The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 3: Oh My Gosh

Chapter 3: Oh My Gosh

Tang Zhi returned home, still thinking about what was off about Song Yuyan.

Song Yuyan didn’t want to pay compensation and stubbornly refused to admit stealing vegetables, just like before, yet Tang Zhi still felt something was out of place.

Tang Ye heard her return and came out to greet her, asking, “Was it Song Dalang who stole again?”

Tang Zhi nodded. Tang Ye didn’t notice her odd expression and looked at the vegetables in her hand, smiling brightly, “Big sister is amazing! You actually got back the vegetables Song Dalang stole!”

Tang Zhi snapped out of her thoughts. She finally realized what was wrong with Song Yuyan—before, when she confronted Song Yuyan, even with evidence, Song Yuyan always had excuses.

Things like “These vegetables aren’t even from the Tang family’s garden” or “If you take them back, we’ll starve” were excuses she heard many times!

But this time, Song Yuyan didn’t argue and even offered to pay her?

Oh my gosh, was this still Song Dalang Song Yuyan?

But what made her feel even stranger was that Song Yuyan finally admitted her mistake, so why did she have such mixed feelings?

…

No wonder her feelings were so complicated, because when it came to Song Yuyan, she was someone everyone in the surrounding villages knew.

Sadly, she wasn’t famous for being righteous but for her rough life and the awful things she did, which were always topics for the villagers’ gossip after meals.

Before Song Yuyan was born, her father died of illness while working on a canal during forced labor. Her mother gave birth to her and raised her with great hardship. But when Song Yuyan was ten, her mother also died of illness.

After her parents passed away, they left her fifteen acres of poor land and a mud house. But after her father’s death, her uncle, who had always coveted her family’s property but didn’t act because of her fierce mother, finally found his chance. Under the pretense of adopting her, he took her property for himself. With the clan leader’s intervention, he left her only the mud house.

Though her uncle said he adopted her, he ignored her. She survived only because of the clan’s help.

Because no one disciplined her, at just ten years old, she started hanging out with all sorts of bad people, often stealing chickens or dogs, gradually picking up bad habits.

Not even two years later, her uncle, who took her property, died in an accident. Everyone said he got what he deserved, and they told Song Yuyan’s second aunt, Wu Shi, to return the stolen property to her.

Wu Shi, pretending to be kind, took her to live in a small courtyard in the county for a little over a year. During that time, Tang Mother from the neighboring Tang family also passed away.

At that point, rumors spread from somewhere that Song Yuyan was a jinx, a bringer of bad luck who caused the deaths of her father, mother, and relatives. Fearing she’d be cursed, Wu Shi sold all the land, took everything valuable, and remarried, abandoning even her own two children.

Wu Shi had the support of her Wu family, so the Song clan couldn’t stop her remarriage. As for the property, Wu Shi claimed Song Yuyan’s uncle had already sold it and squandered the money, saying the remaining wealth was her dowry and rightfully hers to take.

As for the small courtyard in the county, it originally belonged to the Song family, so she couldn’t claim it as her own.

After Wu Shi remarried, not only Song Yuyan but also her cousins, Song Yuban and Song Yuzhuan, became orphans without a father or mother.

To survive, besides occasionally doing odd jobs to earn money, Song Yuyan set her sights on the equally orphaned Tang family. She often stole their vegetables, selling the extra for a bit of cash and keeping the rest to eat, saving some expenses.

The Tang family had long noticed her behavior, but seeing her pitiful state, they only scolded her verbally and let it go. They never expected her to grow thicker-skinned and bolder over time.

…

Song Yuyan realized that Tang Zhi’s scolding was, to the original Song Yuyan, just a minor annoyance.

The original Song Yuyan thought it was just a scolding, not a big deal—she wouldn’t lose anything by it. She also knew Tang Zhi wouldn’t report her to the authorities, which made her even more reckless.

They say, “A shameless person is unbeatable,” and Tang Zhi truly had no way to deal with the original Song Yuyan.

