Qiao Qiuniang felt both heartache and relief as she watched the children go to school.

"You guys, don't worry about what those Thai kids are doing. Just mind your own business and study hard. Don't let this money go to waste."

Being able to send several children to school was something she never dared to dream of before.

Qiao Qiuniang sat down and sighed. Ankang, who was on the kang, grabbed a chess piece from the chessboard and started playing with it.

An Ding was engrossed in pondering the game when An Kang suddenly grabbed one of his pieces and threw it down, causing him to rub his forehead in exasperation.

"Little brother, this one isn't dead yet. Give it to your second brother. Go play with that pile over there; those are all dead."

Ankang held onto the chess piece tightly, refusing to let go.

"Oh, my precious grandson, let's eat this, but don't touch the pieces on the chessboard."

An Dalin took out a piece of peach shortbread from the basket under the kang table, broke off a small piece and stuffed it into An Kang's hand before taking out the chess piece that An Kang was holding.

An Mancang lifted the curtain and went out. A little while later, he came back in carrying a half-finished skateboard. He sat on a futon on the ground with An Le and started working on the details of the skateboard.

An Dalin, who was playing chess with An Ding on the kang (heated brick bed), seemed to have just figured out a trick of the game and was getting into it. He was playing with great enthusiasm when, as if on cue, the devil appeared—

Liu Xiufen's untimely entry with An Tai shattered the family's harmonious atmosphere.

An Ning frowned when she saw Liu Xiufen enter. They were just talking, why did she bring An Tai here?

I hope she doesn't cause any more chaos at her house. Every time her aunt comes over, she turns the whole family upside down. It's so annoying.

"Oh, they're all still awake in this room. I noticed the gate to the yard outside wasn't locked yet, and the lights were still on in this room, so I came over to check. Usually, they would have turned off the lights and gone to sleep by now."

What are all these people talking about, gathered in this one room?

Qiao Qiuniang was sewing shoes when she paused, looked up at Liu Xiufen who had entered and opened the door, and gave a slight smile.

"It's Xiufen. Lewa said she wanted to tinker with something, so I was planning to wait until she was done before going to sleep."

Liu Xiufen then looked down at the skateboard that Anle and Anmancang were fiddling with while sitting on the ground. Her gaze lingered on the skateboard for a moment, but she couldn't figure out what it was, so she looked away and smiled at Qiao Qiuniang.

"My sister-in-law is living a good life now; she doesn't even care about saving this little bit of kerosene lamp."

Sigh, I'm so short on money these days, I can't even afford to light a kerosene lamp?

We're planning to buy a small house in town, so your third brother won't have to travel back and forth so much when he's working there. That would be more convenient, wouldn't it?

So in order to save money to buy a house, I have to be careful with everything I do now!

They say fortunes change, and that's really true.

With a sour tone, Liu Xiufen squeezed herself onto the kang (a heated brick bed), pushing aside An Jing who was standing on the edge, and sat down on the kang herself.

Upon hearing Liu Xiufen's words, Qiao Qiuniang seemed to understand what was going on, and the smile on her lips stiffened.

Although Qiao Qiuniang is a bit soft-hearted, she's not stupid.

The meaning behind these words is clear to anyone with common sense, who can easily understand them with just a little thought.

An Dalin glanced at Liu Xiufen, then withdrew his gaze without saying a word, his old eyes continuing to focus on the chessboard, intently playing chess with An Ding.

Qiao Qiuniang licked her lips. "Sigh, whose family doesn't live a tight life? My husband and I have only just started to see some improvement in our lives."

As soon as Qiao Qiuniang finished speaking, she stared intently at An Kang's An Tai, pointed at the half-eaten peach shortbread in An Kang's hand, and shouted loudly.

"Mom, I want to eat peach shortbread too."

Liu Xiufen's eyes flickered, following the direction of her son's finger, and landed on the half-eaten peach shortbread in An Kang's hand. She also raised her voice.

"Oh my, this is peach shortbread! Brother, sister-in-law, you two are living a really good life, even eating such a precious thing as peach shortbread."

Before we separated our family, we wouldn't even buy one of these things for Chinese New Year. Now we can eat peach shortbread even though it's not a holiday?

Anning's displeasure was evident in the correction.

"Auntie, what you're saying isn't right. My parents were kicked out of the family with nothing and adopted by my grandfather's family. How can you say they separated from the family?"

Liu Xiufen's face stiffened, then she waved her hand and pushed An Ning aside, "Go away, what do you know, you little kid?"

What is this about adoption and non-adoption?

This blood relation can't be severed; aren't we still family after all?

She glanced at the peach shortbread in An Kang's hand and said without ceremony, "Sister-in-law, give Taiwa a piece to satisfy his craving."

Qiao Qiuniang didn't take Liu Xiufen's words to heart and was just about to get up to get a piece for An Tai when An Ning spoke up again in an annoyed tone.

"That's all. When we bought them, we each bought one to satisfy our cravings. Who would buy more of this expensive stuff?"

It's not a holiday or festival, and the fact that they bought one piece for each of us six siblings to satisfy our cravings is already quite a sum of money.

An Ning interrupted Liu Xiufen, leaving her speechless and frustrated.

"Mom, I want to eat! I want to eat too!"

Liu Xiufen slapped An Tai on the back in anger, taking her frustration out on him.

"What are you going to eat? Can we afford this expensive stuff?"

An Tai stubbornly protested, "Mom, you bought all of these for me before. You said that these expensive things are something that other people can't afford, but our family can."

Liu Xiufen's face turned awkward instantly, and she stubbornly denied it.

"When did Mother say such a thing? You're talking nonsense. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart."

She came here just to extort money. Now that we've said that, how can we bring it up again?

That stupid son of yours is such an idiot.

An Yi smiled and said, “Someone as good at making money as Uncle, earning one or two taels of silver a month, can afford such expensive things. Aunt, you don’t need to feel modest. It’s not like we haven’t seen our cousin take it out to eat before.”

An Tai, oblivious to the situation, chimed in, "Mom, since An Yi said so, you should ask Dad to go to town and buy it for me tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiufen felt an urge to slap her silly son, and she scolded him with a sullen face.

What do you know?

Even if we could afford it before, we can't afford it now.

Our family is short of money to buy a house in town right now.

We're still short of enough to buy it all, so where would we get the spare money for you to eat snacks?

"Go away, don't bother me here. Go find your grandma."

After sending her mentally challenged son away, Liu Xiufen brought up the topic of buying a house again.