The people at the chemical plant were very welcoming, and the paperwork went exceptionally smoothly. Qin Xiaoyu barely said a word; Tang Wenwen was very capable, and it was a piece of cake for her.

"Wenzhi and I joined the factory in the same year. I never expected something like this to happen to him. Sigh." The workshop director who saw them off was the one who had gone to their home to deliver money that day. His eyes reddened as he spoke.

"My sister-in-law will be working at the factory soon, so please take good care of her." The Tang Wenzhi that Qin Xiaoyu learned from them was completely different from the person she remembered. He was a real person with flesh and blood. She felt that these words were spoken on his behalf. If he were here, he would definitely say the same thing.

"Alright, sister-in-law, I won't see you off anymore. Just let me know if you need anything in the future. Wenzhi's two children are still young, and I'll definitely help them if I can."

On the way back, Qin Xiaoyu felt much more relaxed. With Tang Wenwen's succession in hand, she had some money and could start thinking about her next life plan.

"Second sister-in-law, why do I feel like you've become a different person? Does a woman really need to undergo a major upheaval to grow up?" Tang Wenwen began to ponder Qin Xiaoyu.

Qin Xiaoyu smiled bitterly to herself. Changes don't make women grow; only rebirth can.

"A mother's love makes her strong," she finally found an excuse.

“You’ve become a completely different person in your speech and manner. If Grandpa were still alive, he would be very happy.”

"grandfather?"

"Yes, he personally analyzed your birth chart and strongly advocated for you to marry him." If Tang Wenwen hadn't mentioned it, Qin Xiaoyu really wouldn't have known about this.

It turns out that Tang Wenwen's older brother and sister-in-law were in a free-love relationship at first. At the time, the family thought that the sister-in-law had a bad temper and strongly opposed it. But how can parents win a battle with their children? In the end, the sister-in-law still married into the family in a grand manner, slapping the face of the elders in the family, and quickly became the tyrant.

At that time, his grandfather was still alive, and Tang Wenzhi was not yet in a relationship. His grandfather made a major decision: he wanted Tang Wenzhi to choose his granddaughter-in-law.

Tang Wenzhi was originally quite refined and had a good job, so many people came to him to arrange marriages. However, after much deliberation, he finally chose Qin Xiaoyu, which shocked the whole family, and Tang Wenzhi strongly opposed it.

But Grandpa had his reasons. The divination had said that Qin Xiaoyu's fortune was not good in the early stages, it could be said that she was extremely unlucky, but after the age of twenty-five, her luck would change and she would become very rich and powerful. The old man was also hoping for the Tang family to be revitalized.

But when Qin Xiaoyu married into the family, the old man was stunned. Although there was a sign that his luck would change in a few years, these few years would not be easy to get through.

Qin Xiaoyu had been bullied by her stepmother since childhood and was determined to start anew in her husband's family, never to be bullied again. Already a sensitive person, and with Grandma Hanhan and her sister-in-law wanting to set rules for the newlyweds, the wedding day was anything but pleasant. The next morning, another fight broke out over a missing egg in the noodles, resulting in the table being overturned. Three days later, when she returned to her parents' home, Grandma Hanhan, still angry from the previous two days, refused to give her ten yuan, and Qin Xiaoyu sat in the yard wailing, attracting the attention of the neighbors…

Qin Xiaoyu retrieved these memories and was so ashamed that she couldn't bear to look at them anymore.

"Second sister-in-law, you're twenty-five this year, right?" Tang Wenwen calculated with her fingers.

"Yes, twenty-five years old." Qin Xiaoyu was horrified. Some things you just have to believe. The old man's calculations were really accurate. Did he know that she would transmigrate after she turned twenty-five?

"Grandpa just didn't plan well, and he made my second brother pay the price." Tang Wenwen became sad again.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Hanhan and Wenwen." This was the only thing Qin Xiaoyu could do.

"I'll be moving to the chemical plant's dormitory after I start working, so we'll see each other even less often. Take care of yourself," Tang Wenwen said. Qin Xiaoyu was genuinely a little reluctant to see her go. Her comrade-in-arms, whom she had just recruited, was leaving, and she would have to make her own way in the world.

The two walked into the alley. Tang Wenwen's smile had disappeared, and Qin Xiaoyu had also returned to his original indifferent expression, following behind her.

"Guess who gave you this money?" Tang Wenwen suddenly asked in a low voice as she pushed open the large black door. Before Qin Xiaoyu could answer, she quickly walked in. She had only asked the question and did not expect to get an answer or give one.

Qin Xiaoyu had also been curious about this. This amount of money wasn't small. Judging from how frugal Grandma Hanhan usually was, she didn't seem like someone who would readily give away money. Where did the money come from? It arrived overnight; it must have been given by someone in this family. But who was it?

Grandma Hanhan was in the yard. When she saw them come back, she pulled Tang Wenwen into the house. The two of them whispered to each other about the process of handling the succession procedures.

When Hanhan saw Qin Xiaoyu return, she hurriedly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) to stoke the stove and prepare lunch. Qin Xiaoyu washed her hands and took the food from her, then let Hanhan come inside to play. During the meal, Hanhan hesitated, as if she had something to say.

"What's wrong?" Qin Xiaoyu asked, puzzled.

"Grandma's family is hauling coal," Hanhan said.

This had nothing to do with her family, so Qin Xiaoyu ignored it. But then she realized that Hanhan's words were loaded with meaning, implying that her family should also buy coal. They relied entirely on coal for heating during the winter, and with October almost here, if they waited until it snowed to buy coal, the quality would likely be poor, and it would be too damp, producing lots of smoke when burned. After filling in the gaps in her knowledge about buying coal, Qin Xiaoyu remembered the most important thing: this dilapidated house leaked air everywhere. If they didn't repair it, no amount of coal would provide enough warmth. She thought for a moment and had an idea.

Repairing the house wasn't something the Tang family could rely on; she had to find a solution herself. Judging from her shopping trips over the past few days, there were no private businesses, and she couldn't find anyone doing odd jobs. She could only try to find a solution through the government. She racked her brains for a long time and found an interesting department called the Housing Department. Judging from the name, it should manage housing, since houses are now publicly owned and the government is responsible for maintenance. But her house was privately built; was it covered by the maintenance policy?

Qin Xiaoyu went to ask, and sure enough, she ran into a snag. It was already a favor that they wouldn't demolish the illegally built house, let alone repair it.

But she wouldn't give up, and after circling around, she came back. The office was quiet; Captain Chen had just finished lunch and was picking his teeth.

"Captain Chen, I'd like to discuss something with you..."

"Why are you here again? Didn't I say it's not our jurisdiction?" Captain Chen interrupted her rudely.

"This..." Qin Xiaoyu had gritted her teeth and bought a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes when she went out. Now it came in handy. She secretly put it on the table and handed it to Captain Chen. His eyes lit up.

"It's not that I came here on purpose to cause you trouble, but I really have no choice. I'm a widow and orphan, my husband's family doesn't care about me, and I can't rely on my own family. The house leaks so badly when it rains that it's unbearable to stay here. My two children are five and three years old..." Qin Xiaoyu wiped away her tears.

"Don't cry, little sister. I'm just a soft-hearted person and I can't stand hearing this. Don't cry, I'll think of something." Captain Chen was moved by her pitiful words.