I don’t want biased family members
anymore.
Chapter 1
My name is Jenny, like Jenny from the block.
My little sister’s name is Ronnie, short for
Veronica.
In my past life, all I ever wanted was my
parents‘ love and affection.
They made me drop out of school and work
to pay for Ronnie’s education, and I did.
Ronnie racked up a huge credit card debt,
and they told me to pay it off for her, and I
did that too.
Even later, when they asked me to give up my
rich boyfriend to Ronnie, I agreed.
And what did I get? My mom said, “Jenny
acts like she hates me, but she’s always
trying to please me. It’s disgusting!”
<
Even when Ronnie ran me over with her car
and killed me, they stood at my grave and
said, “You’re the older sister, you’re supposed
to be the bigger person…”
I screamed at the sky: What kind of parents
are you?
Reborn into this life,
I don’t need your love anymore.
Grandma always favored boys.
From the day I was born, Mom never had it
easy.
I was like a curse hanging over her head, one
she couldn’t shake off.
When I was one, she finally snapped and left
me in the woods.
I didn’t starve, freeze, or get eaten by wolves.
Instead, some kind soul found me and
brought me back.
Mom’s actions were exposed, and the whole
town shamed her.
The next spring, she and Dad left to work in
the city and never looked back.
I didn’t see her again for ten years.
Grandma died, and their family of three came
back for the funeral.
That was the first time I met my sister,
Ronnie.
She wore a princess dress and a big bow in
her hair.
She could sing, dance, and supposedly play the piano.
She’d sweetly greet everyone in town with a
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. So–and–So!”
Everyone loved her instantly.
She outshone every boy in town.
Mom finally had something to brag about.
She went on and on about how great Ronnie
was.
They acted like they were real city folk, and
everyone in town flattered them, whether they
<
meant it or not.
Mom paraded Ronnie around the whole town.
I spent the day collecting snails in the fields.
That night, I made stir–fried snails for the
three of them.
But when the snails were served, Ronnie
wrinkled her nose and refused to eat them,
lecturing me, “These wild things are full of
germs, don’t you know anything?”
She sounded so superior.
Mom also wrinkled her nose in disgust. “You
expect us to eat this? What if Ronnie gets
sick?”
I didn’t respond.
I’d only managed to collect one bucket of
snails all day.
One bucket made only this small bowl.
They might have thought it was disgusting,
but I didn’t.
So, I ate it all.
L
Ronnie’s eyes went wide, and then she
started to cry.
She said I ate all the meat and left her
nothing.
I burped and went to bed.
“That child is so heartless…”
That was my mom’s first assessment of me
after ten years.
In my past life, I did everything to please her.
She told me to drop out of school and work
so Ronnie could study, and I listened.
Ronnie took out loans to fund her obsession
with a pop star, racking up hundreds of
thousands in debt, and Mom told me to pay it
off, and I listened.
Ronnie couldn’t find a job after college, so
Mom told me to give Ronnie the company I’d
built, and I listened.
Even later, when Mom told me to give my rich
boyfriend to Ronnie, I listened.
And what did I get? She said, “Jenny acts like
she hates me, but she’s always trying to
please me. It’s disgusting!”
She constantly badmouthed me to others,
saying I was rebellious, disrespectful, and a
bad daughter…
As I lay dying in a pool of my own blood, I still
wondered why.
Why couldn’t Mom love me a little?
Reborn into this life, I don’t need her love
anymore.
I just want to live a good life.
The next day, as expected, the whole town
knew I’d eaten all the food and left nothing
for Ronnie.
Ronnie cried and whined, “It’s not like I had to
eat it, but she ate enough for four people! It’s
just so mean!”
Mom patted her head and comforted her,
“She was raised by your grandma, what does
L
she know about manners? Ronnie, don’t ever
be like her!”
This time, no one agreed with them, no one
praised Ronnie’s cuteness or Mom’s
competence.
“Where did the Johnsons get meat?”
“Are they talking about the snails Jenny
collected yesterday?”
“I passed their house last night, and I clearly
heard Ronnie say she wouldn’t eat the snails
because they were dirty…”
“They came back from the city all dressed up,
but they didn’t bring Jenny a single thing.
How dare they demand she cook meat for
them?”
“That Theresa, Jenny’s mom, she’s got a
heart of coal…”
Mom heard all the gossip, and she didn’t
leave the house to show off her city–slicker
status again.
