A lucky little peasant girl is reborn and brings prosperity to her entire family.

Tian Denghua cut off three of the pork ribs she brought back and made a big pot of white radish and pork rib soup. She hung the rest on the beam.

It's cold in winter, so I'm not worried about it spoiling.

Song Risheng and Qi Lian went back to her parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year. According to the usual practice, they would stay at her parents' home for a few days.

Song Yueping lay dejectedly on the kang (a heated brick bed) in his room, motionless.

Tian Denghua originally wanted to lift the covers and wake people up to eat—in the eyes of their generation, not eating was the biggest problem.

Song Yanyan stopped her.

“Mother, Mother! Second Brother is still feeling unwell. Let him lie down for a while, he’ll figure things out on his own!” Song Yanyan advised. “If you pull him down now, he’ll definitely start crying while eating.”

Tian Denghua thought about her tall and strong second son sitting there, tears streaming down his face, and she felt a layer of goosebumps rise on her arms.

Tian Denghua compromised.

"Fine then." Tian Denghua grumbled as she served Song Yueping a bowl of white radish and pork rib soup. "What's he upset about? It's a blessing to have broken off with someone like that long ago. Bah! He dares to make a move on my daughter! Doesn't he even know if he's worthy of her? What does he take my daughter and our Song family for?!"

Song Yanyan peeked over and noticed that there weren't enough spare ribs in the bowl her mother had scooped out. So she simply picked up her chopsticks and added two more spare ribs from the pot to Song Yueping's bowl.

Tian Denghua couldn't help but glare at her daughter, saying irritably, "You're the one who cares about your second brother! If you ask me, there's no need to feed someone who just lies there and doesn't move while eating! He won't starve!"

"But your second brother didn't let me look down on him today. If he had dared to hesitate even for a moment, I wouldn't want this son anymore!" Tian Denghua cursed as she looked at the bowl with a frown for a while, then scooped two pieces of ribs from the pot and piled them into the bowl she had left for Song Yueping.

Song Yueping's bowl was piled high with ribs.

Song Yanyan chuckled to herself.

During the meal, only Tian Denghua, Song Xingming, and Song Yanyan were at the table.

Although Song Xingming had his head slightly lowered, Song Yanyan still noticed the bruises around his eyes at a glance.

"Third brother, you——"

As soon as Song Yanyan spoke, she saw Song Xingming raise his eyes, look at her, and shake his head slightly.

This was clearly something they didn't want Tian Denghua to know.

Okay then—Song Yanyan's older brothers had covered for her when she got into trouble as a child, so she swallowed the rest of the questions, took a big bite of radish, and shut herself up.

From where Tian Denghua was sitting, and with the flickering candlelight, she couldn't see the bruise near Song Xingming's eye on the side. She was still a little puzzled; why had her daughter called out once and then fallen silent?

"Why did you stop talking?"

Tian Denghua asked casually.

Song Yanyan swallowed the radish and readily lied, "It's nothing, Mother. I just wanted to tell my third brother to eat more ribs to replenish his strength. Studying is too tiring and has made him thin."

Tian Denghua agreed wholeheartedly and placed a piece of spare rib in Song Xingming's bowl: "Your sister is right, eat more."

Song Xingming said "Oh" and obediently ate the rib.

Tian Denghua nodded in satisfaction without saying anything more.

After the meal, Song Yanyan wanted to help Tian Denghua clear the table, but Tian Denghua impatiently shooed her away: "There are only a few bowls, so don't get involved. Go do your own thing... By the way, go tell your third brother not to read by lamplight at night, it's bad for his eyes."

Song Yanyan had been planning to go find Song Xingming later, and now that she had received her mother's permission, she could openly go find her third brother.

Song Xingming was reading a book by the light of an oil lamp in his room.

Song Yanyan patted the door: "Third Brother, Third Brother."

Song Xingming opened the door for Song Yanyan, and Song Yanyan immediately slipped inside.

