"Lin Zhilan, get out here right now!"
The woman's voice outside was loud and shrill, startling Linlin into a flinch.
Lin Zhilan frowned. She walked to the door, removed the latch, and directly faced the dark, thin woman outside.
Wang Guifen, Zhou Chen's mother, and currently her mother-in-law in name only.
As soon as Wang Guifen saw her come out, the corners of her mouth immediately pulled down. Her triangular eyes swept her up and down, finally landing on her rosy cheeks, and she secretly cursed her as a vixen in her heart.
"Jianjun's family hosted a banquet yesterday, and there are still a lot of dishes and chopsticks to wash. Hurry up and go help!"
"I'm not going!"
Probably not expecting Lin Zhilan to talk back, Wang Guifen glared at her. "What did you say?!"
"I'm not going. If you're so eager to help, you can go yourself."
Her usually cowardly daughter-in-law actually dared to talk back to her. Wang Guifen's eyes turned red with anger. "What's wrong with asking you to do your brother's wife a favor?"
Lin Zhilan laughed out of anger.
Zhou Jianjun's mother was Wang Guifen's sister-in-law. The two originally didn't have a good relationship, but after Zhou Chen sacrificed his life, Zhou Jianjun was promoted in the army.
Wang Guifen quickly changed her tune and started currying favor with this sister-in-law.
However, instead of helping out herself, she kept bossing her daughter-in-law around.
Yesterday, the original owner of this body was drugged while helping out at Zhou Jianjun's house. The book didn't specify who drugged her, but with a little investigation, she would eventually find out.
As for going to help with the chores, no way!
Before Lin Zhilan could speak, an older and a younger woman walked out from Zhou Jianjun's door.
The younger one was probably the female lead's mother from the book. Lin Zhilan took an extra look at her, only to find that the woman was also looking at her and even gave her a smile.
Lin Zhilan looked away.
As the foil to the female lead, Lin Zhilan only wanted to take the supporting female character and stay far away from the female lead's family, lest they be affected by her protagonist halo.
"Sister-in-law, there's no need to call Zhilan. It's just a little work; I'll finish it in a morning."
Despite saying this, Zhou Jianjun's mother didn't make a move, still looking over here with a smile.
Wang Guifen said fiercely, "Lin Zhilan, hurry up and go!"
"Whoever wants to do it can do it!" Lin Zhilan turned around, slammed the door shut, and latched it.
Ignoring Wang Guifen's loud curses outside, Lin Zhilan thought of a problem.
"Baby, how did that uncle from this morning get out?"
Linlin pointed to the courtyard wall next to them.
Great, he climbed over the wall. There were even footprints at the corner.
It seemed this courtyard wasn't very safe either. Lin Zhilan rummaged through the house for a few nails and placed them on top of the wall.
Better than nothing, at least it provided some psychological comfort.
After doing this, Lin Zhilan carried her daughter back to the room to tell her a story.
Wang Guifen cursed until her voice went hoarse, but no one came out. When she turned her head, Zhou Jianjun's mother and the new daughter-in-law had long since gone back inside.
She spat at the corner of the wall, patted her bottom, and left.
After coaxing her daughter to sleep, Lin Zhilan began to take inventory of her assets.
After searching all her pockets, she only found a dozen or so yuan.
There wasn't much food either. The rice bin only had a thin layer left, and the rest was just a pile of sweet potatoes.
These things, along with this old house, were all the property allocated to the mother and daughter.
Lin Zhilan decided to take advantage of the child sleeping to visit the Zhou family first.
When Zhou Chen was alive, he was a company commander and sent back an allowance every month. The Zhou family was quite well-off, owning one of the few red brick houses in the village.
Lin Zhilan walked to the door and knocked.
With a creak, the door opened from the inside. Her brother-in-law Zhou Jianmin's hypocritical face leaned in, his greedy gaze sweeping over Lin Zhilan's fair face and slender waist.
"Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"
He said this while stepping closer with ill intentions.
Lin Zhilan sneered in her heart. Just as he reached out his hand, she suddenly raised her voice.
"Mother, are you home?"
The houses in the village were very close to each other. With her shout, nosy neighbors immediately poked their heads out to look.
A trace of astonishment and annoyance flashed across Zhou Jianmin's face, and he resentfully withdrew his hand.
Her mother-in-law Wang Guifen's shrill voice came from the courtyard: "Why are you wailing like a banshee! Where else would I be if not at home?"
Lin Zhilan bypassed Zhou Jianmin and walked in. "Mother, I've come to get my and Linlin's food rations."
"What did you say?" Wang Guifen put her hands on her hips, so agitated that spit flew from her mouth. "We've already divided the household. I gave you what you deserved. What food rations are you talking about?!"
Sister-in-law Wu Li walked out of the house. It was almost noon, yet she looked as if she had just woken up.
Wu Li called out "Sister-in-law" with a half-smile, then asked Wang Guifen, "Mother, what's for breakfast?"
Wang Guifen instantly changed to a smiling face. "Mother boiled some eggs for you. Go to the kitchen and get them yourself."
"Eggs again," Wu Li complained, muttering as she walked toward the kitchen.
As soon as she walked away, the contents of the room behind her were completely exposed.
The red silk quilt on the heated bed was part of the dowry that the original owner's parents had scraped together money to buy for her when she got married.
The Zhou family, however, had taken it to curry favor with Wu Li.
At this thought, Lin Zhilan walked in, grabbed the quilt, and headed out.
"What are you doing?" Wang Guifen hurriedly stopped her.
"Mother," Lin Zhilan frowned and said, "This is my dowry. Since we've divided the household, of course I'm taking it with me."
"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!" Wang Guifen jumped up and down, cursing. Her shrill voice pierced the tranquility of the village, and neighbors had already walked to the wall to peek.
"You jinx! You bringer of bad luck who caused my son's death! Who told you to touch my family's things? Put that quilt down right now!"
Lin Zhilan paused her steps and turned to look at the kitchen door, where Wu Li stood with a face turning pale and green.
"Sister-in-law, you haven't been married into this family for long, so you might not know, but this quilt is the dowry my parents made for me. Your family is well-off, and I heard your dowry included over a dozen catties of cotton alone. You wouldn't be envious of your sister-in-law's little bit of bottom-of-the-chest dowry, would you?"
Wu Li had always been proud of her maiden family's good conditions. Now, being mocked by Lin Zhilan like this, she instantly couldn't save face.
The comfortably warm quilt she had slept under last night suddenly felt like a red-hot branding iron.
"Who... who cares about your broken quilt? If Mom hadn't given it to me, I wouldn't have used it!" Wu Li's face flushed red. "Take it, take it, it reeks of poverty!"
Wang Guifen choked on her younger daughter-in-law's words, almost passing out from anger, and stammered, unable to speak.
She dared to curse Lin Zhilan, but she didn't dare offend this second daughter-in-law who came from a good family and had a big temper.
Lin Zhilan smiled. "I knew you weren't that kind of person. Not to mention anything else, the two camphor wood chests in the room are also my dowry. I might as well take them back together."
Furious and red-faced, Wu Li stormed into the room, dumped everything out of the chests with a clatter, and threw the empty chests into the courtyard.
"If Mom hadn't given them to me, I wouldn't have wanted them! Hurry up and take them away. Who wants these broken chests?"
Lin Zhilan ignored her. She stuffed the quilt into the chest and, carrying the chests, walked out of the Zhou family home amidst Wang Guifen's angry but helpless curses.
