and was disliked by her fiancé's family. Because it was the original owner's grandmother who secretly accepted the betrothal gift from the other party. Now she wants Mrs. Lin to spit out the meat in her mouth. Isn't that tearing out Mrs. Lin's heart and taking her life?

In the old lady's words, there's not even a corner, so don't even think about it.

Well, the old lady accepted the betrothal gift, and Lin Laosan’s family gritted their teeth and accepted the debt, promising that the other party would pay it back within half a year.

But Mrs. Lin, who had tasted the sweetness, was not willing to give up.

As soon as he thought that Lin Laosan had already alienated his parents, he decided to go all out. With the instigation of Lin's first and second aunts, he came up with a vicious and stupid plan to sell the only remaining original owner of Lin Laosan's family of marriageable age to a brothel.

So, while Lin Laosan and Lin Miao were out reclaiming wasteland, and Erniu Lin Zhaodi was fishing in the river, Uncle Lin sneaked into the house.

Uncle Lin originally wanted to steal Lin Zaizhao, who was usually the most gentle, and sell him in the town. However, the original owner refused to obey and woke up the two five-year-old children, Lin Huanzhao and Lin Juezhao, in his struggle. Suddenly, the broken house was filled with crying. Uncle Lin was worried that it would attract the neighbors, after all, it was not glorious to tell others about the human trafficking.

Lin Zaizhao struggled desperately, and Uncle Lin wanted to knock him out and carry him away. In a hurry, he picked up the bolt behind Lin Laosan's door and hit the original owner on the back of the head without knowing how hard to hit him.

The poor original owner was hit on the head by Uncle Lin's stick, and died on the spot, his soul passed away.

Uncle Lin saw blood gushing out of the original owner's head, the thirteen-year-old boy's small body lying straight in a pool of blood, twitching twice and then no longer moving, and he was terrified.

While the two little brats, Lin Huanzhao and Lin Juezhao, were running out of the door crying and shouting to find Lin Laosan and his wife, Uncle Lin quickly dropped the blood-stained door bolt and ran away without looking back.

No one knew at that time that after the original owner Lin Zai summoned his soul, this body was given to Lin Xiaoyue who came from the modern era.

After finally sorting out the situation and her headache wasn't as painful anymore, Lin Xiaoyue raised her head and looked at the woman in front of her who was in deep sorrow with a sad expression. Her tears were falling like beads from a broken string. She was at a loss and her heart ached slightly.

After a brief hesitation, Lin Xiaoyue opened her mouth, but her throat was too dry to make any sound. Seeing her daughter's painful look, Lin Miao helped her to sit on a broken stool beside her, turned back to the house, took out a black pottery bowl, poured some water in it, and carefully brought it to Lin Xiaoyue.

Lin Xiaoyue reached out and took the ceramic bowl, drinking the water in small sips.

The weather was hot and the water was warm. I don’t know if it was because it was not polluted by industrialization, but the water in ancient times was particularly sweet.

After drinking a bowl of water, Lin Xiaoyue suddenly felt that her smoking and dry throat felt much better.

When Lin Miao saw her daughter wake up and was able to drink water, her eyes, which were sunken due to long-term fatigue, suddenly became red again. She could no longer suppress the sorrow in her heart: "Yue'er, your father and mother are sorry for you, sorry for you. Don't blame your father and mother..."

Lin Xiaoyue took over the original owner's memories and naturally understood how difficult it was for Lin Miao.

Lin Laosan and Lin Miao are both simple and honest people, without any ulterior motives.

These people who have simplicity engraved in their bones have long had their backs bent under the heavy oppression of life and environment. Naturally, they cannot muster the slightest resistance against the people in the old house who have oppressed and humiliated them for a long time.

Lin Xiaoyue saw Miao's helplessness and understood her situation, but she could not agree with it.