Jiang Ruyu told her grandmother everything that had happened that day. After listening, Grandma Jiang was furious: "Ruyu, don't be afraid. Tomorrow when you go to work, if that person dares to come and say those things to you again, come back and tell me. Grandma will take care of it for you."

Jiang Ruyu shook her head: "Grandma, no need, I can handle it. I just suddenly felt a little wronged. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Sigh. It's nothing. As long as you're all doing well, what's the big deal?" She had weathered many storms in her life, first losing her husband, then her son, and then her daughter-in-law. Her heart had long been hardened by the blows she had endured.

Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin were also startled by their sister. She rarely cried, so she must have been bullied this time. The two brothers secretly agreed to pick her up from get off work every day from now on.

After eating and washing up, Jiang Ruyu lay in bed, carefully thinking about her future life. She had become a little complacent lately. Ever since she got the system and could sign in with things every day, she felt that she would definitely have a good life in the future, thus forgetting the ending of her family as written in the book.

Her grandmother's sorrowful passing, her brother's despondency, her miserable marriage, and her brother's family's hardships—she should be thinking about how to completely escape the fate she was born into in the book, instead of other messy things.

Having figured things out, Jiang Ruyu noticed a bunch of wildflowers with dew on her bicycle when she went to work after breakfast the next day. She just smiled happily, and all those inexplicably restless thoughts slowly disappeared.

Zheng Yang, who was hiding in his room watching Jiang Ruyu, sighed inwardly when he saw this scene. It seemed that the little girl had really grown up and was not easy to coax. Fortunately, he was close by and had plenty of patience.

When Jiang Ruyu passed by the post office today, she signed in and received 20 yuan and ten sets of stamps with a face value of eight fen. She happily put the items into her backpack. The price has gone up! It used to be only 10 yuan.

As soon as I got to the counter at work, Zhao Sufang ran over: "Hey, Ruyu, I have something to tell you. I'm going to Houhai Park to meet someone after get off work today. Can you come with me? It'll just be a quick look and then we'll leave. I'm a little nervous about going alone."

Jiang Ruyu looked at her like she was an idiot: "You're going on a blind date, what would it look like if I went with you? What if they make a mistake? How embarrassing would that be? I'm not going."

"Oh, will you come with me? We have a secret code. I'll bring a red scarf so he'll know who it is and won't mistake me for someone else."

"..." Jiang Ruyu looked at her with a complicated expression: "You guys really know how to have fun."

After a busy morning, Jiang Ruyu was forced to take Zhao Sufang, who was wearing a red scarf, to the park. Once they reached the park entrance, Jiang Ruyu refused to go any further: "I'll wait for you to go in first, and then I'll wait for you where you can see me. If that works, you can go do whatever you want. If not, just come find me, and I'll take you out. It's a deal, okay? It'll be a meal."

"Okay, okay, you're the best. I'm going in now. Don't delay me, I'm scared," Zhao Sufang muttered as she got out of the car.

"I know, why are you afraid to come to the park?" After waiting for two minutes, Jiang Ruyu rode her bike in. There weren't many people around at midday, just a few children from the neighborhood running around in the square. Jiang Ruyu immediately spotted a couple by the lake. The man didn't look very tall, only a little taller than Zhao Sufang. Her intuition told her that Zhao Sufang didn't like him.

Sure enough, after waiting a few minutes, she rang the car bell, and Zhao Sufang ran over and jumped onto the car, saying, "Let's go, hurry up!" Jiang Ruyu was flustered by her urging. She looked up and saw that the man was running over. She subconsciously stepped on the pedal and ran.

She didn't dare stop to rest until she had ridden two miles. This guy was exhausted: "What's going on with you? Are you on a blind date or robbing someone?"

Zhao Sufang was also startled: "I didn't expect it either. It was an aunt from my compound who introduced him to me. I'm going to tell my mom when I get back. Seriously, he dares to introduce just anyone to me. You wouldn't believe it, the first thing he asked me when we met was, 'What dowry will my family give me after we get married?' Do you think he's lost his mind?"

Jiang Ruyu looked at her sympathetically: "Does the person who introduced him to you have a grudge against your family?"

"Maybe, humph, now we have a grudge even if we didn't have one." Zhao Sufang stomped her foot angrily: "Come on, let's go have dinner."

"Why don't you go home and tell your mom first? If you don't come home for lunch, she might think you've got your eye on someone and that's why she's keeping you here for lunch."

“You’re right. I’ll invite you again tomorrow. You go home now, I’ll walk home.” Zhao Sufang thought for a moment, and realized that what she said made sense. She turned around, picked up her bag, and left.

Jiang Ruyu shook her head and rode her bike home.

After that, besides going to and from get off work every day, Jiang Ruyu spent her time developing potential clients for exchange. Now Zhao Sufang and Liu Xiangxiang are her long-term clients. They know that she has connections to get soaps, face creams, and shampoos without coupons. Although they can always get them at their workplace, what Ruyu has are rare items that smell good and work well.

Both of them came from well-off families, had money, and were tight-lipped. Jiang Ruyu observed them for three months before slowly revealing that she had this connection. Now, through them, she has developed relationships with their mothers, sisters-in-law, and other female elders and relatives, earning a few dozen yuan in pocket money every month.

Of course, she doesn't always have stock. She can only get these items by signing in at the relevant counter, but she can't go there to sign in every time, and if she sells too many, people will become suspicious.

The two older women at the post office had become her loyal customers. They all had regular jobs and families to feed, and there were always times when they didn't have enough coupons or food. She would go to the post office twice a month, and each time she would buy some rice, noodles, meat, and eggs, and maybe a pound of oil. She could earn twenty or thirty yuan a month.

Like a mouse carrying food, by December she had earned nearly three hundred yuan, including her salary. She planned to use this money to see if she could buy a job for one of her two younger brothers. One of them, Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin, could join the army, but the other was still undecided. She had to prepare in advance. She didn't want her brother to end up like in the books, getting married in the countryside, returning to the city after the college entrance exam, only to be forced to separate due to reality.

As time slowly passed, it was the 20th of the twelfth lunar month. Every day after get off work, Jiang Ruyu would bring some things back home. Now, her family had gotten used to it. Old Mrs. Jiang knew that her granddaughter must be hiding something from her, but at the same time, she believed that Ruyu wouldn't do anything reckless, so she tacitly approved of the things she brought back and never asked any questions.