As for me, I continued to collect pigweed
every day. I fattened up the pig and asked Mr.
Miller, the town elder, to sell it for me. That
would cover my tuition for the next year.
Mr. Miller looked at the half–grown pig and
advised me to wait a couple more months.
I said, “Tomorrow is Grandma’s burial. They’ll
go back to the city and sell my pig…”
Rather than let them sell it and give me a few
scraps while expecting gratitude, I’d rather
sell it myself.
Money is only truly yours when it’s in your
pocket.
That evening, Dad discovered the pig was
gone and came to confront me.
“Where’s the pig?”
“Sold.”
“Where’s the money?”
“That’s my tuition for the next year. Do you
want it?”
L
Dad opened and closed his mouth,
speechless.
“You haven’t given me a penny all these
years. I’ve paid for my own schooling by
raising pigs and chickens. If you really want it,
you can have it.”
A rare look of guilt flickered across Dad’s
face. He gave an awkward smile.
“I don’t want your money. I’m just worried
you’re too young to manage it.”
I nodded, noncommittal.
He fumbled in his pockets and finally pulled
out a crumpled ten–dollar bill.
“Your mom’s tight with money. This is
cigarette money I saved.”
I took it.
He looked slightly relieved.
The next day, after Grandma’s funeral, Mom
was eager to pack up and return to the city.
I went to the chicken coop and caught the
く
remaining five chickens.
Dad stood awkwardly outside the coop,
watching me. “Um, your mom asked me to…”
He stared at the chickens in my hands.
In my past life, Mom took all the chickens and
eggs to nourish Ronnie, while I drank her
leftover, watered–down soup, which Ronnie
called “beggar’s broth.”
This time, I generously offered them one
chicken.
“Sorry for the poor hospitality these past few
days. Take this chicken back with you.”
Dad fumbled in his pockets again but came
up empty.
He took the chicken, making small talk.
“Hurry up, we need to catch the last bus back
to the city.”
I nodded.
I took the remaining four chickens and eggs
to Mr. Miller’s.
<
When I returned, Mom and Ronnie had
already left for the city.
She couldn’t bear to stay in this place a
second longer.
When Dad and I boarded the last bus to the
city, Mom’s first question was,
“Where’s the money from the pig and
chickens?”
She was asking Dad, but her hawk–like eyes
were fixed on me.
I pulled out three hundred dollars and gave it
to her.
“I know you don’t want to raise me, and
bringing me back was a burden. This is for
this month’s rent and utilities. I’ll take care of
my own food and tuition.”
Mom’s face twisted into a strange
expression.
But she took the money.
“To avoid anyone saying I’m freeloading,
please give me a receipt.”
That clearly offended her.
She glared at me, as if she wanted to swallow
me whole.
Our neighbor, seeing me at the door,
curiously asked who I was.
In my past life, Ronnie forbade me from
telling anyone at school that I was her sister.
Mom forbade me from calling her “Mom” in
public.
Dad didn’t care about anything and pretended
I didn’t exist.
I tried to please them all, but they just saw
me as pathetic.
This time, I wouldn’t be a doormat.
I said confidently, “My name is Jenny. I’m an
orphan. My grandma, who raised me, passed
away, so I’m here to stay with Mr. and Mrs.
Johnson.”
The neighbor, filled with pity, saw my
く
patched–up adult clothes and gave me a bag
of her daughter’s clothes.
The three Johnsons‘ faces changed.
Inside, they almost had a fight about where
I’d sleep.
The apartment had two bedrooms and a
combined living and dining room.
Dad wanted me to share a room with Ronnie,
but Mom said Ronnie liked things clean and I
should sleep on the sofa.
She said her sofa was much better than my
bed back in the village, and I should be
grateful.
Ronnie, however, disagreed. “She can’t sleep
on the sofa! I need to sit there! She’s so dirty,
I’ll get lice…”
I quietly took my burlap sack to the balcony.
In my past life, I slept under the clothesline
until I graduated high school.
“I’ll sleep here.”
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Mom glanced at me with disgust.
Ronnie snorted and pulled the glass door
between the balcony and the living room shut.
Dad felt a little guilty and built me a small bed
out of wooden planks the next day.
With that, he considered his fatherly duties
fulfilled.
Ronnie attended a private elementary school,
with tuition of $18,000 a year.
My parents wouldn’t send me to a school like
that.
