Reincarnation and Rebirth

As soon as Wang entered the house carrying a basket of wild vegetables, she was told by Old Lady Su to make breakfast. She nodded obediently and went into the kitchen without even resting.

Meanwhile, Su Wan'er was in her room, taking out the pancake. The Su family ate two meals a day, and the evening meal was always thin. When it was distributed to them, it was so thin it could be used as a mirror.

"Big sister, where did this come from?" Su Xiang'er asked uneasily, looking at the pancake.

"Don't worry, it's not from home. Your sister Hongmei gave it to me. You guys eat it."

After saying that, she divided it into three portions. Su Wan'er took the smallest portion in her hand and fed it to Su Ming in small pieces.

Su Ming was starving. The pancake was dry and hard, and he kept eating until his head was spinning and his eyes were rolling back, but he still couldn't bear to spit it out. When Su Wan'er saw this, she quickly fed him a sip of water. What a terrible thing it would be if he choked to death on the pancake. She would feel terrible.

When Su Xiang'er heard that it was given by Sister Hongmei, she breathed a sigh of relief. She divided the palm-sized pancake in half and ate only half of it.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and eat."

"I'll leave some for my mother."

Su Wan'er wailed, "Does she have to be so sensible?"

Su Wan'er didn't actually have a good impression of Madam Wang. According to the original owner's memories, Madam Wang didn't protect her daughters much. It's said that women are gentle but become strong when they become mothers, but this wasn't the case with Madam Wang at all. Although she was saddened when her children were bullied, she didn't dare to fight back. Instead, she told Su Wan'er and her sisters to just bear with it and that it would pass.

If you were to say she was bad, she would rather not eat any good food herself and save it for them. However, what good food could the Su family possibly have? At most, it would be wild fruits she found in the mountains. The rest of the Su family didn't like to eat them, so it was only for them. Occasionally, Wang Shi would also save her own food for the children. But Su Wan'er couldn't agree with this suffocating maternal love.

However, Su Wan'er didn't want to discourage Su Xiang'er's filial piety.

Seeing that her eldest sister didn't have any, Su Zhao'er tore off half of it and handed it to her, saying, "Eldest sister, have some."

Su Wan'er stroked her dry, straw-like hair with heartache, "Big sister isn't hungry, big sister has already eaten, Zhao'er, eat now."

Su Zhao'er blinked her obsidian-like eyes, as if pondering the truth or falsehood of her elder sister's words.

"Eat quickly, or we'll cause trouble if we get caught."

Upon hearing this, the two quickly ate the pancakes in their hands, almost choking on them. Su Wan'er had no choice but to hand them water.

Just as she finished eating a few pancakes, Wang's voice came from the kitchen, "Xiang'er, go to the backyard and pick some cucumbers."

"Oh, I'm here," Su Xiang'er replied hastily.

Wang was unaware that her eldest daughter had already woken up, so her first reaction was to call for her second daughter.

Su Wan'er stopped Su Xiang'er, who was about to get up, and said, "You stay here and take care of your sister-in-law. I'll go help Mother."

"Big sister, you were just injured, you should rest, I'll go help you."

Seeing her sensible younger sister, Su Wan'er's tone softened even more, "It's alright, eldest sister is all better now."

Of course it's good. Medicine from the space works extremely quickly. If she weren't worried about being discovered, she wouldn't want the gauze on her head anymore.

Seeing that Su Wan'er had already left, Su Xiang'er hurriedly followed, "Zhao'er, you keep an eye on Ming'er."

"understood."

The mother and her two daughters busied themselves in the kitchen and finally finished cooking. Su Wan'er glanced at the pot and saw that it was quite good: a steamer of mixed grain cornbread, a large pot of thin porridge underneath that was so thick it could be used as a mirror, a dish of pickled wild vegetables, and a plate of sliced ​​cucumbers—not even a cold salad.

Su Wan'er sighed. No wonder her sisters were all pale and thin. Two-year-old Su Ming could not walk steadily and could not speak. He looked even younger than one-and-a-half-year-old Su Jie.

"Wan'er, are you feeling dizzy again?" Madam Wang looked at her daughter with concern.

"No."

"Oh, then hurry up and take it out, or your grandma will scold you again."

When Su Wan'er was serving the food, she noticed that there were three boiled eggs in the porridge, but she knew that the second branch of the family would not have these eggs.

Sure enough, as soon as the food was served, the doors to the other rooms opened, and everyone sat down at the table, watching them busy themselves as if it were perfectly normal.

