Lin Xiaoyu was still confused when Sun Xiuhua beside her shot her a disdainful sneer.

“You foolish girl, how dare you even think of such a thing! Your monthly wage is only 50 cents. Even if we sold everything you have, it wouldn’t be worth 200 yuan!”

Lin Xiaoyu was stunned. Had she heard correctly? Her monthly wage was only 50 cents?

Had she somehow messed up her rebirth?

Unable to hold back any longer, Lin Xiaoyu retorted sarcastically, “Grandma, didn’t you always say Uncle and Aunt are the most filial? How come, when you’re burning up with fever, they haven’t taken you to see a doctor?”

Sun Xiuhua stomped her feet in anger. “You foolish girl, how dare you speak to me like that?”

Chen Yue’e also looked displeased. “Xiaoyu, she’s your grandmother. How can you curse her like that right in front of us? Do you even respect your elders?”

Lin Xiaoyu replied coldly, “Aunt, if Grandma isn’t delirious with fever, then why is she saying my wage is only 50 cents? Even if I were completely useless, I wouldn’t earn just 50 cents a month. Who are you trying to insult here?”

Chen Yue’e rolled her eyes impatiently. “Who’s insulting you? If your monthly wage isn’t 50 cents, is it 5,000 yuan? If you had that much money, would you even need to come begging us for a loan?”

What in the world? Why was everyone insisting her wage was 50 cents?

If she didn’t know that her grandmother and aunt were usually in good health, Lin Xiaoyu would have thought they’d lost their minds.

Just as she was about to fire back, Lin Dongyang sighed beside her and said to Lin Chenghai, “Second Brother, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I really don’t have any money right now. Although we’ve planted some apple trees, it’s far from harvest time. A few days ago, we just bought a batch of saplings and a lot of fertilizer.

You know, hiring people to plant the trees, fertilize, and weed—each of these expenses adds up. Plus, there are the costs of supporting the whole family. How could there be any money left?”

Perhaps feeling that, since they were family, completely turning a blind eye would invite criticism, Lin Dongyang pretended to sigh remorsefully before gritting his teeth and pulling a few crumpled bills from his pocket.

“We’re family, so don’t say I’m leaving you in the lurch. All our money has been invested in the orchard, and now we only have 5 fen left. Take it all for your wife’s treatment.”

Lin Xiaoyu stared in disbelief at the crumpled bills.

5 fen?

As in, yuan, jiao, fen, li—the smallest unit of currency?

She had initially wanted to avoid outright conflict with her uncle’s family, but seeing his shameless expression, she could no longer hold back.

“5 fen? Uncle, you’re truly generous. If you don’t want to lend us money, just say so. You’ve been renting our land for years without paying a single cent in rent. Now that we’re in trouble, we’re only asking for what’s rightfully ours.

What era is this? I’m amazed you went through all the trouble to dig up such a ‘fortune.’

Since you’ve ‘worked so hard’ to get it, why don’t you keep those 5 fen and buy a mirror to see how thick your face really is?

Actually, do you need me to transfer you 5 yuan as a tip?”

Since some people had no shame, Lin Xiaoyu decided to tear off their masks outright. After her rapid-fire retort, she picked up her phone and opened Alipay, ready to transfer the money to her uncle.

But the next moment, her eyes widened in shock at the balance on her screen.

1, 2, 3, 4… a full 11 digits?

Where did all this money come from?

Chen Yue’e, seeing Lin Xiaoyu hesitating after opening her phone, sneered, “Xiaoyu, weren’t you going to transfer the money? Why did you stop?

Did you finally remember that you don’t even have 1 fen to your name? Like I said, if you really had that much money, why would you need to come to us for a loan?

Some people, even at such a young age, are so obsessed with vanity. Clearly broke, yet still putting on a show to pretend they’re rich!”

Ha, she had no money?

Lin Xiaoyu looked up, casting a cold glance at her aunt before lowering her head and tapping a few times on her phone.

Soon, an electronic notification sound came from Lin Dongyang’s phone.

“Alipay received 5 yuan.”

Hearing the notification, everyone was stunned.

Lin Xiaoyu put down her phone and said sarcastically, “Uncle, the money has been transferred. No need to give me change. Remember to buy a mirror with it, and make sure you and Aunt take a good look at yourselves whenever you have time.”

Lin Dongyang hadn’t expected her to actually transfer that much money. He was too shocked to even be angry, instinctively pulling out his phone to check Alipay.

The old woman was sitting close by, and the moment her son opened Alipay, she caught sight of the transfer amount. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Chen Yue’e turned pale with rage at the sight of the 5 yuan. She had just mocked Lin Xiaoyu for not even having 1 fen, and now the girl had transferred 5 yuan right back at her. It was no different from a public slap in the face.

Lin Chenghai was also stunned by the Alipay notification. He looked at his daughter with a mix of heartache and confusion. “Xiaoyu, why did you transfer so much money? 5 yuan—that’s ten months of your wages! With that much, we could buy three months’ worth of medicine for your mother.”

Lin Xiaoyu frowned. Was 5 yuan really that much?

And what kind of medicine could be so cheap that 5 yuan would cover three months?

What was going on with her father?

She had transferred the 5 yuan to shame her uncle. Her sarcasm had been obvious—had her father not picked up on it?

Something wasn’t right.

It was one thing for her grandmother to be senile, but why was her father also talking about 5 yuan as if it were ten months of her wages?

Lin Xiaoyu had been preoccupied with her rebirth, but seeing the genuine distress on her father’s face, she finally sensed that something was off.

Could it be that her monthly wage was really only 50 cents?

But how was that possible?

Then again, if something as bizarre as rebirth could happen, was it really so strange for her salary to change?

But if this were true, wouldn’t that mean her salary had shrunk by ten thousand times?

“You foolish girl, where did you get so much money? You’ve only been working for six months! Even if you saved every penny without eating or drinking, you couldn’t have saved up that much!”

Before Lin Xiaoyu could figure it out, the old woman’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

Her family originally owned a large plot of land. Before her grandfather passed away, he divided the property, giving half to her uncle and half to her father.

Lin Chenghai found farming too arduous—a year of backbreaking work yielded little profit. His wife was also frail and had never done farm work. He had planned to rent out the land and move to the city with his wife to work and save up for their three daughters’ education.

But Lin Dongyang, envious after seeing others in the village profit from growing apples, persuaded the old woman to let him rent Lin Xiaoyu’s family’s land to start an apple orchard.

Though it was called a rental, over all these years, Lin Dongyang had never paid a single cent in rent.

Every time Lin Chenghai asked for the rent, Lin Dongyang and his wife would plead poverty, claiming they had invested all their money into the orchard and were losing money year after year.

Although Lin Chenghai knew Lin Dongyang wasn’t being entirely truthful, he couldn’t bring himself to confront his own brother. He asked for the rent every year, but it always ended with nothing.

Recalling her uncle’s family’s shamelessness, Lin Xiaoyu had an idea.

“Grandma, I really don’t have that much money. Actually, I sold our family’s orchard. The 5 yuan I just transferred to Uncle was the deposit from the sale.”

The moment Lin Xiaoyu finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the room changed dramatically.