“Miao’er, you’re different from when you were little,” Sun Caiping whispered as she followed behind her.

When she got married, Miao'er was just a little girl who could only follow behind her and call her aunt. She would shyly hide when strangers came to the house. Now that she saw her niece could shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family, Sun Caiping felt very gratified.

After making inquiries over several days, Sun Miao'er finally found a reliable teacher. The teacher's house was in a lane behind the cloth shop, so the two children wouldn't have to go too far to go to school.

"Let's go now, we'll be home by dark." Sun Miao'er tidied up the backyard and cleaned up the empty rooms. She instructed Liu'er to guard the shop and prepared to go back to the village to pick up Grandma Sun.

The main gate of the Jin family's house was locked, and there were no clothes drying in the yard, indicating that no one had lived there for some time.

"Grandma, I'm back." Sun Miao'er spotted Grandma Sun at a glance, who was drying radishes in the yard.

Grandma Sun slowly straightened her hunched back, her hand trembled, and she dropped the dried radish on the ground. "Miao'er, what brings you back?"

Sun Miao'er explained everything to Grandma Sun and also told her about finding a tutor for the two children in the city.

Grandma Sun nodded as she listened, but her expression suddenly changed when Sun Miao'er mentioned taking her to the city to live a better life.

She stubbornly insisted, "I'm not going!"

Sun Miao'er looked helpless. Although Sun Caiping had guessed this would be the result on the way here, she still did not expect that the old lady Sun would refuse so decisively.

When Grandma Sun gets stubborn, she can be quite fierce. She buried her head in sorting the dried radishes and refused to say another word.

"Grandma, why don't you give me a reason not to go? Do you not want to live with your granddaughter?" Sun Miao'er thought that she might be able to change the old lady's mind by using a reverse psychology tactic.

Grandma Sun straightened up, her cloudy eyes gazing affectionately at the old house before her. "I'm all alone now. If I leave again, how lonely my husband will be. When I'm home, I can occasionally go to the fields to keep him company and talk to him."

"Grandma, I'm worried about you being home alone!" Sun Miao'er was concerned that since Grandma Sun had only recently recovered from her illness, she might not be able to come back to take care of her if something happened to her.

Grandma Sun packed the pile of dried radishes into a cloth bag and said in a low voice, "Grandma is fine. Just remember to come back and visit often. And Liang Lao Er's family, they've been looking after me a lot lately!"

"Oh, right, Miao'er, take this bag of dried radishes with you. Grandma knows there are many delicious foods in the city, but these are all homemade, so it's safe to eat them."

Grandma Sun's back was a little more hunched over, but her spirits were much better than before. It seemed that seeing her descendants doing well brought her comfort.

The oxcart from that day was gone, so the aunt and niece decided to stay overnight at home.

The next morning, someone came to greet them; it was Sun Caiping.

Hearing the noise, Sun Miao'er stood up. "Auntie, what's this?"

A couple stood in the courtyard. The woman looked distressed, her face was sallow, and she was thin. The man was short, with dark circles under his eyes and cracked lips.

The woman suddenly stepped forward and took Sun Miao'er's hand. "Miao'er, I'm your aunt. Don't you remember me?"

"Miao'er, it's your uncle!"

Sun Miao'er stood there dumbfounded. She really didn't remember, or rather, had they really met before? Could they be relatives of Song's maternal family?

But to avoid embarrassment, Sun Miao'er could only smile and say, "Uncle, Aunt, what brings you here?"

Song Rende smiled sheepishly, "I came to see you."

Sun Miao'er immediately understood that these two people's visit was not as simple as just coming to see her. Back then, when Song Shi went mad for no reason, no one from Song Shi's family ever came. For so many years, they have ignored this niece and didn't even know if she was alive or dead. How could they possibly come to see her?

It's true that the Song and Sun families used to be on good terms, but ever since that blunder happened back then, their relationship has never been the same.

Old Man Sun resented the Song family for disrespecting him and instead causing trouble in the village. The Song family, in turn, blamed Old Man Sun for failing to properly raise his son, which nearly ruined their family's reputation.

The past is now unclear.

"Uncle and Aunt, it's really bad timing today. My aunt and I have to drive our oxcart into town, so we can't entertain you." Sun Miao'er didn't want to pay attention to them and just gave them a few perfunctory replies.

Seeing that Sun Miao'er was in a hurry to leave, the couple could no longer hold back their words and said, "Miao'er, we heard that you are doing big business in the city now?"

Goodness, the news travels fast! Her shop hasn't even officially opened yet, how did it become a big business? "No, it's just a small business. My family is counting on me for everything!"

"Miao'er, you're being modest. You've already opened a shop; it's no longer a small business!" Song Rende's name reflected his personality; he only spoke kind words and exuded the pedantic air of a poor scholar.

"Miao'er, to be honest, we've come today because we need your help with something." Madam Song gave her husband a push and, without beating around the bush, directly stated her purpose.

Sun Miao'er had already guessed the purpose of their trip, but she still pretended to be surprised, "Me? How can I help Uncle?"

Song Rende's father was an old scholar who had some spare money, but by the time it came to Song Rende, it was probably all squandered.

“It’s not your cousin. He’s not young anymore. We were thinking of finding him a wife, but last month our old house suddenly collapsed.”

"Our family practically emptied our savings to pay for your cousin's dowry. Now that we don't have a house, the girl's family wants to break off the engagement and insists that we build a house before they'll agree to it."

Sun Miao'er retorted without holding back, "Even a hen needs a nest to lay eggs, let alone someone who marries and has children."

Her words, though crude, were not without reason, leaving the Song couple looking pale and then purple, wishing they could disappear into the ground.

If it weren't for needing to borrow money, Song Rende would have at least put on some airs of a superior.

"Miao'er, your uncle knows you have some money to spare right now, so I'm lending you some to help your cousin build a house and get married. I'll pay you back as soon as I have the money!"

Sun Miao'er sneered inwardly. Back then, when the original owner of this body was almost frozen and starving to death, Song's so-called family members didn't utter a single word. But now that she's doing a little better, these people have a nose like dogs and come running over like madmen.

Sun Miao'er stared at Song Rende with a forced smile, "I'm sorry, Uncle, I just got new stock, tidied up the shop, and need to hire help. I really don't have any money. Look how poor I am, I even had to ask my aunt for help!"

If Song could know from beyond the grave that her brother was a heartless opportunist who would betray her after using her brother, would she also feel disheartened?