"Mom, my aunt has had a fever for two days. Are you sure we don't need to take her to the hospital?" Li Aiping glanced toward her own room, then entered the main room and quietly asked her mother.
Li Yuan'ai frowned, silent for a moment. "She's fine," she finally said. "Your aunt was born with the body of a noble lady but the fate of a servant. I'll just make her drink some more acetaminophen in a bit, that's all."
"But we've already given her several doses, haven't we? It's not working. I still think taking her to the hospital would be safer." It wasn't that Li Aiping was particularly fond of the aunt who was staying in their house and had taken her room; she was just terrified her aunt might die in there. She would never dare to live in a room where someone had died.
"Hospital? Are you kidding? Do you know how much one trip to the hospital costs? With your aunt's condition, the doctor would definitely admit her. That's at least thirty or fifty yuan we don't have. We can barely afford to eat! Where are we supposed to get the money to pay for her treatment?" Li Yuan'ai was worried about her younger sister, too, but the thought of the little money she'd just saved made her harden her heart. "Besides," she continued, "you kids aren't so little anymore. You need to find a husband, your brothers need to study… what part of that doesn't cost money? I could split myself into eight pieces and still not keep up with your spending. *Sigh*. We're a poor family. We can't afford to get sick. When it happens, all we can do is tough it out." Li Yuan'ai sounded helpless as she said this. As a mother, her instincts were to think of her own children first.
Hearing her mother mention finding a partner made Li Aiping blush. "Mom, what are you talking about? I'm not even that old! Anyway, I'm not arguing with you. I'm going to make dinner. Ai Guo and the boys will probably be home soon."
"Okay, go on. Add an extra ladle of water when you make the porridge. Your brothers are all growing young men. They need to eat. If there isn't enough food to fill their bellies, at least they can fill up on water," Li Yuan'ai quickly instructed, thinking of her rowdy boys.
"Fine, I get it. You always spoil them," Li Aiping muttered in agreement, though she felt a sting of jealousy. 'It's so obvious Mom and Dad favor the boys. Compared to my brothers, I'm like a poor, neglected cabbage.'
"Honestly, this child…" Li Yuan'ai grumbled after her. "When your brothers are successful, won't you have them to rely on? A girl your age, and you still can't tell what's good for you."
The aunt this mother and daughter were discussing—a little girl of only six—was lying on the kang bed inside the room. She was a tiny person, covered with a tattered cotton quilt. Her small face was flushed crimson, and a closer look revealed beads of sweat glistening at her hairline.
Before long, the sounds of boys shouting and playing erupted from outside.
When night fell, Li Aiping was too afraid to sleep in the same room as her feverish aunt. She coaxingly carried her quilt over to her parents' room to squeeze in with them.
In the dead of night, the small person on the bed slowly unfurrowed her brow as the deep flush on her face began to fade.
The next morning before work, Li Yuan'ai stopped by the room to check on her little sister. She reached out and touched her forehead. It wasn't burning anymore. She let out a breath of relief. "See? What did I tell you? No need for the hospital. The medicine worked just fine. The fever's gone, just like I said."
"Then why isn't she waking up?" Li Aiping asked, peering in from the doorway.
"She had a fever for three days. Of course she's weak. She's not just going to pop right up. Anyway, I'm leaving for work. You keep an eye on her. Check in frequently, and if your aunt wakes up, give her some water." With those instructions, Li Yuan'ai left for work.
She was a dependent who had followed her husband here. Now she worked as a temp, sweeping the streets. It was only a half-day job, and the pay was meager.
Li Aiping pouted, shot a glance at her aunt inside, then shut the door in disgust and went to her parents' room.
On the bed, Yuan Si was indeed just as Li Yuan'ai had predicted: her body was terribly weak. She had woken once during the night after finishing the fusion with the original host's memories, but her body was so feeble that she soon drifted back into a groggy sleep.
It wasn't until after three o'clock that afternoon that Yuan Si finally opened her eyes again.
Yuan Si slowly opened her eyes, her gaze wandering. When she saw the ceiling papered over with old newspapers, she furrowed her brow. As if in disbelief, she slowly turned her head to take in the room's meager furnishings. Finally, she closed her eyes, resigned.
'I never would have thought… Never. To think that I, a second-generation survivor of the apocalypse, would fall only to be reborn in a world with no zombies or mutated beasts.'
Yes, she was not the original Li Yuansi. She was a Level 9 Spiritual System superpower user who had lived for thirty-nine years in the post-apocalyptic era.
She was born at Wolf Mountain Base. Both of her parents were superpower users. By the time of her birth, the world had long been locked in a three-way stalemate between humans, zombies, and mutated plants and animals.
Because her parents' superpowers weren't particularly useful and their levels were low, her family was still struggling just to get by when she was born.
Then, at the age of five, a chance encounter awakened her Spiritual System superpower. From that moment on, her power grew unstoppably. She shot up from Level 1 to Level 6, Seventh Level, and then Level 8. By the time she was thirty-nine, she had reached Level 9 and was considered one of the top Advanced Superpower Users at the base.
Perhaps her smooth-sailing ascent to power had turned her into a real Zhang Yang; by the time her parents noticed something was wrong, she had already grown into a spinster known for her blunt personality and explosive temper.
Ordinarily, it wouldn't have mattered that she was a bit blunt while living her own life. The problem was, she leveled up too fast, and that temper of hers became a liability. Her rapid growth was a boon for the common people—the more experts a base had, the safer everyone was. For certain individuals, however, it was less than ideal. Unaware of the need for restraint, she cast too large a shadow, unwittingly blocking the paths of others.
By the time she sensed the danger, it was too late. During a coordinated attack on a Level 10 Giant Rock Flower, she was ambushed from behind and perished.
'But I never thought I'd open my eyes and find myself here. The fever these past few days… that was my soul fusing with this body, absorbing its six years of memories.'
Yuan Si was frowning, pondering whether she could ever return to her own world, when the door was pushed open from outside.
"Oh, Auntie, you're finally awake! These last few days have been exhausting. I've had to cook for the whole family *and* take care of you." As Li Aiping entered, she saw the little girl's eyes were open. 'She's finally better,' she thought, relieved.
Yuan Si turned her eyes toward the person in the doorway. 'I'll just have to take this one step at a time,' she decided. 'For now, the priority is to address this body's urgent physiological needs.' A corner of her mouth twitched slightly. "I'm thirsty," she said.
"Of course you're thirsty. You've been lying in bed for three days straight." Her tone implied, 'And I'm the one who's been taking care of you.'
"Oh." Seeing that the girl had no intention of getting water for her, Yuan Si made her request blunt. "I need some water."
"Then hurry up and get it yourself. There's some in the main room. I'm going to go tell Mom you're awake; she's been worried sick about you for days." Li Aiping rolled her eyes mentally, then turned and left for the other room.
'As if I'd let a six-year-old brat order me around. Especially not one who's just here to freeload and take up my room.'
Yuan Si watched the door close, her frown deepening. She knew with absolute clarity that she did not like this niece of hers. Between what she had "seen" in the original host's memories and what she had just experienced firsthand, her dislike was certain. Of course, she might be blunt, but she wasn't an idiot; she could tell the feeling was mutual. 'It looks like I need to focus on getting better,' she concluded, 'and then get out of here.'