After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Old Mrs. Lin's scolding was the alarm clock for this family every morning.

"What time is it? The sun is high in the sky and you still haven't cooked? Are you trying to starve this old man to death?" The old lady's voice was sharp and shrill, piercing through the thin wall in the main room.

On the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room, Ding Yuxiang turned over irritably, putting on her jacket while muttering under her breath, "That old hag, howling so early in the morning!"

Lin Yuanyuan, who was next to her, covered her head with the blanket and complained in a muffled voice, "Can't a person get any sleep?!"

Seeing no one respond, the old woman raised her voice even higher: "Second son's wife, are you dead inside? Are you deaf?"

Ding Yuxiang sat up abruptly, pointing at Lin Guozhu's nose: "Listen to this, is your mother even speaking human language?"

Lin Guozhu put on his shoes with a worried look on his face, and said in a low voice, "Alright, alright, Mother is old, why are you arguing with an old woman?"

"Just because she's older doesn't mean she can belittle people!" Ding Yuxiang, having nowhere else to vent her anger, rolled her eyes and her curses pierced through the window, heading straight for the low woodshed in the corner of the yard, "Lin Qianqian, you wretched girl, what are you doing, lounging around like a corpse all morning! Get up and cook!"

Hearing the insults coming from across the woodshed, Lin Yulong glared angrily at his sister: "Grandma insults her, so she insults you back. Sister, are you just going to let her bully you like this?"

Lin Qianqian didn't reply, but gently pressed the strip of cloth wrapped around her head. The cloth was already stained with dark red blood.

She stood up and said calmly, "I'll make the food."

Lin Yulong was stunned. She was injured and still had to cook? His sister was indeed soft-hearted.

Lin Qianqian pushed open the door and went out, her steps unsteady yet firm.

In the main hall, Lin Guozhu saw the injury on his daughter's head and his heart tightened: "Qianqian, what happened to your head?"

Lin Qianqian looked up, her gaze sweeping across his face before landing on Ding Yuxiang, who had followed behind. A half-smile played on her lips. "What? Didn't Aunt Ding tell Father?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Yuxiang glared fiercely at Lin Qianqian, thinking, "That brat did it on purpose."

Just as Lin Guozhu was about to press further, the old lady in the main room shouted again, "What are you standing there for? Are you waiting to starve? Get up and cook!"

Ding Yuxiang grabbed Lin Qianqian's arm, afraid that she would say something else.

He dragged her into the kitchen, biting her ear and whispering, "Hurry up and cook! You little slut, you're lucky you didn't die. I'll settle the score with you later!"

Lin Qianqian endured the pain in her arm without saying a word. Yes, she was lucky to be alive.

Since fate hasn't taken her away, let's settle things slowly.

The kitchen in the countryside was filled with smoke.

Lin Qianqian silently rinsed the rice. The brown rice was dark and unappetizing. While Ding Yuxiang turned around, she secretly added a handful of small pebbles into the pot without Ding Yuxiang noticing.

There was also a pot of wild vegetable soup and some hard flatbread from last night.

Just as she was busy, Lin Xiaohua swayed in, holding an egg in her hand. She cracked it on the stove and arrogantly ordered Lin Qianqian, "Steam me some egg custard, make it tender, and add plenty of sesame oil."

After saying that, she turned and left.

Ding Yuxiang glanced at the egg and snorted sourly, "Hmph, all they know is how to pamper their own offspring. Don't they see how many mouths are to feed in this family?"

She glanced at Lin Qianqian and vented her anger on her: "What are you looking at? Do you think you're worthy of eating eggs? Get the fire started!"

Lin Qianqian lowered her head, the firelight from the stove making her cheeks feel hot, but her heart felt cold.

These people may seem like family, but they are not as close as neighbors.

Steamed eggs? You big-headed devil!