Song Xingming's room was small, containing only a table, a kang (a heated brick bed), and a dilapidated wardrobe for storing clothes; there was nothing else.

This room used to be used for storing odds and ends. Later, Tian Deng spent a lot of effort cleaning it up and built a kang (a heated brick bed) for Song Xingming to live in, so that he could concentrate on reading.

Song Yanyan stood in front of Song Xingming, holding his arm to prevent him from moving, and carefully examined the bruises at the corners of Song Xingming's eyes by the light of the oil lamp.

Upon closer inspection, the purplish-blue discoloration has spread, making it look even more frightening than when we were eating.

Song Yanyan gasped in distress, "Third Brother, does it still hurt?"

Song Xingming shook his head and comforted Song Yanyan instead: "It doesn't hurt, it's okay, don't worry, it just looks a bit scary."

"How did this happen?" Song Yanyan raised her hand to touch it, but dared not, feeling extremely distressed.

Song Xingming, on the contrary, remained calm: "It's nothing. I ran into Song Chengzong outside today. He said he was going to study at the county school and told me to be more considerate and not waste money. He told my mother to save the money I would have spent on school for him. Of course, I was unwilling, so he punched me."

Song Yanyan almost jumped up.

Song Chengzong?!

Get sick!

Song Yanyan had rolled up her sleeves.

She's going to beat up that good-for-nothing Song Chengzong!

But Song Xingming looked over alertly, and Song Yanyan immediately put her sleeves down again: "I'll definitely give him a piece of my mind next time I see him!"

"He's not a reasonable person, just ignore him," Song Xingming advised.

He just didn't expect that Song Yanyan had already remembered her past life and was acting much wilder. Right now, she wasn't thinking about cursing people; she was thinking about how to beat them up!

"Third brother, I'll get you a boiled egg and roll it around your eyes," Song Yanyan suggested. "Otherwise, it will definitely be even more frightening when you wake up tomorrow. If Mother sees it, she might just grab a rolling pin and beat Song Chengzong up."

The injury was right near her eye, and Song Yanyan didn't even dare to think about what would happen if Song Chengzong's fist had veered off course and hit her third brother's eye instead!

Her third brother needed to study and take the imperial examinations. With his eyesight ruined, it meant that all his future and ambitions were destroyed!

Song Yanyan became angrier the more she thought about it.

If we don't teach Song Chengzong a lesson, he'll really think he's some kind of little tyrant in Zhaoyou Village!

The more Song Yanyan thought about it, the angrier she became. She went out and went to the kitchen to boil some eggs.

Song Xingming frowned as he watched his sister's retreating figure.

Should he not have told Yan Yan?

But Yan Yan is cunning and clever. Even if he doesn't say anything or comes up with some other excuse, Yan Yan won't believe him and might even cause some trouble.

But even though he said it, he always felt like something bad was going to happen.

Song Xingming frowned.

……

The next day was another sunny day.

Song Yanyan took her small cloth bag, filled it with fine wood shavings, and tucked a few stones into her arms before leaving home.

Although Song Yanyan possesses a soul that has awakened modern memories, she must admit that the difference in physical strength between her and Song Chengzong is not so easily overcome.

But if force doesn't work, she can resort to underhanded tactics!

Oh no, I mean, what do you mean by underhanded? Pshaw, she called it outsmarting people!

Song Yanyan wandered around Zhaoyou Village for a morning, politely declining several friends' requests to play together.

They even encountered Song Pan'er.

The two only argued for a few words, but Song Yanyan successfully made Song Pan'er cry again.

The content of the argument was unremarkable, and Song Yanyan even found it somewhat boring. Her record against Song Pan'er was known throughout the village; who gave Song Pan'er the courage to pick a fight with her?

Boring.

However, Song Yanyan was sustained by her belief in avenging Song Xingming, and she rallied and continued to inspect Zhaoyou Village.

It can only be said that hard work pays off, and Song Yanyan actually found Song Chengzong!