The sky was just beginning to lighten.
Qin Yao carried a hoe, stepping awkwardly on the muddy path, heading towards the west end of the village.
"Mother..."
A timid call came from behind her.
Qin Yao paused and turned around. On the muddy road, two barefoot four-year-olds clumsily carrying a water jug were stumbling towards her. Upon seeing her stop, they quickened their pace, their small feet splashing mud all over themselves.
These were the youngest Dragon and Phoenix Twins of the Liu Family, Sanlang and Si Niang.
In the early autumn, the brother and sister wore ill-fitting, thin linen clothes, with sparse threads. A finger could poke a hole through them, and when the wind blew, their thin bodies shivered intensely.
"Why did you two follow me?" Qin Yao asked.
Si Niang obediently replied, "Brother and I came to bring water for Mother."
Without water, people couldn't work, and their stomachs would feel uncomfortable.
Sanlang glanced at his sister, "That's not our mother. Second Brother said not to call her Mother!"
Si Niang pouted in grievance, mumbling very quietly, "But, but, I want a mother..."
Qin Yao felt a bit helpless. Is it really okay for you little ones to say this right in front of me?
However, Sanlang wasn't wrong. She was only their stepmother now, not their biological mother, and having just arrived at the Liu Family for two days, it was normal for the children to be hostile towards her.
She put the hoe horizontally on her shoulder, using her body to balance it to prevent it from falling, and reached out to take the jug from the pair. "Give me the water, you two should go home. It's a long way."
Si Niang nodded obediently. Due to long-term malnutrition, her thin neck supported a large head, which looked alarming to Qin Yao.
Sanlang glanced at Qin Yao before handing her the jug.
"Hurry back," Qin Yao urged.
Sanlang grabbed his sister's hand to lead her away, but Si Niang broke free and ran up to Qin Yao.
"Mother, you're not going to run away, are you?" The little girl looked up at her, her innocent eyes filled with a yearning for maternal love.
Big Brother and Second Brother said that their stepmother would surely run away upon seeing how poor they were.
But she didn't want Mother to leave.
Their biological mother had died after giving birth to her and her brother, so they never had a mother, which made them especially envious of other children who did.
In Si Niang's heart, since Father brought back a new mother, she had a mother now!
She would listen to Mother, help Mother with chores, as long as Mother was willing to be her mother, Si Niang would be very well-behaved.
Faced with such a fervent and innocent gaze, Qin Yao couldn't resist. She put down her things, squatted down, and gently patted her little head, "Be good, Si Niang, wait for me at home."
Hearing that she would return, Si Niang's eyes lit up. Her small hand tentatively grabbed one of Qin Yao's fingers, giving her a shy smile, "Si Niang will be good and wait for Mother."
"Alright, go on."
"Mm-hmm!"
Si Niang, led by her brother, walked away, turning back continuously to look at Qin Yao. Seeing Qin Yao looking at her too, she smiled. That sweet smile melted Qin Yao's heart into water.
Qin Yao watched the two children return to the village, then picked up the hoe and water jug and continued on her way.
Mist shrouded the continuous green hills, and the air carried a damp scent of fresh grass—a sensation unimaginable in a world ravaged by disasters and zombies.
Qin Yao greedily inhaled a few breaths of this pure, fresh air, cherishing this hard-won new life.
Even if she had become the stepmother of four children, even if this household was destitute.
Could it possibly be worse than that despairing end-of-the-world scenario?
But as the memories belonging to the original owner surfaced in her mind, thinking of that scoundrel husband, Qin Yao's eyes turned sharp.
The original Yao Niang fled, losing all her family and arriving alone in Kaiyang County.
To obtain household registration and accept official arrangements, the eighteen-year-old girl, still vibrant, agreed to become the step-wife of Liu Ji, a twenty-three-year-old widower from the Liu Family Village with four children.
She thought she could settle down, but didn't expect that Liu Ji, aside from having good looks, was utterly incompetent!
He neither farmed nor worked and would always be the first to join any festivity, idling about, engaging in petty thefts.
If only he had been born into a wealthy family, he could've been a playboy.
But born into a common family, such a nature was freeing for him yet a torment for those around him.
When the children's biological mother, Mrs. Mo, was alive, she could suppress him. Although the family was poor, they at least had fifty acres, and with hard farming throughout the year, the whole family wouldn't starve.
But since Mrs. Mo died from excessive bleeding after giving birth to the Dragon and Phoenix Twins, and with no one to control him, Liu Ji, the wastrel, disdained farming and refused to work. Whenever they lacked food, he'd sell land, soon disposing of all the good land!
Fortunately, noticing this, his three brothers forced him to keep two acres.
Yet, those lands were so far away, the nearest being five miles out!
The family was unbearably poor, with the four children eating irregularly. It was a miracle they even grew up.
Three days ago, the government mediated, and Liu Ji brought the original owner home, dumped the four skinny children in front of her, and immediately left for a life of drinking and debauchery!
Yao Niang was stunned. She knew Liu Ji's family was poor, with four children living tough days, and naively thought that as long as they worked hard together, life would improve.
She never imagined, upon lifting the rice jar, there wasn't even a single grain left!
Already at her physical limit from escaping, with no food or drink at home and autumn nearing an end, winter approaching, she picked up the hoe and planted winter wheat for next year's sustenance.
Unexpectedly, she collapsed onto the kang and never awoke again.
And that wretch Liu Ji hadn't returned home; had Qin Yao not traveled through time, no one would've known that the girl striving to survive had already died.
"Sigh~" Qin Yao sighed, thinking in her heart, Yao Niang, let's live well together!
But recalling the current situation of the Liu Family, Qin Yao still felt a headache coming.
Winter was fast approaching, and Liu Ji's shabby straw house surely wouldn't withstand the cold.
Here, heavy snow falls in winter; if the hut isn't reinforced, it might collapse under the weight.
If the house collapses, that's one thing, but if someone gets crushed to death, that's a tragedy.
Then there's the clothing: she and the four Liu children were wearing old clothes given by others, ill-fitting and extremely worn-out. When dirty, they didn't dare to wash them, fearing they'd fall apart!
For warm clothing, she could buy cotton fabric and make them by hand. Whether she could make them wasn't the point; she could learn, right?
Just buying the raw materials for her and the four children's winter clothes was already a significant expense.
As for money, she didn't have even half a coin.
And that wasn't the most terrifying part; what was truly scary was that she was hungry now.
Her stomach felt like it was on fire, as if it would burn a big hole in her stomach—a discomfort so severe that Qin Yao imagined killing Liu Ji and eating him!
To have the chance to live anew, only to starve again, she would die with regrets!