I got up early, fed Pan'er, and took her to the Xu family, asking Liang Maimiao to take care of her.

Ye Yunniang carried a basket to the market to buy vegetables.

I picked out a fresh fish and bought two pieces of tofu.

Turning around to go back, I saw someone familiar.

"Madam." Ye Yunniang was surprised to see Jin Huifang here.

“I’m no longer the fourth wife of the Jiang family.” Jin Huifang was dressed in ordinary cotton clothes. Her face was unmade-up, her hair was adorned only with a wooden hairpin, and her hands were clean.

The two were standing in the middle of the road, not in a position to speak.

Ye Yunniang and Jin Huifang arrived at a wonton stall. Ye Yunniang ordered two bowls of wontons.

"Madam, how is the young master?" Ye Yunniang finally couldn't bear to ask.

"It's all good." When her son was mentioned, Jin Huifang's face was no longer lifeless, and a smile appeared.

Jin Huifang lowered her head and ate the wontons in large bites.

"lady,"

“Just call me Huifang. I’ve already said, I’m no longer Madam Jiang Si.” Jin Huifang interrupted Ye Yunniang.

Ye Yunniang opened her mouth, but couldn't recall the names, "How are you now?"

After that day, Ye Yunniang listened to Jiang Mingzhe's words and stopped asking the Jiang family about anything.

Now that they've met, Ye Yunniang wants to know how they're doing.

Jin Huifang also wanted to talk to someone.

The Jiang family was in a dilapidated temple. First, Jiang Mingyue and Aunt Bai left with Li Mingshu, who had changed his surname.

Later, the Bai family took Bai Xiuxiu, Jiang Mingyu, and their family of three away.

Inside the dilapidated temple, there were only Grandpa Jiang, Grandma Jiang, Aunt Xue, Jiang Mingrui's family of three, and Zhuang Meixue, who was half-dead.

Jin Huifang had considered that the Jin family would send someone to pick her up and take her back to her parents' home.

She had made up her mind; she would bring her husband and son home with her. The three of them would never be separated.

Jin Huifang's plan was good, but things are unpredictable.

The Jin family arrived late, and they didn't bring good news either.

A servant from the Jin family delivered a letter and a hundred-tael silver note. The letter demanded that Jin Huifang not leave the Jiang family and abandon her husband and children.

One hundred taels of silver was considered a gesture of support from the bride's family to their married daughter.

Jin Huifang was abandoned by her family just like that. What she found even more unacceptable was Jiang Mingrui's abandonment of her.

"Jiang Mingrui took the silver notes, saying he was going to exchange them for silver. He never came back, and Zhuang Meixue disappeared with him." Jin Huifang said with a sarcastic smile.

"Second Madam?" Ye Yunniang asked, puzzled.

"You didn't expect this, did you? I only found out in this dilapidated temple. The person Jiang Mingrui likes isn't me, his good second sister-in-law." Jin Huifang chuckled twice.

"How, how could this be?" Ye Yunniang didn't know what to say. She then recalled Jiang Mingzhe's ambiguous words about Jiang Mingrui having ulterior motives that day.

"Jiang Mingrui ran away with that bitch. He even left me with two sentences. Ha! Jiang Mingrui told me to take good care of his son and his parents. Bullshit!" Jin Huifang spat heavily as she spoke.

The son is Jin Huifang's; she would have raised him even without her asking. As for his parents, they've abandoned him as their son. Why should she, an outsider, raise him?

Jin Huifang pulled out her fingernails and exchanged them for some silver. She then left the dilapidated temple with Jiang Tingjun and rented a courtyard house in Sheep Dung Alley to live in.

For the past two months, Jin Huifang has been extremely frugal, splitting every penny in half. But the money is still slowly disappearing.

During this time, Jin Huifang also considered finding work.

I washed dishes for someone, broke so many that I didn't make any money, and even lost money.

She worked as a waitress in the shop, greeting customers. Because she was rude to people who were stingy when buying things, she was fired.

After searching high and low, Jin Huifang hadn't made any money; in fact, she had lost 80 taels of silver. She had almost spent all the money she had made from selling nail polish.

