The breeze is gentle, and the sun is just right.
During the May Day holiday, her parents went on a trip together, leaving Yu Xiaolian alone to watch the supermarket.
Her family's supermarket was in town, and it was the largest one there. The two-story building in the backyard of the supermarket was her home.
In her mom's words, their family wasn't exactly the richest in town, but pretty close.
Just a few more years of effort.
Except for market days, when it was particularly busy, there weren't that many people at other times.
Finally getting an official holiday, but having to help her parents watch the supermarket, Yu Xiaolian was not happy at all.
Would you two really be happy going on a trip? Don't your consciences hurt?
Maybe because it was too hot, there were very few customers at noon.
She opened a bag of chips, eating while boringly reading novels on her phone app.
"Yu Xiaolian... Yu Xiaolian..."
Deeply engrossed in her reading, suddenly she heard an echoing, hollow voice calling her name.
"Huh, who is calling me?"
Yu Xiaolian stood up with her bag of chips, craned her neck towards the store entrance, and looked, muttering to herself, "There's no one out there!"
Just as she was about to sit back and continue reading, she felt dizzy and her vision started to blur. She almost couldn't stand, "Oh no, is my low blood sugar acting up again..."
She planned to get a piece of fruit candy from the shelf, but as soon as she took a step, she felt her legs give out and she slumped straight to the ground.
"Alright, alright, I've called her soul back."
"Thank goodness, thank you Aunt Hao. My Xiaolian will be okay now, right?"
"The fever has subsided, and her breathing is normal. She should wake up in a while. Since we're all from the same village and your family is having a tough time, just give me fifteen coins. You know, if it were someone from another village, it'd be thirty coins, no bargaining."
Through the haze, Yu Xiaolian heard some strange conversations and tried to open her eyes but felt her eyelids were heavy and fell back into unconsciousness.
When she finally awoke again, it was to a cacophony of noise.
"That little bane of existence is dead and gone, yet you still spent money on her treatment! If you have so much money you can't spend it all, why not show your filial piety to your old mother, eh?"
"Mother, Xiaolian is still my daughter. I couldn't just watch her die with that high fever, could I?"
"Yu Changhe, your son has been dead for a long time. You picked up that dead girl; she's not your own. Be clear about that, alright? I'm your own mother! That cursed child is adopted!" The old lady Yu pointed angrily at her second son.
Seeing Yu Changhe remain silent, she continued, "It's not that I can't tolerate her, but what child freezes in the snow all night in the dead of winter and doesn't die?
Her eyes are such an odd grayish color, unlike normal people's. She's a demon, I tell you! Why don't you ever listen to your mother?"
Yu Xiaolian frowned as she listened to the noise outside, feeling utterly bewildered.
Looking down at herself, her hands were small, feet were small, her whole body was small. Panic-stricken, she felt all over her body.
How did she become so small?
Her clothes were worn out and patched all over.
Did she time travel?
Otherwise, why has she turned into a child and ended up in this rundown house?
That was the only explanation that made sense.
Yu Xiaolian stood up from the kang and turned around to assess the room.
The thatched roof was covered in black soot, the walls were earthen, with yellow hay clearly visible on them. Besides the simple carved kang cabinet on the kang, there were two large wooden boxes on the ground.
A small bamboo basket containing some wild fruits sat on top of the wooden box. The dirt floor was swept clean with a bit of water sprinkled on it.
The quilt on the kang was neatly folded at the corner, and the bamboo mat covering the kang was very clean. The few worn-out places had been patched with fabric, tightly sewn. It was evident that the lady of the house was very tidy.
On the ground was a pair of cloth shoes with a hole, but they had been patched.
Those must be the original owner's shoes!
The noise outside hadn't stopped, so Yu Xiaolian planned to go out and have a look.
As soon as she wore those shoes, it was like unlocking a floodgate of memories; memories of the original owner rushed in like a torrent.
Yu Xiaolian held onto the edge of the kang, digesting it all within the house.
After she absorbed all of the original owner's memories, she was dumbfounded.
She actually transmigrated into a book, and it was the very novel she was reading earlier.
The original owner, like her, was named Yu Xiaolian, but this Yu Xiaolian was a minor female character meant for the plot's downfall!
Oh my God, how did she transmigrate so inexplicably?
She wondered how her modern self was doing, if it still existed?
Suddenly, she remembered the voice calling the soul last night. She vaguely recalled it was that witch Aunt Hao who brought her to this world.
No way, she had to find that witch and make her send her back.
Yu Xiaolian pushed open the door, and the commotion outside halted.
Several pairs of eyes were on her, and she swallowed nervously, asking, "Can I go find Aunt Hao?"
The old lady Yu glared at her fiercely, scoffing, "What, fifteen coins were not enough? Want to give her more?"
Aunt Hao was usually considered useless, so the old lady Yu hadn't stopped her from performing a ritual for Yu Xiaolian yesterday. Anyway, if she couldn't save her, she wouldn't pay.
To her surprise, this usually inept Aunt Hao actually managed to save Yu Xiaolian, who had been burning with high fever and was close to death.
Really strange.
Even though Yu Xiaolian was a soul from the twenty-first century, she had always been a quiet girl and never really had confrontations with anyone.
With old lady Yu glaring at her so maliciously, it made her feel timid, "I just wanted to... thank her."
She certainly couldn't tell the old lady she wanted that witch to send her back to the modern times.
The old lady Yu rolled her eyes, "If you want to thank someone, thank your father. Your illness had him calling doctors and the witch, piling up even more debt, and making life unlivable."
Yu Xiaolian looked at her father, Yu Changhe, who was leaning on a wooden stick with one lame leg, and heartily said, "Dad... thank you."
Yu Changhe nodded slightly and then looked to his wife Sun, "Take Xiaolian back in."
Sun led Yu Xiaolian back inside, and the yelling outside resumed.
Yu Xiaolian listened closely.
The old lady Yu even mentioned separating the family. Sun also heard her; she glanced at Yu Xiaolian, "Stay in the room and don't go out, Mom's going to take a look."
Yu Xiaolian nodded.
After Sun stepped out, Yu Xiaolian immediately pressed her ear against the window.
Who knows when she could go back? As long as she was here, she needed to understand the situation.
Taking it one day at a time.
"Ever since your leg went lame, you can't make money in town anymore, so the household lost an income source. The ten-plus acres of land depend on your father and brother alone.
Your brother still hasn't married. The girl from the Qi family said that if she were to marry him, you'd have to move out as a separate family unit.
I thought about negotiating this with her family, but after you dragged up all that debt yesterday, I can't manage you anymore."
Seeing Yu Changhe remain silent, the old lady Yu continued, "Last night, I discussed with your father and brother, and they both agreed to separate the family. However, your share of the land won't be given to you, you'll just have to farm the wasteland in the southwest corner."