Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!"

Wang Xiulan squeezed through the crowd. She had just heard from home that a large crowd had gathered here, and her legs went weak. She dropped what she was holding and ran over.

He had been running too fast, his hair was a mess, and his face looked anxious and irritable, making him look terrible.

After finally squeezing her way to the innermost circle, she immediately spotted Lin Weidong standing in the middle of the crowd, head down, clutching several textbooks tightly to his chest. He looked dejected and didn't even dare to look up at anyone. The neighbors surrounding him cast round and rounds of glances his way, scrutinizing and gossiping, making everyone feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Weidong!" Wang Xiulan's heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, she reached out and pulled her son behind her, shielding him tightly. She glanced at the onlookers and asked, "What happened? Why is everyone gathered here?"

Those present looked at each other, but no one spoke first. A few seconds of silence fell, broken only by the soft, rhythmic breathing around them.

Finally, Li Hongmei, who was standing near the front, spoke first. Her tone was flat, without any embellishment, and she simply stated the truth: "Auntie, these books all belong to Xiuhe. Weidong found them and planned to sell them for money."

The sentence was said politely, but the meaning was clear to everyone present.

Wang Xiulan's expression changed several times in succession. She forced herself to speak, raising her voice, "What Xiuhe? We're all family living in the same house, how can you be so particular about things!"

With a loud bang, the crowd immediately erupted in chaos.

"Here we go again with that 'family' rhetoric! Why didn't you say you were family when you were taking Xiuhe's job? Why didn't you share your wages with the whole family?"

Someone in the crowd shouted this out, and soon a burst of laughter rose and fell around them. The laughter was full of sarcasm, and it made Wang Xiulan's ears burn.

She knew those words all too well. A few days ago, in order to give her son the factory job, she had used the excuse of "we're family, we don't distinguish between you and me" to everyone she met, repeatedly saying that her daughter's job and salary should be used to supplement the family income. Now, someone had taken those words back at her verbatim, and her face burned with embarrassment.

"What are you laughing at! What's so funny!" Wang Xiulan, her thoughts exposed in front of everyone, became furious and argued defiantly, "My son took things from our own home, is it any reason for everyone to make a fuss here?"

"Your own?" Li Hongmei was amused and annoyed by her unreasonable behavior. She stepped forward, reached out and opened the book in her arms, showing the pages to those around her. "Auntie, take a look for yourself."

In the corner of the book, the three characters "Lin Xiuhe" were written clearly, stroke by stroke.

Even with the evidence right in front of her, Wang Xiulan remained adamant: "What's wrong with writing her name? She's my daughter, she belongs to the family, and her things naturally belong to the family!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers frowned in unison, their expressions turning somber.

In the past, when neighbors encountered disputes between the Lin family mother and daughter, they would mostly treat it as an ordinary family matter. Outsiders would not interfere, and at most they would chat about it privately, but they would not take it seriously in public.

But lately, one thing after another has piled up in the Lin family, which has long since exhausted everyone's patience.

They snatched the factory job that should have belonged to Xiuhe, forced the girl to hand over her entire monthly salary, and made her move out of the old house to live alone. Not long ago, she was caught stealing money from someone else's pocket, and now they are even directly selling her sister's textbooks.

One thing after another, even the most kind-hearted person could see through the inherent bias and selfishness in this family.

"Xiulan." From within the crowd, Aunt Zhang, known for her fairness, spoke slowly. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried weight. The noisy crowd instantly fell silent, and everyone turned to look at her.

Wang Xiulan paused for a moment, a hint of relief in her voice: "Sister-in-law Zhang?"

"What you're saying is simply not true."

Aunt Zhang stood upright and spoke slowly and logically, "Xiuhe moved out and lived on her own a long time ago. These books are her personal belongings, bought with her own money, without spending a penny of the family's money. Why should they become things you can dispose of at will?"

Wang Xiulan's face gradually paled, and the last bit of confidence in her heart slowly dissipated.

Even Aunt Zhang, who usually helps mediate conflicts, refused to stand on my side today.

"That's absolutely right," an older woman chimed in. "When Xiuhe was working hard to earn money to buy these books, her family didn't contribute a single bit. Now that they're useful, they insist that they belong to the whole family. There's no such logic in the world."

"To be honest, this is outright theft. Even siblings shouldn't do this. If they're so young and already so dishonest, what will they be like in the future?"

One accusation after another surged through the crowd, making it hard for Wang Xiulan to breathe.

What terrified her most was that, looking around at all the neighbors present, not a single person spoke up to defend her.

Not a single person chimed in.

Wang Xiulan stood frozen in place, her mind blank for a moment.

This has never been the case before.

Whenever she suffers even the slightest criticism outside, as long as she stands on the ground, cries a couple of times, and laments how difficult life is, there will always be someone kindly advising her, trying to smooth things over by saying, "We're all family, let's all give way."

But today, everyone is in unison, all standing against her.

She subconsciously glanced at the crowd and realized that everyone's eyes were not on her, who was in an awkward situation, but on Lin Xiuhe, who was standing quietly to the side.

The daughter who used to be tolerant and would only hide behind her and shed tears when things went wrong, now stood quietly to the side, neither crying nor making a fuss, neither arguing nor accusing, but calmly watching the farce in front of her, exuding a sense of detachment.

Thinking of this, Wang Xiulan felt a sudden, uneasy panic, a sense of unease about not being able to grasp anyone.

Just as she was in a state of panic, unsure of how to handle the situation, a calm and serious male voice came from the back of the crowd, breaking the stalemate: "Since it's theft, then report it to the police."

The air became so still you could hear a pin drop, and everyone turned around to look behind them.

Wang, the production team leader, had somehow ended up at the back of the crowd, his face tense and his eyes filled with an undeniable seriousness.

"Captain Wang..." Wang Xiulan's legs trembled slightly, and her face turned deathly pale. "It's just a small matter..."

"A trivial matter?" Captain Wang frowned deeply, his tone stern. "They stole money from the Liu family a few days ago, and today they stole my sister's books. If we don't do something about it, what will they steal in the future?"

His words were so powerful that no one present dared to refute them.

Captain Wang turned to Lin Weidong, who was still trembling with his head down, and issued the following orders: "Weidong, return the book and apologize publicly. Also, the production team's broadcasting station will issue a public notice tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Weidong looked up abruptly, his face completely drained of color.

A public announcement? The whole production team will know?

"No! I don't want to!" His voice trembled.

But this time, no one will indulge him anymore.

Lin Xiuhe watched quietly as everything unfolded before her eyes.

Memories of her past life surged up uncontrollably—every time her younger brother got into trouble, she was always the one who cleaned up the mess, paying money, bowing her head, apologizing, and all the grievances ultimately fell on her shoulders alone.

This life is finally different.

She stepped forward slowly, took the few textbooks that Lin Weidong had crumpled in his hands, gently patted the dust off the covers, and glanced at the mother and son in front of her with indifferent expression.

Sunlight streamed down her back, and the onlookers spontaneously moved aside to make way for her.

She walked steadily forward, step by step, without looking back, gradually moving away from this place of right and wrong that had trapped her for so many years.

Behind him, Lin Weidong stood in the center of the crowd, surrounded by scrutinizing gazes from all directions.

This was the first time I truly understood what it meant to be isolated and helpless.