CTF 0050

Xu Yin read the letter and thought for a moment. Then, she took out rice, as well as flour, and cooking oil, which would all be necessary for Fu Lingling, who was now living on her own. The next day, she took Xu Jianjun to the county capital town.

With so much stuff, especially the two bags of rice, even if she didn’t mention it, Xu Jianjun would have helped her.

Following the approximate address given in Feng Lingling’s letter and asking some locals at the shoemaker’s stall at the entrance of the alley, they finally found her new residence. They happened to run into Feng Lingling’s biological mother scolding her at the door.

“What wrong did your sister-in-law do to you? She just said a few words that didn’t go well with you, and you decided to move out? You’re also still stubbornly saying you won’t get married. If you don’t get married, what are you planning to do, then? Will you be an old spinster for a lifetime and have the family support you? Will you keep living here? This house will belong to your big brother in the future. What right do you have to stay for long?

“Also, even though your sister-in-law is pregnant, she never said that she won’t take care of Longlong and Niuniu. She’s their mother now! By taking them away, you’re deliberately making our family a laughingstock!”

Feng Lingling’s eyes had reddened. She confronted her mother and said, “I’m not planning anything for the future. All I want is to raise Longlong and Niuniu well so that my sister-in-law can rest in peace. Since my brother’s new wife is pregnant, then she should have a good rest! Longlong and Niuniu don’t need her to take care of them! I will take care of them! When I get married, I will find a man who genuinely accepts Longlong and Niuniu!”

“You!” Mother Feng was so angry she nearly fell backwards. “How is this reasonable? We have family members—”

“Yes, we have many family members, but none of them genuinely cares about Longlong and Niuniu.”

“Fine, fine, fine!” Mother Feng pointed at her daughter’s nose angrily. “If you’re so great, then don’t rely on the family in the future! If you want to live in this house, you can, but you have to pay rent! How much is the house rent for, you have to pay that much to the family!”

“Fine, then—”

“How much is this house? I’ll buy it!”

Xu Yin interrupted Feng Lingling’s words and walked over to Mother Feng. “I was just thinking of buying a courtyard in the county capital. This small courtyard, well, it’s a bit small and a bit run down, but the location is okay. It’s quiet and doesn’t have a lot of people near it. How much? If the price is right, I’ll buy it!”

Xu Jianjun almost burst out laughing.

He was really impressed by how nicely his cousin was describing a shabby little courtyard located in a desolate corner. 

Mother Fu didn’t know that Xu Yin knew her daughter. When she heard that someone was willing to buy it, she was overjoyed. “Okay, okay! We can negotiate the price.”

She had thought about selling her in-laws’ old house before. Unfortunately, it had a bad location and was on a narrow alley. Businessmen who wanted to rent it for cheap couldn’t even push the goods-carrying carts in. Besides, Mother Fu didn’t want to rent it cheaply. As such, the house had remained vacant until Fu Lingling moved in.

Instead of giving Fu Lingling a cheap price, she’d rather sell it for a good amount.

Finally, Xu Yin bought the old house and let Fu Lingling live there peacefully.

Xu Jianjun also helped them. He renovated the roof, rebuilt the courtyard wall, and also helped find an old carpenter in the village to make a strong door to replace the old courtyard door that would creak whenever the wind blew against it. He also got some glass pieces on top of the courtyard wall to prevent thieves from climbing on it.

Mother Fu thought that, since the house was sold, her daughter would have to move back home with her tail between her legs since she’d no longer have any place to live in.

Ever since her daughter-in-law had gotten pregnant, she had refused to do any housework. In her old age, Mother Fu still had to help her son and daughter-in-law cook and wash clothes. Mother Fu was furious, but she thought about how her daughter-in-law was pregnant with her grandchild—hopefully an obedient grandson. As such, she had no choice but to endure it. She desperately hoped that her daughter could come home and do the housework instead.

Moreover, that stubborn girl was not getting any younger; it was time to find a suitable match for her.

Since that stubborn girl moved out, Mother Feng vaguely felt that she couldn’t control her anymore. If one day she found a partner and secretly got married, her family wouldn’t even see the shadow of a dowry. Wouldn’t they have raised her in vain, then? 

