After lunch, seeing Ping'an fall asleep, Old Lady Cheng took Lin Lishan and her daughter out. Along the way, the old lady didn't say where they were going first. She just asked Zhou Jiao and her daughter to follow her.

After taking the bus for more than half an hour, Old Mrs. Cheng finally took the mother and daughter around the alleys and turned several times to a large courtyard.

The outside of the slum was a mess, the aisles were filled with debris, and you could smell the pungent stench of urine.

Entering the courtyard, Zhou Jiao counted the coal piles under the eaves and windows, and found at least seven or eight families living there. Carefully watching her step, she followed Old Lady Cheng until she reached the door of the innermost household.

Mrs. Cheng knocked on the door, and soon a head popped out from the doorway, then shrank back behind it. The other party, perhaps recognizing it as someone they knew, opened a small opening, just enough for one person to pass sideways.

After entering, the two rooms were not big. In the inner room, the man lifted the quilt, took out two packages and handed them to Mrs. Cheng. After receiving the food coupons from Mrs. Cheng, he opened the door and let them leave.

There was no word spoken throughout the whole process, it was very mysterious.

After leaving the compound and getting further away, Old Lady Cheng started talking about the other person's story.

This family also has the surname Cheng, but of course they have nothing to do with the Jiangnan Cheng family.

The one who opened the door was Master Cheng's only son. Speaking of Master Cheng, whom I had never met, he was a pitiful man.

In his early years, he was renowned for his craftsmanship. He worked hard to buy this large compound, and he and his wife had five sons and two daughters. After the war and human suffering, only one son and one daughter survived. After liberation, he worked as a pattern maker in a garment factory. Finally, his family had settled down and found peace.

As a result, he was reported to have made clothes for GMD officers and Japanese soldiers. Although it was finally found out that he was forced to do so, he was already a frightened bird.

The neighborhood committee informed him that his compound was too large and needed someone to move in. He vacated the space without hesitation, keeping only two rooms for himself. He never asked for money for the work, only for food coupons.

Zhou Jiao felt that this man wasn't worried, but rather cautious. He dared to take private work, and yet he was still timid? Asking for food coupons instead of money was just an excuse.

Hearing that his business was booming, she smiled. "Cats have their ways, mice have their ways." It was also a way of survival, she thought, not noticing the sympathetic tone of her aunt's voice.

Then Zhou Jiao, her mother and daughter, along with Old Lady Cheng, got on a tricycle and arrived at the door of a house.

This family has its own door, the paint on the door is mottled, and the floor is very clean.

After knocking on the door, an old lady came out. Two old ladies over fifty years old avoided Zhou Jiao and her daughter and whispered in the corner.

Zhou Jiao glanced through the half-open gate. The courtyard inside was very neat. Then she looked at the mottled spots on the gate and sighed secretly. She had met only smart people today.

She secretly swore that if she encountered a few more families like this, she would stay in the compound when she returned to Beijing, and her family would never live outside.

She never underestimated others. There were too many cunning people in the city, and she was rich and stupid; sooner or later, she would be cannon fodder. She listened to her mother muttering in her ear and planned to go to the Friendship Mall.

Oh... She found out that her whole family was rich and stupid!

Mrs. Cheng finally finished her work, said goodbye to the other party with a smile, and walked out with her mother and daughter. After walking for a while, she seemed to be unable to help herself and kept looking at Zhou Jiao, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

"Aunt, just say whatever you want to say. Your granddaughter is brave and can handle it!"

Zhou Jiao couldn't stand it any longer. She had just noticed the old woman staring at her, silently pinching her fingers. Her aunt looked at her sternly—now that superstition was being dispelled, this old Party member had really low moral standards.

Old Madam Cheng looked at her with a smile, "You found out? I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"What did you find out? How come I don't know what my aunt is hiding?" Lin Lishan looked at them with confusion.

Mrs. Cheng was so anxious that she pulled her mother and daughter into a corner. After looking around to make sure no one was around, she whispered, "Don't tell anyone. No one can tell anyone else. I'll just tell you."

