At first, Wang Xiu’e didn’t believe the blind fortune-teller’s nonsense either.  

But on the very day her daughter was born, her old man went up the mountain to gather firewood and unexpectedly stumbled upon five hefty gold ingots.  

What did that mean?  

It meant her daughter was destined for wealth—blessed with immense fortune.  

She might even be a celestial maiden reborn into their family.  

Otherwise, with so many people gathering firewood on the mountain, how could those five gold ingots have ended up in her husband’s hands alone?  

Wang Xiu’e was clever.  

She kept the discovery of the gold ingots a secret, not daring to breathe a word to anyone—not even her sons.  

She was afraid her daughters-in-law would catch wind of it and start scheming, funneling the family’s wealth back to their own parents.  

Those gold ingots had been found thanks to her daughter’s luck, and they were meant to be her dowry in the future.  

But then came the lean years of 1959, when the heavens seemed determined to torment those who toiled the land. The fields yielded nothing, leaving the villagers in desperate straits.  

People in the production team were so hungry they dug up white clay from the mountains, stripped bark from trees, and even scavenged wild goose droppings to eat. But those things only bloated their stomachs and made them suffer.  

If not for the five gold ingots her husband had found on the mountain, the entire Lin family would have starved to death long ago.  

The only regret was her daughter.  

Originally, those five gold ingots were meant to be her dowry, but to keep the family alive, they had to spend two, leaving only three.  

If her sons ever dared treat their sister poorly in the future, she and her husband would rise from their graves and drag them all down to hell.  

Snapping out of her thoughts, Wang Xiu’e saw her daughter standing there dazed and urged her, “Drink up, girl. After you finish, go back to bed and rest. You’re still weak and need to recover.”  

Her daughter had really been through the wringer this time. Tomorrow, she’d send the old man to the county to buy half a pound of pork to nourish her properly.  

Perhaps due to lingering traces of the original host’s consciousness, Lin Wanwan felt her heart soften when she met Wang Xiu’e’s caring gaze.  

“Thank you, Mom.”  

With that, she took the bowl of brown sugar water and drank.  

Perhaps because it had been heavily diluted, the sugar water wasn’t very sweet.  

But in these times when even a full meal was a luxury, having brown sugar water was already an extravagance.  

With so many pairs of eyes watching, Lin Wanwan forced herself to finish every last drop to avoid waste.  

Across from her, Li Zhaodi stared at her sister-in-law with burning jealousy, itching to snatch the bowl from her hands.  

That wretched old hag of a mother-in-law always hoarded the good food for her precious daughter, never sparing a thought for the rest of the family.  

Brown sugar water was such a rare treat—Li Zhaodi couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had any.  

It must have been so sweet.  

Without realizing it, drool began to trickle from the corner of her mouth.  

As soon as Lin Wanwan handed the empty bowl back to Wang Xiu’e, the quick and greedy Li Zhaodi snatched it away.  

“Mom, I’ll wash the bowl.”

Before Wang Xiu’e could say a word, Li Zhaodi lifted the door curtain and dashed into the yard.  

“What a greedy, shameless wretch! Never does a proper day’s work, just drools over her sister-in-law’s food. The Lin family must’ve been cursed for eight lifetimes to bring such a creature into our home…”  

The others were used to Wang Xiu’e’s scolding and all hunched their shoulders, shrinking back like timid turtles.  

They were afraid of provoking her and earning themselves an undeserved tongue-lashing.  

But Lin Wanwan couldn’t take it anymore and quickly interrupted, “Mom, my head hurts.”  

The moment she spoke, everyone crowded around her, looking at her with concern.  

“Don’t be scared, girl. Your mom’s here. I’ll send your eldest brother to fetch the doctor right now.”  

With that, Wang Xiu’e turned to Lin Yougen, her eldest son, and snapped, “What are you standing around for? Can’t you see your sister’s unwell? Hurry up and get the barefoot doctor to treat her!”  

“Mom, I’ll go right away.”  

Just as Lin Yougen took his first step, Lin Wanwan swiftly grabbed his arm to stop him.  

“Mom, I’m probably just tired. I’ll be fine after some rest—no need to waste money.”  

“Girl, I’m just worried about your health. If you’re sick, we’ll treat it. Don’t delay because you’re afraid of spending money. You’re the only daughter your father and I have.”  

Money? Lin Wanwan glanced around the drafty, ramshackle kitchen and silently averted her eyes.  

This family was so poor even the rats would leave in tears.  

“Mom, I’m really just tired. I’m not sick.”  

In the end, Wang Xiu’e couldn’t argue with her and had to let her go back to her room to rest.  

As soon as Lin Wanwan stepped out of the kitchen, she saw Li Zhaodi standing in the yard, licking the bowl she had just drunk from.  

Having grown up in comfort with no shortage of food or drink, Lin Wanwan had never witnessed anything like this. Instantly, her stomach churned violently.  

Suppressing the urge to vomit, she turned and went straight to her room to lie down.  

Li Zhaodi shot a sidelong glance at her sister-in-law’s room, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into her skull.  

That lazy, gluttonous sister-in-law of hers—whoever married her in the future would be in for a world of misery.  

She wondered which poor fool would have the “luck” to end up with her.  

Lying on the bed, Lin Wanwan stared blankly at the spiderweb-covered roof beam and summoned the damned system that had landed her in this mess.  

By her count, she’d been here for two days now.  

She hadn’t inherited any of the original host’s memories, only piecing together bits of the family’s situation from scattered remarks.  

Beyond that, she knew nothing.  

If she was going to survive in this era while posing as the original host, she needed at least a basic understanding of the times.  

Perhaps out of guilt, the system didn’t wait for her to ask—it promptly transmitted the original host’s memories to her.  

In an instant, a flood of memories surged into Lin Wanwan’s mind.  

Her head throbbed as if it were about to split open.  

Two minutes later, she had fully absorbed all of the original host’s memories.