But what Tang Zhi didn’t know was that, even without reporting her, the original Song Yuyan would still be killed by the authorities—two years later, she’d be implicated in a rebellion, mistaken for a rebel, and executed.

The original Song Yuyan was only seventeen when she died. Though she died unjustly, no one spoke up for her. Her usual behavior already made people dislike her, and with her reputation as a jinx, her death was just one less trouble for everyone.

She kept testing the edge of disaster and ended up with such a fate, which made Song Yuyan sigh deeply.

The memories Song Yuyan received weren’t just from this moment but covered the original Song Yuyan’s entire life.

At her death, the original Song Yuyan cursed the heavens for being unfair, hating her tragic fate and worrying about her two cousins.

Perhaps her resentment was too deep, her will too strong, or maybe the heavens finally took pity on her. A system called “Jinjiang Happy Life” chose her, absorbing her resentment, love, hatred, obsessions, and soul.

The system promised to help her achieve a happy life, but the price was that, after succeeding, her soul would belong to the system.

Of course, the system’s method was to find someone to replace the original Song Yuyan.

Among the vast universe, countless stars, and trillions of lives, the system detected Song Yuyan’s idle thoughts. Seeing they shared the same name, it deemed her perfect for the task and chose her.

Song Yuyan thought the original wouldn’t agree, but she underestimated the original’s resentment. The original was willing to let her soul be bound without freedom just to see what kind of life “she” could have in such circumstances!

At this, Song Yuyan, who usually avoided crude cursing, couldn’t help but lash out at both the system and the original. Why not let the original live her own happy life? Why drag her from trillions of lives?

The system bluntly told Song Yuyan, “With her character, even if she got another chance, she’d repeat the same mistakes.”

Song Yuyan didn’t give up and tried persuading the original, “If I live your life, even if I become rich and live to ninety-nine, it won’t really have anything to do with you, right?”

The original, with her odd thinking, said, “But you’re using my body, living as me. It doesn’t matter if I don’t feel the happiness. As long as I see ‘me’ live brilliantly, gain fame, status, and happiness, that’s enough.”

Song Yuyan said, “But that’s not fair to me.”

The system knew it wasn’t fair to Song Yuyan, so it tried coaxing her, “Don’t you also want to escape that dull, exhausting life?”

“At least there I had family, friends, and teachers. It was tiring, but I never lacked food or clothing, and the living conditions weren’t so backward!”

The system had no choice but to reveal the truth, “When I brought you here, that world stopped. Even if you go back, you’d only live in a frozen world until you die.”

Only then did Song Yuyan realize she had to fulfill the system’s demands and complete the original’s wishes to return and make her original world move again.

What else could she do?

This was beyond her understanding of science. She couldn’t complain or face a frozen world. All she could do was follow the system’s demands, or she’d just be singing “Liang Liang” to herself, right?

After compromising, the system started encouraging her, “It’s okay, I’ll stay by your side and help you!”

Song Yuyan thought of the money she owed Tang Zhi and asked, “Can you give me money?”

The system replied frankly, “No, you need to earn money with your own hands!”

“…Then what use are you?”

“I can chat with you so you won’t feel lonely, comfort your heart so you feel warmth and care like family throughout this life, and be a guiding light to help you find direction when you’re lost!”

“I’d rather raise a cat or a dog.”

Song Yuyan felt the system was useless and decided she’d have to rely on herself to figure things out!

Though she faced such a huge change, at least she had the original’s memories to understand the current situation.

The Song family was simple: just her, Song Yuyan, her second uncle’s ten-year-old son Song Yuban, and seven-year-old daughter Song Yuzhuan. From the memories, they were the two scrawny kids she saw earlier. But looking at their frail bodies, you’d believe they were only six or seven.

For the past two years, they lacked food and clothing, always eating one meal without knowing where the next would come from, so they grew very slowly.

In this household, besides the original Song Yuyan, there was no other laborer. But the original was a street thug, occasionally taking jobs but either getting kicked out for stealing or losing work after fights with enemies…

Honestly, it was a miracle these three siblings survived until now.

Song Yuyan suddenly remembered something, and her expression turned a bit strange.