Su Xiaotian was reborn.
She was reborn on Dragon Boat Festival when she was seven years old.
On that day, for a yellow rice dumpling, Su Xiaotian was pushed into the river by her cousin, Kang Meihua.
In her previous life, she had become feverish after falling into the water and developed a chronic illness, which made her weak for the latter half of her life. She stayed sick in bed for many years and did not even have a child.
It was precisely because she had no children that her mother-in-law was not happy and she ended up divorced from her husband, living a lonely and bitter life.
Being reborn, she didn't want to make the same mistakes again; she wanted to change her destiny!
"Ding, ding, system host bound to reading system, acquired a private library."
A sweet voice suddenly rang, startling Su Xiaotian.
What in the world was a system? What was a private library? Where was it?
"I am Anna, the system assistant of the host, happy to meet you!"
Su Xiaotian, startled, immediately scrambled off her bed, looking all around the room.
"The host need not look around, the host cannot see Anna."
Can't see? Su Xiaotian laid back down.
Wait a moment - if the system was talking in the room, wouldn't it alarm others?
"Only the host can hear Anna's voice!"
Hearing Anna, the so-called system, say this, the sagging heart of Su Xiaotian was finally relieved.
"As long as the host calls Anna with her consciousness, Anna is always available to serve the host!" The system Anna's voice remained as sweet as ever.
"What's the use of a personal library?" Su Xiaotian asked the question in her heart. "How can I find my personal library?"
Sweetly, the system Anna explained to Su Xiaotian.
Fifteen minutes later, Su Xiaotian figured it out.
She had been given a virtual system, and the system had a small library attached.
By reading books and completing system tasks, she could earn rewards. If her daily reading time reached a certain level, she could check-in and receive rewards.
The more she read, the more rewards she could earn from check-in!
After understanding, Su Xiaotian, with her round and dazed eyes, was thinking, does this system embody the wisdom of "knowledge is power"?
Just as she was planning to try out the reading system, a sharp voice came from the courtyard.
"Third sister-in-law, how could you say such things? Meihua is just a little girl. As an aunt, aren't your words too harsh? How do you expect her to face the world in the future?"
Su Xiaotian frowned, recognizing the voice to be that of her younger aunty, Su Manxiang.
Even if it was a long time ago, Su Xiaotian always remembered this voice very clearly.
In her past life, her younger aunty not only failed to acknowledge her cousin's mistake when the cousin pushed her into the water, but also made a big scene, and arrogantly took away Kang Meihua without a single word of apology.
Her spoiled little aunt always felt that others were doing her wrong.
"Am I being malicious? Su Manxiang, reflect upon yourself, isn't it wicked that Meihua pushed my little sister Tian into the river? Just because I scolded her, I am the vicious one?” This is the voice of her mother, Liang Xiu, when she was young.
Mother Liang Xiu was a very gentle woman, but now her voice is filled with anger, clearly very upset.
"Third sister-in-law, if you talk like this, we can no longer be relatives." Su Manxiang's voice grows increasingly sharp: "You must apologize to Meihua!"
"If you can't be our kins, then get back to your Kang family." The slightly hoarse voice comes from her grandmother.
Su Tian's eyes filled with tears. Her grandmother was on her side and cared for her, not showing favouritism just because her little aunt is her youngest daughter.
"Mother, I am your daughter, how can you say such things?"
"Tian is my granddaughter too. What? If you behave unreasonably, can I not criticize you?"
"How pitiful am I, even my own mother doesn't care for me." Su Manxiang starts to sob falsely.
"It's because I've spoiled you that you've become like this!"Grandma Su angrily scolded.
"Gran, Gran, people in the village are saying that Tian fell into the river?" The anxious voice belongs to her eldest brother, Su Wurang.
"Tian is lying in the room, still unconscious, go see her. Poor thing, she's terrified."
The door was pushed open with a clang, and a thin young man rushed in with a worried face. Behind him trailed a few more young men.
Seeing her long-lost elder brother, Su Tian couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
"Sis, Sis, you're awake? How are you feeling?" Su Wurang, seeing his sister cry, clumsily comforts her, even using his dirty sleeve to wipe her tears.
"Brother, brother, I'm seeing you again, this is great!" Su Xiaotian hugged her brother and burst into tears.
This is her brother, the one who has always loved and cared for her in her past life.
Su Xiaotian sobbed loudly, Su Wu did not know the reason, just thought that his sister was scared by falling into the water.
The commotion in the room alarmed the people in the courtyard.
Soon, the small partition was filled with people, all persuading Su Xiaotian not to cry.
Mother Liang Xiu was even sitting on the edge of the kang
traditional Chinese bed
, holding her daughter and crying.
Her poor child, she must have truly been frightened.
After a good cry, Su Xiaotian felt much better, and finally had a chance to look at the concerned faces of her family members around her.
Seeing her family again felt wonderful!
Her brothers, even as they looked at her, did not forget to cast a resentful gaze to the side.
Following their gaze, she saw a pair of arrogant eyes.
It was Kang Meihua, the cousin who had pushed her into the water with just a few instigating words.
A person who could nearly kill, yet showed not a hint of guilt or fear, what kind of person was she?
Withdrawing her gaze, Su Xiaotian turned to her own family!
"Grandpa, Grandma, Father, Mother, First Uncle, First Aunt, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, uhh…" Before she could finish greeting everyone, Su Xiaotian couldn't help it, and started crying again.
"The kid is already feeling better, yet she still cries. Such a troublemaker. Mom, it’s your pampering that's made her so delicate."
The discordant voice, if it wasn't Aunt Su Manxiang, who else could it be?
Before Su Xiaotian could respond, Granny Su had already spoken in a cold voice: "Shut up!"
"Did I say something wrong? Mom, look at what happened to Meihua. How come you only care about this one that's just a losing investment?"
Su Manxiang’s eyebrows were raised high, and her words became even sharper. She complained discontentedly, making it appear as if Su Xiaotian owed Kang Meihua an apology.
Su Xiaotian lowered her eyes and chuckled. She wonders who pushed whom into the river!
The aunt, taking advantage of marrying in the town and the fact that her husband works as a sales clerk in a cooperative, always considered herself superior, even asserting that her children were more valuable than her nieces and nephews.
But she never thought about how much her marriage quality was related to her natal family. She was like a Gavroche, who could take advantage of her?
"Granny, did I scare cousin? Wuuwuu, I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't want to fall into the river. I didn't want to swallow the water..." Su Xiaotian immediately lowered her head, whimpering pitifully.
It was just like the previous life.
She fell into the water, but instead, the little aunt blamed her for frightening Kang Meihua.
The victim was treated as the one in the wrong. What a double standard!
Grandpa Su, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Xiaotian, don't be afraid. If she pushed you into the river, she deserved the fright! If she's doing this at such a young age, who knows what she might do when she grows up?"
The old man seldom spoke, but he was sharp-eyed and discerning. He could tell that his granddaughter showed no signs of remorse at all.
This child, she's been spoiled by his worthless daughter!
Su Xiaotian looked at her grandfather, who was always silent but cared for her, in surprise.