The three sisters at home each had their own personalities. The second sister was sly and cunning, while the youngest was diligent and steady, though for some reason she often liked to talk to herself or giggle foolishly at empty spaces where no one was present.

Twelve-year-old Grace Bennett was already like half a mother to her younger siblings. She patted the little brother on her back, walked back, and took two handfuls of wet pigweed from the youngest sister’s basket, stuffing them into her own already full basket to lighten her little sister’s load.

“Emily, stop playing. Let’s go home early. The sun’s high, and it’s scorching on the road.”

The The Bennett Family parents were as ordinary as could be—farmers who spent their lives with their faces to the earth and their backs to the sky, making a living off a few acres of dry land. Besides a bedridden old mother, the family had a brood of hungry children, and life was extremely tight.

The eldest daughter was born in winter. Hoping for a good omen of “flowers before fruit,” they stubbornly named her Grace Bennett. Unfortunately, fate had other plans—no fruit came, but flowers kept blooming one after another.

When the second child to come out of their mother’s belly was yet another girl, Grandma Yuan’s face could no longer hide her displeasure, so the second girl was bluntly named Helen Bennett.

As the third “money-losing” girl born into the family, Emily Bennett was destined to be a disappointment to everyone.

When she first crossed over and barely managed to open her eyes, the first thing Emily Bennett saw was her mother’s face, full of genuine dislike, and what she heard was her father sighing repeatedly outside the doorframe.

So she knew that even though she had been reborn after death, she was still someone without parental affection.

Because of her birth, Father Yuan finally realized he couldn’t come up with a name that would continue the The Bennett Family bloodline, so he asked Martha Wood from the east end of the village to pick a name. In the end, the third girl was officially named Emily Bennett, with the hope that the The Bennett Family would flourish from then on.

After giving her this name, the The Bennett Family really did have two sons in a row. Only then did Emily’s mother feel proud and able to hold her head high in her husband’s family, and she never forgot to praise Martha Wood’s mystical abilities to the neighbors year after year.

Because she’d heard this legend so many times since childhood, Emily Bennett had often used her little arms and legs to clamber up the low wall of Martha Wood’s house to watch her perform her rituals.

Every time, the courtyard would be surrounded by several layers of villagers. In the open front hall, Martha Wood would stand at the altar, worship the Seven Stars, set out the incense bowl, and begin chanting and dancing to activate the spirit talismans.

It was always a lively scene. But no matter how energetically Martha Wood danced or how skillfully she performed, in that colorful hall, Emily Bennett never saw even a trace of spiritual energy. She was sure that neither the Yellow Immortal nor Lady Fox ever made an appearance.

Martha Wood would pinch her voice, sometimes claiming to be Granny Hu San, sometimes transforming into Lord Huang, speaking as if she could communicate with gods and spirits, promising to cure all ailments and save the suffering, patting her chest and guaranteeing miraculous results, leaving the villagers who came for help trembling and worshipful.

So Emily Bennett knew that she could only treat these spirit-invoking rituals as entertainment and would never glimpse the things she truly wanted to understand.

The wall she liked to climb was a great vantage point, and often a little boy with a fox tail would climb up beside her. Sometimes there’d be a weasel that hadn’t yet learned to take human form, or a little girl with drooping rabbit ears.

Everyone tacitly understood not to disturb each other as they “watched the show.”

After going so many times, the fox-tailed boy noticed that Emily Bennett, a human child, could actually see him. He found this very curious and would hand her some hazelnuts or chestnuts he’d brought from the mountains, and together they’d snack while watching the human woman perform in the courtyard.

After the The Bennett Family had two sons, their reputation was restored, but their resources were depleted. Eight people in the family ate coarse food and lived even harder lives. Summer was manageable, but in winter, warm clothes and food became a severe problem for the family.

Before crossing over, Emily Bennett had lived in a prestigious and well-established family, part of the upper class. Her family was wealthy, and she enjoyed a life of material abundance. She had access to excellent educational resources from a young age, studied at a top overseas university, and joined the family business upon her return. Her life path was broad and bright, the envy of all. But she never knew who her father was, and her mother was a career-driven, independent, and formidable woman who never married.

For as long as Emily Bennett could remember, her mother always wore sharp makeup and elegant clothes, forever hurrying about in high heels. Even when she occasionally paused to see her daughter, she was stern and rigid. The ones who accompanied her through her childhood in that luxurious villa were the ever-changing housekeepers—and, of course, the growing number of cats and dogs she kept.

After crossing over in an instant and suddenly facing such a poor and backward environment, she should have found it hard to adapt. But Emily Bennett didn’t feel upset at all. In fact, she was grateful for the chance to live in this world again. The moment she died unexpectedly in a car accident, she felt a powerful desire to keep living.