Rebirth to Save Myself

My aunt and Aunt Wang married into the family around the same time, and both were pregnant at the same time. My aunt gave birth to my cousin Chen Xin, and Aunt Wang gave birth to Wang Yun. Unexpectedly, they became pregnant at the same time again this time, and gave birth to my cousin Chen Tao and Wang Chen one after the other.

Grandma was naturally happy. Her eldest aunt hadn't been entirely satisfied with her first child, a daughter, and had been subtly urging her to have a second. But her eldest aunt wasn't one to back down easily; she completely ignored Grandma's words. When pushed too far, she'd take her cousin back to her parents' house, only returning after Grandma had to plead with her husband repeatedly. Gradually, Grandma realized her eldest aunt wasn't easy to manipulate. Plus, with her younger sister-in-law giving birth to a son, her first grandson, she wasn't in such a rush anymore.

Upon hearing the news that her aunt had given birth to a boy, Su's mother was visibly anxious. Of the three brothers in the family, only Su Xia's father, the second son, hadn't had a son. When their grandmother called, she complained a lot, essentially saying that Su's mother's womb was uncooperative, having given birth to three daughters. Su's mother felt helpless, but apart from a brief respite after giving birth to Su Xia, she had been either pregnant or on her way to pregnancy, but all her children were girls. Now she was pregnant again, and facing her mother-in-law's eagerness for a grandson, she chose to keep it a secret for the time being to avoid putting too much pressure on her.

Su Xia didn't care about these things at all, and the adults wouldn't bring up the conflict with her. At worst, it would just mean that her grandmother's cooking wasn't very good and she wouldn't get any school supplies. When her grandmother came back before, her mother asked her to bring her some stationery, which her mother had originally told her to keep for herself. But as soon as her grandmother came back, she took it upon herself to divide it into two portions, giving one to her cousin.

“You forgot about the pencil and eraser Ah Xin gave you before? You should repay others for this! It’s one thing if your mother doesn’t know how to do favors, but what’s wrong with you, a little kid, helping her?” Grandma said to Su Xia.

"No."

"Besides, you're only in first grade, you don't need that much. Giving it to you would be a waste." Grandma walked away before Su Xia could finish speaking.

Su Xia was also helpless. Although she didn't really need that many pencils and erasers now that she was in first grade, they didn't have an expiration date, and she couldn't save them for second or third grade. Besides, her grandmother was so stingy that she wouldn't buy them for herself, and now she had to use the ones her mother gave her to do favors. In the end, her aunt would also be indebted to her mother. Her grandmother's trick of using borrowed flowers to give to the Buddha was really clever.

When her mother found out later, she said, "Just give it to her, don't worry about it so much."

Su Xia understood that if her mother said anything more in the current situation, she would only be accused of being petty. Her grandmother didn't like her mother very much, and if her mother made a fuss with her grandmother over these stationery items, her grandmother would definitely be unhappy. In addition, since she was being cared for by her grandmother, her grandmother would definitely take her anger out on her.

As the weather got hotter and summer vacation arrived, my little cousin could only crawl. My aunt did nothing, leaving all the diaper washing and potty emptying to my grandmother, who also demanded that my grandmother cook three meals a day and bring them to her room. My grandmother complained to my mother that she couldn't take care of him, so my mother had no choice but to take him to the provincial capital for the summer vacation.

Mom felt that life was a little better now, so she wanted to bring Su Xia to the provincial capital to study, so that Su Xia wouldn't be too far away and unable to be educated.

Su Xia remembered this incident. Her father had taken her to an elementary school, where the teacher gave her a test. She did terribly, failing to even pass. The teacher said directly, "This is a first-grade test. She can't even distinguish between initials and finals. She won't be able to keep up with the pace if she comes over here to read."

So Su Xia went back to her hometown to continue her studies. Someone somehow spread the word, and everyone secretly thought Su Xia was stupid and didn't want to hang out with her. Su Xia hadn't realized it before, but now she realized she'd only mentioned it to her close friend Yu Qing. It was probably Yu Qing who spread it. She didn't know the exact reason, but she didn't want to be friends with these people anymore; such friendships were too fragile.

As summer vacation drew to a close, her father took her, Su Yue, and her mother hiking. Upon reaching the summit, her mother, heavily pregnant, rested and asked her father to take her to the mountain temple, reasoning that it would be a shame to miss the visit. Su Yue, only two years old, stayed with her mother until they came out, at which point Su Xia remembered a similar incident from before.

The only difference was that the time was a little earlier; previously, it was around Chinese New Year, and Grandma came along too. Dad originally wanted everyone to go in together, but Grandma said that her uncle and his family had already taken her in. So, Grandma took Su Yue, and her parents took her to explore the temple. The three of them walked and stopped, visiting each hall and temple, and then they came to another exit. This exit was a paved road, convenient for tourists who didn't want to drive up the mountain; they had previously used a staircase.

Su's father said, "How about we walk down the mountain along this road? It's gentler than the steps, and everyone will be more comfortable."

Su's mother agreed and led Su Xia out of the temple, while Su's father turned back to pick up his grandmother and Su Yue. However, perhaps because they hadn't bought tickets and were finding their way slowly, Su's father didn't appear for a long time, and Su's mother became anxious.

So Su's mother said to Su Xia, "Stay here and don't run around. I'm going to see where your father is."

"Okay." Su Xia agreed and patiently waited for her mother at first. But after waiting for a while, she started to walk around a little. Finally, Su Xia thought that since the road led directly down the mountain, she could walk a few steps first and her parents would catch up later.

After thinking it over, Su Xia started walking along the roadside. No one seemed to find it strange that a little girl like her was walking alone without any adults around. Su Xia didn't know how far she had walked when she saw a crowd heading down the steps beside the road. Su Xia assumed these steps also led down the mountain, so she followed suit.

They walked and stopped frequently until they reached the foot of the mountain, at which point Su Xia realized something was wrong. This was not the foot of the mountain she knew at all! What was going on? And no one seemed to be stopping; they were all continuing forward. Su Xia had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue following the group.

Later, the group arrived at a bus stop and waited for the bus. Su Xia didn't have any money for the bus and didn't know where the bus went, so she had no choice but to walk up to a kind-looking auntie and ask, "Auntie, how far is it from here to the foot of the mountain?"