Chapter 1

“What are you doing? That’s our Wang family’s stuff!” An old woman’s sharp voice yelled, “You killed my son! My son was perfectly fine. It’s you who caused his death!”

The old woman’s piercing screams were accompanied by her actions as she reached out to snatch the clothes from her daughter-in-law’s hands. The daughter-in-law, in her twenties, nimbly dodged aside, keeping the clothes in her grasp.

“My clothes, my bedding. He’s gone, so I’m leaving. But I have to take my things with me.”

“What do you mean yours? That’s all from our Wang family.”

“If you won’t let me take them, then I’ll just stay here in the Wang family. Let’s see who dares to drag me out today!”

Her husband was dead, and her in-laws were understandably heartbroken and angry. But she wasn’t a pushover. Sitting there with scissors in hand, no one dared to confront her directly. A crowd gathered, watching and murmuring that Old Lady Wang was being unreasonable. The two sons couldn’t stand the public opinion and urged their mother.

“Let her take it, it was originally hers.”

“Yeah, Mom, you can’t let her leave empty-handed.”

“I won’t! My son is gone. I can’t let her take my things away. It’s her. It’s all her. She killed my son.”

The eldest son said, “If she doesn’t leave, and you’re okay with facing her every day, then that’s your business. We’ll do what we need to do.”

“No way! I don’t want to live with her.”

“Then you should let her take her things.”

“Exactly, you can’t have both ways. She’s been here for years, you know her temperament. Do you think she’s so easy to bully?”

“Oh, my poor son!”

The old woman began to cry again, but after all the fuss, in the end, she still let her daughter-in-law take her things. A box, everyday clothes, a set of bedding, sheets, and pillowcases and the remaining food, nothing was left behind.

Luo Lan pushed the cart out of her in-laws’ house and looked up at the sky, thinking about her next destination. Her in-laws and her family were in the same village, only a few hundred meters apart. She didn’t need to transfer her grain registration and could continue working to get her rations.

However, her parents had passed away long ago, leaving only her two older brothers. The eldest brother and his wife were supporting five children, and the whole family was squeezed into two mud houses. There was no room for her. The second brother and sister-in-law had fewer children, but the sister-in-law was a piece of work.

Should she try her second brother’s house? The thought flashed by, but she didn’t hold out much hope.

It was on the way, so she slowly walked to her second brother’s doorstep and hesitated to go in. Just as she was about to leave, her sister-in-law came out with a wooden basin, and they ran into each other.

“What’s going on with you?”

“Can I stay here for a while?”

Her second sister-in-law frowned and sighed helplessly. “It’s not that I don’t want to keep you, but there’s just no space at home. My mother was sick before, and I wanted to bring her over to stay for a few days, but there wasn’t anywhere to put her, so I ended up going back to my mother’s house to take care of her.”

As if she knew what Luo Lan was going to say next, her second sister-in-law continued to lament, “There are all sorts of things piled up in the west room, and there are two kids cramped on the bed. We do have some space on our bed,  you could share it with us.”

How could she, a woman in her twenties who had been married, bear to sleep with her brother and sister-in-law? Since her second sister-in-law had this attitude, she chose to back off. She couldn’t possibly stay on her brother and sister-in-law’s bed. She had anticipated this outcome, these words were just a chance encounter.

“That won’t work. Never mind, I’ll find another way.”

Saying this, she turned to leave, but her second sister-in-law politely reached out to stop her. “Come home for lunch, I’ll scoop you an extra helping of coarse flour.”

“No, I’ll come back another day.”

Her second sister-in-law was only being polite, and she didn’t make any real effort to keep her. She pushed her cart past her second brother’s house and headed to her original destination—the dilapidated shed in the west of the village.

The shed was supported by wooden beams and covered with straw. It had previously been used to guard the watermelon fields. For the past two years, the village hadn’t planted watermelons, so the shed had been abandoned.

It was a triangular shed, open at both ends. She hadn’t examined it closely before, but now she set down her cart and walked around to inspect it carefully, discovering that the roof had some leaks. It would be fine as long as it didn’t rain, but if it did, it definitely wouldn’t hold up. Looking inside, she indeed found traces of rainwater.

“Let’s settle down first.”