Zhou Jiao covered her mouth and laughed. She suspected that the old lady had lost her temper a long time ago. She never thought that such a dignified lady from a noble family, well-read in poetry and literature, would also believe in these ghost stories.

Seeing Lin Lishan nodding repeatedly, the old lady was satisfied. She whispered, "That person just now was a fortune teller. She's very effective. I gave her the fortune telling for Xiaozheng's birth date."

She said the child's parents were both deceased, but the child was still alive. The child had suffered immense hardship in the first half of his life, had a major calamity between the ages of thirty and forty, and then, after forty, had a chance to rise to prominence.

Listen, isn't it very accurate? She doesn't tell fortunes for anyone anymore. I'm an old friend of hers, and I buy a lot of gold, silver, and candles from her every year. She just did a fortune telling for Jiaojiao."

"Aunt, how much does she charge for fortune-telling?"

"Now she doesn't tell fortunes for anyone and doesn't charge money."

Seeing her smugness, Zhou Jiao chuckled to herself. Her aunt must have been bewitched by him. She never believed such things. He must have deduced the truth from the old lady's words.

As for life and death, it was a daily danger in that era. How could calculating a birth date and eight characters be so bizarre? If there were too many babies being born every minute across the country, wouldn't that mean everyone's fate was the same?

"Jiaojiao, have you had any life-threatening accidents in the past two years? She said you'd have a major disaster between the ages of 15 and 17, a life-or-death test. Just now, she said you've already passed that test, and your future life will be smooth sailing."

Zhou Jiao frowned. Could something so bizarre really be happening? She subconsciously looked towards the courtyard. This life-or-death barrier must be where she had come through this time.

"Aunt, what else did she say?"

When Mrs. Cheng saw her expression, she knew that her statement had been verified again.

She gazed into the distance with adoring eyes and said, "She said that your soul has now returned to its place. After passing this life-and-death test, your life will be smooth. From now on, whatever you desire will be delivered to you."

I was worried about telling her your father's birth date and time. Your father's troubles have been solved. Your father is already forty-one years old. He has passed the troubles. I feel at ease now.

She said that your father's fate depends on your life and death. I must make your father remember this and take good care of our Jiaojiao in the future."

Her spirit returning to its place, Zhou Jiao pondered these four words carefully. Then she burst into laughter. She had truly been foolish, truly believing her future life would be smooth sailing. The future was full of crises. Who could say, who dared to say, that there wouldn't be any unexpected changes?

"Aunt, does this mean that Brother Zheng will be safe from now on? Our Jiaojiao is fine, right? She didn't say anything else, did she?"

Seeing the old lady nodding and saying that it was gone, Lin Lishan was so happy that she couldn't stop laughing. After a while, she frowned and stared at Zhou Jiao.

"Alright. I'll tell you, okay? Let's talk as we walk. It's not good to stay here." Zhou Jiao pulled the two of them forward and whispered, "If I'm not mistaken, the life-or-death catastrophe that person was talking about must be the day Ping An was born. Back then, my parents-in-law relied on half a hundred-year-old ginseng to survive. Oh, by the way, this ginseng was picked by Xiao Wu in the mountains."

Old Mrs. Cheng said with a smile: "You must be filial to Xiaowu's parents in the future. Regardless of whether Xiaowu prepared it or not, your parents-in-law's heart is there. They will be our family's saviors in the future."

"Luckily I married Xiaowu. Aunt, I need to prepare a few more chickens to stew for my son-in-law, and I also need to buy gifts to send to Northeast China. Can you help me think of something to buy?"

Zhou Jiao watched Old Lady Cheng talking affectionately with her mother and felt secretly happy. She had long noticed that the old lady was not satisfied with her mother, but this was her mother.

She hoped her father wouldn't be caught in the middle. With Gu Ruyi, the family was already in crisis, and with the outsiders interjecting, she knew her father too well. He would make a quick and rational decision!

For the sake of her seventeen years of waiting, she had to protect Lin Lishan. Besides, her father was divorced, and with his personality, finding another one was unlikely. Even if the higher-ups arranged a partner, the son would sue the father, and the wife would sue the husband. Who could love her father as deeply as her mother did?