"Bad guys, you're all bad guys! You're not allowed to come in!"
Gianna felt really annoyed.
She was cranky after waking up and suddenly sat up, shouting, "Shut up!"
In an instant, everything became silent.
Gianna looked blankly at the worn-out mud walls and the thatched roof. Three small kids, wearing torn clothes, looking thin and weak, with tears and snot running down their faces, were staring at her emotionally. Her mind suddenly became clear.
Memories that didn't belong to her flooded her head.
She had entered a book.
And she had become a side character who dies before chapter ten. When she first saw that the character's name was the same as hers, she even thought it was a funny coincidence.
Wait, she remembered this part of the story. Those so-called relatives outside were trying to sell her.
The original Gianna and the male lead, Floyd, got married because of an arranged marriage. Since the original Gianna had a mean personality, the two didn't have much affection. Their days together were just barely getting by.
Today, Floyd went out to find a water source in a far-off place. That gave Floyd's uncle's family the perfect chance. To avoid being taken away, the original Gianna threatened to harm the children and went crazy, actually hurting three kids.
Even though Floyd rushed back and drove those relatives away, the harm to the kids was already done and couldn't be undone.
Floyd ended up using the family's last bit of food to ask a village doctor to save the kids. But one of the children had a shattered leg and was left with a lifelong disability.
After that, Floyd focused all his time on taking care of the kids and earning money. He became colder to Gianna, and the kids were scared of her. They didn't dare get close like before.
The original Gianna never reflected on her actions or how much she had hurt the kids. Instead, every time Floyd treated her coldly, she would take it out on the children. Sometimes she shouted at them. Other times she cruelly abused them.
Later, Floyd rescued the book's female lead. She pretended to be gentle and kind to win his heart by being nice to the children. The kids started liking her more. Even when she poisoned Gianna, no one believed the female lead was the villain.
In the end, Gianna was betrayed by everyone, murdered by the female lead, and died miserably.
The adults now trying to force their way into the house were Floyd's uncle and his family.
They were taking advantage of Floyd being out looking for food to secretly sell Gianna. And they even had a ridiculous excuse for it.
In a year of famine, one more person meant one more mouth to feed. Since she already gave birth to three sons, keeping her around was seen as a waste. Better to sell her to a rich family for food so the kids wouldn't starve.
Gianna sat up straight. No way was she going to sit here and wait for disaster.
She knew this kind of story-travel only goes one way. Since she was here now, she had to accept it. After all the killing she'd seen in the end times, living a peaceful life with a husband and kids sounded nice.
As for love, that was too much to ask for someone who had survived the apocalypse. She didn't want to think about that for now.
What she was hoping for at this moment was that her spatial power from the end times still worked. She had stored half the supplies from a large base inside.
She closed her eyes and focused. A bottle of water appeared in her hand.
Her space still existed. Gianna was overjoyed.
While no one was paying attention to her, she quickly put the water back in.
With the space still working, she had confidence. The most urgent thing now was to deal with the people outside.
Gianna stood up and walked to the nearby stove, grabbed the kitchen knife from it, and rushed to the door. She pulled the three little kids behind her to protect them.
The three little kids were afraid she might get hurt, so they kept trying to push in front of her.
Seeing how sensible the kids were, Gianna cursed the original host in her heart. Such good children, and she didn't even know how to love them. She deserved to end up as cannon fodder.
Using her strength, Gianna pulled the three kids behind her and blocked the door.
Gianna coldly raised the knife and stared at the people in front of her.
At the front was Floyd's aunt, Aunt Liu.
Aunt Liu placed her left hand on her hip and pointed at Gianna with her right hand, arrogantly saying, "Are you coming with us on your own, or do we have to drag you?"
Having gone through the chaos of the apocalypse, Gianna found Aunt Liu's actions laughable.
She gave a cold glance at the people present.
Her fierce, murderous gaze scared Aunt Liu's son and daughter-in-law.
Gianna immediately scolded, "Aunt Liu, have some shame. Since when did my family's matters become your business?"
From the original story, it was clear that Aunt Liu and her family envied Gianna's.
Three years of drought had caused the crops in the fields to die, and life had become miserable.
Floyd, being a visionary, had spent all the family's money on buying food in the first year of the drought. Though the past two years had been tough, the five of them were still alive.
But as time passed, the food stock was running low, and even the water they drank had become a big problem. Otherwise, Floyd wouldn't have chosen to leave now to find a water source.
Aunt Liu sarcastically said, "I'm just looking out for my nephew. He's struggling to support the family, and you're eating free meals every day. Look at how thin my three grandsons are. You're their mother, how can you be so heartless and watch them suffer?"
Gianna laughed when she heard this. Now, this was moral kidnapping!
"Did I eat your rice or drink your water for you to say such shameless things? Why don't you sell your daughter-in-law and yourself instead? Look at how thin your grandsons are compared to mine."
Gianna then turned her gaze to Aunt Liu's husband, Old Man Liu, and provoked, "Big Uncle, did you hear what Big Aunt said? A woman at home is just eating free food."
Old Man Liu was extremely stingy and somewhat sharp-tongued.
As the saying goes, what kind of horse matches the saddle.
Old Man Liu and Aunt Liu were a perfect match—one was stingy and sharp-tongued, and the other loved to take advantage and gossip.
Old Man Liu's face immediately darkened.
He secretly thought to himself, Gianna's words were right! Two women in the house were two mouths, and they had to eat so much!
Seeing Old Man Liu being swayed, Aunt Liu and her daughter-in-law, Qinna, immediately panicked.
Aunt Liu quickly said, "Old man, don't listen to her provoking you. Have you forgotten why we're here today?"
She shot a hard look at Qinna.
Qinna weakly added, "Dad, we should focus on the important matter."
Old Man Liu took a puff of dry tobacco and clicked his tongue, saying, "Daughter-in-law, we're also thinking about the three kids. Floyd is kind-hearted and doesn't want to say these things to you, but if this drought continues, we'll all starve to death. Rather than let that happen, why not seek a good way out? You could follow a wealthy family, eat full meals, and the kids will get enough to eat. Isn't that a win-win?"
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TL's Note:
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