“Li Zhaodi, stop spouting your father’s nonsense! As long as my daughter has even a single breath left in her, I’ll sell everything we own to get her treated!”  

Wang Xiu’e glared at her second daughter-in-law with a look that could kill.  

Truth be told, Wang Xiu’e had never approved of this marriage. But her second son, Lin Youzhu, had stubbornly insisted on marrying Li Zhaodi, even threatening to die if he couldn’t. Later, Li Zhaodi somehow managed to climb into Lin Youzhu’s bed using who-knows-what methods.  

Left with no choice, Wang Xiu’e had to grudgingly accept the marriage. But Li Zhaodi’s family was shamelessly greedy—they demanded a dowry of 150 yuan.  

Back then, the three-year famine had just ended. To scrape together that 150 yuan, the Lin family had publicly fallen into debt, and it took them years to finally pay it off.  

Right now, if it weren’t for the fear of leaving her grandchildren uncared for, Wang Xiu’e would have long kicked Li Zhaodi back to her parents’ home to save their household from her wasteful ways.  

“Mother, we can’t sacrifice everyone’s survival just to save Younger Sister,” Li Zhaodi said, shooting glances at the eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Yulan, hoping she’d take her side.  

But no matter how much Li Zhaodi blinked, Liu Yulan remained oblivious, standing there like a block of wood, unmoving.  

Li Zhaodi was so furious she could barely breathe.  

Wang Xiu’e turned her icy gaze to her second son. “Youzhu, is this what you think too?”  

Afraid of angering his mother, Lin Youzhu quickly shook his head. “Mother, don’t listen to my wife’s nonsense. Wanwan is my own sister—I’d sell everything to get her treated!”  

“And your wife…?”  

Not wanting to upset his mother further, Lin Youzhu turned and slapped Li Zhaodi several times across the face.  

Li Zhaodi was stunned. The fiery pain on her cheeks snapped her back to reality, but she wasn’t one to take a beating lying down.  

Summoning all her strength, she tackled Lin Youzhu to the ground and clawed his face to shreds.  

Lin Yougen and Liu Yulan, the eldest son and daughter-in-law, stood by helplessly, unsure whether to intervene. After all, their sister-in-law’s words had been too cruel—that was their own younger sister.  

If their own sister was sick, how could they not treat her? Even if they had to sell their blood or themselves, they’d make sure she got better.  

In the end, it was Lin Shuisheng, the father, who couldn’t take it anymore and scolded them, finally putting an end to the farce.  

Wang Xiu’e couldn’t be bothered to watch the two idiots fight. She returned to her room, counted out the money, and handed it to the eldest son, Lin Yougen, instructing him to fetch medicine from Li Ainian in the neighboring brigade.  

But even after two rounds of herbal medicine, Lin Wanwan still didn’t wake up.  

Wang Xiu’e and Lin Shuisheng, worried their daughter might develop a fever in the middle of the night, stayed by her bedside all night without sleeping.  

Lin Wanwan woke up from thirst. The first thing she saw was a heavily dated thatched roof, and she could faintly smell something unpleasant in the air.  

That unreliable damn system—where has it sent me this time?

[Host, you are currently in the year 1971, in a place called the Morning Glory Brigade, in China.]

“So, I’ve time-traveled again?”  

[Yes…] The system suddenly sounded guilty.  

“Damn system, just you wait. Once I recover, I’ll deal with you.”  

Lin Wanwan closed her eyes, struggling to accept that she’d been sent back to the 1970s.  

Still, compared to her previous time-travel experiences, this was already a stroke of luck.  

Sure, food and clothing were scarce, but at least she was still alive.  

For example, the first time the unreliable system sent her back, it was to an unknown dynasty where she became a maidservant to a noble family’s young lady. She’d coughed during a meal, disturbing the young lady, and was dragged out and beaten to death.  

Or the time she was transported to the Beast World, only to be hunted down and eaten alive by a beast on her first day.  

And then there was that one time she finally returned to the modern era, only to be hit by a car before she could even open her eyes, sent flying over a dozen meters.  

……

In short, Lin Wanwan had experienced all sorts of bizarre deaths, and just thinking about them now made her body ache.  

“…Water… water…”  

Wang Xiu’e, who had been dozing by the bedside, immediately woke up when she heard her daughter’s voice.  

“Sweetheart, you’re finally awake! Do you have any idea how scared you had me?”  

“If something really happened to you, how could your father and I go on living?”  

Lin Shuisheng, looking at his daughter who had been lost and now found, wiped away tears as well.  

Though the middle-aged woman before her was noisy, Lin Wanwan could sense an overwhelming love in her words. Seeing her cry, she found herself shedding tears too.  

Wang Xiu’e panicked when she saw her daughter lying in bed, crying.  

“Sweetheart, don’t cry! From now on, I’ll agree to whatever you want to do. I just beg you not to do anything foolish, don’t scare me like this.”  

“…Water… I want water…”  

Hearing his daughter’s request, Lin Shuisheng immediately ran to the kitchen, scooped a bowl of water from the vat, and brought it over.  

After drinking the water, Lin Wanwan’s parched throat finally felt better. When she met the worried gazes of the two people before her, her heart softened.  

“…I’m fine… don’t… worry…”  

It took Lin Wanwan a full two days to barely come to terms with her current body—one so overweight it was hard to look at.  

The slightest movement left her exhausted. Someone else had to help her dress, and meals had to be spoon-fed to her.  

Even going to the bathroom required someone to stand guard outside, afraid she might lose her balance and drown in the pit.  

According to her little niece, this body had already fallen in several times before.  

Just the thought of that sloshy, foul dry toilet made Lin Wanwan’s stomach churn. Unable to hold back, she vomited up the egg custard she had just eaten.  

Li Zhaodi, watching the wasted egg custard splattered on the ground, felt a pang of heartache and silently cursed her sister-in-law for being such a wasteful wretch.  

How dare she ruin such good food? She’s not afraid of being struck by lightning!

If not for all the eyes watching, she would have knelt down and licked up that mess on the ground…  

Li Zhaodi wasn’t the only one with that thought—everyone else in the room was thinking the same.  

Blame it on how dire things had been these past two years. Surviving on wild vegetable soup every day, they could hardly remember the last time they’d had a full meal.  

Wang Xiu’e, distressed over her daughter, rushed to her side and asked anxiously, “Sweetheart, are you okay?”  

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”  

Still uneasy, Wang Xiu’e turned and made a bowl of brown sugar water, bringing it to Lin Wanwan.  

Li Zhaodi’s eyes lit up at the sight of the sugar water, and the other children in the house also stared with envy.  

Sweet, fragrant brown sugar water—it looked delicious.  

“Mother, didn’t you say we ran out of brown sugar long ago? So you hid it just for Younger Sister? You’re so biased it’s practically choking you!”  

Li Zhaodi swallowed hard, her eyes practically glued to that bowl of sugar water.  

Wang Xiu’e shot her a cold glare, and Li Zhaodi immediately shut up.  

“My things are mine to give to whoever I please. None of you better even think about it—even if you do, you won’t get a drop.”  

Then, turning back to Lin Wanwan, she said with a smile, “Sweetheart, drink it while it’s hot. Don’t mind those greedy wretches.”  

No destiny for wealth, yet still dreaming of good food and drink? As if the world works that way. Not like my daughter—born with great fortune.  

Back then, that blind fortune-teller had said her daughter was destined for wealth and prosperity.