Rain or winter, this shabby shed might withstand a rainy day, but it certainly wouldn’t survive the cold winter. However, at the moment, she didn’t have any better options and could only store her things here for now.

A living person won’t die from holding their urine.

She firmly held onto her belief and would never back down in front of her in-laws. After moving the trunk into the shed, she grabbed a bundle of straw from the side and covered the trunk securely. Although the trunk had a lock, it was still better to hide it.

There was no time to eat, so she nibbled on the leftover dry flatbread to stave off hunger and searched around for larger tree branches. She needed to cover the other two sides of the shed to ensure privacy.

Used to hard labor on the farm, the woman worked with strength, spending the entire afternoon blocking the sides of the shed with branches. She then laid a layer of straw on the roof.

She was busy and sweating, and there was still plenty of dry straw left underfoot. As people finished work and headed home, those coming from the fields to the west would inevitably pass by her shed. A curious crowd quickly gathered around to watch the spectacle.

“Hey, Luo Lan, what are you doing fixing up this old shed?”

“Luo Lan, auntie will introduce you to a good family. How can you live in a shed like this? You’re such a beautiful girl, let me introduce you to a good match.”

Aunt Hu, the well-known matchmaker of the village, opened with the offer. Luo Lan didn’t respond, but someone nearby, intrigued, asked what kind of family it was.

“A great family! If you’re interested, I can tell your aunt about it.”

“It’s a man from Hongling Brigade. His wife has passed away, and he has four children—two boys and two girls. If you marry him, you won’t have to worry about childbirth. You’ll instantly become a mother. What do you think, Luo Lan? If you’re willing, I can arrange a meeting.”

Her elder brother, carrying a hoe, came over with a worried expression on his dark face. Luo Lan remained silent, and the man asked on her behalf, “How old is the man? How old are the children?”

“The man is forty-two, and the eldest son is eighteen.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Elder Brother Luo raised his hoe, scaring Aunt Hu to turn and run, while the man shouted after her, “What kind of person are you to say such things? That man is old enough to be my sister’s father. How can you even speak like that?”

“I just thought your sister looked pitiful and wanted to find her a place to stay.”

Elder Brother Luo stopped and calmed down a bit. “But you can’t just find anyone casually, he’s too old.”

Luo Lan shot back, “What you’re offering isn’t finding me a husband, it’s more like you’re finding one for yourself.”

“I…” Aunt Hu realized she was in the wrong and didn’t retort back. “I’ll look around and see if I can find someone younger.”

After Aunt Hu left, Elder Brother Luo returned, still carrying the hoe. At this point, the onlookers had all dispersed, each heading home for dinner. He felt sorry for his sister but didn’t speak, just went in to tidy up her things. Luo Lan stopped him.

“Elder brother, what are you doing?”

“Come home with me.”

“Share a bed with you and sister-in-law?”

“Then, I…,” Elder Brother Luo squatted down, holding his head in despair. “It’s all my fault.”

His sister’s husband was dead, and he thought about how the Wang family might bully her. They knew her temperament, and leaving the Wang family was the right choice. But the situation at home made things difficult. They had no place to stay, they couldn’t possibly make her sleep on the same bed.

“Elder brother,” Luo Lan patted his shoulder. “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry, I can manage on my own. Maybe I’ll find a new place soon. It won’t be like this forever.”

Having no place to live and not even being able to rent a room limited a woman’s freedom. But as she spoke, she smiled, her eyes still sparkling with determination. She wouldn’t lose hope. As long as she is alive, she believed there was always a path for her.

“Go talk to your second brother. Ask him to clear out the west room and make some space for you.”

“No need, it’s hot now, and I’ll just settle here for the time being. We can talk about it when it gets colder.”

She went to her second brother’s house, holding a glimmer of hope that perhaps her second sister-in-law would accept her. But it was clear that her second sister-in-law wasn’t keen on having her there. If she went, it would only make things uncomfortable for the couple. Her older brother’s family was likely struggling more, so it was better for her to manage on her own.

Even if the family was wealthy, where would they put the things piled up in the west room? What if they had to throw them away? What if they got wet? Who would bear the loss? These were all problems she didn’t want to cause friction within her brother’s family.

“But you have family, how can you let yourself live here?”

Her older brother said this, and just then, her second brother came over, also carrying a hoe. With him was her elder sister, who had married within the same brigade. They shared a deep bond as siblings, and seeing her in this state made them both anxious and concerned.

