Wei Shuqing glared at Zhao Dahu playfully, "Even when you love your wife, you don't love her like this." "I'm happy to! I love my wife! What's it to you!?" Wei Shuqing complained, but her hands honestly took the large tea mug. The two chatted and laughed all the way to Zhao Dahu's office. Qi Zhifang looked at Wei Shuqing, who was becoming more and more rounded and plump, and felt increasingly uncomfortable.

She thought to herself, "This is just a peasant, an uncultured, uneducated person. She's content as long as she's full and satisfied. She doesn't understand what love is at all. That's right, when making a living becomes the top priority for that kind of person, the word 'love' is just a joke to her. That's why she found a cook and can still be so happy!"

It's not entirely true that Wei Shuqing was uneducated; she only had a junior high school education. If it weren't for that diploma, how could she have gotten a factory job? Of course, compared to the Qi family, her diploma wasn't enough; the cultural barrier was too strong. She desperately wanted to break down it, but ended up hurting herself badly. Fortunately, she was able to cut her losses in time and chose a family that treated her and her son like precious jewels.

Her second marriage to Zhao Dahu was indeed partly due to her premonition of hardship; the strange book had mentioned famine, so she had no choice but to believe it. Even though she was transferred to work in the canteen, she was still afraid of not being able to raise a child—too many children died in those days, and she dared not gamble. But more than anything, she felt Zhao Dahu's kindness; otherwise, she wouldn't have married him so readily.

Looking back now, the best thing she ever did was marry Zhao Dahu. When she learned that Zhao Dahu was infertile, besides feeling pity and heartache for the man, she felt mostly relieved, because this way her son could receive unique love.

That strange book only briefly mentioned her two sons, without even describing their appearances. However, according to the book's description, the Qi family didn't like their children, so they probably weren't very good people. Therefore, when she saw her sons were handsome, sensible, and polite, she felt at ease and decided to stay with Zhao Dahu for the rest of her life.

Of course, Qi Zhifang didn't understand any of this. After all, when she was going through such a difficult time, she felt that being introduced to a butcher at the meat processing plant by Sister Lin was an insult to her.

After a long day of tiring work, Qi Zhifang, who hadn't eaten lunch and was starving, rushed home only to be greeted with a big surprise. She blinked in disbelief. Seeing Wang Fang, looking pale and listless, eating hot soup noodles at the table, she was taken aback. "Why are you back?"

Qi's mother glared at Qi Zhifang and said with heartache, "You're worried about the child when she's not back, and now that she's back, you still have this expression? Can't you see how bad Fangfang looks? Fangfang is sick this time and is on sick leave! Grandma's precious little darling, she needs to be well nourished this time."

Qi Zhifang finally relaxed a little and sat down. "Mom, you should stop now, so my sister-in-law won't cause any more trouble! It's only been a short while since things calmed down." Then she casually asked, "By the way, what's wrong with you?"

Wang Fang's expression changed, and she paused in her chopsticks, saying softly, "It's nothing, I'm just too tired, I want to come back and rest for a while."

Qi Zhifang nodded and said, "Then your educated youth brigade is pretty good, they can give you leave!"

Wang Fang's eyes were unfocused. She quickly finished her noodles and said, "Mom, Grandma, I'm tired. I'm going back now." She then rushed back to her room to sleep.

Qi Zhifang said suspiciously, "Mom, I feel like something's not right with her. I'm really uneasy. I hope nothing bad has happened!"

Mother Qi sighed and said, "If she doesn't say, we won't ask. Even if things get really bad, we can't commit murder or arson. Let's just leave it at that! Our family can't afford any more trouble. I hope everyone stays safe and sound."

She turned around and went back to her room. She had only been lying down for a short while when Xiao Cui came back and asked, "Mom, I saw eggshells in the kitchen. Are we having eggs today?"

Mother Qi froze, then stood up and said with a smile, "Fangfang is back. She looked sallow and listless, so I made her a poached egg and hot noodle soup. If you want some, I'll go buy some tomorrow. We're out of eggs!"

Xiao Cui chuckled and said, "We only need two jin of eggs a month, but I've seen them all this month. How come there are no eggs? Mom, you must be joking!"

Qi's mother bit her lip but didn't say anything. She went to the kitchen and took out the food she had prepared earlier: boiled cabbage, pickled vegetable shreds, six or seven cornbread buns, and a bowl of thin porridge.

After putting it down, seeing that Xiao Cui was standing still, I said, "Mom will go and exchange tickets for eggs tomorrow. You'll have to make do with this for today!"

Xiao Cui's eyes reddened with anger as she said, "We've been eating this kind of food from the beginning to the end of the year, so you're just making do every day, and I'm the only one doing it all! Before, when the neighbors said you were mistreating your ex-daughter-in-law, I didn't believe them, but it turns out you really live up to their expectations. You were bad to your ex-daughter-in-law, and you're even worse to my current daughter-in-law! I'm not going to make do today. Even without eggs, I'm going to have hot noodle soup."

Mother Qi gritted her teeth and tried to remain calm as she said, "We're out of noodles too. I told you I'd buy some tomorrow..."

"Then nobody eats!" "Ah!" "Xiao Cui, what are you doing? Just because there are no noodles and eggs, you flip the table! Mom..." Saying that, she flipped the table, and Qi's mother fell into Qi Zhifang's arms. Xiao Cui ignored them and turned to leave.

She went back and packed her bags, waiting for Qi Zhijun to return. If he didn't give her an explanation this time, she would break up with him completely.

Qi Zhifang cried and said, "Mom, Mom, don't scare me."

Qi's mother squeezed her eyes, and two tears welled up. She collapsed as if she had used up all her strength, and said weakly, "Take me back to lie down!"

Qi Zhifang half-dragged, half-carried her mother inside. When Qi Zhijun returned and entered the room, he found broken plates and bowls scattered all over the floor. His mind went blank. He went in and saw Qi Zhifang kneeling by the bed. Looking at his mother lying on the bed, he asked softly, "What happened? What's wrong?"

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