Chapter 1: Awakening

In mid-July, the intense "Double Rush" (harvesting and planting) began, and every production team started working in a frantic rush.

As the golden sun sank toward the western mountains, the brilliant golden afterglow illuminated more than half the mountainside. Accompanied by the setting sun, the members of the Harvest Production Team finished their work and headed home one after another.

Along the way, a group of people chattered about the gossip of the production team, and among them, Lin Zhao, the third daughter-in-law of the Gu family, was talked about the most.

"Hey, the Gu family's third daughter-in-law didn't go to work again. Of the whole team, she's the one living the most comfortably!" The speaker was an auntie with dark, rough skin. Her messy short hair was soaked through with sweat, sticking limply to her forehead, and her body smelled of sweat.

Another woman was also covered in sweat. She let out a cold snort, her words filled with deep dissatisfaction toward the Gu family's third daughter-in-law, as if she were her own daughter-in-law: "Gu Da Cai's mother looks all seductive and charming; she doesn't look like good stock. She's just a lazybones. I saw through her long ago."

"Oh? You saw through her again?"

Someone from behind caught up, tilted her head to look at them, and said with a sigh, "Say what you want, but you can't deny that she knows how to give birth."

The few women were left speechless.

Being able to give birth—in the rural areas of the sixties, that was a huge plus!!

Once the crowd left, a thin, gaunt woman with a dull expression walked out. She stood in place for a long while without moving. After a long time, she said faintly, "If only I were as capable of giving birth as she is..."

In the village, stray dogs running everywhere barked, accompanied by the chirping of children, and occasionally, the loud scolding of a woman could be heard. It was noisy and chaotic.

Wang Chunhua carried a basin of dirty water out the door and splashed it into the small vegetable patch at the entrance. Just as she was about to turn back home, she saw a girl of fifteen or sixteen running out of the earthen house next door.

This girl's expression was unusually flustered. Seeing someone at the door, her face stiffened, her eyes darted around, and then she buried her head and ran away.

Wang Chunhua looked confused. What was wrong with her...

Just as she turned her head, she heard a child's tearful voice coming from next door: "Mother!"

"Help! Help! My mother has fainted!!"

Gu Da Cai's voice was loud and shrill, startling Ercai, who was pulling cabbage in the backyard vegetable garden.

Gu Ercai moved his legs as fast as he could and rushed over. Seeing his mother lying on the ground with a large bump on her forehead, he hurriedly tried to help her up with his brother using their thin, small arms. But they were too thin and small to lift her, and their voices became filled with anxiety: "Brother, what's wrong with Mother?"

"Mother was pushed down by Little Aunt," Gu Da Cai sobbed, his small body trembling.

Seeing that Lin Zhao wouldn't wake up for a long time, five-year-old Gu Da Cai calmed down and said to his younger brother, "Ercai, go find Grandma quickly."

At the door, Wang Chunhua heard the noise and hurriedly put down the basin. She wiped her hands on her pants, which were covered in thick patches, and rushed into the house next door.

As soon as she entered, she heard Gu Da Cai's words. Oh my, what a smart child!

Seeing an adult arrive, Gu Da Cai immediately felt he had a backbone and said urgently, "Auntie, please take a look at my mother. My mother was pushed down by my Little Aunt!"

Wang Chunhua saw the large bump on Lin Zhao's head and exclaimed, "How did it get so swollen? It's no good lying on the ground; we must get your mother onto the bed first."

"Auntie, I'll help you," Gu Da Cai said, supporting his mother from the other side.

Ercai saw there was nothing for him to do. He caught a glimpse of the broken bowl and egg custard residue on the ground, his eyes rolled, and he ran out of the house, shouting loudly as he ran: "Grandpa, Grandma, my mother was beaten unconscious by Little Aunt..."

It was just the time when people were finishing work, and the road was full of people. Gu Ercai had a loud voice, and he wailed miserably. Passersby all noticed, and the villagers couldn't help but stop to look at him.

