Chapter 694 River God 1

The Ning family was an ordinary farming household in the village.

Grandpa Ning had three sons and one daughter. The three sons were already married. The eldest son's family had two sons and two daughters, the second son's family had three sons, and the youngest son's family only had one little girl, who was the original owner of the body.

The family owns more than 20 acres of land. When there is no work in the fields, the adult men in the family will go out to do odd jobs. In theory, they should be able to live a good life. However, the Ning family is struggling financially, simply because they have a pampered daughter, Ning Qiulan, the original owner's aunt.

Ning Qiulan was only three years older than Ning Yan. She was the old couple's late-life daughter. On the day she was born, the old lady dreamed that she was holding a golden egg in her arms. She was so excited that she woke up. Ning Qiulan was born less than an hour later, and from then on, she became the old lady's precious treasure.

While girls her age were learning to tidy up the house, do laundry, and cook, Ning Qiulan spent money to learn embroidery.

While other girls were working hard in the fields, covered in sweat, she took her family's money to the city to buy beautiful fabrics and good rouge.

The original owner's hands were covered in calluses from exhaustion, while her hands were as soft as freshly peeled eggs.

The villagers often say that they have never seen anyone spoil their daughter to this extent.

Originally, the original owner was indifferent to these things. Her mother had injured her body when she gave birth to her and had never been able to have another child.

Her parents were honest and hardworking, and the original owner couldn't refuse to work even if she wanted to; they would watch her work.

Anyway, she has to work, and even if her aunt doesn't spend money, her grandparents won't spend that money on her anyway, so she's already resigned to her fate.

Until last year, Ning Laosan was robbed on his way back from work. He couldn't bear to part with the thirty copper coins he had just received, so he fought with the robbers and ended up being beaten to death.

Not long after her father's accident, the original owner's mother was taken back by her maternal family and remarried.

The original owner's life became even more difficult; if she didn't work, there was simply no place for her in the house.

Her sharp-tongued aunt, her sarcastic second aunt, her bossy eldest cousin's wife, and her delicate second cousin's wife—all of them treated her like a little maid, summoning her at will and dismissing her at will.

That's not so bad. If you can make it to the age where you can get married, you can marry a good man and live a good life.

But nobody gave her that chance.

The problem lies with Aunt Ning Qiulan.

One day, this man went out and rescued a man by the river.

To repay her for saving his life, the man gave her a large amount of jewelry.

The old lady almost blew her daughter away overnight, thinking she was a gold nugget. She knew her precious daughter was a gold nugget, and now she saw that she really was.

People used to say that her daughter only knew how to spend her money, but this time the jewelry her daughter brought back was dozens or even hundreds of times more than the money she had spent over the years.

Ning Qiulan was very proud. She had always been very clever. She had saved the man because he was well-dressed and good-looking, which was why she was willing to help him.

After saving the person, the man said goodbye and left, saying that he would definitely repay her in the future.

Seeing that the man only said his surname was He and refused to say anything else, she became suspicious and followed him all the way, wanting to find out which family's young master he was.

Unexpectedly, the man jumped into the river as soon as he reached the bank and didn't come out for quite a while.

She then thought of a possibility: they had a ritual to worship the river god every year.

A man surnamed He went to the riverbank and jumped in. He didn't resurface for a long time. He must be the river god.

Her guess was soon confirmed. Just two days later, Young Master He came to thank her and gave her a large bag of gold and silver jewelry.

Logically, this life-saving grace should have been repaid, but Ning Qiulan was unwilling to accept it.

She tricked the river god into returning home, and together with her parents, drugged him, put a talisman on him, and controlled him. She wanted endless treasures, unparalleled beauty, and the most outstanding husband.

When the river god refused, she tormented him in every way, nearly killing him several times.

Finally, the river god escaped when the Ning family wasn't paying attention.

Once he recovers from his injuries, he will wipe out the entire Ning family, including the original owner of this body, who was just cannon fodder.

However, he didn't get any good results either. The Ning family's talismans were delivered to their door by someone, and even Ning Qiulan's flash of inspiration was something that someone had given her.

That man was naturally the River God's enemy. He had been severely weakened by the Ning family's machinations and had also committed murder, incurring karmic consequences. His enemy found an opportunity to kill him.

"Sanya, hurry up and feed the pigs. After that, go up the mountain to cut pig feed. You're quick to grab food, but you dawdle when it comes to work. Be quick about it, everyone."

In the Ning family's courtyard, Old Mrs. Ning, with a long face, began to issue orders. This happened countless times every day. Ning Yan had been here for half a month and was scolded every day. She was not fed enough but had to work. She didn't want to live this wretched life for even a day longer.

However, for now she can only endure it, since she has no one to protect her.

Ning Yan quickly carried the pig feed into the trough, then went out the door with a basket on her back and a machete in her hand.

The family raised two pigs. Every day, besides feeding them a little bit of pig feed, she, Sanya, had to go up the mountain to cut pig grass to feed them.

There were three maids in the family. The eldest maid had already married and was sold for eight taels of silver.

Er Ya was three months older than her, and she was always responsible for doing laundry, cleaning the house, and taking care of her aunt.

She and the original owner have not yet found a suitable buyer.

After hiking up the mountain, Ning Yan counted on her fingers. She had done this job before in her previous world; she was quite skilled at mowing lawns. Sigh.

In the morning, all Grandma Ning gave her was a bowl of extremely thin porridge and a cornbread.

I'm not getting enough to eat, I'm not getting enough to eat at all.

Of course, she didn't care about the food; she was just wondering how the original owner had managed to survive.

He took out a steamed bun with egg and chives and a bowl of chicken soup from the temple, and slowly ate them. After he was full, he started cutting grass.

This mountain isn't very big; apart from some wild mushrooms and grass, you can hardly see any wild animals.

But after going up the mountain every day and going home for dinner on time, life is quite leisurely.

Around noon, she carried a full basket of green grass home.

Aunt's sharp and sarcastic voice came over, "Oh dear, the third young lady has finally decided to come home. She only cut this basket of grass in half a day. You are truly a great contributor to our family."

Ning Yan chuckled, "Auntie, I'm a hero, so can I have an extra bowl of rice at noon?"

The aunt choked. "Can't this brat understand human language? She actually took my words as a compliment!"

"All you do is eat, as if your family has ever missed a meal."

"Of course it's because I'm short on food! Auntie, look, I'm the thinnest one in the whole family!"

He put down the basket, grabbed a handful of pig feed and threw it into the pigpen, watching the two pigs scramble for it.

Nowadays, pigs are all uncastrated, grow slowly, and don't taste good, so she doesn't care whether they're well-fed or not, as long as they don't starve to death.

If she starves to death, she'll have to find a new job; she's too lazy to do that.