However, she couldn’t have anticipated the news of her daughter still living there despite the house’s ownership changing hands. Upon inquiring about it, she was stunned by what she heard. The new owner of the house turned out to be her daughter’s classmate! After that girl had bought it, she’d renovated it and allowed that stubborn daughter of hers to live there for free.

Mother Feng was so angry that she rushed to the old house, only to find that the courtyard door and the lock had been replaced. The original key wouldn’t open them.

She wanted to climb over the walls, but there were glass shards on them.

She scolded for a long time with hands on her hips, but the stubborn girl didn’t come out. Instead, she made a neighbour’s child cry. No matter how she comforted him, it didn’t work. The child’s family, armed with a broom, wanted to settle the score with her. Mother Feng fumed with anger as she went back home, cursing.

Zhu Yunjing was so fed up by this that she had her first argument with her mother-in-law.

Her younger sister-in-law was willing to move out with those two kids. She didn’t say it out loud, but she was thrilled inside. However, her mother-in-law kept thinking about bringing them back. Why bring them back? Did her mother-in-law want them to vie for the family property with her own unborn child?

The harmonious relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the Feng family was thus broken.

Upon hearing about it, Feng Lingling felt extremely happy that she had moved out of that house.

She looked down at her niece and nephew with tears in her eyes. They were already good at turning over and crawling around the bed. “Oh, you two… When you grow up, you must be filial to Aunt Yinyin, okay? Without her, we wouldn’t have been able to have this peace.”

With the matter of Fu Lingling’s niece and nephew settled, Xu Yin felt that she could enjoy her college life without any distractions.

Her little electric donkey remained back at her home. She’d taught her parents how to ride it over the summer vacation. With it, they’d have a much easier time travelling.

She originally wanted to invite her parents to go to the country’s capital with her so she could accompany them to visit some scenic spots there. However, her father said that they were concerned about the twenty mus of dry land that they had contracted. Her mother, on the other hand, said that she’d carefully take care of their rice paddy fish and strive to make another fortune from the autumn harvest. Her mother also said that she’d keep her dowry safe for her.

“Take care of yourself and study hard, okay? You don’t have to worry about us. Maybe you can stay in the capital after graduation. Won’t it be easy for your father and me to go there if we want to then?” her mother said as she helped Xu Yin pack her luggage. She gave her some money before leaving so that she could focus on studying hard and eating well. 

The next day, Xu Jianjun borrowed a tractor from the village and took her to the train station.

“Please help me keep an eye on Fu Lingling when you have time. Send me a telegram if you need anything.”

Xu Jianjun scratched his head and said, “Don’t worry! I’ll go even if you don’t tell me to. The twins are quite cute.”

Xu Yin sensed something strange in Xu Jianjun’s words but didn’t think too deeply about it.

After buying a sleeper ticket and getting on the train to the country’s capital, she touched her chest and felt something different in her heart.

The farthest place the original host had ever been was Tongcheng. She had gone there after ten years of labour reform and had never returned. 

Now, she was walking out of her home and leaving to go to the country’s capital, more than a thousand kilometres away. She was not going there to be questioned or to seek refuge with her relatives. Instead, she was there to broaden her future prospects. 

How different was this ending from the one in the book?

[Ding!—Congratulations. You have reversed the tragic fate of this book’s cannon fodder. The mission rewards are being settled, please wait…]

Xu Yin: “…”

Once, she had thought about completing the task as soon as possible, but the end never came. At this moment, she’d become deeply tied mentally into this era. She was preparing to go to university in the country’s capital and make a big difference in the vast world. Suddenly, though, the system came and announced that the mission was over!

What would the Xu family do after she left?

What about the money she’d earned from selling sea and mountain products? Would she have any use of them in the future? If she’d known that she’d go at this time, she might as well have kept them instead of selling them.

In a flash, countless memories flashed through her mind.

Then, she suddenly thought about her energy points. If she didn’t spend them, they’d be cleared by her damned system!

She quickly logged into the system marketplace and redeemed the energy points that she’d earned from riding in the past few days. Before she could take a breath, her vision went dark, and she lost consciousness…