Whoa, Chenghuai's wife is at it with her sister-in-law again? It sounds like she even got physical this time!

The Gu family was also in the production team returning from work. There were over a dozen of them. Originally, everyone was tired after a day's work and just wanted to go home to eat, but who knew they would hear that familiar wailing...

Gu Mu, who was walking in front, had her face change drastically. Thinking someone was bullying her precious second grandson, she carried her large hoe and walked over quickly.

Before she even arrived, her voice came first, also in a loud tone: "Ercai, what's wrong? Who bullied you? Tell Grandma!"

Ercai wiped his tears, looked at his grandma with red eyes, and said aggrievedly, "It's Little Aunt. Little Aunt bullied my mother and pushed her down. My mother has a bump the size of a bowl—no, a basin—on her head, and she still hasn't woken up. Grandma, I want Mother, I want my Mother... sob sob sob..."

Those who are favored have nothing to fear. Gu Ercai knew his grandma doted on them, and he wailed so loudly on the spot that the birds on the tree branches all fled from this place of trouble.

In the crowd of onlookers, someone let out a snicker.

Facing Ercai's angry gaze, the man touched the tip of his nose and teased, "Ercai, do you know how big a bump the size of a basin is?"

"Go away, go away! What business is it of yours!" Gu Mu glared at the man who spoke.

Thinking of Ercai's words, Gu Mu's face looked ugly, and her whole body was tense.

Why did that dead girl go to the third branch again!?

Why provoke the third daughter-in-law when there's nothing to do!

Gu Mu felt stifled and didn't even have time to ask what was going on. She hurried toward the Gu family's third branch.

Gu Fu wiped the tears for his grandson and asked Ercai what happened.

Ercai was clever and had strong observation skills. Thinking of the broken bowl where his mother fell, he guessed the situation roughly.

He said angrily, "Bad Little Aunt snatched our egg custard and pushed my mother."

The people of the Harvest Production Team had strange expressions.

Pushing her own sister-in-law just for a bowl of egg custard...?

Even their three-year-old children wouldn't do such a thing.

"..."

Gu Fu couldn't help but shake his hands.

Family shame shouldn't be spread abroad.

Seeing Ercai's rabbit-like eyes, he didn't have the heart to say more.

Forget it, the evil Xing'er committed herself, she should bear it herself!

He and her mother hadn't failed to teach her, but that girl always had reasons to retort.

The two sisters-in-law of the Gu family looked at each other, showing bitter smiles. With the third daughter-in-law's unforgiving temper, this time... it was likely going to be a scene.

? -

Gu Mu rushed to Gu Da Cai's house, her heart thumping, almost jumping out. She entered the room holding the door frame and saw the third daughter-in-law lying on the bed with her eyes open, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay." She rubbed her chest; the journey here really scared her to death.

"Grandma." Gu Da Cai stopped crying, but his eyes were still red.

"Hey, Gu Da Cai was scared, wasn't he?" Gu Mu saw that Gu Da Cai's eyes were redder than Ercai's, thinking he must have been badly frightened, and felt a pang of heartache, touching his head.

She looked at Wang Chunhua again and thanked her: "Sorry to trouble you."

Wang Chunhua waved her hand: "It's nothing. I see Gu Da Cai's mother is fine; it's just that the bump looks scary, but there's nothing wrong with her brain."

After speaking, she remembered that the stove at home was still burning, so she told Gu Mu and left.

Gu Gu Da Cai saw her to the door.

Wang Chunhua was full of emotion. What a good child; why doesn't Chenghuai's wife know how to cherish them?

Inside the room, Gu Mu sat on the stool by the bed, her voice lowered by several degrees: "Third daughter-in-law, are you okay? How are you? Does your head still hurt? What do you want to eat? Grandma will make it for you."

Lin Zhao, lying on the bed, blinked. No, she was not okay; it was a very big deal.

