Chapter 4: 04 Reborn Song Niannian

Song Niannian woke up feeling completely weak and limp. Looking at the somewhat familiar ceiling beams and the furnishings in the room, she couldn't help but feel a jolt of shock.

Wasn't this her room at home during her teenage years?

She propped up her somewhat frail body to sit up and took a look around. When she saw the calendar on the wall reading March 7, 1973, she was instantly stunned.

She had come back!

She never expected that she would actually return to when she was fifteen years old.

Song Niannian got out of bed and walked to the door. After peering through the gap and seeing Song Suisui busy in the courtyard, her expression became complicated for a moment.

Originally, after the two sisters graduated from high school, they were supposed to go to the countryside. However, she had found a job before the assignment, and the family had scraped together five hundred yuan to secure that position for her.

Since she had a job, she could stay in the city, which meant only Suisui would have to go to the countryside.

Later, it was her eldest brother who gave his job at the waste station to Suisui to prevent her from being sent to the countryside.

But because of that, the person sent to the countryside became her eldest brother.

Originally, with his intelligence and ability, the eldest brother wouldn't have been at a disadvantage in the countryside; at the very least, he wouldn't have fared too poorly.

But he had signed up too late, and the place he was assigned to was not good.

It would have been one thing if the location were just bad, but who knew that the village where the eldest brother was sent would be a desolate, impoverished place that devoured people without leaving a bone?

The eldest brother was forced to marry a rural woman, and even sending letters home required being monitored.

That village was too tight-knit, and their attitude toward educated youths was poor.

The eldest brother had once tried to escape, only to have his leg broken by others.

By the time the family found him in that small mountain village in '77, the eldest brother, who should have been only twenty-two, looked no different from a fifty-year-old man.

This broke their parents' hearts. The family went to great lengths to arrange a divorce for him.

But after years of hardship, the eldest brother had long since lost his original high spirits.

And after hearing about what happened to her brother, the youngest sister felt immense guilt. She gave her job back to the eldest brother and left for the south alone with a single bundle, never to be heard from again.

Because of their guilt toward their son and their worry for their youngest daughter, the parents' health gradually declined significantly. Until the day they passed away, there was still no news of Suisui. A perfectly good family had just fallen apart like this.

Looking at her little sister in the courtyard, Song Niannian couldn't help but feel a sting in her nose.

She hadn't seen her little sister for decades.

Yet, she had never forgotten her sister's voice and face.

...

Song Suisui was cleaning the courtyard. Hearing the sound of Song Niannian's bedroom door opening, she turned her head to look.

With just one glance, she could tell that this Song Niannian was not the same Song Niannian she had seen two days ago.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul; this Song Niannian's eyes carried the sharp brilliance of someone in a position of authority, as well as the joy of reuniting with a long-lost sister.

"Sister, are you feeling any better?" Song Suisui asked.

"Much better." Song Niannian didn't know why she had been reborn.

This hadn't happened in her previous life, so she could only say that.

To be honest, she actually felt extremely weak and powerless.

"Is it low blood sugar?" she muttered.

Although she didn't have issues with low blood sugar during her adolescence, she had developed it as an adult.

Could it be that by being reborn, she had brought her low blood sugar back with her?

"Oh~" Song Suisui nodded, but still cautioned, "You should rest a bit longer! I'll make dinner."

Hearing this, Song Niannian nodded and said, "Then I'll tend the fire for you. I'll be bored just lying around anyway."

"Sure, as long as you feel up to it."

After Song Suisui finished cleaning the courtyard, she entered the kitchen, and Song Niannian followed her in.

The Song family's kitchen wasn't large, but because Ma Xiumei and Song Niannian were diligent, the kitchen was always clean, without a single messy spot or item.

As Song Suisui stir-fried the vegetables, she kept an eye on Song Niannian with her peripheral vision as she sat by the hearth tending the fire.

She saw that Song Niannian was somewhat dazed, her face looking lost in thought.

Song Suisui knew she had just been reborn and hadn't settled her inner thoughts yet.

As for herself, she had accepted reality after just one day of transmigrating; it seemed her ability to adapt was much stronger than hers.

*Hee hee~*

Song Suisui gave herself a narcissistic pat on the back in her heart.

As the sun set, many factories in the city began to finish their shifts.

Ma Xiumei returned home and went to the kitchen to see Song Suisui holding a spatula, tossing the food in the pan.

"Oh my, why is Suisui cooking today?"

Looking at her young mother, Song Niannian didn't react immediately.

Seeing this, Song Suisui chimed in, "Mom, my sister seems a bit unwell today. See if she's okay..."

Ma Xiumei had always doted on her daughters. Upon hearing that Song Niannian was unwell, she immediately moved to her side and reached out to feel her forehead.

Song Niannian quickly called out "Mom." Seeing her eyes brimming with tears, Ma Xiumei thought she was sick and asked nervously, "Daughter, what's wrong? Tell Mom where you feel uncomfortable."

Song Niannian gripped Ma Xiumei's hand tightly. In her previous life, her parents had spent many years traveling to find Suisui.

By the time she had achieved success in her career, her parents were already terminally ill, beyond the help of any medicine.

The most painful thing in this world was nothing more than wanting to care for one's parents when they were no longer there.

Because of those years of torment, the eldest brother's health had also failed, and he passed away only a few years after their parents.

In the end, only she and her second brother were left in the Song family. No matter how much money she had, it was impossible for the family to be reunited.

This was Song Niannian's greatest regret.

Now that Heaven had given her a chance to start over, she would definitely seize it. She would absolutely not let her eldest brother be sent to the countryside again.

Of course, she also had to make arrangements for Suisui as soon as possible. After thinking this through, Song Niannian's mind relaxed a lot.

She shook her head while holding Ma Xiumei's hand. "Mom, I'm not uncomfortable. I just went out for a walk today and I'm a bit tired. Suisui is just worrying needlessly."

"Are you really okay?" Ma Xiumei asked suspiciously.

"Really okay," Song Niannian answered firmly, looking at her.

"Alright then, as long as you're okay."

After saying that, Ma Xiumei turned her attention back to Song Suisui. After all, she was her biological mother and naturally knew her youngest daughter's cooking skills.

If she didn't keep an eye on her, she was worried she might end up eating half a bowl less of dinner tonight.

Seeing Ma Xiumei staring at her constantly, Song Suisui said speechlessly, "Mom, is my cooking so bad that you absolutely have to watch me?"

"Do you not have any idea how your cooking is? If I don't watch, the food will all be wasted by you."

Song Suisui: "..."

Although Mother Song complained that Song Suisui's cooking wasn't delicious, she never snatched the spatula to do it herself.

As children grow up, they must be allowed to practice; Ma Xiumei didn't want to raise a lazy person.

Speaking of which, in the Song family of six, not a single one was a lazy person.

Although Song Suisui wasn't a "grind" in her previous life, she was far from being lazy. She really didn't understand how she had been bound to a "Salted Fish System."

And it was a stingy Salted Fish System at that, giving out almost nothing.

Hearing Song Suisui's complaints, the Salted Fish System couldn't take it anymore.

It was a Salted Fish System, yes, but it was definitely not some stingy ghost!

The system refused to take the blame for being "stingy"; it was clearly that the host's luck was too poor.

If Song Suisui knew what the system was thinking, she would definitely not admit it.

How could her luck be bad?!

(End of Chapter)