Reincarnation and Rebirth

Su Wan'er led her younger siblings back to their room. Su Xiang'er was very uneasy. "Eldest sister, let me go help Mother."

"Sigh, Xiang'er, do you think what your mother did was right or wrong?"

Su Xiang'er looked at her eldest sister, confused. "What's right or wrong? Eldest sister, if Mother doesn't work, Grandma will scold us. She might even stop feeding us."

"But look at my aunt and my other aunt, they rarely do any work, and what about the rest of the family? Do they do any work?"

Su Xiang'er was stunned. "But Mother said that suffering a loss is a blessing."

"Bullshit, suffering a loss is a blessing."

"Pfft, Big Sister's swearing." Su Zhao'er laughed, and Su Ming next to her also chuckled.

Su Wan'er sighed helplessly. They were deeply poisoned by feudal ideology and couldn't change their ways in a short time. "Xiang'er, we should do what is rightfully ours, but we must learn to refuse what is not rightfully ours, understand?"

Seeing that the little girl was still confused, Su Wan'er sighed and said, "Take it slow. This can't be explained in a day or two. As for that Wang family, let's get to know her first. If she's really hopeless, let her fend for herself. Respect other people's fate."

"Let's go, this afternoon your older sister will take you to the mountains to find some good food."

"Big sister, weren't we supposed to go cut pig feed?" Su Zhao'er asked, confused. In her mind, cutting pig feed was the most important thing.

"Zhao'er is right, we should cut pig feed, but there's no rule about how much to cut."

"But it's too little. The pigs won't have enough to eat, and the milk will scold and even hit people."

A fierce glint flashed in Su Wan'er's eyes, "They often beat you?"

Su Zhao'er was startled by Su Wan'er's stern voice and dared not answer.

Realizing her tone was inappropriate, she quickly squatted down and asked softly, "Zhao'er, tell your sister, who hit you?"

Perhaps it was this gentle tone that soothed the little girl's fear, because she finally replied, "Grandma hits me, my aunt and older cousin hit me too, Brother Su Chen often bullies me, and Yue'er, she often snatches the hair tie that Mom made for me."

Good heavens, what a bizarre family! How could they do such a thing to such an adorable and innocent child?

Su Wan'er hugged her tenderly, "It's alright, I'll protect you from now on."

Su Zhao'er was a little confused. "But eldest sister, didn't you used to say, just like mother, that suffering a loss is a blessing and that I should bear with it?"

What? The original owner? What a mess! Are they the abnormal ones, or am I the abnormal one?

“It was my fault before, eldest sister. You see, we’ve been so tolerant and forgiving, but we haven’t enjoyed any good fortune, have we?”

Su Zhao'er nodded.

"Therefore, we must become stronger in the future, and not suffer losses that we shouldn't suffer."

"Big sister," Su Xiang'er was shocked by these words, "Is this alright?"

"Don't worry, I'm here. Look, we didn't want to suffer any losses this morning, and we got the eggs, didn't we?"

Su Zhao'er suddenly realized, "Yes, it turns out that you won't be blessed if you suffer a loss, but you will be blessed if you don't suffer a loss."

"Zhao'er is so clever." Su Wan'er patted her head, then looked at Su Xiang'er's conflicted expression and said with a smile, "Alright, stop frowning, or you'll look like a little old lady. Let's go, let's go up the mountain."

"And what about tomorrow?"

"Take it with you."

To be honest, Su Wan'er felt most sorry for this little guy. He had never left the courtyard since he was born. Usually, Wang Shi was always on call and only had time to hold him at night.

Su Ming was raised by Su Wan'er and Su Xiang'er. If both sisters had to work, then only Su Zhao'er would silently stay by Su Ming's bedside. This is one of the reasons why Su Ming still cannot walk. Imagine, lying in bed every day, without training or food, it would be difficult to even crawl, let alone walk.

"Take it with you? Sister, isn't it too dangerous up in the mountains?"

"No, we won't go deep into the mountains. The weather is just right, neither too hot nor too cold. Let's let Ming'er go out and experience nature."