Just a moment ago, her world had overturned—

It turned out she was the early-dying biological mother of the licking-dog male supporting character and the cannon-fodder female supporting character in a book called "The Daily Life of a Stepmother Raising Cubs." She was supposed to die today because of a bowl of egg custard... just a bowl of egg custard!

What a frustrating way to die.

It was so frustrating that her heart felt like it had been thrown into a fire, swelling up, and she wished she could blow the person who wrote this book into smithereens!

The most excessive part was that she only had the presence of one sentence in the book. Even that was fine, but it also gossiped that she was a big drama queen who wasted her own good fortune.

"I'm so pissed off, ahhhhh..." Lin Zhao hammered the bed angrily, her fair and charming face full of rage, her eyes even red from anger.

As she was getting angry, she saw a large turntable floating in the void before her. It had a transparent, floating feeling, and its color was a colorful black, exuding a sense of high-end mystery.

The moment it caught Lin Zhao's gaze, a few words flashed:

【Mysterious Lucky Draw Turntable】

In just a few breaths, the basic rules for using the turntable appeared in her mind: complete tasks to earn points, and points can be used for lucky draws.

Lin Zhao blinked, feeling that her head really shouldn't have been injured; the aftereffects were truly serious. For example, right now, she was even hallucinating...

After blinking, she waited quietly for a long while, but the turntable was still there.

"!"

Lin Zhao couldn't help but reach out and poke it a few times, discovering that she could touch this thing. Her pupils shook in shock.

Gu Mu saw the third daughter-in-law not speaking for a long time, and her heart felt uneasy. She lowered her loud voice: "Third daughter-in-law?"

Lin Zhao raised her head blankly.

She had a beautiful and bright face, classic phoenix eyes of ink color, perfectly shaped double eyelids, a straight and delicate nose, and pink, moist lips. It was enough that her features were outstanding, but her skin was blindingly white.

In terms of looks, she was the most outstanding in the ten-mile village.

At this moment, the corners of her eyes were red, which didn't make her look fierce, but it also lacked her usual arrogance and coldness.

Even Gu Mu, who had some dissatisfaction with the third daughter-in-law, couldn't help but feel heartache, thinking her youngest daughter was excessive and needed to be taught a lesson.

"Third daughter-in-law, today's matter is all Xing'er's fault. I'll teach her a lesson when I go back..." Gu Mu couldn't help but speak softly.

Before she finished, Lin Zhao hammered the bed again, making a thumping sound. If it hadn't been reinforced several times by the master of the house, Gu Chenghuai, it would have collapsed from her two hits!

"It was her fault in the first place!" Lin Zhao interrupted her, saying angrily: "This is my house. She came to my house to snatch things; if it's not her fault, is it mine? I've never seen a sister-in-law lay a hand on her sister-in-law. Gu Xing'er is so overbearing, we should call the police..."

To reason things out.

Before the last three words were finished, Gu Mu, thinking she was going to report to the police, hurriedly grabbed her hand and said: "You can't report to the police, third daughter-in-law. For the sake of how I've treated you all these years, don't report to the police. How about this: let Xing'er compensate you ten yuan, and let's just call it even, okay?"

"No!" Lin Zhao didn't feel satisfied.

Gu Mu had long expected that the third daughter-in-law wouldn't be so easy to talk to, so she gritted her teeth and said: "Then what do you say we do? You propose it, as long as we can do it."

Lin Zhao was waiting for this sentence from her mother-in-law. Gu Xing'er dared to push her, causing her head to hurt even now; of course, she wouldn't let her off easily.

The sick beauty on the bed gave a delicate snort and raised her slender white hand to start making demands:

"First, the third branch will no longer pay for Gu Xing'er's tuition and living expenses; second, you and Father must keep her in check and never let her come to my house again from now on; third, make her pick firewood for me, two bundles every day for a month, and no one else is allowed to help."

