There were even people in the village who beat up their parents and refused to give them food. Eldest Brother Shao felt that he was doing quite well already, as he fed her two meals a day without fail.

  Eldest Brother Shao indeed fed her without fail, but he neglected to mention what the ‘two meals a day’ were like. These two meals were usually leftovers from their meals, and he would give her only as much food as was left over. If there was really no food left, he would just add some dishwashing water.

  Zhao Lan knew that she was leading a tough life, but she had no choice. She didn’t dare say anything, fearing that she wouldn’t even get leftovers in the future.

  Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao were quite smart. They had never asked Shao Fu and the others to deliver food before, perhaps because they were afraid that their kids would treat them like this in the future.

  However, from the moment they’d kicked Zhao Lan to the sheep pen, their actions had subtly affected Shao Fu and the others.

  In the countryside, the elderly basically lived with their eldest son. When Shao Fu saw that there was a leak outside the sheep pen, he even helped fix it in secret. Zhao Lan thought that it was because her grandson’s heart ached for her, but unbeknownst to her, Shao Fu was simply afraid that the sheep pen would collapse and that there would be no place for Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao to live in the future.

  He had already decided that when Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao got old, he would make them stay in the sheep pen.

  Zhao Lan suffered every day. The only thing she hoped for was to see Mu Xue. Since Mu Xue and Shao Qiyang had gotten married, she would deliver food to Zhao Lan when she was in the village.

  The food she gave her was all good. Zhao Lan felt grateful and regretful every time she ate it. She had long said that she wanted to live with Eldest Brother Shao, and the family assets had been split accordingly. It was impossible to change this. Shao Qiyang had said that he wouldn’t care for her, but he still gave her the food she needed. Mu Xue even kept sending food over, helping Zhao Lan survive till now.

  Shao Qihai really didn’t care about Zhao Lan anymore. Zhao Lan didn’t dare ask Shao Qihai to take care of her either, for she was afraid of Bai Lu. She felt that Bai Lu was waiting around to take revenge. Sometimes, when no one was around, she would even pray alone like crazy for forgiveness. Given her state, needless to say, Zhao Lan was in poor health.

  However, when she saw Shao Qiyun, she quickly perked up. She wanted to say a few more words to her daughter, but Shao Qiyun despised her for being smelly and wasn’t willing to approach her.

  “Qiyun, you still have to get married…”

  “I?will?get married. Now that Xiao Wu has acknowledged me, you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

  \r \r \r

  Zhao Lan was very surprised and pleased to hear that Xiao Wu had acknowledged Shao Qiyun. “You’ve done so many bad things. It’s a blessing that Xiao Wu was still willing to acknowledge you. Qiyun, you must treat Xiao Wu well this time. You can’t just use him. Otherwise, the heavens will make you suffer retribution.”

  Zhao Lan started crying. “I’m suffering retribution. Qiyun, if you don’t want to become a second me, you have to treat Xiao Wu well and not harm anyone, understand?”

  Zhao Lan tried her best to persuade her, but Shao Qiyun couldn’t be bothered to listen. She felt that she was too smelly, so she held her breath and said, “Alright, I’ll get going now.”

  Just as Shao Qiyun was about to leave, all the girls her age who had gotten married returned. When they saw her, they all greeted her and asked if she was going to clean Zhao Lan up.

  At the time, married ladies didn’t have any obligation to care for the elderly. It was filial of them to bring some things home when they visited. Many daughters would wash their parents’ clothes and bathe them when they returned. These girls were like that.

  But how could Shao Qiyun be willing to do that? “I don’t know how to. Besides, my mother doesn’t need me to either.”

  “Is it just because you find her dirty? Think about it. Your mother cleaned up your poop and pee when you were a baby. Back then, she didn’t find you dirty. Now that she’s old, you should serve her back.”

  The villagers couldn’t take it anymore and criticized Shao Qiyun. Shao Qiyun was displeased. “I said I don’t know how to do it. I don’t have the strength. If you help me take care of my mother, I’ll give you money.”

  “Who wants your money!” The young women left angrily.

  Shao Qiyun had come back to show off, not to be bullied. She left without saying much to Zhao Lan.

