With her inner turmoil gone, Shen Fenghua's main focus is on being happy.

After switching jobs with He Tiantian, Shen Fenghua's life became completely stable. After seeing He Tiantian off, she left Shen Fenghua a lot of things.

Knowing that He Tiantian wasn't wealthy either, Shen Fenghua didn't intend to take her, but He Tiantian insisted.

"Keep it. I can't take it with me anyway. If my brother and sister-in-law benefit from it, I'll be furious."

Well, thinking about it that way, it does seem to make sense.

Shen Fenghua accepted the gifts and treated the mother and daughter to a home-cooked meal. The next day, she took them to the station and slipped twenty yuan into He Tiantian's bag before they left.

Every family has its difficulties, and being able to contribute twenty is already quite a lot. Shen Fenghua's actions are in accordance with her conscience.

As soon as the grain was stored, the weather grew colder day by day, and before we knew it, the water started to freeze.

Fortunately, Grandma usually does a lot of needlework at home, and all five family members were dressed in brand new cotton-padded clothes. Even the cat's bed and the chicken coop were stuffed with cotton pads, mainly for warmth and comfort.

"Grandma, why don't you come inside?" Seeing her grandmother sitting in the yard weaving something, Shen Fenghua, with her big belly, frowned.

"Hey, it's so cold now, why come inside? It'll be warmer to tidy up in the sun."

Seeing her grandmother weave a straw mat that was over a meter long, Shen Fenghua sat down with a grin. "Grandma, what are you making this for?"

"The days are getting colder and colder. We humans wear clothes, and these trees can't go through the winter naked, can they?"

If Grandma hadn't mentioned it, Shen Fenghua wouldn't have noticed. But as soon as she did, Shen Fenghua saw that the tall locust tree in the yard had been wrapped with straw rope for more than a meter.

Grandma followed Shen Fenghua's gaze and looked over, smiling, "Grandma is getting old and short, so I can only pester you up to this point."

"Yeah, don't worry, everything will be fine."

The locust tree grew just fine when no one lived in this yard. Now that people live here, they can wrap some straw around themselves to keep warm. There's no reason for it to die because of this.

Shen Fenghua got up and walked around, and found that not only the locust tree, but also the other trees in the yard were entwined with it, without exception.

Looking at her hardworking grandmother, Shen Fenghua felt a pang of emotion.

No wonder people say that having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.

Look, they've considered every aspect to the fullest extent.

Having more children at home makes things more chaotic, especially after He Dongdong transferred classes, the family went from having two children to three in no time.

He Dongdong already liked Shen Fenghua, and now, Shen Fenghua's family has two children who can play with her too.

He became even more reluctant to leave, and every time he went home, Li Yanran had to come and call him. Sometimes, no matter how much she called, he wouldn't come back, so Li Yanran had no choice but to resort to her ultimate move.

Willow branches growing along the riverbank.

Running and jumping around, plus the fact that little boys this age are still growing, all these activities are physically demanding. And then they come home to a steaming hot meal.

Everyone was glued to the food, and it tasted best when everyone was fighting over it.

The three children scrambled for food, and in just over two months, even He Dongdong, who was as skinny as a stick, gained several pounds.

Li Yanran was overjoyed and would frequently send some delicious food to Shen Fenghua's family.

They are either local ducks raised in the village, or young roosters, or chicken eggs, duck eggs, or goose eggs.

They'll just give you whatever they have.

The two families were incredibly close. Over time, even the maternal grandmother began to regard Li Yanran as her other granddaughter and took good care of her.

Sometimes, you can't just gossip or mutter behind someone's back; you can't even think about it in your heart.

No sooner had Chen Fenghua finished thinking about Li Yanran than she arrived at his door with a big, fat fish, all smiles.

Upon entering, one sees not only large, fat fish, but also a basket full of other things.

"What, where did you go rob someone? Bringing back all this stuff."

"Hmph, that's right. There wasn't much to do today, so the factory manager gave me half a day off. I was thinking of going back to my in-laws' house. These are all things that old lady brought back for me."

The focus of this trip wasn't on the goods at all; Li Yanran had just learned a juicy piece of gossip and was excitedly eager to share it with Shen Fenghua.

"Oh dear, don't interrupt me, I almost forgot what I was going to say."

Shen Fenghua was confused. "What are you saying?"

"Do you remember that little girl named Xiao'e we met in the village last time we went to the countryside?"

Xiao'e?

This is unforgettable. This girl was ruthless. Even today, Shen Fenghua still finds it quite memorable.

However, what's past is past, and Shen Fenghua had no intention of dwelling on it.

Besides, the two of them are from completely different worlds, like two parallel lines that never intersect. The last time they came together was just an accident.

Of course, if such an accident doesn't happen again, the two of them will never see each other again in their lives.

"how?"

Shen Fenghua snorted and teased, "That method worked. She found herself a perfect husband?"

Li Yanran looked pale and said, "You're kidding me."

"Um?"

Shen Fenghua also became interested, "How so?"

"Dead."

Shen Fenghua's heart skipped a beat. "Dead?"

"Yes!" It's a long story, and just thinking about it is enough to make one sigh.

The scheme that Xiao'e's family plotted against Qi Ye could not be kept secret. The news spread throughout the village and surrounding areas within just two or three days, and their reputation was completely ruined.

Xiao'e was weak after going into the water, and she fell seriously ill when she returned. She was delirious with fever and could barely speak. The banquet was about to begin when she was lucky enough to escape with her life.

Having barely escaped death, I opened my eyes and knew I was doomed.

Since things had come to this, she didn't even bother to explain anything. She simply gave up and accepted whatever people said. Later, she just hid in the house and refused to come out.

Rumors have a time limit. Apart from the initial period and the two or three days when Xiao'e was lucid, which caused quite a stir, the rest gradually subsided. After all, everyone has their own things to do, and they can't keep an eye on her all the time.

Then, three days ago...

“You don’t know, do you?” Li Yanran said with a sarcastic look, “She knew she would never get married, so a battalion commander who came to visit relatives came a while ago, and Xiao’e caught him as soon as he got home.”

They just got back and have no idea about Xiao'e's background or connections. Plus, it's freezing cold, and a little girl is drifting in the river. Even if she doesn't drown, she'll freeze to death.

The battalion commander was kind-hearted and jumped in to pull Xiao'e out.

Then the cats and dogs caught him red-handed, saying that he had ruined their sister's reputation and that he should marry Xiao'e.