Lin Moli's heart skipped a beat, and a panicked look appeared on her face: "Oh? No way? I thought cornmeal water would make them grow faster... What should we do? Will the seeds die?"

"It shouldn't die," Lin Wanqiu said, pretending to comfort her. "But it might grow a little slower, or it might not grow well. By the way, cousin, I planted some new seeds on the back hill yesterday. I asked someone to buy them from the commune's seed station. They're even better than the ones I gave you. Do you want to go take a look?"

Lin Moli's eyes lit up and she immediately nodded, "Yes! Yes! I'll go with you right now!" She was thinking that if the new seeds were really better, she would try to get some. Even if the previous seeds didn't grow well, she could still make money with the new seeds.

The two quickly arrived at the vegetable garden on the back hill. Lin Wanqiu pointed to the ordinary seeds she had just planted and said with a smile, "Look, this is the plot of land. I just planted them yesterday. These seeds are very precious; they're used in the commune's experimental fields. The vegetables that grow from them are big and tender, and they can fetch a good price!"

Lin Moli squatted in the field, her eyes fixed on the newly planted seeds, filled with envy. She reached out to touch them, but Lin Wanqiu stopped her: "Cousin, don't touch them. You can't touch the newly planted seeds; it will affect their germination."

Lin Moli had no choice but to withdraw her hand, but she wanted the seeds even more. She moved closer to Lin Wanqiu and whispered, "Sister Wanqiu, these seeds are so good, could you give me some? I'll definitely share half of my earnings with you!"

Lin Wanqiu deliberately feigned hesitation: "This...isn't that a bit inappropriate? These seeds are scarce; I don't even have enough for myself. Besides, the commune's seed station has regulations that prohibit giving them to others casually."

"Oh, Sister Wanqiu, please help me!" Lin Moli grabbed her arm and started to whine again, "My mother hasn't been feeling well lately, and I want to earn some money to buy her medicine. If you don't help me, my mother won't get better..." As she spoke, she squeezed out a few tears, pretending to be pitiful.

Lin Wanqiu sneered inwardly, but pretended to be touched on the surface: "Alright, then I'll secretly give you some. You mustn't tell anyone, especially Old Lady Shen. If she finds out, she'll definitely go to the commune to complain."

She took a small handful of ordinary seeds from the bamboo basket and handed them to Lin Moli: "Take these. These seeds need to be taken good care of. Water them with clean water once a day, not too much and not too little, otherwise they won't grow well."

Lin Moli took the seeds as if they were precious treasures, quickly hiding them in her pocket, her face beaming with joy: "Thank you, Sister Wanqiu! You're so kind! I'll never forget your kindness!"

Seeing her smug look, Lin Wanqiu thought to herself, "Just wait, Lin Moli, you'll find out in a few days that these seeds are no different from ordinary seeds. You think you can make money from them? You're dreaming!"

For the next few days, Lin Moli went to the backyard every day to check on her seeds, and watered them daily as Lin Wanqiu had instructed. But instead of sprouting, the seeds began to rot, emitting a foul odor. Lin Moli panicked and ran to Lin Wanqiu's house, crying, "Wanqiu-jie, something terrible has happened! My seeds haven't sprouted, they've rotted! What's going on?"

Lin Wanqiu feigned surprise: "Rotten? How could it rot? Did you water it too much? Or did it get bitten by bugs?"

"No," Lin Moli said, crying. "I only watered it once a day and didn't see any bugs... Sister Wanqiu, is there something wrong with the seeds you gave me?"

"Impossible!" Lin Wanqiu pretended to be angry. "I use those seeds myself. The seeds on my back mountain have all sprouted and are growing very well! It must be that you didn't take good care of them, and you're blaming the seeds for something wrong with them!"

As she spoke, she pulled Lin Moli toward the back of the mountain: "Look for yourself, all the seeds I planted have sprouted and are growing so well! If you had taken good care of them, how could they have rotted?"

Lin Moli walked to the edge of the vegetable garden and saw that the seeds Lin Wanqiu had planted had indeed sprouted, the lush green seedlings growing vigorously. She felt even more panicked, muttering repeatedly, "How could this happen... how could this happen..."

Just then, Old Mrs. Shen suddenly walked over, carrying a burlap sack, clearly intending to steal vegetables again. Seeing Lin Moli, she immediately shouted, "Moli, I knew you and Lin Wanqiu were up to something! Did you get some good seeds from her? Hand them over right now! Otherwise, I'll report you to the village committee, saying you and Lin Wanqiu are hiding something!"

Lin Moli turned pale with fright at Old Mrs. Shen's presence. She quickly took out the ordinary seeds from her pocket and cried, "Old Mrs. Shen, no... these seeds were given to me by Lin Wanqiu, but they didn't sprout at all, and they rotted... I didn't hide anything from her..."

Grandma Shen took the seeds, looked at them, and smelled them. She immediately understood—they were just ordinary vegetable seeds, nothing special! Furious, she threw the seeds on the ground and pointed at Lin Moli, yelling, "You silly girl! You've been tricked by Lin Wanqiu and you don't even know it! She's just playing you for a fool!"

Lin Moli then realized that she had been tricked by Lin Wanqiu! She looked at Lin Wanqiu, her eyes filled with anger and grievance: "Sister Wanqiu, why did you lie to me? Why did you try to fool me with ordinary seeds?"

Lin Wanqiu sneered, her face devoid of its previous gentleness: "I lied to you? You were the one who was greedy and wanted to steal my things! You think I don't know what you're up to? You just wanted to steal my seeds and take over my business, didn't you? Now you've lost more than you gained, and you still have the nerve to ask me why?"

She paused, then raised her voice a few decibels so that the villagers passing by could hear her: "Everyone, come and judge this! Lin Moli used the pretense of visiting me to actually steal my seeds and take over my business! I kindly gave her seeds, but she was not satisfied and even tried to scheme against me with Old Lady Shen! Tell me, whose fault is this?"

The surrounding villagers had long disapproved of what Old Lady Shen and Lin Moli were doing, and they all criticized them: "Old Lady Shen, you've gone too far! You're always bullying Lin Wanqiu!" "Lin Moli, you're no better! You're trying to steal other people's business, you deserve to be played!"

Grandma Shen and Lin Moli were so embarrassed by what they said that they couldn't stay any longer and had no choice but to slink away. Watching their retreating figures, Lin Wanqiu felt a surge of satisfaction—this was the consequence of greed!

She turned around and saw Nian'an standing not far away, holding a cornbread bun in his hand, staring at her with wide eyes. Lin Wanqiu walked over, picked him up, and said with a smile, "Nian'an, what brings you here?"

Nian'an held the cornbread to her mouth and whispered, "Mom, you're amazing!"

Lin Wanqiu's heart ached suddenly, and tears almost fell. The Nian'an of the past was always timid and fearful, never daring to speak loudly. Now, he had finally become cheerful and brave, and even praised her.

She took the cornbread, took a bite, and felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She knew this was just the first step in her fight against her awful relatives, and many more difficulties awaited her. But as long as Nian'an was by her side, and as long as Shen Tingzhou was secretly protecting her, she had the courage to keep going and carve out a better future for herself, Nian'an, and their little family.

Sunlight streamed into the vegetable garden, where lush green seedlings thrived, much like Lin Wanqiu and Nian'an's future, full of hope and vitality.