Lin Yuan shook her head and gave a bitter smile, knowing that these ignorant people would never learn that her original mother, in her desperation to have a brother for her, resorted to all kinds of quack remedies. Although her brother was born, he was sickly from the womb. Not only that, but her mother's health also deteriorated from long-term consumption of various tonics and folk medicines, leaving her frail and unable to conceive for three consecutive years.
Fortunately, her mother was finally pregnant again. However, there was no joy this time, as on the day they discovered her mother's pregnancy, her father was carried home injured. Lin Yuan vividly remembered that on that day, her uncle's roof had a leak, and her father was asked to fix it. Such a task was usually straightforward for her father, a carpenter, but by some misfortune, a roof tile slipped beneath his feet, and he fell with it, fracturing his leg. Lacking the money for a good doctor, his leg never healed properly; even the slightest movement caused him excruciating pain, and he had been bedridden for over half a year.
Even more disheartening was the fact that even her own grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other relatives looked down on her. Every time they saw her, they either responded with coldness or outright ridicule and mockery. After her father broke his leg, not only did her uncle's family not come to visit him, but her aunt even publicly decried her misdeeds with righteous indignation more than once among the village women.
"You don't know, my child was supposed to be a boy, but she turned into a girl because she was born in the same year as that Little Disaster Star! Hmph! Don't believe me? I gave birth to two sons consecutively! My womb is meant to bear sons. I'm not like some people who have three daughters in a row and finally have a son, only to have their own daughter bring about his death! Even her father was cursed by her into becoming a paralytic. Just watch, the child in her mother's womb is surely another bad investment!"
From then on, Lin Yuan's reputation as the Little Disaster Star was firmly established. It was not just that her own family blamed her for their troubles—people with no connection to her began attributing their setbacks to her as well. In a particularly egregious case, the old sow on the east end of the village gave birth to eight piglets, none of which were female, and somehow, this was also blamed on Lin Yuan, who lived on the west end!
"Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan, what's wrong with you? Is your head hurting? Here, let your third aunt blow it better," said the woman's exceptionally gentle voice, coupled with her rough actions as she pulled Lin Yuan back to the present from her memories.
"Little Disaster Star, you better behave yourself. If you dare to seek death again, I'll have your third uncle sell you to the Chunfeng Building in town!" Gone was the indulgent smile she showed in public as Li Feng'e menacingly leaned into Lin Yuan's bloodied face, her sharp chin nearly poking another gaping hole in her forehead.
This warning and threat, however, did not bring Lin Yuan any fear. In her past life, it was her excessive capitulation to the wicked that brought her disaster. Fortune smiled upon her, though, for the heavens granted her another chance at life. How could she possibly repeat the same mistakes? Lin Yuan was no pushover herself. A young girl in her early twenties with no family background had managed to become the unshakeable head chef of a five-star hotel, relying not just on her extraordinary culinary skills but also on her decisive and tough character—without which she would have been easily outnumbered by the many covetous men.
What concerned her more at the moment, however, was the "third uncle" mentioned by Li Feng'e. Lin Yuan remembered this third uncle well. He had grown up spoiled and learned nothing substantial. As an adult, he was no better, lacking any meaningful occupation and subsisting on dreams, still relying on his parents—a classic ne'er-do-well. Yet, he was exceptionally fond of his wife. After all, Li Feng'e was considered quite pretty, and her aunt was an attendant in the county magistrate's wife's quarters. Marrying such a woman brought him a certain status. The people who brought her here to "help out" were not just Li Feng'e; her third uncle was also involved. But as soon as they entered the village, he found an excuse to leave them behind and returned alone in the ox cart. Lin Yuan had found it strange at the time; the third uncle who was always so fond of his wife had left her behind, and the normally combative third aunt even urged him to go back quickly.
Could it be that something had happened at home?
Lin Yuan's eyes rolled quickly, and she no longer cared about the headache. The original host must have been determined to die when she hit the wall, so it was no wonder that she passed without even a peep. However, it was now a stroke of luck that Li Feng'e had smeared the incense ash on her head in a panic. It was unclear whether it was the original host's unwillingness to die or the robustness of this body that made a difference. Despite Lin Yuan's frail appearance, the incense ash not only immediately stopped the bleeding, but the dizziness wasn't as severe anymore.
Lin Yuan's gaze dropped as she had already made up her mind: since her life was not meant to end and a sliver of her soul could have another chance to live as a human, she had to live well. Moreover, she had to live both her own life and the original host's. So what if she was called 'Little Disaster Star'? What did it matter if she had a strong fate? She, a promising young person of the twenty-first century, would not believe in these fortunes and fate.
Lin Yuan looked up at the woman with a lean jaw and high cheekbones in front of her, thinking about the events that had happened to her over the years, when suddenly a bold guess emerged: the nickname 'Little Disaster Star' had first come from the mouths of her own family. And why hadn't her grandfather, an old man who extremely valued family tradition, confronted those gossipy women when he first heard this title from his eldest grandson?
"Aiyo, this girl... could it be that she's... turned foolish from the bump?" A woman with a face as round as a plate and full of spots appeared in front of Lin Yuan, her plump hand waving back and forth in front of Lin Yuan's face, "Girl, you see what this is?"
In her mind, Lin Yuan rolled her eyes: A pig's trotter!
Hearing the fat woman's words, Li Feng'e promptly softened her severe expression and laughed off the matter. "Auntie, don't make such jokes. Your village is quite distant from our Lin family's hollow, so you wouldn't know. Our Yuanyuan has always been smart since childhood, and she's well-known for it in the village. How could she become foolish? Today she just came home for the first time and felt shy, that's why she stumbled and bumped into the wall. Look, the blood on her head has stopped."
This time, Lin Yuan genuinely wanted to give a big, heartfelt eye-roll. She was famous in the village, but not for her intelligence—it was because of the notoriety of being 'Little Disaster Star.' No wonder they brought her to such a remote and secluded village—perhaps they were afraid that her reputation had become too grand. How had she not realized before that her third Aunt was such a thick-skinned person? Shy, indeed! It's not like she was really coming to meet her prospective in-laws. She was fortunate not to resort to violence!
However, Lin Yuan really couldn't resort to violence against her. If memory served her right, this village was located more than twenty li away from the Lin family's hollow where she lived. Without a carriage or an ox-cart, considering her small body weak with hunger, she genuinely could not make the journey back. She remembered clearly—before her third uncle left, he gave his wife five taels of silver, which was for hiring an ox-cart to take her back home. If she truly had a falling out with Li Feng'e, whether she could make it home was questionable.
For now, she would swallow her frustration—there would be a time for her to repay this.
But today, she wouldn't let these villains have their way!