Chapter 1: Favoring Boys Over Girls

Lin Xiangrong lay in a stinking, damp swaddling cloth, grief welling up from within. She had been reborn into this life...

Thinking of the new home she had painstakingly saved up for while working 996, which she hadn't even had the chance to properly enjoy before transmigrating to this poverty-stricken countryside, she was so angry that she could only let out wailing cries of an infant.

"Crying, crying, crying! A little girl, crying all day long, it never ends!"

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the rooster in the yard had only crowed for the second time when Wang Cuilan got out of bed, put on her shoes, and headed straight for the west wing room, brandishing a shoe and screaming at the top of her lungs: "Are you wailing for a funeral?"

She had thought it was a golden grandson promised by Guanyin, but who would have thought it would be a money-losing piece of trash that eats inside and out.

The moment Wang Cuilan thought of this, her anger flared, and she began to curse even more viciously.

"Mom." Zhou Zhaodi pushed open the window, saying weakly, "Little Ni is physically weak; her crying sounds just like a cat, please say a little less."

When she was pregnant with this child, it was different from when she was pregnant with her eldest. Back then, her belly had been pointed and she craved sour foods, and she gave birth to a big, fat boy. Her mother-in-law, Wang Cuilan, had been so happy that she poached an egg for her and even added a big spoonful of brown sugar.

When she was pregnant with Little Ni, her belly was round and she craved spicy foods; Zhou Zhaodi’s heart had gone cold halfway through.

Everyone knew that Wang Cuilan was heavily biased toward boys. The second daughter-in-law had been poked in the spine and scolded for giving birth to two girls in a row.

It was over.

During her pregnancy, her mother-in-law, Wang Cuilan, had treated her so well, letting her eat all the fine, nutritious food.

Although her father-in-law, Lin Dawei, wasn't as obvious as Wang Cuilan, he had also spared her from doing heavy labor.

But as soon as Little Ni was born, her mother-in-law’s face had dropped instantly. She had flicked her hand and turned away, walking faster than the big yellow dog in the yard. Her father-in-law had even spat on the ground, sighing and shaking his head, saying it was all over.

"Oh, so I can't even speak now!" Wang Cuilan threw the shoe at the window frame, her eyebrows shooting up: "You give birth to a money-losing piece of trash and I can't even scold her? If I were you, I would have smothered the trash to death long ago to make room for my big grandson!"

"Mom, please stop talking, I'll soothe Little Ni right now." Zhou Zhaodi turned her back to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, closed the window, and reached out to pat Lin Yuannan, who was sleeping like a dead pig: "Husband, stop sleeping!"

Lin Yuannan was snoring. Seeing she couldn't wake him, Zhou Zhaodi could only shift off the kang and hold Little Ni in her arms to breastfeed.

Why did it have to be a girl?

The window of the east wing room closed quietly. The eldest daughter-in-law, Fang Hongying, looked at Lin Yuandong, who was sitting on the edge of the kang smoking a dry pipe, with a gloating expression: "See that? It’s still me who has the merit, having given your Lin family two big, fat boys."

"When the third one was pregnant, Mom was so expectant, and yet she gave birth to a money-losing piece of trash." Fang Hongying’s mind shifted, "Tsk tsk, when the trash grows up and marries off, she can still fetch a bride price to help the son get a wife. It’s quite worth it. I’ll have to go and talk to her about it later."

"That’s enough out of you." Lin Yuandong bared his yellow teeth: "Mom and Dad are already in a bad mood; don't go poking around."

"Then tell me... why were Mom and Dad so good to the third one before?" Fang Hongying recalled how her mother-in-law, Wang Cuilan, had given Zhou Zhaodi a poached egg every few days during her pregnancy, occasionally adding lard to the pot for noodles, and her eyes turned red with jealousy.

Back then, she and the second one only got eggs and noodles when they were actually giving birth. Why, when they were all human, were they treated so differently?

"Who knows." Lin Yuandong didn't know either, and since he never defied his parents, he just kicked his wife: "Go feed the chickens."

Fang Hongying curled her lips, muttered something, but still got off the kang to feed the chickens.

"Little money-losing trash, she’s going to be the death of me." Wang Cuilan returned to her room in a huff, sat on the kang, crossed her legs, raised her eyebrows, and pulled a long face, grumbling unpleasantly: "Tell me, was it this girl who made our golden grandson, promised by Guanyin, disappear?"

"Say less," Lin Dawei stopped her: "That’s feudal superstition. If someone hears you and reports it, our work points will be docked. Do you still want to be named an 'Excellent Family'?"