Grandpa Su had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Su Youfu, married a woman surnamed Chen and they had three children. His eldest son, Su Ping, is eighteen this year and has already passed the imperial examination. He will marry the daughter of the owner of a restaurant in town later this year. His second daughter, Su Qing'er, is sixteen years old and of marriageable age. However, she has been spoiled since childhood and lived with her maternal grandparents until she was five. She considers herself different from the villagers and looks down on them. She is arrogant and haughty. Su Youfu and Chen also hope that their daughter can marry into a wealthy family, so the marriage has not yet been arranged.

The youngest son, Su Chen, is already nine years old. He was sent to school two years ago, but unfortunately, he was not academically inclined. He skipped classes every few days and even provoked the teacher and beat up his classmates. He has been expelled and is now at home. At this age, he is a little tyrant, which is a real headache for the Su family.

The second son, Su Youlu, married a woman surnamed Wang. Su Youlu found Wang by the roadside on his way home from working in town. When she woke up, she had no memory of her past, only remembering her surname was Wang. She knew nothing about where she lived or who her family was. However, she was quite pretty, and Su Youlu took a liking to her. At that time, Old Mrs. Su vehemently opposed having such a person of unknown origin as her daughter-in-law. Moreover, she looked weak and frail, and seemed incapable of doing farm work. She thought she could sell her for some money.

But Su Youlu, who was always obedient, was determined to marry Wang this time. He said that Wang had no family to rely on and did not need a dowry. If Old Madam Su disagreed, he would have to spend money to find another marriage. So he might as well marry Wang.

Grandma Su thought it made sense and agreed. The wedding, of course, wouldn't be a grand affair; they simply invited some relatives and acquaintances for a meal. After the wedding, Wang's womb proved uncooperative, and she gave birth to three daughters in quick succession. The eldest daughter, Su Wan'er, was fifteen this year and would be of marriageable age in a few months. The second daughter, Su Xiang'er, at the tender age of eleven, was already capable of handling everything independently, from washing clothes and cooking to feeding the pigs. The youngest daughter, five years old, was also sensible and was often sent by Grandma Su to cut pig feed. At such a young age, carrying a basket taller than herself, it was a heartbreaking sight.

Because she hadn't given birth to a son, Old Mrs. Su often scolded her, calling her a "money-losing hen" and a "barren hen." Su Youlu also lost his former attentiveness towards her. It wasn't until two years ago, when she finally gave birth to a son, Su Ming, that Su Youlu gradually smiled at her again and regained the tenderness he had when they first got married. However, Su Youlu had to go out to work and was often away from home. Wang Shi's life remained difficult. She had to go back to work in the fields before she had even finished her postpartum confinement period, and with little food and water, her breast milk quickly dried up. Su Ming grew up on a porridge—a bowl of water with a pinch of flour added, clearer than rice water. As a result, Su Ming still looks malnourished and lacks the soft, white skin of a baby.

The third daughter was Su Cuihua, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Her name was ordinary, but her appearance was anything but. She was a spitting image of her mother, Su's grandmother: triangular eyes, a flat nose, thick lips, high cheekbones, and a face cratered as if blasted by a landmine—a truly repulsive sight. She didn't marry until she was twenty, to a butcher in the next village. The butcher was also a burly man with a menacing face, and his constant handling of pork left him covered in grease and grime, making him unattractive to many women. Moreover, his mother was a notorious shrew, even more so than Su's grandmother. When the matchmaker first proposed marriage, Su Cuihua was initially reluctant. However, the matchmaker mentioned that the family ate meat every day, and meat could be their staple food. Su Cuihua was tempted, and ultimately, the butcher, Zhang, offered half a pig and two taels of silver as a dowry to marry her.

Why was the dowry so cheap? It was because Su Cuihua was old and had been kept at home. Old Mrs. Su was worried about her. Moreover, Su Cuihua had a big appetite, and Old Mrs. Su felt bad about wasting the food. Her daughter was not like a daughter-in-law, who was an outsider. Although she would scold and beat her, she still made sure that Su Cuihua was well-fed.

So she was happy to get married and receive half a pig and two taels of silver. Zhang the butcher's mother was also happy. You see, these days in the village, you can't even think about getting a wife without a dowry of seven or eight taels. What does it matter if a woman is ugly? They're all the same with the lights off.

Besides, spending the same amount of money to marry the heaviest woman, the Zhang family still came out ahead. Butcher Zhang was obsessed with women, so upon hearing his mother's words, he nodded vigorously in agreement.