Song Ning's eyes lit up for a moment, but then she seemed to realize something, and her excitement vanished.

"Is Mr. Qi willing to help me?"

Qi Liangyuan smiled and said, "Our restaurant goes to the county town every two days. If you want to go, it's not difficult."

Song Ning was incredibly tempted, but she still calmly asked, "What are Mr. Qi's conditions?"

Qi Liangyuan was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "You little girl, although I am a businessman, I am not the kind of person who will not get up early for nothing. We are now partners, so helping you once is no big deal."

Song Ning felt somewhat embarrassed; she had been judging others by her own petty standards.

Song Ning stood up and gave Qi Liangyuan an awkward bow: "Boss Qi, I misunderstood."

"My convoy will be heading to the county town tomorrow. If you're going, remember to come early."

Thank you.

It was quite late when Song Ning returned from town. Aunt Zhao and Madam Sun were already busy at Aunt Zhao's house.

When Song Ning went in, the two were kneading dough.

Song Ning stepped forward to help, and casually asked Sun Shi, "Sister-in-law, of all the fabric I gave you last time, how much is left after we've finished making clothes for our family?"

“You gave us a lot of cloth. One set for each of you, and there’s enough left for three or four adults.”

After thinking for a while, Song Ning said, "Sister-in-law, let's use the remaining cloth to make one adult and two children. The adult is about the same age as my mother, and the children are eight and five years old respectively."

Aunt Zhao also met Song Xiu'e today and learned that Song Ning wanted to make clothes for her aunt.

"Don't worry, I've got it."

Aunt Zhao sighed, "Anyone who has a child like Er Ya is truly blessed. Look, even my aunt is benefiting from it. Only Li Guixiang is blind."

"I just bought too many, and since my aunt is coming, I'll make a couple more outfits."

She had noticed it last time; Song Xiu'e's clothes were even more tattered than theirs, and the two younger ones were dressed in rags, their clothes made of just scraps of cloth pieced together.

Seeing that today's work was almost finished, Song Ning brought over the flour ahead of time and instructed Aunt Zhao and Sun Shi that if they couldn't wait for her tomorrow, they should start making the food first and ask Liu Yuelan to come and help.

She's going to the county town tomorrow, and if she doesn't come back, someone else will have to take her.

"Don't worry, just go. Your Uncle Niu knows the way. If you can't come back tomorrow, we'll take you there."

After giving his instructions, Song Ning returned from Aunt Zhao's house.

Before even entering the house, I could hear voices coming from inside.

“Mom, Uncle’s family is so nice. We can eat our fill every day and we don’t get scolded,” said Xiaomei, Song Xiu’e’s eldest daughter.

The youngest daughter, Zhaodi, also knelt beside her mother's legs and whispered, "Mother, can we stay at Uncle's house forever?"

"We'll stay here for a few days, then leave in a couple of days."

Zhu Shun went home by himself today, but Song Xiu'e was still worried. Although she was a bit weak and had never stood up for her in her life, she was at least good to her and never disliked the two children.

When I get home today, I'm sure his mother will give me a good scolding...

"But Mother, if we go back, Grandmother will definitely scold you."

Song Ning, who was outside, did not go in.

With her current abilities, she probably couldn't support Song Xiue and her three children, so she didn't try to be brave.

So she wanted to make money quickly. If she could sell her cold noodles in the county town, she could earn more money and then she could build a house.

It wouldn't be impossible for Song Xiu'e's family to stay at that time.

Later that evening, someone from the old house came and asked Song Xiu'e to go over.

Song Xiu'e didn't refuse and went to the old house alone.

Liu Yuelan worried, "Mother called my younger sister over; I wonder what she wants her to do this time."

Given Li Guixiang's character, if she knew her daughter was forced into this situation by her in-laws, she probably wouldn't say a few kind words; she would only look for the cause in her daughter.

Sure enough, Song Xiue was fine when she left, but she had clearly been crying when she came back.

"Did your mother scold you again?" Song Dahai asked.

Song Xiue forced a smile: "It's nothing, we just said a few words, I'm used to it."

Li Guixiang married into the Song family and immediately gave birth to three sons, which was the most glorious thing in her life.

In the village, every family that doesn't have a son is looked down upon, both in public and in private.

Now that her daughter has no son, she felt ashamed of this, so she called Song Xiu'e over and scolded her.

But not long after Song Xiu'e returned, Zhang Shi from the old house came.

She stepped forward and warmly grasped Song Xiu'e's hand: "Elder sister, Mother just spoke too quickly, please don't take it to heart."

Song Xiue smiled and said, "She is my mother, I won't take it to heart."

"That's good."

Zhang gave a forced smile, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Sister-in-law, please speak your mind," Song Xiu'e said calmly.

"I heard that the Zhu family wants to divorce you?"

Song Xiu'e's expression was not good: "Yes, it's impossible for me to go back to the Zhu family."

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhang smiled and said, "Eldest sister, don't worry, the Song family will always be your home. If that day ever comes, you can always come back."

Zhang had never been this enthusiastic towards her before, but today she was actually saying nice things to her?

When she went there just now, her mother kept calling her a "money-loser" and complaining that she hadn't given her husband's family a son, otherwise she wouldn't have been kicked out by them.

Zhang was right there at the time, but she didn't say a single good word for her.

He said calmly, "We'll talk about it later. It's getting late. Sister-in-law, you should go home. If you're late, Mother will get angry again."

Song Xiu'e turned and went into the house. Zhang Shi didn't say the rest of her words, but just pursed her lips and spat in her heart.

She's just a woman who can't have a son, why is she putting on airs?

If Song Xiu'e weren't still useful, she wouldn't have said those nice things.

When we return to the Song family, won't we be at her mercy?

Zhang flicked her sleeves, rolled her eyes, and left the courtyard.

Song Ning had overheard their conversation, and she didn't believe the people over there were so kind.

"Auntie, what does my second aunt want with you?"

"It's nothing, Er Ya. Stay away from your second aunt from now on."

Chu Ning nodded: "I know."

That evening, the Song family stewed meat, and the whole family ate until their mouths were greasy.

Although the food was good, Song Xiu'e still said, "Brother and sister-in-law, you don't need to eat this much for us. The three of us can just have something to eat. How can we eat so well every meal?"

It was already very kind of Song Dahai's family to take them in; they really couldn't afford to eat like that.

Song Ning smiled and said, "Auntie, just eat without worry. You don't need to worry about anything else."

After dinner, the family busied themselves for a while before finally going to bed.

The next morning, Song Ning took the cold noodles to town.

Qi Liangyuan's carriage was ready to depart.

"Everything is ready. The carriage is fast, and we should be able to reach the county town before noon."

"Thank you, Boss Qi."

After boarding the carriage, the group set off for the county town.