After saying these three points, Lin Zhao stopped, and Gu Mu was stunned. Just this?

The third daughter-in-law suddenly changed her temper?

Gu Mu felt very surprised, even a bit terrified. Gu Da Cai's mother wouldn't be holding back a big move, would she...

It wasn't that she was deliberately speculating about the third daughter-in-law maliciously; it was really that ever since Lin Zhao married into the Gu family, she had been full of problems. Not only was she delicate, but she was also a drama queen.

When she first entered the house, she put on an act for a while. Except for being a bit lazy and unwilling to work, everything else was passable. Who knew that as soon as she got pregnant, she made a scene about splitting the family, crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself. There was no other way, so the Gu family split the third branch out.

After the family was split, she cried again that no one cared for her. Gu Mu had no choice but to run there three times a day, cooking and washing clothes for her... those days were truly unbearable to look back on.

Today, the third daughter-in-law became so easy to talk to; Gu Mu really felt like she had seen a ghost!

Lin Zhao saw her mother-in-law not speaking for a long time, thinking she wanted to bargain, so her face instantly lengthened, and she was about to get out of bed.

"If Mother thinks I'm being excessive, why not report to the police!"

Gu Mu came back to her senses and hurriedly said: "Not excessive, not excessive at all."

"We'll do as you say. Your father and I will keep Xing'er in check!" She promised repeatedly.

Lin Zhao curled her lips and said indifferently: "It's best if Gu Xing'er can learn a lesson. Anyway, if there's a next time, I will definitely report to the police!"

Gu Mu: "..."

The third daughter-in-law's words were truly choking.

She was used to it and didn't argue with Lin Zhao.

After working all morning and having things to do back home, Gu Mu didn't delay much. After showing some concern and instructing Gu Da Cai and Ercai to go to the old house to call her if anything happened, she left in a hurry.

Inside the room, Lin Zhao lay on the bed, studying the lucky draw turntable.

"How do I turn it on again..." she muttered.

As soon as she finished speaking, a line of transparent text floated out in front of the turntable.

"Obtained one free lucky draw chance. Use it?"

Lin Zhao silently recited: "Use."

The red pointer began to rotate, its speed changing from fast to slow, finally stopping at the Grain and Oil Gift Package. The words on the gift list were very small, but strangely, Lin Zhao captured clearly what was written on it.

【5kg Eight-Star Snowflake Wheat Flour x 5 bags】

【5kg High-Quality Pearl Rice x 5 bags】

【2kg Egg Vermicelli x 2 packs】

【Farm Pork x 10 jin】

【Authentic Farm Eggs x 100】

【Peanut Oil x 5 barrels】

【Braised Chicken Leg x 1】

【500g Rock Sugar x 2 bags】

【Canned Meat x 2 cans】

【Essential Common Seasoning Pack for the Home...】

"Extract reward?" Text appeared again in front of the turntable.

Lin Zhao said blankly: "Extract."

The next instant.

The open space of the room was piled full of supplies.

"!"

Lin Zhao was dumbfounded.

The sound in the room went out, and a small voice came from outside the door: "Mother?"

Gu Da Cai took a small stool and sat at the door of Lin Zhao's room, guarding his mother. Hearing movement inside, he called out cautiously.

Lin Zhao had a high-fertility constitution, the kind that the whole commune envied. Her first pregnancy resulted in twins, both boys, Gu Da Cai and Ercai. A few years later, when Gu Chenghuai returned home to visit relatives, she became pregnant again, this time giving birth to a pair of boy-girl twins, who were just over a year old this year.

Two pregnancies, four treasures.

Lin Zhao immediately came to her senses, hid the supplies piled on the ground into the cabinet, locked the cabinet with a click, and walked over to open the door. Seeing the thin and small Gu Da Cai at the door, she remembered his ending of dying on the street, and felt like she was going to have a heart attack. ===== CHAPTER 2 =====