Upon seeing the land deeds, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, and other items inside the wooden box, Li Yanzhong looked up in astonishment: "Madam, are we really going to donate these?"

Yu Jingqiu gently stroked the gilded bronze enamel paperweight on the table and chuckled, "They're just useless decorations and abandoned land. Keeping them will only bring trouble. It's better to send them away sooner rather than later and have some peace and quiet."

Upon hearing this, Li Yanzhong's facial muscles twitched involuntarily.

Bincheng is adjacent to the capital and has been the site of several dynasties over the centuries. Officials who maintained their prestige or retired to the second line of government liked to buy property in Bincheng. Over time, the prosperity of Bincheng can be imagined.

As one of the four major families in Bincheng, the Feng family accumulated a vast amount of wealth over the past century. Although their wealth has shrunk considerably in recent years due to the unfilial behavior of their descendants and the restructuring of their industries into joint public-private enterprises, the real estate they have left behind is still astonishing.

Even the share documents of the Feng family's joint public-private enterprises are in the box. Although the annual interest rate is only 5%, the total annual income is tens of thousands. He has personally managed all of these.

Li Yanzhong wasn't interested in the valuables themselves, but rather worried: "Madam, if we donate all of this, how will you and the children live?"

“I have a job and a salary, which is enough to support my children,” Yu Jingqiu replied with a smile, “just like many working-class families in this city.”

“How can they be the same?” Li Yanzhong said anxiously. “Ordinary families don’t have nannies, so they have to do all the housework themselves. They usually eat a mix of coarse and fine grains, eat meat less than twice a month, and only get six feet of cloth a year. My wife can’t get used to living like that.”

Yu Jingqiu listened quietly to him finish speaking, then suddenly laughed: "How do you know I can't get used to it? I was originally a daughter from an ordinary family. My father was just a teacher, and my mother was a housewife. I've been used to doing housework with my mother since I was a child."

Li Yanzhong was stunned for a moment, his gaze falling on Yu Jingqiu's hands folded on her knees. They were slender, smooth, and flawless, like beautiful jade.

With just one glance, he quickly looked away, gazing at the bare tree branches outside the window, battered by the cold wind, and said in a low voice, "If Madam insists on this, I will give you my monthly salary from now on."

Yu Jingqiu was stunned for a moment.

As Feng Mingshu passed by the study, he didn't hear what Uncle Li said, but sensing the subtle atmosphere inside, he prepared to leave.

Yu Jingqiu noticed her and beckoned to her: "Zhuzhu, come in. You are the eldest daughter in the family, and there are some things you should know."

Seeing her mother's serious expression, Feng Mingshu went into the study and saw the box on the table, thus learning about her mother's decisiveness.

"Mom, is all our family's wealth here?" Feng Mingshu wanted to confirm.

Yu Jingqiu nodded: "Except for the Western-style house we live in now, everything is here." She lightly tapped the lid of the box with her jade-like fingers.

Feng Mingshu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Mom, maybe we shouldn't keep the little villa we live in."

In my previous life, the small Western-style house was raided, smashed, and confiscated.

Upon hearing this, Yu Jingqiu merely twitched her eyebrows slightly, but Li Yanzhong was greatly surprised.

Is the young lady more generous than the wife?

He knew that in this era, dedication and selflessness were highly valued and would be praised. Young girls had not experienced the hardships of life and might be blinded by empty fame.

But Li Yanzhong didn't lose his temper and immediately objected: "Miss, the house cannot be donated."

Feng Mingshu shook her head: "Uncle Li, I'm not delirious." She looked at her mother, "Mom, what do you think about exchanging our little villa for a company-provided apartment?"

Yu Jingqiu did not respond to her question, but turned her head slightly to Li Yanzhong and said, "Yanzhong, I want to talk to Zhuzhu alone."

Li Yanzhong immediately stood up: "Yes, madam."

The door closed, leaving only the mother and daughter inside.

Just as Feng Mingshu was about to speak, her hand was grasped, and her mother gently rubbed her fingers, whispering, "Zhuzhu, did you spend those fifteen years in a labor camp?"

"yes."

"What's the environment like inside? Is it connected to the outside?"

"We can't get in touch, and very few people come to visit."

Feng Mingshu smiled bitterly. It was a labor reform farm sent down from a cadre school. The management was closed and strict, and it mainly imprisoned intellectuals and cadres and leaders who had been purged. She was not qualified to go there, but she was only able to do so because of the "favor" of a certain person.

She only left the farm after that person stepped down and the cadre school was about to be disbanded.

She had been isolated and disciplined for too long, and everything in the outside world was so unfamiliar to her that she became timid and cowardly.

Stepping out of the farm gate, she encountered a military jeep. The guard invited her to get in, saying it was on the way to Bincheng. However, she hesitated and dared not step forward. It wasn't until the farm leader came out and confirmed that the man's identity was correct that he impatiently urged her to get in the car and leave. Fearing the leader, she hurriedly got into the passenger seat of the military vehicle.

The imposing leader was sitting in the back seat; she dared not approach him, nor even glance at him.

It wasn't until she saw her thin, sallow, rough, and scarred face in the rearview mirror that she realized there was nothing about her that anyone could take advantage of. The commander's offer to give her a ride was simply out of kindness.

Her panicked heart calmed down a little, and after a long pause, she finally mustered up the courage to thank the leader.

But just as she was about to turn to face the leader, the car suddenly braked. Startled, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, time and space shifted, and she found herself back in her high school classroom fifteen years ago.

It was as if those fifteen years in the labor camp were just a dream, a nightmare that foreshadowed the future. She woke up from the dream and returned to a peaceful and warm reality.

Of course, this is a good thing; she wants to change her destiny through this precognitive dream!

Seeing the renewed fighting spirit in her daughter's eyes, Yu Jingqiu affectionately patted her head: "Zhuzhu, Mom will arrange everything. We'll keep the villa we live in for now. Remember, too much of a good thing can be bad, or it will arouse suspicion."

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