Everyone at the dinner table stared at the steamed egg custard in Wang Xiu’e and Lin Shuisheng’s bowls, swallowing their saliva in envy.  

Ten-year-old Lin Changfu couldn’t resist the temptation any longer. Holding his bowl, he went up to Lin Shuisheng, who doted on him the most.  

“Grandpa, I want some too.”  

Just as Lin Shuisheng was about to scoop some of his egg custard into Lin Changfu’s bowl, Wang Xiu’e stopped him.  

“You don’t do a damn thing all day, just eat, eat, eat. Are you some starving ghost reborn?”  

“And you dare steal from your grandpa? You heartless little beast! Aren’t you afraid lightning will strike you dead someday?”  

Lin Changfu was completely stunned by the scolding, standing frozen in place, unsure what to do.  

After about two or three seconds, a piercing wail erupted in the cramped kitchen.  

Li Zhaodi shielded her son Lin Changfu behind her and said resentfully, “Mom, Changfu is the only grandson of our Lin family. He’s the one who’ll carry on the family line!”  

“What’s the big deal about him having some egg custard? Was it worth yelling like that? Look how scared he is now!”  

Wang Xiu’e glared coldly at her second daughter-in-law, who dared to challenge her, and let out a scornful laugh.  

“Don’t try to scare me with that. I wasn’t born yesterday.”  

“If I wanted grandsons, I could just shout outside a few times, and young maidens would come knocking with gifts, begging to bear sons for Lao Er. Do I really need the one you popped out?”  

In these famine years, just a single cornbread bun was enough to lure pretty young widows into the wheat stacks with men.  

As for marrying a wife? Twenty pounds of cornmeal could buy you a new bride.  

Not long ago, Wang Cuihua’s eldest son from their production team took twenty pounds of cornmeal to the next village and came back with a wife.  

Seeing her mother-in-law was dead serious, Li Zhaodi didn’t dare say another word.  

She was terrified that if Wang Xiu’e really brought home some little vixen, she’d make Lin Youzhu divorce her, and that little vixen would take her place.  

After all, Lin Youzhu had no other talents—just an exceptional ability to obey his mother.  

Wherever she pointed, he went. Whatever she said, he did. He was like a dog at her side.  

She must’ve had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to end up with a useless man like Lin Youzhu.  

Lin Changfu stopped crying too and obediently sat back in his seat, nibbling on the mixed-grain cornbread—no bigger than half a fist—that had been allotted to him.  

Every now and then, he glanced up at Lin Shuisheng, who was eating the egg custard, his eyes brimming with grievance and pitifulness.  

Grandpa didn’t love him anymore.  

He wasn’t Grandpa’s favorite grandson now.  

In the past, whenever Grandpa got something good, he always gave it to him first.  

Under his eldest grandson’s pleading gaze, Lin Shuisheng felt a pang of guilt.  

But his wife had already laid down the law. If he gave the egg custard to Changfu now, wouldn’t that be slapping her in the face?  

After some deliberation, and to avoid angering his wife further, Lin Shuisheng quickly shoveled the remaining custard into his mouth, tossed his chopsticks down, and went out to work.  

Lin Changfu stared at the empty bowl, his little face instantly falling.  

Meanwhile, Wang Xiu’e ate the egg custard her daughter had given her, her heart swelling with happiness.  

Her daughter was so thoughtful—unlike the older ones, who were nothing but burdens from birth. The moment they got wives, they forgot all about their own mother.  

After the meal, the Lin family went out to work, leaving eight-year-old Lin Hongxiang behind to wash the dishes.  

With nothing else to do, Lin Wanwan carried a stool into the yard, found a shady spot, and sat down.  

Basking in the sunlight, she chatted idly with her system.  

Midway through their conversation, Lin Hongxiang timidly approached, dragging Lin Hongni—the youngest daughter of the second branch—by the hand.  

“Auntie… let me massage your legs for you.”

Lin Wanwan might as well have been some ferocious beast—Lin Hongxiang’s entire body trembled as she spoke.  

Lin Wanwan could clearly see the fear in her eyes and couldn’t help but frown.  

“System, do I really look that scary?”

[Host, you’re beloved by all, adored by flowers—a world-famous beauty! Not scary in the slightest.]

The system lied without batting an eye, fully committed to its shameless flattery.  

Lin Wanwan twitched her lips at the praise. Though she hadn’t looked in a mirror, she knew her current body—plump as a pig—was far from attractive.  

Still, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with the system.  

“I don’t need you two to massage my legs. If you’ve got nothing else to do, go inside and rest.”

Her gaze lingered on the two skeletal sisters, a pang of sympathy flashing across her face. She couldn’t bear to make these little ones serve her.  

Unexpectedly, her words terrified Lin Hongxiang, who shivered and stammered, “A-Auntie, did I do something wrong? Did I make you mad? Tell me, I’ll fix it!”

Her aunt had never spoken to her with a smile—only cold indifference.  

So this sudden kindness had to be a trap.  

Was she planning to tattle to Grandma when she got back from work and have her beat them?  

The wounds from the last time Grandma hit her with the fire tongs hadn’t even healed yet!  

Lin Wanwan: “…”

For the first time, she understood how hard it was to be a good person.  

In the end, seeing that reasoning with them was pointless, Lin Wanwan simply let them be.  

Lin Hongxiang half-knelt on the ground, using all her strength to knead Lin Wanwan’s legs.  

Five-year-old Lin Hongni wasn’t idle either, dutifully waving a palm-leaf fan to keep her aunt cool.  

Before long, the two little radishes were exhausted, their faces flushed and dripping with sweat.  

Then, little Hongni’s stomach let out a loud, protesting growl.  

She dropped the fan, scurried to the kitchen on her short legs, gulped down a ladle of cold water, then rushed back to resume fanning.  

Using water to stave off hunger was completely normal in the Morning Glory Production Brigade these days.  

To survive, the villagers resorted to every possible method—even stripping the bark off trees to boil and eat.  

But drinking water was the dumbest trick of all. You’d bloat yourself with water, only to pee it all out moments later.  

A temporary fix at best.  

Seeing the water still glistening on Hongni’s lips, Lin Wanwan easily guessed what the little girl had just done.  

Her heart ached for this five-year-old niece.  

Digging into her pocket, she pulled out two pieces of daxia su—a peanut and sesame candy—and held them out to the girls.  

Wang Xiue had slipped them to her this morning, worried she’d get hungry.  

She hadn’t eaten them yet.  

At the sight of the candy, the girls’ eyes lit up like stars.  

“Your aunt’s giving these to you. Take them.”

The moment Lin Wanwan spoke, the eager Hongni reached for the candy—  

Only for Hongxiang to yank her hand back before she could touch it.  

You don’t take Auntie’s things.

If Grandma found out they’d been greedy and eaten Auntie’s treats, she’d kill them.  

Though only eight, Lin Hongxiang had learned all the harsh lessons of surviving under Wang Xiu’e’s rule.