After persistent efforts, Wang Puan finally won Xu Nian's forgiveness.

The peaceful days didn't last long before Mu Qingqing, that unlucky girl, had exactly what she feared.

If it weren't for the big yellow dog's help, Xu Nian and Wang Pu'an wouldn't have been able to save her in time.

After subduing the bandits and handing them over to the authorities, Xu Nian comforted Mu Qingqing for a long time before she calmed down.

After this incident, Mu Qingqing gained another big yellow dog.

If her family hadn't been somewhat wealthy, they probably wouldn't have been able to afford to keep this big yellow dog.

Days passed by, and before we knew it, another year had gone by.

The rain in Northeast China is so regular that at first people were worried that the three provinces might also experience drought, but later they got used to calculating which days would rain.

On this day, Xu Nian was chatting with Mu Qingqing in the courtyard as usual.

The gate to the courtyard was knocked on rhythmically, slowly waiting for the owner to open it.

Xu Nian and Mu Qingqing exchanged a glance, then moved their stools to the gate of the courtyard, climbed onto the stools, and leaned over the wall to look outside.

There were four or five people standing in front of the courtyard gate: a handsome young man, a dignified and elegant woman, a woman dressed as a head maid, and two servants carrying a box.

The woman who knocked on the door was dressed as the head maid.

"Niannian, should we open the door for them?" Mu Qingqing whispered in Xu Nian's ear.

"Open the door, guests are guests." Xu Nian lowered her eyes, but she had already guessed the purpose of this group's visit.

Jumping off the stool, Xu Nian opened the courtyard gate and asked, "What brings you here?"

"Child, your name is Xu Nian?" The elegant and noble woman stepped forward excitedly. Although Xu Nian and Mu Qingqing were standing together, she clearly went straight for Xu Nian.

"Yes, Madam, do you need something from me?" Xu Nian nodded calmly.

"My child, you have suffered so much. I am your mother, and you should have been my daughter!" The elegant and graceful woman said, tears welling up in her eyes, before she began to recount the whole story.

It turns out that Xu Nian is the daughter of the Prefect of Donghe.

Her father offended someone, and that person didn't dare to do anything to her father, so they stole her away and dumped her in a farmer's house. They even gave the farmer money to take good care of her and said they would marry her off when she came of age.

The Xu family didn't know Xu Nian's identity at first, but they treated her fairly well because of the money.

But as time went by, the person who had initially brought Xu Nian to them never returned. Just then, Xu Nian was about to come of age, and coincidentally, the Liu family was buying a wife to bring good luck.

And so, for a few taels of silver, Xu Nian was sold by them.

It's absurd, ridiculous, and laughable, but that's exactly how simply she was sold.

"Don't worry, Niannian. Your father has already imprisoned the Xu family and confiscated their property. Your father has also punished the Liu family." After saying this, the elegant and noble woman wiped away her tears and quickly pulled the handsome young man beside her over.

“Niannian, this is your brother, his name is Xu Wei.”

"Wei'er, quickly call her sister." The elegant and noble woman pulled Xu Wei to Xu Nian.

“Niannian, I’m your brother. I even held you when you were little. You loved me the most when you were little. I’m such a useless brother, and it’s only now that I’ve found you.” Xu Wei’s eyes were gentle, and the guilt in them was almost overflowing.

"Madam, Young Master Xu, if you don't mind the simplicity of my place, please come in and have a cup of tea!" Xu Nian generously invited them in.

The elegant woman's face showed a moment of disappointment upon hearing Xu Nian's address to her, but then she smiled broadly again. "I don't mind at all, I don't mind at all. I'm just glad that Nian Nian doesn't feel like we're bothering you."

Mu Qingqing was very perceptive; knowing that Xu Nian wouldn't go into the kitchen, she went to boil water and make tea on her own.

"Niannian, is the man you married good to you?" The woman had clearly investigated everything about Xu Nian before she came.

"He's very good to me." Xu Nian wasn't speaking up for Wang Pu'an; he really was incredibly good to her in daily life.

"As long as they treat you well, that's enough," the woman said with satisfaction.

The woman then asked many more questions, which Xu Nian answered one by one.

When Mu Qingqing brought over the tea, the two were already discussing whether or not to return to the Donghe Prefectural Government.

Xu Nian refused. Wang Pu'an was here, and Mu Qingqing was here too. What was she going to do at the Donghe Prefectural Office alone?

I'm not going.

Finally, the woman put down the box and went home with a face full of regret.

After the group left, Mu Qingqing curiously approached the box and asked, "Niannian, what's in this box?"

"They said it was a dowry prepared for me." Xu Nian's feelings were complicated.

She could tell that the woman's eyes were full of a mother's love for her child.

But the original owner who needed her mother's love was gone, and Xu Nian felt ashamed to accept it.

"Niannian, you've transformed into the daughter of the Prefect of Donghe! You're now a daughter of an official!" Mu Qingqing said happily for Xu Nian.

“It doesn’t count if you haven’t officially recognized your ancestors,” Xu Nian said, taking a sip of tea.

“That’s true, we’re all leaving soon, so this identity won’t be of much use to you.” Mu Qingqing sighed, resting her chin on her hand.

"In six months, you can go home." Xu Nian's words stirred up Mu Qingqing's enthusiasm for returning home, and she immediately pulled Xu Nian aside to talk about her modern friends and her family.

The two talked a lot that day.

When Mu Qingqing got home, the corners of her mouth were turned up in a smile.

When Wang Pu'an returned in the evening and saw the box of things in the yard, he was stunned for a moment. After listening to Xu Nian's account, he was not happy at all.

Knowing that Wang Puan was having an attack of her illness, Xu Nian began to feel insecure about her again, so she had no choice but to promise her that she would not leave.

However, Wang Pu'an refused to believe it, and as a result, the four-poster bed creaked all night.

The morning sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating the woman's exposed arms with specks of crimson, even her fingertips were not spared.

On the bunk bed, the man was still entangled with the woman, and the woman's soft sobs made him even more unable to control himself.

"Wang Pu'an, get out!" Xu Nian said angrily.

"Niannian, this is the last time, I won't bother you anymore." But as it turns out, men's words are just empty promises.

Xu Nian's eyes were brimming with tears. She had been disturbed for most of the night and had finally fallen asleep when Wang Pu'an woke up and started bothering her again.

"Wang Pu'an, don't go too far." In the past, Xu Nian's words would have been effective, but today Wang Pu'an was determined to pretend he didn't hear her.

He silenced the woman's incessant chatter, closed his eyes which were about to burst into tears, and pulled her into another blissful state.

Niannian, I know your secret.

But I dared not ask; I so desperately wanted to beg you not to leave.

But I know you won't stay for me.

Because you are truly heartless!

No matter how hard I try to warm that heart, I can't. I don't know what to do anymore.

Niannian, what am I going to do with you?

Wang Puan covered Xu Nian's eyes so she wouldn't see his bloodshot eyes.

The carefree little thing deserves to be played with until it's broken.