When the Shen Guoliang family first moved in, some people did murmur that since there was only one girl left in the family, perhaps the Shen Guoliang family wanted to control Shen Mu Ning in order to seize her older brother's family property. But in the past few years, Shen Guoliang has put on a good act and has been very kind to the neighbors.

As for Shen Mu Ning, since she had an income of 15 yuan a month, they weren't stingy with food and didn't raise her too poorly, so most people thought they were a good family.

Several people felt sorry for Shen Guoliang after hearing Li Hongmei's tearful account. But after hearing He's daughter-in-law's words, they realized that the courtyard originally belonged to Shen Mu Ning. It was one thing for Shen Guoliang and his family of four to live there for free for several years, but how could they even dream of turning it into their own?

He Jie, impatient with these petty squabbles between women, turned to Shen Guoliang and said, “Comrade Shen Guoliang, I did indeed buy this courtyard from your niece, Shen Mu Ning. She was originally the owner of this courtyard and has the right to dispose of it. We bought the house and even registered it with the housing management bureau. I believe you are a reasonable person. We will give you three days to move out. You should find a new place as soon as possible.”

He Jie knew that Shen Guoliang was a man who valued his reputation highly. He didn't want people to say that he wanted to seize his niece's property. Besides, the courtyard had already been registered under the He family's name. If he didn't move out, they would have a legitimate reason to call the police and kick him out. It was better to end things gracefully and leave on his own. So he just nodded silently and scolded Li Hongmei, telling her to stop making trouble.

After leaving with his family, Shen Guoliang slumped into a chair, silent. His niece was quite cunning; she had acted so obediently before, but the moment she had a chance to escape his control, she revealed her true colors. Perhaps going to the countryside would be just as she wished. Shen Lin and Shen Yu also sat silently in the dining room. They used to think Shen Mu Ning was nothing more than a pitiful creature, dependent on others and bullied at will. But now she had left so gracefully, taking back everything her father had taken from her, and they were even moving out of the small courtyard they thought would belong to them.

Shen Mu Ning said that she was indeed obedient and dependent on them in the past, but they killed the original owner of the body so that she could come into being, so now she can only suffer the consequences.

After figuring things out, Shen Guoliang could only frantically search for a place to live. But in those days, who had many rooms to rent out? And those with multiple properties wouldn't bother with the small amount of rent. His family ended up finding a two-bedroom apartment in a tenement building. Not only was the space cramped, but there wasn't even a toilet; they had to cook in a makeshift stove in the hallway. Whenever they cooked something delicious, shameless women would come and ask for it, which annoyed Li Hongmei to no end.

Of course, this wasn't the most devastating part. Ten days later, the widow who was close to Shen Guoliang was caught by her husband's family having evidence of her relationship with Shen Guoliang and that her child had been born prematurely. This widow, who managed to get a job after her husband's death, wasn't exactly a kind person; she had long since offended her husband's brothers and sisters-in-law. It was only because their mother was mindful of her leaving a child for her deceased son that they hadn't interfered much with her work. Now that they knew the child wasn't theirs, they quickly took back the job and kicked the mother and child out of the house.

The widow had no choice but to approach Shen Guoliang. Although she had some savings over the years, why didn't she keep them for herself instead of helping Shen Guoliang raise the child? Of course, she had to send the child to Shen Guoliang's side so she could get a share of his estate later. She could rent a small apartment and ask Shen Guoliang for money every month to live a carefree life.

But the widow hadn't expected that Shen Guoliang would be kicked out of the courtyard and forced to rent a place, and that he would return all the money he'd gotten from his niece. This meant her previous plans were no longer feasible; Shen Guoliang certainly wouldn't give her any more money now. So she simply abandoned her child with Shen Guoliang, ran off to the city, used her savings to buy a job, and never returned.

From then on, the Shen Guoliang family was plunged into misery. Li Hongmei frequently argued with Shen Guoliang about their adopted son, but they couldn't let anyone know that the child was Shen Guoliang's biological son. They could only say that the child was Li Hongmei's nephew who was staying for a while. Otherwise, having an affair would only result in being taken away for criticism and denunciation, and the three of them would be gossiped about, and the child would not have a good future.