The original owner of this body had failed to protest against her remarriage, even with her own daughter. So Cheng Ying had no choice but to endure the situation and wait for things to unfold.
Yet Cheng Ying felt the matter had nothing to do with Chi Wu. It was wrong to mistreat a child merely because of it. Hence she genuinely harbored no ill will toward Chi Wu.
Even when she resorted to threatening the boy, it was out of sheer necessity.
Watching Grandma scold Chi Wu, Cheng Ying's heart bled for him. The insults were cruelly harsh.
Though Chi Wu's hands had warmed up, his heart felt colder than ever.
He longed to know when this endless suffering would end. Ever since their father remarried and he could finally attend school like other village children, Chi Wu had been awakened to the truth too soon.
Education was never really attainable for him. He'd always remain different from those village kids.
Grandma worked swiftly, tossing pumpkin scraps, gourds, and sweet potatoes into the pot in quick succession.
Cheng Ying noticed the gourd wasn't peeled nor were the sweet potatoes.
If it had been earlier times, she would never have eaten them - they felt too coarse.
Unfortunately, she couldn't demand Grandma peel vegetables. In these hard years, people said even grass roots were dug up for food in spring.
When Grandma made porridge without rinsing the rice, Cheng Ying voiced her displeasure and received a slap: "You wretched thing! Don't waste grain, do you understand? A good wife manages household properly, not squandering resources!"
After witnessing this, Cheng Ying kept silent when watching Grandma cook. Having food was already enough to be grateful for.
She approached with downcast eyes, scooping out several pumpkin seeds from the gourd Grandma had hollowed out.
As Grandma ladled porridge into bowls through the fence door, six men and women entered in a weary group.
Each bore expressions of deep sorrow.
Cheng Ying had grown used to seeing high cheekbones like chiselled blades and sunken eyes among these people.
It was an era's mark - hunger etched on their faces. Fortunately she hadn't yet seen severe malnutrition cases.
Contact with her biological mother and stepfather remained minimal.
They'd shared a sleeping platform for two nights, but before the sun rose adults would head to work.
Only when twilight fell did they return home, leaving almost no time for interaction.
This made it difficult for Cheng Ying to decide how to treat them. So she kept her distance deliberately.
Upon awakening in this body, Cheng Ying had learned through observation that this girl's original reaction against her mother's remarriage was particularly fierce.
This made her even more hesitant about approaching her biological mother casually.
She didn't understand why they were doing collective labor on such a cold winter day. The six people looked progressively exhausted as they entered one by one.
The only information Cheng Ying possessed was that her stepfather worked tending sheep, earning seven points just like Grandma raising chickens at home.
By the standards of this era where survival meant trading labor for food, this amounted to near-uselessness.
Lacking substantial physical ability made him a poor worker. In an age where strength determined sustenance, earning only seven points barely sustained himself - let alone his family.
Her biological mother's judgment was truly questionable. How could she choose such a fickle pretty-boy destined to betray her?
Compared to Chi Wu, Cheng Ying harbored far less affection toward this stepfather.
Looking at her mother, Cheng Ying saw a tragic figure doomed to perpetual widowhood.
In the first half of life, losing her husband meant facing fate's decree. In the second half she'd found herself in an ill-fated marriage through poor judgment - becoming a deserted woman by choice.
Examining her biological mother from afar, Cheng Ying noticed sun-darkened skin and a weary countenance with smooth eyebrows, delicate nose bridge, pallid lips always bearing traces of sorrow. While resembling Lin Daiyu's tragic beauty, this woman possessed surprising physical strength as a daily laborer - embodying tragedy itself.
Her features lacked the plumpness that would make her resemble Xue Baochai. In Cheng Ying's eyes, not a single feature on this woman carried auspicious energy.
All signs pointed toward "Little Cabbage" (a folk tale about an innocent wronged wife) yet without even matching that story's visual archetypes. It was truly difficult to imagine such a woman keeping a man's heart.
Observing her stepfather, his face whiter than her mother's and slender physique ready for stage performance - the textbook pretty-boy. His eyes and posture screamed cultured youth, a modern Chen Shimin (a notorious folk tale villain).
Cheng Ying felt her heart grow cold at this sight - not only grieving for herself and her mother but recognizing an echo of her own abandoned past.
Long ago she had watched such a man silently stand by another woman's side in her previous life, offering no words despite being jilted for money. Now the stepfather before her eyes overlapped with that memory.
A surge of grief made Cheng Ying want to break this relationship immediately.
Chi Yong, Cheng Ying's stepfather, approached and finally spoke: "Yingzi, don't wander into the sheep pen again. It could get dangerous."
He knew his stepdaughter well enough - if this incident reached the commune, she'd face trouble for sure.
Cheng Ying's cheeks flushed red at hearing him say that.
Here was someone who already knew about her... before even confronting him. This was provocation rather than concern!
All previous grievances erupted suddenly. Women often acted impulsively when new and old wounds collided.
With dark eyes blazing, she grabbed his padded coat by the collar in a rage - pure hatred clouding her mind like lard on the heart.
The people moving back and forth through the small courtyard froze at this scene.
Chi Yong himself was stunned - it was all good intentions. How could Yingzi be so reckless with the sheep? After all, she wasn't blood-related. What would happen to their relationship in future?
Yangzhi (Cheng Ying's mother) knew her daughter disliked this remarriage but had only seen her silent resistance without open opposition.
No one expected today's outburst - actually grabbing Chi Yong by his coat!
Everyone assumed Yingzi was merely lashing out due to sudden emotional release. None considered any deeper implications.
The next woman entering the yard gently said, "Yingzi, what are you doing? That's your father!"
Her husband followed with a disapproving glance toward his wife - he himself disliked this situation as it meant calling someone else "uncle" for his brother's daughter.
But this girl had overstepped by grabbing him. He reprimanded weakly: "Yingzi, let go! Show some respect."
His rebuke lacked conviction entirely.
Chi Yong's already wilted face drooped further. "Yingzi..." he said hoarsely, eyes welling with acid pain as he just stared at his daughter without another word.
He regretted speaking earlier now - his position was already precarious enough.
Cheng Ying's mother turned back and saw her daughter in this compromising situation with a man. The bitterness in her heart was unbearable: "Yingzi, let go!"