“You should come home with me. Even if you have to share a bed with us, it’s better than living in this shed.”

Her older brother spoke, but that was all he could say. Their home had limited conditions and a sick child. He thought of bringing his sister back home and dealing with everything else later. The west room had five children living in it. The eldest son was already eighteen and was about to get married.

Their elder sister could only wipe her tears, not daring to say a word. After marrying, she had given birth to two daughters and now lived with her mother-in-law. She felt insecure and didn’t dare to say anything in front of her mother-in-law. Despite her deep concern for her younger sister, she knew she couldn’t protect her.

The second brother was typically the kind who wouldn’t lift a finger to help, as his wife ran the household. When faced with a problem, he would only remain silent, as if nothing concerned him. Day after day, he ate and worked, caring about nothing else. Now, standing there, he wore an expression devoid of any extra emotion. Everyone knew they couldn’t count on him.

Luo Lan understood everyone’s difficulties. Sometimes there was simply no way around it. The eldest nephew and the second nephew of the eldest brother’s family were both young men, so how could she, as an aunt, live with them? They themselves were worried about housing, and she didn’t want to add to their troubles.

“It’s hot now, so I’ll stay here for the time being. If my situation hasn’t changed by winter, I’ll go to your house then.”

This was the only way she could think of, reducing friction. If she could find a partner before winter, then she wouldn’t have to worry about housing.

“Alright then.”

Her brother and sister nodded, looking at the shed in unison. “After work, we’ll come help you tidy up and make it sturdier.”

“Okay.”

With three men working, her brothers and brother-in-law could get things done quickly. However, the second brother was called back by his wife as soon as he finished work, leaving the elder brother frustrated and wanting to kick him. But he was stopped by his brother-in-law, who sighed deeply, truly at a loss for words about his younger brother.

Her brother-in-law and her sister found a friend to help, and the three men borrowed axes to chop down a few trees of moderate size. They expanded the shed and surrounded it tightly. The wood was dug into deep holes in the ground, so it wouldn’t just fall out easily.

At night, they worked by torchlight, and her eldest sister-in-law brought over some thin porridge. After eating, the two sisters applied some mud to the wood, which would help with insulation and heat retention, just enough to get through the autumn harvest.

“It’ll last a few months. For now, we’ll just make do with it.”

The shed wasn’t large, but after some adjustments, it had changed significantly. The wood was arranged neatly, and deeply buried in the ground, it was quite sturdy. The slanted surfaces were covered with mud, and the top was laid with dry straw, resembling a low little house.

Inside, they used wood to support a low bed on the ground, a meter wide, just enough for her to sleep alone. She spread out the bedding she brought, placing the pillow and quilt, creating a cozy sleeping nook. Outside, they built a simple stove, and she had brought a small iron pot that could be used to cook.

“There are still fifteen days left in this month. Did you bring your food?” her brother-in-law asked, and her sister looked at her with concern.

“I brought enough. I have everything I need to get by.” After saying this, she noticed it was getting late, and everyone was tired. “You all should go back. I can manage on my own here.”

“Should I stay with you?” her sister asked, a bit worried.

“Oh, just go back! Don’t worry, this used to be a place for watching melons. It’s safe here.”

Hearing her say this, the sisters finally left after helping her set up. After washing up, she entered her little nook and lay down in the bedding, feeling particularly comfortable as she turned over.

Living on her own, even if it meant sleeping on the ground, was better than being bullied by others. Although there were still many difficulties, the immediate concern was food. She had only brought eleven pounds of corn, and making that last until the end of the month would be a challenge, especially with no dry food to rely on.

“

“The melon eating system has officially activated. The host can eat melons to exchange for points. Points can be redeemed for items in the shop. Welcome, host, to embark on a delightful journey of eating melons.”

Suddenly, a voice appeared in her mind, startling her to sit up. After a moment of bustling around, she realized what this system was and that it wouldn’t harm her. Only then did she settle back down comfortably.

“What does eating melons mean?”

“It means watching the fun. The bigger the commotion, the more melon-eating points you earn.”

“What can the points be exchanged for? Can they be used for food?”

“Of course! Rice, flour, millet, corn… everything you know can be exchanged here.”