Chapter 2

This bizarre and absurd plot made Lin Yao’s head hurt when she thought about it.

Well, since she’s already here, she might as well make the best of it. She couldn’t just give up on life over this.

After all, she had no relatives in the 21st century either. Her good friends had their own families, and the pain of her departure would fade with time. It was just a pity that the villa and the space supermarket she had bought were lost.

That’s right, before transmigrating, Lin Yao had a “golden finger.”

To be specific, every member of the Lin family had their own unique ability, passed down through generations.

It could be said that this was a family inheritance.

Starting from Lin Yao’s grandfather, who married Grandma Lin—a woman with supernatural powers from a post-apocalyptic world—the descendants of the Lin family would awaken their own special powers when they turned eighteen.

For example, Lin Yao’s father had strength-based powers. He could kick a tiger or punch a bear, his physical strength was incredible, and his climbing abilities were extraordinary.

Lin Yao’s parents, who both loved climbing, would often pack their bags and set off to conquer dangerous peaks all over the country.

In comparison, Lin Yao’s ability was much weaker. She had a space supermarket, where everything from rice, flour, and oil to medicine, eggs, fruits, vegetables, bedding, and clothing could be found.

In simple terms, if something was available in a regular supermarket, it was in Lin Yao’s space supermarket as well. And if it wasn’t, it was still there.

Why? Because Lin Yao was a Taurus who loved to hoard.

A year ago, Lin Yao’s parents had gone to the Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan, known for its giant clay rock formations and endless sandstone mountains.

Her father had longed to conquer it, but once they went, they never returned.

Local authorities had searched the desert for over half a month but only found traces of a campfire, along with a note left behind.

The note asked Lin Yao to live well and wait for the future.

The police were baffled by the note and couldn’t make sense of it.

Lin Yao, however, understood immediately—her parents, just like her grandparents, might have transmigrated!

After tidying up her emotions, Lin Yao graduated from university and started managing her family’s chain of supermarkets. She also renovated two buildings her parents had left behind and rented them out.

Her life was comfortable.

But just after her 25th birthday, she, too, inherited the family tradition and transmigrated!

Well, it’s all fate.

Lin Yao tried to check if her space supermarket was still intact. Habitually, she touched her forehead, only to remember that she should avoid the white bandages wrapped around it. On the day of the original owner’s wedding, she had crashed into a pillar, injuring her forehead. Lin Daguo’s family had slipped away during the commotion.

The wound had been treated at the health center.

The doctor said the injury was properly handled, so there was no need for hospitalization. She just had to change the dressing every three days and eat light foods, and she would recover in no time.

The Gu family, upon hearing this, finally relaxed.

As the sun began to set, the warm rays filtered through the thick, umbrella-like sycamore trees. It was time for dinner.

Outside, the sound of cicadas was drowned out by the noise of pots and pans clanging in the busy courtyard, with only the occasional cicada call breaking through.

“Whoosh!”

A sharp sound, and Lin Yao disappeared from the room.

In an instant, she reappeared in her space supermarket, surrounded by shelves filled to the brim.

Lin Yao happily thought to herself, With this golden finger, I’m not afraid even if I’ve become the cannon fodder female supporting role!

*

Lin Yao didn’t dare to stay long in the space supermarket.

Currently, she was living with the Gu family in the busy courtyard. Neighbors often visited to borrow salt or rice, and she didn’t want to be caught and treated as some kind of supernatural being.

After coming out of the space supermarket, Lin Yao sat obediently in her room.

Soon, Zhang Cuilan, busy in the kitchen, brought in a bowl of fragrant noodles, the thinly rolled dough topped with fried pork oil, scallions, and a fried egg.

The meal wasn’t particularly lavish; in fact, it would be considered quite ordinary by today’s standards.

However, in the 1950s, when resources were scarce, the average person rarely got to eat a meal of plain noodles throughout the year.

What’s more, there were eggs in the noodles, showing that the Gu family truly cared for the original owner.

“Yao Yao, you must be hungry by now. The freshly made noodles smell so good. Come, eat.”

“Thank you, Aunt Zhang.”

After lying down for most of the afternoon, Lin Yao was indeed hungry. She sweetly thanked Zhang Cuilan.

“Oh, there’s no need to thank me, child. You’ve been like my own daughter since you were little,” Zhang Cuilan said, setting the bowl and chopsticks for Lin Yao with a loving expression, cautioning her not to burn herself.

Lin Yao nodded, picked up a soft and chewy noodle with her chopsticks, and took a bite. The noodle soup had absorbed the pork fat, making it rich with meat flavor. The pale yellow noodles were smooth and firm, simply delicious.

Seeing Lin Yao enjoying the food so much that her eyes narrowed in delight, Zhang Cuilan also felt happy.

“Slow down, there’s more in the pot. Your mother also loved the noodles I made. Back when she was young…”

Zhang Cuilan’s voice became lively as she began reminiscing. But when she thought about her close friend who had passed away early, her eyes welled up with tears. She quickly turned around, lifting her apron to wipe her eyes.

Lin Yao’s mother and Zhang Cuilan had been best friends since their youth. Later, one married into the Lin family and the other into the Gu family, but they had never lost contact.

