Second watch, asking for pink, genuine subscription, and recommendation votes

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Lian Duoduo always followed behind Lady Chiang, but she never took the initiative to do anything unless Lady Chiang gave an order. If we use Lady Zhou’s words, it’s like she only moves when someone gives her a push, and even then, she won’t budge more than necessary.

The room was filled mostly with her elders, yet because others were sitting and she was standing, having to ’attend to people’, there wasn’t even a hint of a smile on Lian Duoduo’s face. You see, by the time she was born, Lian Shouren was already a scholar, and she had lived in the village’s old house for even less time than Lian Huahua, having almost been born and raised in the town.

In Lian Duoduo’s own perception, she wasn’t some farmstead girl’s daughter. She was noble, the second daughter of a scholar family, on par with the young ladies and misses from the big city families.

In an occasion like today, where young girls came out to serve tea and say auspicious words, most people would find it very impressive and seen as an opportunity to display intelligence and capability. But from Lian Duoduo’s perspective, it was a menial task that humiliated her and made her feel wronged.

Especially since Lian Manman, whom she had always clashed with and looked down on, was sitting there so splendidly, making her even more unbalanced internally.

Lian Duoduo handed tea to Lian Manman, and Lian Manman was a bit surprised. However, she was just surprised, nothing more. But when she saw Lian Duoduo lift her eyes and show a smile, alarm bells started ringing in Lian Manman’s mind.

Lian Manman understood Lian Duoduo. If Lian Duoduo was forced to hand her tea, that might be possible. But for Lian Duoduo to do so with a smile, that was simply impossible.

Lian Duoduo was not someone who could easily hide her true emotions. The smile she showed was not one of genuine goodwill, but rather abrupt, making people alert to an underlying malice.

Lian Manman kept a calm face, but in her heart, she was quickly devising a counter-strategy.

Just as quickly as it was thought, Lian Duoduo’s tea was about half an arm’s length away from Lian Manman when Lady Chiang swung her body to block between Lian Duoduo and Lian Manman while pouring tea nearby. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lady Chiang’s movement was a bit hasty, and as a result, her forearm bumped into the teacup Lian Duoduo was holding.

The tea splashed out, some spilling on Lady Chiang’s arm and some on Lian Duoduo’s hand.

Lady Chiang’s tea was made with freshly boiled water, so it was very hot. Lady Chiang was wearing cotton clothes and didn’t feel much, but Lian Duoduo was scalded directly, causing her hand to redden immediately.

She was raised delicately, with a proud temperament, unable to endure hardship. She screamed in fright and immediately let go of her hand. The teacup fell to the ground and broke into two halves.

During the New Year, breaking something is not considered a good omen. Moreover, in the Lian Family, breaking bowls or dishes was deemed a major offense. Lian Manman’s original form still retained some vague memories, the clearest of which was an instance of breaking a bowl.

She remembered being scolded harshly by Lady Zhou, watching her gaze menacingly at meals for days, too scared to eat. Ultimately, that bowl was buried in a corner of the backyard. From then on, no matter what she held, she was jittery, afraid of making any mistake. She would rather harm herself than cause any loss to what she held.

When she was young, there were many things she didn’t understand. She believed that breaking a bowl was a serious wrongdoing, making her a very bad child for doing so. Because of Lady Zhou and the adults’ attitude at home, the incident of breaking a bowl was shrouded with horror and mystery.

Later, as Lian Manman grew older, she felt it was due to the family’s poverty.

Of course, now that another person inhabited Lian Manman’s body, she had long understood that Lady Zhou’s treatment wasn’t because of poverty.

Now, since Lian Duoduo broke a teacup, this was a white porcelain teacup that Old Master had specifically bought for entertaining guests during the New Year.

Lady Zhou leaned forward from the bed, and seeing the broken teacup, her expression immediately changed, pointing at Lian Duoduo’s nose and began to curse.

"...a jinx, a freeloader. Useless in whatever you do, always falling short. Completely lacking any refinement! You demand a small payment for any task you do. Old Lian Family raising a waste like you, a liability! Don’t roll your big eyes at me, heart of spite, just like your mother, exactly the same, without any difference, a future calamity."