Xiaoxiao opened her eyes again and examined the room. The roof was made of wooden beams and tiles, the walls were only plastered halfway, with the upper half made of adobe bricks. The windows were wooden lattice windows, covered with paper now yellowing with age. Her bed was a kang bed, with a kang cabinet on top. A square table sat on the floor, all items were semi-new... Looking at these things, she gradually succumbed to sleepiness and fell asleep.
During her sleep, she had a dream about her predecessor's life. It turns out that the original owner of this body was named Shen Xiao'er, only one character different from her name. She was only seven years old, her father named Shen Chengyao, and her mother named Liu Minling, who is now referred simply as Mrs. Liu. The Shen family had not separated yet, so the family was under the charge of Master Shen Rengui and Mrs. Shen. These two family heads had a total of four sons, one daughter, and another daughter who did not survive infancy. Hence, they cherished their little daughter as a treasured pearl.
Shen Chengyao, the third son in the family, was 25 years old this year, and Mrs. Liu was only 23 years old. Despite their youth, they were already parents to five children. The original host had a nine-year-old brother named Shen Jingrui, a five-year-old brother named Shen Jinghao, and a new-born sister. The siblings got along very well with each other.
The original host died after she was pushed by Shen Bei'er, her second cousin, while washing clothes near the stream, slipped, and hit her head on a stone.
The aforementioned second cousin was eleven years old, pretty, and of a fiery temperament. A few days ago, Mrs. Liu, the mother of the original host, had just given birth to the youngest sister, and it happened to be her turn to do the laundry and feed the livestock. Normally, those who had recently given birth wouldn't have to work, but Mrs. Shen didn't intervene, and the second aunt asked Mrs. Liu to do the laundry. At that time, the original host had overheard her grandmother repeatedly telling Mrs. Liu not to touch cold water, do heavy work, or engage in needlework during her confinement... and to rest in bed as much as possible, otherwise, she could become ill. Fearing for her mother's health, the original host volunteered to take on the chores. She had already learned how to wash clothes because she had always helped her mother when she was doing laundry.
The original host first went to the east wing where Master Shen resided to collect the laundry of the two elders and her youngest aunt. Then she went to collect the laundry of her second aunt's family from the west wing. The door of second aunt Mrs. Li's room was closed, and just as the original host was about to knock, she heard the second uncle and aunt talking.
"If we send that smelly girl Xiaoxiao to the Hu Mansion as a maid, we will get fifty taels of silver. Fifty taels! We will be rich. We have been saving for over ten years and only managed to save twenty-three taels. Now, as long as we send the girl over, we'll gain fifty taels, it's like a dream come true!"
"I heard that the Yang Mansion recruits maids to train them before sending them to the Juhua Pavilion to become prostitutes. Would the third brother's family agree to this?" Shen Chengzong's eyes brightened at the mention of fifty taels of silver, but his tone was hesitant.
"Those are just rumors, and if you believe them, they'll lead you to your downfall! Also, do you think anyone can become a prostitute? They need to have looks and a good figure. Who would prefer that girl with a beanpole body like that of a green bean! At most, she might be recruited for unskilled labour as a maid, which is still quite good!" Mrs. Li's words were disingenuous. Although Xiaoxiao was skinny, her features were delicate, and despite the fact that her skin was currently sunburnt and dark, the villagers found her to be pretty and clever. Of course, she was no match to Mrs. Li's own 11-year-old daughter, who, despite her young age, had a skin as pale and tender as snow, and her figure was much better than that of the girls of the same age in the village.
"The third brother won't be willing to send his daughter to be a maid! And would father agree?" Even as he said this, Shen Chengzong was already thinking of ways to persuade them.
"The couple is so honest, they can be easily fooled with a made-up excuse. Let's hide the truth from our father until it is a done deed. He won't be able to change anything once it's done. We can tell our mother and let her keep it from father for now. As for the silver, we can say that the Hu's mansion buys maids for twenty taels each, so we can pocket thirty taels ourselves!" Hearing Shen Chengzong speak this way, Mrs. Li knew he had agreed.
"Fine! Let's discuss this further. We need to come up with a foolproof plan, we absolutely....." Their voices became smaller and smaller.
"What are you doing here?" As Shen Bei'er walked into the room, she spotted the original owner standing outside her own room, eavesdropping and immediately shouted at her, also taking the chance to alert her parents.
The original owner jumped in fright, acting as calmly as she could as she straightened herself. "I was here to collect the laundry, I saw the door closed and thought no one was here! Is my aunt inside? Aunt, are you in the room? Please bring out your dirty clothes, I need to wash them!" After shouting, she mimed knocking on the door then shouted for her aunt again.
The people inside jumped at the commotion, Mrs. Li came out hurriedly, and after the original owner confirmed once more that she was here for the dirty laundry, she handed them over to her.
"Xiao'er is hardworking, she takes care of all the housework, not at all like your sister Bei'er who only knows how to embroider all day!" Girls should be pampered, not wasting their time washing clothes, cooking, feeding chickens and pigs. Otherwise, they'll be destined to marry into a poor family, it would be better to sell them for a few dozen taels!
"Auntie, I have to go wash the clothes quickly, my mother is still waiting for me to take care of her." The original owner had no mood to deal with her obvious criticism, she quickly grabbed the clothes and rushed out under their incredulous gazes. She had to wash these clothes quickly and rush home to tell her parents about what she just overheard.
Due to her young age, the original owner didn't have much strength and it took her a long time to wash all the clothes. All the other people washing clothes had already gone home, only leaving her alone. She mustered all her strength to lift the full wooden basin of clothes and straightened her back, just as she turned around, she saw Shen Bei'er storming towards her and without a word, gave her a forceful shove. The original owner tumbled backward grandly, her head banging onto a rock beside the creek. Blood immediately stained the nearby water red and she fell unconscious.
As soon as the dream ended, Shen Xiaoxiao woke up.
Shen Xiaoxiao gathered her thoughts together from the original owner's memory and pondered on her future. Once she crossed over, it was improbable to commit suicide and cross back as the probability of crossing was likely less than one in ten thousand. Being unable to return, she would have to live well here. Also, this body could have lingering feelings from the original owner towards her parents and siblings, which would make her find them dear as well, and also feel familial love. As such, accepting them as her parents was easy. In the modern world, one of the family maxims of the Shens was to work hard and live well, regardless of the circumstances. Because only such a life would give peace to the families of one's own. Father, Mother, Grandpa, Grandma, Elder Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Sister-in-law, please rest assured. Xiaoxiao is still alive, she's just residing in another time and space, and has become another person. Shen Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, a gesture she hadn't made in many years.
She was now Shen Xiao'er, starting from this moment, in this room.
In the modern era, Shen Xiaoxiao had been dead for half a year already. That night, each of the people dreaming in the old Shen house had the same dream. Dreaming of Xiaoxiao being kidnapped as a child, and after being rescued, she woke up to see everyone's pain and worry for her, then deliberately teased everyone to cheer them up: "Don't look so glum, Xiaoxiao is very smart, no matter what environment I'm in, I can always live well. I've even come up with ways to escape, but you all don't give me a chance to shine!" Everyone was amused by her self-importance. The scene shifted, and they could see a skinny little girl wearing ancient clothing, she had just opened her eyes, and the glow in them was something they were familiar with.