After paying the rent yesterday, Jin Huifang only had 3 copper coins left.

Fearing their children would go hungry, they came to the market to pick up discarded vegetable leaves.

Before, she would spend no less than 80 taels of silver on a single meal. Now she has to swallow her pride and eat rotten vegetable leaves that others don't want.

Jin Huifang covered her face with her hands.

After hearing the story, Ye Yunniang didn't know what to say.

He pushed the wontons in front of him toward Jin Huifang.

"Thank you, can I take this bowl with me?" Jiang Tingjun at home is waiting to eat it.

"Of course." Ye Yunniang bought 20 more steamed buns for Jin Huifang. It's September now, the weather is getting cooler, and the buns will keep longer.

"Hui, Fang, don't give up, things will be alright. Everything will be alright." Ye Yunniang took out the remaining money she had and gave it to Jin Huifang.

Jin Huifang did not want it.

"I'll take the food. But I can't accept anything else from you." Jin Huifang left with the steamed buns and wontons.

Ye Yunniang sighed and carried the fish home.

At home, Cai Damei was sitting by the well and washing vegetables.

"Give me the fish." Ye Yunniang didn't know how to kill fish; Cai Damei always killed the fish when they bought them at home.

Ye Yunniang handed the fish to Cai Damei and went into the kitchen to get a cleaver and a basin.

Cai Damei took the knife, deftly removed the scales, and killed the fish.

"Mother, I ran into Madam Jiang the Fourth today," Ye Yunniang said after thinking for a moment.

Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei everything she had said to Jin Huifang.

Cai Damei paused for a moment, realizing that people from the countryside were indeed too ignorant.

"You want to help her?"

"I don't know." Ye Yunniang always remembered Jiang Mingzhe's words: don't meddle in or ask about the Jiang family's affairs.

"You feel sorry for that child." Ye Yunniang didn't refute Cai Damei's words and nodded.

"I'm sorry to Pan'er." Ye Yunniang would think of Jiang Tingjun from time to time.

"If you want to help, then help. Don't think about anything else," Cai Damei advised Ye Yunniang, telling her not to overthink it.

Ye Yunniang hummed in agreement. She actually wanted to help, but didn't know how she could help them.

Before Ye Yunniang could decide what to do, Jin Huifang made her choice first.

Ye Yunniang, who was embroidering a handkerchief inside the house, heard a knock on the door.

I opened the gate to the courtyard, and there was a child sitting at the entrance.

A thin, dark-skinned child who was dirty all over, with greasy, matted hair.

Ye Yunniang recognized the child in front of her at a glance.

The child in front of her was her little master, whom she had been breastfeeding for over a year.

Ye Yunniang craned her neck to look around, but did not see Jin Huifang.

Jiang Tingjun saw a familiar face.

"Grandma, I'm hungry."

"Hungry, waah..."

Jiang Tingjun burst into tears.

Ye Yunniang looked at the dirty little child and didn't really want to hold him.

"Whose child is this?" Liang Maimiao from next door came out when she heard the noise. Pan'er followed behind her.

"Mother!" Pan'er ran over and hugged Ye Yunniang.

When Jiang Tingjun saw that Ye Yunniang was not holding him but was holding another child, he cried even louder.

"Who's so heartless as to leave their child here?" Liang Maimiao looked at Jiang Tingjun, who was crying pitifully, and felt sorry for him, wanting to hug him.

Jiang Tingjun refused, reaching out his hands to Ye Yunniang, "Nanny, Mother..."

"This is my mother, not your mother. Don't call her that." Pan'er was unhappy and shouted at Jiang Tingjun.

Jiang Tingjun cried very hard and started coughing.

Thinking of Jiang Tingjun, who used to be fair-skinned and plump, and then looking at his current thin and frail appearance, Ye Yunniang's heart softened.

"Sister Mai Miao, let me take the child inside first."

"Hmm, I'll go ask the people around here?" Liang Maimiao went to the alley entrance to inquire.

"Mother, you can't hug him." Pan'er pushed Jiang Tingjun away, not allowing Ye Yunniang to hug him. "She is my mother, not your mother."