After transmigrating into the body of the female supporting character's biological mother, she

"Lin Zhilan, get out here right now!"

The woman's voice outside was loud and shrill, which startled Linlin and made her flinch.

Lin Zhilan frowned, walked to the door, removed the latch, and faced the dark-skinned, thin woman outside.

Wang Guifen is Zhou Chen's mother, and also her current nominal mother-in-law.

As soon as Wang Guifen saw her come out, the corners of her mouth immediately turned down. Her triangular eyes swept over her from head to toe, finally landing on her fair and rosy cheeks. In her heart, she cursed her as a vixen.

"Jianjun's family had a banquet yesterday, and there are still many dishes to wash. You should go and help!"

"I'm not going!"

Probably not expecting Lin Zhilan to contradict her, Wang Guifen glared at her, "What did you say?!"

"No, if you're so enthusiastic, you can go by yourself."

Wang Guifen was furious that her usually timid daughter-in-law dared to talk back to her. Her eyes reddened with anger. "What's wrong with asking you to help your brother's wife?"

Lin Zhilan laughed in exasperation.

Zhou Jianjun's mother was Wang Guifen's sister-in-law. The two did not get along well, but Zhou Chen was killed in action, while Zhou Jianjun was promoted in the army.

Wang Guifen's expression changed instantly, and she began to fawn over her sister-in-law.

However, instead of helping, she kept ordering her daughter-in-law around.

Yesterday, the original owner was drugged when she went to help Zhou Jianjun's house. The book doesn't say who drugged her, but we'll find out eventually if we investigate slowly.

As for helping with the work, forget about it!

Before Lin Zhilan could speak, two women, one old and one young, walked out of Zhou Jianjun's house.

The younger woman must be the mother of the female protagonist in the book. Lin Zhilan glanced at her, only to find that she was also looking at her and even smiled at her.

Lin Zhilan looked away.

As a contrasting element to the female lead, Lin Zhilan only wanted to keep the supporting female character far away from the female lead's family, so as to avoid being affected by the female lead's halo.

"Sister-in-law, there's no need to call Zhilan. It's just a little work, we can finish it in a morning."

As she said this, Zhou Jianjun's mother didn't make a move, but continued to look at them with a smile.

Wang Guifen said fiercely, "Lin Zhilan, hurry up and go!"

"Whoever wants to do it can do it!" Lin Zhilan turned around, slammed the door shut, and bolted it shut.

Ignoring Wang Guifen's tirade outside, Lin Zhilan thought of a question.

"Baby, how did that uncle get out this morning?"

Linlin pointed to the courtyard wall next to her.

Well, they climbed over the wall to get out; there are even footprints in the corner.

It seemed this courtyard wasn't very safe either. Lin Zhilan rummaged through the house and found a few nails, which she placed on the courtyard wall.

Something is better than nothing; at least it provides some psychological comfort.

After doing all that, Lin Zhilan took her daughter back to the room to tell her a story.

Wang Guifen cursed until her voice was hoarse, but no one came out. When she turned around, Zhou Jianjun's mother and new wife had already gone back.

She spat at the corner of the wall, dusted herself off, and left.

After putting her daughter to sleep, Lin Zhilan began to take stock of her assets.

I searched through all my pockets and only found a dozen or so yuan.

There wasn't much grain; the rice jar only had a thin layer of rice, and the rest was all sweet potatoes.

These things, along with this old house, constitute all the property allocated to the mother and daughter.

Lin Zhilan decided to go to the Zhou family's house first while the child was asleep.

Zhou Chen was a company commander before his death. He received a monthly allowance, and the Zhou family was quite well-off, owning one of the few red-brick houses in the village.

Lin Zhilan walked to the door and knocked.

With a creak, the door opened from the inside, and Zhou Jianmin, the younger brother-in-law, came closer with his hypocritical face, his gaze sweeping greedily over Lin Zhilan's fair face and slender waist.

"Sister-in-law, is there anything I can help you with?"

As he spoke, he approached with ill intent.

Lin Zhilan sneered inwardly, and suddenly raised her voice as he reached out his hand.

"Mom, are you home?"

The houses in the village are very close together, and as soon as she shouted, some curious neighbors immediately poked their heads out to see what was going on.

A look of surprise and annoyance flashed across Zhou Jianmin's face, and he reluctantly withdrew his hand.

From the courtyard came the shrill voice of her mother-in-law, Wang Guifen: "Calling back your soul! Where else could I be if I'm not home?"

Lin Zhilan walked past Zhou Jianmin and went inside. "Mother, I've come to get my and Linlin's food rations."

"What did you say?" Wang Guifen stood with her hands on her hips, spitting out saliva with excitement. "We've all separated, we've given you everything that was due, what food is left?!"

My sister-in-law, Wu Li, came out of the house. It was almost noon, but she looked like she had just woken up.

Wu Li greeted Wang Guifen with a half-smile, "Sister-in-law," and then asked, "Mother, what's for breakfast?"

Wang Guifen's face instantly lit up with a smile. "Mom has boiled some eggs for you. Go get them from the kitchen yourself."

"Eggs again?" Wu Li complained, grumbling as she walked into the kitchen.

As soon as she walked away, everything in the room behind her was exposed.

The red silk quilt on the kang (heated brick bed) was a dowry that the original owner's parents pooled their money to prepare for her when she got married.

The Zhou family, on the other hand, used it to curry favor with Wu Li.

Thinking of this, Lin Zhilan went inside, grabbed the quilt, and headed out.

"What do you want to do?" Wang Guifen quickly stopped her.

"Mother," Lin Zhilan frowned and said, "This is my dowry. Now that we've separated the family, of course I should take it."

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!" Wang Guifen shouted, her shrill voice shattering the tranquility of the village. Some neighbors had already come to the wall to peek.

"You jinx! You cursed my son to death! Who gave you the right to touch my things? Put the blanket down right now!"

Lin Zhilan paused, turned to look at Wu Li at the kitchen door, whose face was alternating between pale and flushed.

"Sister-in-law, you haven't been married into the family long, so you might not know, but this quilt was part of my dowry prepared by my parents. Your family is well-off; I heard your dowry alone included over ten kilograms of cotton. You're not envious of my humble dowry, are you?"

Wu Li had always been proud of her family's good financial situation, but now that Lin Zhilan had put her down like this, she instantly lost face.

The comforting blanket I used to sleep under last night now feels like a red-hot branding iron.

"Who...who wants your tattered blanket? If Mom hadn't given it to me, I wouldn't even bother using it!" Wu Li's face flushed red. "Take it away, take it away! It smells so cheap!"

Wang Guifen was so choked by her daughter-in-law's words that she almost fainted and could only stammer, unable to speak.

She dared to scold Lin Zhilan, but she didn't dare to offend her second daughter-in-law, who was well-off and had a bad temper.

Lin Zhilan laughed and said, "I knew my sister-in-law wasn't that kind of person. Putting everything else aside, those two camphor wood chests in the room were also part of my dowry, so I simply took them back with me."

Wu Li was so angry that her face turned red. She stormed into the house, dumped everything out of the box, and threw the empty box into the yard.

"If Mom hadn't given it to me, I wouldn't have wanted it! Take it away now, who wants this tattered box?"

Lin Zhilan ignored her, stuffed the quilt into the box, picked up the box, and walked out of the Zhou family amidst Wang Guifen's angry yet helpless curses.