“Dashan, mother… mother doesn’t seem to be breathing…”

“Mother, your son is unfilial!”

A wailing cry echoed in her ears.

Cheng Wanwan abruptly opened her eyes.

She saw a young man and woman kneeling by the bedside.

They looked about twenty years old, yet they were calling her “mother”?

She was single and unmarried—how could she have children this old?!

In that instant, memories that did not belong to her flooded into her mind.

Cheng Wanwan was so shocked she nearly jumped out of bed.

Damn it!

She, a successful businesswoman, had just taken her company public, and now she had transmigrated into an ancient widow?!

She was thirty-three years old, unmarried, childless, and thriving in her career.

The original owner of this body was also thirty-three, married at fourteen, and had four sons.

The young man and woman before her were the eldest son and his wife.

In other words, she had skipped marriage and childbirth and directly become a mother-in-law… and judging by her eldest daughter-in-law’s belly, she would be promoted to grandmother in a few months!

Cheng Wanwan’s head throbbed, and she weakly closed her eyes.

“Mother! Wake up!”

Zhao Dashan frantically shook her body, making her head spin even more.

Outside the house, many villagers had gathered to watch the commotion.

“Zhao Da’s wife went back to her maiden family to borrow grain, got beaten, and came back with a bloody head. She might not survive!”

“She always takes things to her maiden family. The Cheng family is heartless!”

“Zhao Da’s wife isn’t a good person either. Her own family is struggling, yet she keeps supporting her parents.”

Hearing the villagers gossip, Cheng Wanwan almost spat out blood.

In modern times, she was a city beauty with no shortage of admirers.

Yet now, she had become an old sister-in-law?!

As if that weren’t bad enough, the original owner was widely disliked—mean, lazy, greedy, and arrogant!

She had been unfilial to her in-laws, mistreated her children and daughter-in-law, and after her husband died in battle, she had caused an uproar to take his pension and separate from the Zhao family.

It had been quite a scandal at the time.

Afterward, she had given all the pension money to her maiden family.

And now, after being beaten and thrown out by them, she had become the biggest joke in the village.

Cheng Wanwan slowly opened her eyes.

“Mother! You’re finally awake!”

Zhao Dashan cried even harder.

Cheng Wanwan sighed.

No matter how terrible the original owner had been, she was still their mother. Her children would never truly wish for her death.

Her voice was hoarse as she spoke: “Close the door.”

The crowd outside was too noisy—it made her head hurt.

Her daughter-in-law, Wu Huiniang, immediately turned to shut the courtyard gate, and the villagers gradually dispersed.

Only then did Cheng Wanwan have the energy to examine the house.

Mud-brick walls, a dirt floor, a thatched roof, and drafts from every direction.

Her eldest son and daughter-in-law were both thin, dressed in patched coarse cloth, and wore straw shoes—they looked like refugees.

“Gurgle!”

Cheng Wanwan’s stomach growled.

In her thirty-three years of life, she had never gone hungry before.

This was the first time she realized how miserable it felt.

She swallowed, her throat dry and painful—who knew how long it had been since she had last drunk water?

Wu Huiniang cautiously said, “Mother, I dug up some wild vegetables this morning. I’ll cook them now.”

Her mother-in-law always scolded her when she was unhappy.

Instead of waiting to be berated, Wu Huiniang figured she might as well find something to do.

The courtyard had three rooms—one for the eldest son and his wife, one for Cheng Wanwan and her three younger sons, and a central hall that doubled as a dining area.

There was also a dilapidated shed that barely served as a kitchen.

Wu Huiniang bent down and picked up a handful of wild vegetables.

The harvest had failed, so they lived on wild greens mixed with a little buckwheat flour, boiled into a mush—this was their daily food.

The stove held a broken pot with a large hole in it. They had to tilt it carefully to keep the food from leaking out.

Before long, a bowl of wild vegetable mush was placed on the wooden table.

Dark, thick porridge with wilted green leaves floating in it—it looked anything but appetizing.

Cheng Wanwan was starving. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even glance at it.

She took a sip.

It was bitter, unsalted, and the ground flour scraped her throat—it was almost impossible to swallow.

Yet when she looked up, she saw her eldest son and daughter-in-law staring at her bowl, swallowing hungrily.

The food she found inedible was the main source of survival for these impoverished people.

She set the bowl back on the table.

At this, Wu Huiniang trembled.

The silent disapproval of her mother-in-law was terrifying.

She nearly collapsed to her knees.

Cheng Wanwan forced a smile.

She hadn’t even done anything, yet her daughter-in-law was already this frightened. Just how much had the original owner tormented this family?

She stood up and said indifferently, “I have no appetite. You eat.”

Then she walked out of the room.

Wu Huiniang panicked. “Dashan, mother… mother, is she…?”

“Mother told us to eat. So let’s eat.”

Zhao Dashan divided the mush into five small bowls—one for him and his wife, and the rest for his three younger brothers.

Outside, Cheng Wanwan stood at the entrance, surveying Dahe Village.

To the east, rolling mountains. To the west, a vast valley.

A river ran through it, but due to a severe drought, the water had dried up, exposing a cracked riverbed.

It was a shocking sight.

Last year, a locust plague had struck the village.

This year, a drought followed.

Many families had already run out of food, and desperation was setting in.

If it didn’t rain within a month, this would be another year of famine.

The villagers would be left with no choice but to flee as refugees.

Cheng Wanwan sighed.

What kind of karma had she accumulated to be thrown into such a situation?

Becoming a mother-in-law and grandmother overnight was bad enough, but she had also transmigrated into a famine-stricken world?!

But—if she had once climbed from an orphaned girl to a self-made businesswoman, she could survive in this world too.

Taking a deep breath, she began to accept her new reality.

Instead of dwelling on her misfortune, she needed to familiarize herself with her surroundings.

She walked to the rice fields.

The rice plants were yellowish-green, their leaves curled and dry.

The sparse grains were mostly empty husks.

Without enough water, the crops would never mature.

Cheng Wanwan didn’t know much about farming and was about to leave when—

A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in her mind—

[Ding! Detected: Naturally grown, pollution-free bitter lettuce!]