Chapter 20: The Reactions from All Sides

In the evening, Zeng Yan posted the second part of her video about the family split. The explosive effect of her time-travel was still resonating. In just one day, her followers had increased by thirty thousand. Even with the system blocking her videos’ visibility, her follower count still doubled, which was a satisfying result.

The moment she posted, the comments flooded in. Some people noticed that she had posted her last two videos around 7 PM and were now waiting online specifically to talk to her.

“Blogger, come out and talk to us! What’s going on? Why can’t I send you a private message?”

“This is too weird. I tried to share the video on other platforms, but I can’t! I can’t even screen-record it!”

“I’m telling you, I called the police, and they told me to go get a psychiatric evaluation.”

“I work for the platform. We tried to find the IP address of this account yesterday, and the server nearly crashed. We couldn’t find it. The backend can’t delete the account, and the big data can’t promote it. We couldn’t even put it on the ‘trending’ page. The company worked overtime until the middle of the night because of this account. Our boss, who hasn’t been in the office for 800 years, even came in. We all gave up in frustration and just decided to let it be.”

Oh? A platform insider had shown up. A mischievous smile spread across Zeng Yan’s face. Trying to take on the system? You can try all you want—it’s not going to happen. She was sure the platform had reported it to the authorities. The official response was probably the same as before—the system had wiped their memories. Is it really this hard to just sell a few things?

A bunch of people in the comments were cursing the platform.

“Delete the account and your whole family will die!”

“Whoever is blocking my curiosity, I’ll tear their heart out.”

“You’re asking for a major disaster. You dare to mess with the Eighth Wonder of the World? Next time, it won’t be just a server crash.”

“Platform, stop messing with this! We’re only using you because we think you’re worthy. If you piss us off, they’ll just go somewhere else.”

Zeng Yan thought to herself, I really can’t post it anywhere else. Besides the first few days when she could access foreign websites to check her accounts and property deeds, she hadn’t been able to open any other sites since yesterday. This meant that she could only buy and sell things on this one platform from now on.

Some users were watching the video very carefully.

“The blogger is so decisive, cutting ties with her birth family so quickly.”

“I have a feeling that family won’t be out of the picture so fast, especially that Sun Jiazhi.”

“What if we give the blogger some advice and try to get Sun Jiazhi to reveal her secret? I’m so curious! According to the soap opera rules, is the blogger a long-lost princess or something?”

“While I agree with the person above, please give us more scenes of her dealing with these awful people. I love it.”

“The blogger is so lucky. From the very beginning, I thought the brigade leader looked kind, and it turns out he’s a good person. The village atmosphere is also great. In a time of nationwide madness, this kind of environment is incredibly rare.”

Zeng Yan stopped reading. Tonight, she had to prepare to sell her sea urchins. Besides taking photos and writing product descriptions, she also had to apply to open a shop.

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The platform’s review process for fresh goods was very strict. As a vendor with no permits or certifications, she would normally never pass. But with a system that could crash servers, these things were not an issue. Sure enough, as soon as she submitted her application, the platform approved it in a flash. They didn’t even charge her for ads or service fees.

Zeng Yan felt a little schadenfreude. The platform was going to be working overtime again tonight. Since the system was so proactive, it would surely help her with logistics. A higher-dimensional civilization could probably manage truly instant deliveries.

A hundred sea urchins weren’t enough to open a store, so the next day she went foraging again. This time, she spent over an hour and collected more than three hundred.

The three uncles were also very efficient and finished the work on time in two days, making her house neat and tidy. The leaks in the roof were patched with dried seaweed, a heated brick bed was built, and the inner walls were plastered with mud. Jiaodong was a “snow nest,” and the winters were very cold; a layer of mud would improve the insulation. They also helped level the front yard and rebuilt the collapsed outhouse.

The sixty fen she spent was well worth it.

After work, the brigade leader brought the women’s team leader, Liu Xiuhong, to help her move her large belongings.

The leader’s wife was thoughtful and gave Zeng Yan an old mat from their house to put on her heated bed, as well as some salt and oil. The salt was fine, but they didn’t have much oil. Everyone usually used peanut oil, but in the last two years, they weren’t allowed to have so much private land, so there were no peanuts to press for oil. With only a little lard, no family was well off.

Other people who cared for Zeng Yan also brought gifts. Liu Xiuhong brought extra baskets from her home, Old Zhao gave her two large bundles of firewood and some fresh chives from his field, and the Three Grannies and Grandpas sent over some sun-dried mackerel.

No one had an extra kerosene lamp, but thankfully the sun set late in the summer, so she could manage for now. Grandma Yu gave her a pack of candles and three boxes of matches, and the brigade leader decided to give her a spare lock from the brigade headquarters. These three items were a godsend.

Carpenter Wang’s family had a ready-made kang table and wooden chest, and he made her a shelf overnight. Her simple furniture was now in place.

With her things put away, the small stone house finally looked like a home. There was no need to pick a lucky day to move in. Zeng Yan decided on the spot that she wouldn’t go back to the brigade headquarters tonight; she would officially move into her new home.

As the last faint rays of the sunset faded, Zeng Fuhao and Liu Xiuhong waved goodbye to Zeng Yan, who was standing in front of her house, and warned her with concern, “Make sure you bolt the door tonight. If you have nothing to eat, go down to the sea. If you have any problems, come find us immediately.”

On the way back, Liu Xiuhong sighed emotionally. “I’m so worried. Is what we’re doing right? Can that little girl really manage on her own? Maybe she should go back. A family shouldn’t hold a grudge overnight. What do you think, Leader? Is that kid really the biological daughter of Zeng Fugui and Sun Jiazhi?”

Zeng Fuhao sighed heavily. “What does it matter if she is or isn’t? Since she left that family, Yan’s whole spirit is different. I believe that child will be able to manage.”

Women were less practical than men and more interested in gossip. Liu Xiuhong remembered something from the past. “You were serving in the military then and weren’t here. When Zeng Shouyi brought Sun Jiazhi to our village, it caused quite a stir. Although the woman wasn’t dressed fancy, she had a very grand air about her. With one glance, you could tell she was from a wealthy or official family. When we village girls stood next to her, we were like mud on the bottom of a shoe.”

“A lot of men secretly went to Zeng Shouyi’s house to see her. Zeng Fugui was completely captivated by her and insisted on marrying no one else. It’s rare that he has listened to her every word all these years. That family has always been under her control. And Yan was born when she was away. This matter isn’t impossible. There might be an inside story…”

Liu Xiuhong stopped herself and sighed again. The brigade leader was right: what did it matter? Nowadays, it wasn’t uncommon for children to hit their elders and for family members to sever ties. Ultimately, it was a family matter, and outsiders like them had no right to interfere.

The person they were discussing was currently at home, feigning sickness to avoid work. Sun Jiazhi’s mood wasn’t really affected. What if her reputation was damaged? It wasn’t as if she cared what these “mud-legged” people thought.

Watching a spider spin its web on the window, Sun Jiazhi thought of the little girl who had escaped her grasp. She’s truly his child. Once she awakens, she’s full of cunning and strategy. She had underestimated her before, failing to get her back from the hospital. Now, with things having escalated, it would be difficult to make another move.

Temporary setbacks didn’t matter. In this whole affair, she was still the big winner. That man was clever and wouldn’t be affected by the current political climate, so his daughter’s life should be very good. I raised someone else’s child for fifteen years for nothing, while my own flesh and blood hasn’t had a single good day since birth. I’m really looking forward to seeing the reaction of that couple when the truth comes out.