Shen Xiaoyan felt the crying beside her ears was making her head buzz. Who was crying? Didn't they know such loud noises would attract zombies?
No! Didn't she die during the zombie siege? She was alive again?
Shen Xiaoyan's heart tightened, and she quickly touched the necklace on her neck.
Fortunately, the space was still there.
"Sister, sister, you're awake?" a young boy's childish voice suddenly came.
Shen Xiaoyan followed the sound and saw a little boy, about eight or nine years old, looking at her with tear-filled eyes.
Just as she was about to ask who the boy was, Shen Xiaoyan felt her head filled with countless memories.
She had been reborn, reincarnated into a small mountain village in a fictional era, and the little boy in front of her was her own brother, Shen Xiaoming.
Shen Xiaoyan's heart warmed. How long had it been since she last saw a living person? Could she finally stop hiding from zombies and live her life?
"You little brat, are you crying at a funeral? Your old mother and father are still alive and well!"
A hoarse voice interrupted Shen Xiaoyan's thoughts.
The little boy looked down at her, his crying abruptly stopping, but his eyes still glistened with tears. As if recalling something, the boy called out to the outside.
"Mother, Eldest Sister is awake."
"Awake?" Madam Xu strode into the room and indeed saw Shen Xiaoyan lying there with her eyes open.
Madam Xu opened her mouth to scold, but her eyes flickered, and she remembered the twenty taels of silver. It was fortunate that this troublesome girl hadn't died, or the money would have flown away.
Thinking of this, Madam Xu smiled, "Oh Xiaoyan, why did you have to be so thoughtless? Although Zheng Wei is ugly and was kicked out by the Zhu family, he can at least hunt, right? You'll have good days ahead. Mother feels bad seeing you like this. Rest well today, you're getting married tomorrow."
Madam Xu said gloatingly and turned to leave, not mentioning the dowry at all.
Speaking of which, this Shen Xiaoyan had a bitter fate. Her birth mother, Zhen Shi, died in childbirth when she was six, leaving behind a younger brother, Shen Xiaoming.
Her father, Shen Cheng, quickly remarried the widow Xu Shi. Although Madam Xu came with Xu Xiao'e, she gave birth to a pair of children for Shen Cheng the following year. Shen Cheng was overjoyed and listened to Madam Xu even more. Under the stepmother's oppressive power, one could imagine how the lives of Shen Xiaoyan and her brother were.
Shen Xiaoyan and Xu Xiao'e were both of marriageable age. Madam Xu had her eye on the wealthy Kang family in town, wanting Xu Xiao'e to marry into a better family, but they didn't have enough dowry.
Just then, the Zhu family in the village was looking for a bride for their adopted son. Madam Xu thought of marrying Shen Xiaoyan to him, provided they received twenty taels of betrothal money.
Madam Xu had only been trying her luck, but unexpectedly, the Zhu family agreed and sent twenty taels that very day, to pick up the bride in three days.
The Zhu family's adopted son was named Zheng Wei, eighteen years old. Ever since his father picked him up from the mountains many years ago, he had a long scar on his face, like a centipede, which was very frightening.
He also had a perpetually expressionless face and disliked interacting with people. Villagers feared him and regarded him as an oddity, let alone marrying their daughters to him.
Therefore, as soon as Shen Xiaoyan heard Madam Xu wanted to marry her to Zheng Wei, she immediately started to despair and tried to end her life.
Madam Xu naturally didn't care about her, and her father, Shen Cheng, was a nonentity. So, she couldn't think straight and jumped into the river to commit suicide, and was coincidentally rescued by Zheng Wei, who was returning from a hunt.
Although she was rescued, her soul had already been exchanged.
…
As soon as Madam Xu left, Shen Xiaoming quickly took Shen Xiaoyan's hand. "Sister, sister, why were you so foolish? What would I have done if you weren't here?" As he spoke, Shen Xiaoming's tears flowed again.
Looking at the crying Shen Xiaoming, Shen Xiaoyan suddenly felt a different kind of emotion. Although this was her third life, it was the first time she had family.
The previous Shen Xiaoyan was an orphan. She struggled for two lifetimes in the zombie apocalypse, and in the end, she was all alone.
She never expected to be reborn here and actually have family, a brother connected by blood.
Feeling the deep concern in Shen Xiaoming's eyes, Shen Xiaoyan's eyes welled up. She pulled up the corner of her lips and smiled, "It's okay, Xiaoming, don't cry. Sister will always be with you from now on."
Hearing Shen Xiaoyan's words, Shen Xiaoming grinned happily. However, after a moment, his lips drooped, and he mumbled, "But Mother said you're getting married tomorrow. And to..."
At this point, Shen Xiaoming closed his mouth again, cautiously looking up at Shen Xiaoyan, afraid that his words would make his sister unhappy again.
Shen Xiaoyan, however, burst into laughter and said to Shen Xiaoming, "What are you worried about? Sister died once, and she's thought everything through. It's better to get married than to stay at home. Although Zheng Wei, he, well, doesn't look very good, he's a good hunter, so we won't starve. And he's separated from the Zhu family and lives alone on Baiyun Mountain, so he won't be bullied by the Zhu family. How good is that?"
Hearing this, Shen Xiaoming became even more worried. His sister was just comforting him.
"Sister, let's beg Father. They definitely won't let you marry Zheng Wei like this," Shen Xiaoming said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
Shen Xiaoyan shook her head. The original body's memories told her that her father, Shen Cheng, was a man who didn't care about anything. Madam Xu made all the decisions in the household. He had been a hands-off manager for so many years, treating her and her brother as if they didn't exist. It was impossible for him to suddenly care now.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at her brother's small body and felt another pang of sadness. He was nine years old, but so much shorter than his peers, his face thin, his skin dark and sallow... Only his large eyes were black and bright.
Logically speaking, the Shen family's conditions were quite good in the village. Both the twins and Xu Xiao'e were raised healthy and fair-skinned, doing embroidery and studying every day, not at all like children from a farming family.
However, Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming had no opportunity to embroider or study. All day long, they worked tirelessly like slaves!
Shen Xiaoyan couldn't cherish such a family. Since she was to be married, so be it. First, she would escape this hell.
But what about Shen Xiaoming...
Shen Xiaoyan clenched her fists secretly and made a decision. "Xiaoming, you'll come with me."
"What?" Shen Xiaoming looked at Shen Xiaoyan in surprise, clearly not understanding what she meant.
Shen Xiaoyan pushed herself up and looked at Shen Xiaoming seriously, "I'm getting married tomorrow, and you'll go with me."
Hearing this, Shen Xiaoming stared blankly at Shen Xiaoyan for a long time without speaking. After a while, Shen Xiaoming lowered his eyelids, stood up, and walked outside, saying, "I'll go get you something to eat."
Outside the door, Shen Xiaoming's tears fell, and he quickly wiped them away with his hand.
He had wanted to agree immediately when Shen Xiaoyan told him she would take him with her. But he couldn't.
Although Shen Cheng didn't treat him well and usually treated him as invisible, he was still a member of the Shen family and a male. It was impossible for him to leave with his sister.
Shen Xiaoyan lay back down on the bed.
Not long after, Shen Xiaoming returned with a porcelain bowl. The bowl contained a bowl of hot water with only a few grains of rice at the bottom. Shen Xiaoyan looked at the frail Shen Xiaoming and sighed inwardly.
…
The next morning, Shen Xiaoyan was awakened by Madam Xu.