Lu Qingqing finally let out a long, suffocated breath: “If you all had disciplined me earlier, I wouldn’t have turned out this way! You brought this on yourselves!”

“It’s not like that,” Lu Feng said, staring steadily at her, making sure she hadn’t gone back to her old self. “It’s not like that.”

“Little Sister is not bad.”

“You used to be so well-behaved.”

“You were beautiful and kind-hearted.”

“You were just led astray by Aunt.”

“You got confused for a while, that’s all.”

“As a father and older brothers,” Lu Feng added, “how could we justify beating or scolding you because of our own negligence?”

In his heart, he never felt like they’d mistreated their sister-in-law either.

Whenever she was upset by Lu Qingqing, he always found ways to make it up to her.

Lu Qingqing didn’t think much of Lu Feng’s words.

In her memories, there was no sign of the original Lu Qingqing being kind-hearted— only manipulation, especially toward her closest family.

But fine.

She didn’t have the right to lecture them.

That was their sister, after all.

Even if she had been rotten to the core—blood was blood.

The anger she’d just felt dissolved.

Lu Qingqing gradually calmed down.

Thinking back, she remembered: At first, Lu Father had tried to discipline the original host.
That time she stole something, he hit her for the first time. But she dodged and fell, slicing her face on the corner of a table.

From then on, no one ever dared to lay a finger on her again.

“Isn’t Little Sister already back to normal now?” Lu Feng said with a hearty, slightly fawning smile.

For a moment, Lu Qingqing felt like she really was the true Lu Qingqing.

Because Lu Feng didn’t say she had become good, he said she had come back.

She smiled to herself.

Fine—let’s just say she had come back.

Either way, she was now a part of this family.

The sun dipped below the horizon, dusk settled in.

The wind stirred, smoke curled, and the whole yard was filled with fragrant aromas.

When Lu Father and Lu Yun returned, dinner was already on the table.

“Dad! Qingqing made this—it smells amazing!” Lu Feng announced proudly.

Though it made his heart ache, he had to praise her!

This was the first time in years Little Sister had cooked, and honestly, it was better than anyone else’s.

Actually, Lu Qingqing wasn’t particularly skilled in cooking.

She had just made some simple home-style dishes.

But she had purified the coarse salt once.

And everyone knew—salt is the soul of flavor.

Good salt alone made food taste great.

She also added scallions, garlic, pepper, and just the right amount of oil.

The result? Delicious.

She had stewed pig trotters and soybeans all afternoon. Filtered out the fat and used it to stew radish with bones.

Stir-fried pork with spinach.

Made flatbread using a mix of wheat and corn flour, cut into neat triangle wedges.

It all looked incredibly appetizing!

But… it was all refined food. Too extravagant.

With the whole family eating, it was gone quickly.
And there was no money to buy more.

Lu Father and Lu Yun’s happy expressions gradually faded.

Especially when Lu Feng whispered: “Little Sister… threw the whole jar of pickled vegetables into the latrine…”

Because she’d seen white mold on the surface and insisted it was inedible.

Sure, you could wash it and eat it. It would’ve lasted all year.

But now?

She dumped it. Into the latrine. No way to salvage it.

Lu Father’s heart ached terribly. That jar of pickles had taken a whole jin of rock salt!

He’d planned to eat it until next autumn!

“Dad, sit and eat,” Lu Qingqing said.

After a full afternoon of work, she didn’t feel tired at all.

Compared to the nonstop pressure of performing surgery in her past life, just doing some housework was practically leisurely.

She pretended not to notice everyone’s pained but helpless expressions.

They’d have to get used to it.

“Eat, eat… so fragrant,” Lu Yun mumbled, already wolfing down his food.

It had been so long since they’d had meat. Even just this one meal was satisfying.

Plus, Dad needed the nourishment.

Anyway, after this there was no money for more, and Lu Qingqing would have to eat coarse grains too.

“Dad, this soup is amazing!” Lu Yun exclaimed.

He was genuinely shocked.

How could it have no unpleasant smell at all?

He wanted to drink it all himself.

Of course it was amazing—it cost a fortune!

Suddenly, Lu Father seemed to remember something.

He wiped off his frown and picked up a few pieces of flatbread and some soup— and walked out the door.

Lu Qingqing’s face changed. “Dad, where are you going?”

He wasn’t going to give it to someone else, was he?

Lu Yun, his mouth full, muttered:
“Probably off to tempt Old Man Li. He cursed you earlier, called you a jinx, said Dad should marry you off to someone over the mountain to be a stepmother.”

Lu Qingqing: “……”

Didn’t think Dad would be the showing-off type.

She could already guess. Knowing this village, her name must have been dragged through the mud.

Liuyun Village wasn’t particularly united.

After the years of war, only half of the villagers had returned— the rest were outsiders who’d settled here.

Like Doctor Ding, Ning Xiuwen—those without land were mostly from elsewhere.

That night’s meal left everyone both full and full of worries.

All the meat from the pig trotters was brought to Feng Xiaowan— which scared her into thinking this was a farewell meal.

Lu Feng had to coax her endlessly before she dared to eat.

Little Sister said if he didn’t take care of his wife properly, she’d beat him up.

After dinner, Lu Qingqing cleaned up in the kitchen.

The three men huddled in the courtyard in the dark, whispering.

Lu Feng said, “Dad, did you notice? Little Sister cooked with scallions and garlic!”

She used to refuse to eat those!

No—she hadn’t eaten them ever since she fell into the water.

“Of course I noticed.”

Lu Yun added, “Dad, what’s going on with her? Why does she change so suddenly?”

Lu Father shook his head. “Your mother once said—when a person suffers a big shock or trauma,
it might change their habits.”

But this was more than that.

It felt like she was a whole different person.

“I think this is my real sister,” Lu Yun said in a low voice. “The old Lu Qingqing didn’t seem like part of our family at all.”

“Let’s not overthink it. The important thing is, your sister’s turned around—that’s the best thing of all.
We three need to figure out the money situation.”

Refined rice and white flour were delicious—but the family couldn’t afford it.

One meal cost three jin of flour, which meant over ten copper coins!

They’d go broke in no time.

But they couldn’t make Lu Qingqing mad—so they had to bite the bullet and eat it.

Qingqing had changed for the better, sure— but she was still fierce!

Just that now, her fierceness was for their sake.

If they didn’t want to upset her, they’d have to earn more.

After working the fields, they’d need to find other jobs.

“Dad! Come drink your medicine!” Lu Qingqing called from inside.

Lu Father leapt to his feet: “Coming, coming!”

Only the two brothers were left in the courtyard.

“Oh no, Big Brother! I forgot my shovel in the field!” Lu Yun suddenly exclaimed.

“You took a shovel to the field?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go grab it before someone snatches it.”

He left in a rush.

“This kid… nearly of marriageable age and still so scatterbrained.”

But under the cover of night, Lu Yun didn’t go to the field.

He slipped into the shadows along the wall— and made his way toward the east end of the village.