Back then, as soon as night fell, Wang Cuilan had dreamed of a Guanyin holding a child.

The Guanyin pointed a slender finger, and a beam of light fell into the third family's west wing room.

Wang Cuilan woke up instantly, slapped her husband hard on the back, and sat up with a start: "Old man, guess what I dreamed of? A Guanyin holding a child sent a golden fetus to the third family!"

Having been slapped and feeling dazed and pained, Lin Dawei had just mumbled, "I dreamed of it too," and fell back into a confused sleep.

Wang Cuilan had been so excited that she wanted to run to the west wing room immediately to ask Zhou Zhaodi if she was pregnant.

At daybreak, Wang Cuilan, who hadn't slept all night, had been planning to take some money from the public funds to give to Zhou Zhaodi, so she could go to the village clinic and have the barefoot doctor take her pulse to see if she was pregnant.

Before Wang Cuilan could even figure out how to bring it up, Zhou Zhaodi had told her happily: "Mom, I'm pregnant again."

My god, it really was Guanyin sending a child, and it was a golden grandson!

This was the future hope of their Lin family!

Wang Cuilan had changed from her previous sharp and mean self; her old face smiled like a chrysanthemum every day. She let Zhou Zhaodi eat all the good food, and when it was time to work in the fields, she let her rest under the trees, assigning the work that was supposed to be hers to the eldest and second daughters-in-law.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Fang Hongying, and the second daughter-in-law, Zhang Miao, were full of resentment, but Wang Cuilan ignored them, staring with her eyes wide open every day, waiting for the golden grandson. Who would have thought that after ten months of pregnancy, a girl would be born.

Wang Cuilan couldn't catch her breath and almost passed out.

Thinking of this, Wang Cuilan said viciously: "Hmph, what use is a girl? Might as well drown her."

Lin Dawei’s eyes widened: "Nonsense! If the brigade leader finds out, our family is finished. Just pretend that dream never happened!"

Wang Cuilan shuddered at the thought and quickly patted her mouth twice. *Amitabha, Amitabha.* But soon, she couldn't help but mutter about the golden grandson sent by Guanyin again.

"Yo, third sister-in-law, your girl can really cry. One look and you can tell she’s a good baby; Mom will definitely dote on her!"

After feeding the chickens in the morning and helping the second daughter-in-law, Zhang Miao, make breakfast, Fang Hongying waited until all the men had gone to the fields to work. She quietly put down her broom and slipped under the window of the west wing room to prick at Zhou Zhaodi: "I’m telling you, sister-in-law, don't overthink it. When your girl marries off in the future, she can still fetch a bride price for your eldest son to get a wife!"

"Sister-in-law, you shouldn't say it like that." Zhou Zhaodi endured her anger: "No matter how poor our family is, we can't sell a girl for bride price money to get a wife for our son. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the villagers if that gets out?"

"Laughed at?" Fang Hongying rolled her eyes and spat on the ground: "I gave birth to two big, fat boys for the Lin family! I have great merit! Who would laugh at me? Besides, what’s wrong with what I said?"

Zhou Zhaodi’s face turned cold: "Sister-in-law, I’m not feeling well, I’m going to rest."

As Zhou Zhaodi pulled the window shut, there were a few more insults directed at the mulberry tree to scold the locust tree outside. Although Zhou Zhaodi ignored them, she still felt unwilling in her heart. She stared at Little Ni in her arms and sighed faintly: "Why did it have to be a girl? It’s caused me to be scolded in turns."

If only it were a boy, she wouldn't have to suffer these indignities.

Her mother-in-law, Wang Cuilan, was able to stand tall in the Lin family precisely because she had given birth to four sons in a row. When she acted tough, even her father-in-law, Lin Dawei, had to give her some leeway.

Lin Xiangrong was held in Zhou Zhaodi’s arms, her round eyes staring at Zhou Zhaodi. Being rocked back and forth, she did feel a bit more comfortable than before, and she was able to organize her thoughts.

She remembered that she had fallen asleep while reading a novel about a "lucky koi" pet in the era, and when she woke up, she was in a different place.

It couldn't be that she had transmigrated into that very novel, could it?

Lin Xiangrong pricked up her ears and listened for a while, only to discover that this family was also surnamed Lin. Could it really be the family of the cannon-fodder female supporting character in the book?

Oh, heavens!

The family of the cannon-fodder female supporting character was ruined and destroyed, and everyone met a miserable end at the hands of the "lucky koi" female lead.

The cannon-fodder female supporting character herself married a hoodlum and was eventually beaten to death by domestic violence!

(End of chapter)