Su Zhao'er asked like a curious child, "Big sister, what is nature?"

"Uh, it's just beautiful scenery."

Su Xiang'er chuckled, "Big sister, our mountain area is actually quite beautiful."

"That's not necessarily true. We might actually find something good on the mountain. Look at Grandpa Lin, he makes money by collecting herbs, doesn't he?"

"But we don't recognize the medicinal herbs either."

"Hey, I'm just an example, let's go."

Su Wan'er went outside and got a basket, took a tattered quilt from the kang (a heated brick bed) and put it inside, then put Su Ming inside. Hmm, just right.

Su Xiang'er took the basket from her, saying, "Big sister, let me do it. Your injury has only just healed."

Ah, isn't that touching? Although this younger sister is mature and old-fashioned for her age, she still cares deeply for her older sister, and that's enough.

As soon as the three sisters stepped out of their room, they saw Wang Shi carrying a large basin of dirty dishes, ready to wash them. Su Wan'er said calmly, "We're going to cut pig feed."

Madam Wang was taken aback. She felt that her eldest daughter's attitude towards her had changed since she woke up. She stammered, "Are you all going? Why don't you let Xiang'er stay? There's still a lot of clothes..." She pointed to a large basin by the well.

Su Wan'er looked over and immediately became angry. "Xiang'er is so young, and you want her to wash so many clothes? Look carefully. If they were all the second wife's clothes, that would be one thing, but whose are those underpants? How can you have the nerve to make Xiang'er wash them? Whoever's room they belong to should wash them." Su Wan'er's voice rose a few decibels for the last part of her sentence.

Those shameless women from the first and fourth wives actually threw all the clothes to the second wife.

"Wan'er, what's wrong? You used to do all the washing."

The thought of those hands used to wash the underwear of Su Youfu and Su Ping made Su Wan'er's scalp tingle and made her feel so disgusted that she wanted to chop them off.

"I was ignorant before, but do you think it's appropriate for someone like me, a niece, to have to wash these intimate clothes?"

Madam Wang was stunned. She really hadn't expected that her daughter was almost of marriageable age and Xiang'er was already eleven.

"It was Mother's oversight. Mother will wash it later."

Su Xiang'er still felt sorry for her mother. "Eldest sister, I'll stay and help Mother wash the dishes. You take your younger brother and sister-in-law with you."

Su Wan'er looked at the sky and sighed. She was tired today and didn't want to argue with them anymore. Besides, these kinds of ingrained ideas couldn't be corrected in a day or two.

Nodding, he slung his basket over his shoulder, took Su Zhao'er's hand, and left the house.

Watching their retreating figures, Madam Wang said to Su Xiang'er, "Xiang'er, I feel like your eldest sister is different. Is she angry?"

Su Xiang'er pouted, "Mother, don't overthink it." After saying that, she took the work from Wang Shi and started washing the dishes.

Without Su Xiang'er, Su Wan'er felt more relaxed. After all, she was already eleven years old and understood many things. If she tried to secretly take food from her space, it would inevitably arouse her suspicion.

Su Zhao'er and Su Ming were different. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Su Wan'er asked Su Zhao'er to cut pig feed there, while she carried Su Ming on her back and walked up the mountain.

"Big sister, be careful, don't go too far, there are wolves in the mountains," Su Zhao'er warned like a little adult.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll go see if I can find any pheasants or something. We'll treat ourselves to something nice today."

Upon hearing the word "chicken," the little guy's face lit up, and an unknown liquid dribbled from the corner of his mouth. But then he added, "Big sister, pheasants are hard to catch, so you have to be careful."

Faced with her younger sister's tenderness, Su Wan'er's heart softened. "Don't worry, your eldest sister will treat you to a big meal today. Just stay here and don't go anywhere, okay?"

The little guy nodded, and worked with even more energy, because his older sister said there would be chicken to eat.

Su Wan'er walked up the mountain with satisfaction. Su Ming behind her had become familiar with her. Well, the little guy had eaten his fill today and slept even better.