Chapter 10
"Emily Johnson..."
Emily was crouched in the vegetable patch, inspecting the growth of the potatoes. The tender green leaves stretched under the sunlight. Suddenly, she heard someone call her name and looked up to see a woman in patched clothing standing on the ridge of the field.
"Yes?"
She quickly searched the original host's memories but found no trace of this face. After all, in the original story, she was merely a foil to the female lead—many villagers didn’t even have names.
"Emily, don’t you want to return to the city?" The woman’s voice carried a probing tone.
Return to the city?
Emily scoffed inwardly. The original host had died because of that very obsession. If she hadn’t been so desperate to go back, the female lead would never have had the chance to rise.
"Aunt Olivia!" David suddenly stepped in front of Emily, eyeing the woman warily.
Only then did Emily remember—this was Olivia Brown, another educated youth who had been sent to the village. She had married into the poorest family, the Lees, and given birth to two daughters, living a life of hardship.
Olivia’s gaze lingered on Emily’s fair skin and neat clothes, a flicker of envy flashing in her eyes. They were both educated youths, yet Emily had married the village chief’s son, borne two sons, and never had to toil in the fields. While she...
"David, your mother will go back to the city sooner or later," Olivia lowered her voice. "City folk don’t stay in the countryside forever. What will happen to you and your brother then—"
"Aunt Olivia," Emily cut her off, rising slowly to her feet. "My family matters are none of your concern. Shouldn’t you be working at this hour?"
She brushed the dirt from her hands, her tone gentle but edged with steel. "You chose this path—now you must walk it to the end. Instead of gossiping here, you should focus on improving your own life."
Olivia’s face flushed with anger before she finally shot Emily a glare and stormed off.
"Mom, let’s go home!" Tommy tugged at Emily’s sleeve, his small face creased with worry.
"Alright." Emily picked a few eggplants and green peppers before taking the children’s hands and heading back.
On the way, David suddenly declared, "Mom, Aunt Olivia is bad. I’m going to beat up her daughter Daisy!"
Emily stopped in her tracks.
Where had this thought come from?
"No," she knelt down, meeting David’s eyes seriously. "Just because someone does something wrong doesn’t mean we should too. Remember—violence is never the answer."
The two boys nodded, though they didn’t fully understand.
As they walked home, Emily felt countless eyes on her. The hushed whispers buzzed around her like flies, making her skin crawl.
Finally, they reached the house. Closing the door behind her, she exhaled deeply, first placing the vegetables in the kitchen before hurrying to check her phone, which was charging.
The solar charger’s indicator light blinked—the battery had reached 78%. Emily ran her fingers over the smooth screen. This phone was her only connection to the world she had left behind.