  The people living in the same village met frequently. When Shao Qiyun and the others returned, it caused a huge commotion. Seeing Xiao Wu live with Shao Qiyun and agree to whatever Shao Qiyun said made people feel uncomfortable.

  When Mu Jingzhe and the others saw Xiao Wu again, they immediately avoided him as if they were strangers.

  In the nostalgic Great Eastern Village, he had become the most familiar stranger.

  In the dead of the night, Mu Jingzhe couldn’t figure out why they and Xiao Wu had reached this point. They had been so close previously, but in the blink of an eye, they had become strangers.

  Mu Jingzhe and the others couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to Shao Qiyun and Xiao Wu. But in Shao Qiyun’s eyes, she had defeated Mu Jingzhe and the others. She was extremely smug and she didn’t care about the disdain the villagers of Great Eastern Village felt for her. She would go wherever there were more people or follow Mu Jingzhe and deliberately say how filial Xiao Wu was to her to spite Mu Jingzhe.

  “Xiao Wu has been helping me Shousui[1]. He said that if he does that, I’ll be able to live a long life. He insisted on staying up the entire night…”

  “Xiao Wu bought this bracelet for me. He said that he wanted me to wear gold and silver in the future.”

  “He even played the flute for me when I couldn’t sleep. If I’m not happy, he’s more anxious than anyone…”

  Shao Qiyun was smug. Mu Jingzhe was expressionless when she heard that, but Shao Dong and the rest were furious, as what Shao Qiyun described was what they had done for Mu Jingzhe in the past. This was an agreement between the five siblings, but in the end, Xiao Wu had done it all for Shao Qiyun.

  How could they tolerate this? This was both a provocation and an insult to Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei. Their heartfelt sincerity was directed at Mu Jingzhe. How was Shao Qiyun worthy of this?

  Shao Dong and the others had originally planned to listen to Mu Jingzhe and ignore Xiao Wu since they couldn’t do anything about him. However, what Xiao Wu had done angered them completely.

  Since Xiao Wu had poked at what they hated the most, they would teach Shao Qiyun a lesson and remove the smugness from her face.

  The silver bracelet Shao Qiyun flaunted quickly turned black and even began to smell a little like pesticides. She couldn’t wear it anymore as a result.

  Xiao Wu’s favorite musical instrument, the flute that Mu Jingzhe had bought for him, was also half-burned. They definitely wouldn’t allow Xiao Wu to please Shao Qiyun with the musical instrument Mu Jingzhe had bought for him.

  Previously, when Xiao Wu had moved away, he had also taken away all the musical instruments that he could. At the time, because they’d had feelings for him, they hadn’t stopped him. But now, they didn’t want Xiao Wu to touch the musical instruments that they had given him because they contained their sincerity.

  Their sincerity couldn’t be wasted on Xiao Wu.

  Xiao Wu had brought a flute with him. When he saw that the flute had been burned, he didn’t move for a long time. He held the remaining half of the flute in his hand, and his hand turned pale from exertion.

  Shao Qiyun’s screams quickly came from outside. It turned out that a hole had been burned in one of the leather shoes Shao Qiyun had wanted to wear out. The culprit was Shao Fu.

  The leather shoes had also been bought by Xiao Wu for Shao Qiyun. This happened just as Shao Qiyun had been feeling the smuggest, so Shao Qiyun was so furious that she couldn’t help but hit Shao Fu. Shao Fu ran, and Shao Lu and Shao Shou tried to appease her. Later on, for some reason, Shao Qiyun would constantly either trip, fall to the ground, or get beaten up. Blood spurted from her nose during the New Year, which was very auspicious.

  Shao Qiyun was so angry that she kept cursing. Xiao Wu comforted Shao Qiyun for a moment. When he saw Fu, Lu, and Shou suddenly go out, he quietly followed them.

  Fu, Lu, and Shou left the house one after the other and found Shao Nan and Shao Xi together. Fu, Lu, and Shou had taken credit for burning the flute, as well as making Shao Qiyun’s bracelet turn black. They had also deliberately scalded her shoes. Hitting Shao Qiyun was also a collaborative effort of those three.

  [1] A Chinese New Year custom according to which people stay up late on the Eve so that their parents will be blessed with longevity