After Zhang Cuilan got married, she learned that her father-in-law had arranged a marriage for his son. She was looking forward to it, hoping that Lin Yao’s mother would give birth to a daughter as soon as possible. In this way, she would become a relative of her good sister.

Unfortunately, Lin Yao’s mother gave birth to a son first, and only after Lin Daguo’s wife, Li Aifeng gave birth to a second child, Lin Hongna, did she finally have Lin Yao.

By then, the situation was set, and Zhang Cuilan could only sigh and accept it.

Her son wasn’t meant to be with Yao Yao after all!

Furthermore, she had never looked favorably upon Lin Daguo and his wife.

Lin Daguo is the eldest son of the Lin family. Grandpa Lin was injured and returned home from the army. At that time, the government took care of the Lin family and arranged an easy job for Grandpa Lin in a furniture factory.

Back then, Yunshui County was still a liberated area, and after the liberation, working as a factory worker guaranteed a lifetime of job security.

Grandpa Lin was in poor health, so he retired early and gave the job in the furniture factory to Lin Daguo.

However, Lin Daguo, despite the good fortune, proved to be a useless man. After only a few days at the factory, he was fired for harassing female workers.

Despite being a father of two, he still behaved irresponsibly!

Grandpa Lin was so angry that he almost died.

Zhang Cuilan could barely stomach it and didn’t want to marry into such a morally corrupt family. This would ruin her son’s future.

At the time, she was not in charge, so her stubborn father-in-law had his way.

As for Li Aifeng, she was a truly exceptional character—lazy, greedy, and with sticky fingers. For years, she used the excuse of visiting Grandpa Gu in the city to take advantage of the Gu family.

She would steal things, and Zhang Cuilan simply had to accept it as bad luck.

Li Aifeng also had the habit of taking things from the neighbors. Whether it was a cabbage or a set of bed sheets, she would take them without hesitation.

There were several occasions when she was caught, but she would always deny it, refusing to admit her actions.

In the end, it was up to Grandpa Lin to clean up her mess.

With such parents, how could Lin Hongna turn out well?

The girl, in her twenties, frequently ran into the city, painting her eyebrows and eyes. When she came, she would shamelessly clung to her eldest son as soon as she entered their home. Fortunately, her son was cold by nature and never paid her any attention.

Compared to the well-behaved and sensible Lin Yao, she seemed to be from entirely different worlds.

Zhang Cuilan spent every day praying to the gods, hoping for the chance to get a new daughter-in-law.

To her surprise, her constant prayers were answered.

Lin Hongna didn’t want to marry into a shared courtyard and even caused a scene with the substitute bride.

Actually, the moment the wedding ceremony began, Zhang Cuilan sensed something was off. Lin Daguo and his wife didn’t show any joy, and their expressions were awkward, as though they had something to hide.

When the bride entered, Zhang Cuilan’s suspicions grew. In Yunshui County, the bride’s face was traditionally covered with a red veil.

Even though the veil hid the bride’s face, one could still tell from the figure.

Li Hongna was short and had a round figure. But the bride was tall and graceful with smooth, fair skin, almost glowing.

This didn’t resemble Lin Hongna, but looked more like Yao Yao.

Without hesitation, Zhang Cuilan rushed over and lifted the veil.

To her shock, under the red veil was Lin Yao, tear-streaked and looking like she had been crying.

The truth was out.

Zhang Cuilan was both angry and relieved. But Lin Daguo had no shame and shifted all the blame to Yao Yao, claiming she was the one who insisted on substituting herself and that they had no choice but to go along with it.

Furious, Zhang Cuilan hadn’t even had time to shout before Yao Yao, unable to bear the emotional strain, fainted and hit her head against the doorframe.

Yao Yao collapsed instantly, a large gash on her head. Blood poured from the wound, staining the floor.

Gu Shi’an immediately rushed to the hospital, holding the unconscious Yao Yao.

The Gu family was in a panic, rushing after him.

Meanwhile, Lin Daguo’s family took advantage of the chaos and fled.

But Zhang Cuilan wasn’t going to let them escape. The next day, she brought her brothers and stormed into Linjia Village, grabbing Lin Daguo by the collar and beating him. She also demanded that Lin Yao’s dowry be returned.

Yao Yao’s parents had passed away in a flood the previous year, and all their belongings and grain had been taken by Lin Daguo.

Lin Yao’s parents were honest, hardworking people who had saved up a lot of assets over the years.

Zhang Cuilan managed to get 300 yuan and a stack of tickets from Lin Daguo. This money and the tickets all belonged to Yao Yao, the original owner.

After Lin Yao finished eating her noodles, Zhang Cuilan handed everything to her in one go.

She explained that the money was part of the dowry Lin Daguo had given.

Lin Yao looked at the tickets. Most of them were for food rations like grain, sugar, meat, and snacks, and there were several industrial tickets as well.

In this era, she could be considered as wealthy woman.

However, these belonged to the original owner and her brother. Since Lin Yao had taken over the body, she felt it was her duty to honor the original owner’s elders.

So, when Gu Mancang and his daughter Gu Chunmei returned home from work, Lin Yao and Dongzi went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some snacks.

She also planned to find a suitable time to “take” some meat from the space supermarket.