"yes."

"Have you done this year's?"

"Not yet, the three of you were done first."

"Sister-in-law, hurry home and finish making Madam's cotton-padded trousers. Even if you have to work through the night, you have to finish them and deliver them first thing tomorrow morning." Qin Xiaoyu pushed her cousin-in-law out.

"Why? My wife isn't going out, there's no rush."

"I'm telling you, sister-in-law, you're so straightforward. Once you're nice to someone, you just stick to them without thinking," Qin Xiaoyu laughed.

"You're absolutely right, that's just my temper, what's wrong with that?"

"Living in such a large family, if you don't use your brain, you'll always be trampled on, understand?"

"I don't understand, but I'm not afraid. A smart girl is here to teach me. Can you tell me why?"

“In previous years, you made all the cotton-padded trousers for Madam, but it was Auntie who took the credit. She would deliver them to her after you finished making them. This year, Auntie isn't here, so you're not making any cotton-padded trousers. Madam thinks it's because Auntie didn't ask you to, so she doesn't appreciate your kindness. Make them and deliver them while Auntie is away. Madam will appreciate all the kindness you showed her in previous years and will even praise you for being filial. Do you understand now?”

"Oh my, you're so clever. I'll go." Her cousin-in-law turned and ran. Qin Xiaoyu shook her head and smiled. In her previous life, she could see other people's needs and tried her best to be considerate and meet them, but she still didn't get any credit. She still couldn't change this habit in this life.

Lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) that night, she remembered smelling the ashes of paper on the road when she got home. She got up and counted on her fingers. It was almost the first day of the tenth lunar month, a day for sending winter clothes in the north. She decided to burn some paper for Tang Wenzhi the next day.

The next morning, Qin Xiaoyu didn't go to the shop first; instead, she bought some joss paper and brought it back. Grandma Hanhan was still remembering the little jacket incident from yesterday and was giving Qin Xiaoyu a strange look. But when she saw the large bundle of joss paper in Qin Xiaoyu's hand, her anger vanished instantly. Her eyes stung, and she didn't know where to look. There was no reason for an elder to burn paper for a younger generation. She didn't say it aloud, but she was still worried about her son in the afterlife. Was he going to suffer poverty in life, and even in death?

Before her rebirth, Qin Xiaoyu couldn't understand these things. She remembered reading a novel about a mother who had lost her child and drank all the cabbage soup just because it contained salt. After living together for two months, Qin Xiaoyu finally understood that life could truly kill a person's humanity. Her grandmother's generation, having experienced war and the separation of families, often had women giving birth to ten or more children, some of whom were abandoned at birth, with only a few surviving. If the death of a child could cause them unbearable grief, they wouldn't be able to go on living; the pain had numbed their senses. It wasn't that they didn't love their children, but rather that they lacked the capacity to do so.

With a bang, the door was pushed open, and the old lady walked in carrying a bag. Grandma Hanhan looked bewildered, unsure whether to greet her or hide. She glanced at Qin Xiaoyu and, seeing her upright and confident demeanor, straightened her back as well.

Here comes another show. Qin Xiaoyu knew that her aunt's return meant trouble. Her aunt kept a low profile upon her return, offering a greeting to her mother through the door before returning to her former grandmother's room and not coming out again. Although her cousin-in-law was her aunt's biological daughter-in-law, they had never gotten along, and she avoided her like the plague. The cousin-in-law was unwilling to accept Qin Xiaoyu's rise to power, but after several attempts, her aunt refused to cooperate, so she gave up.

Qin Xiaoyu had heard that it was bad luck to bring children out on Ghost Festival night, so she took some yellow paper and burned it herself. She drew a circle like the people around her, and after burning it for a while, she remembered that she needed to chant a few words.

"Tang Wenzhi, we don't know each other, but I'll be raising your son from now on. Just bless Hanhan and Xiaomei, don't worry about me." As soon as Qin Xiaoyu finished speaking, a small whirlwind suddenly rose from the ground, rolling up the ashes of the burnt paper and circling her. By the time she rubbed her eyes and cleared the fog, the fire was already out, leaving only a cold, desolate scene. Qin Xiaoyu suddenly felt a pang of sadness, wondering if anyone remembered her in her past life. She hesitated, wondering whether she should burn some paper for her past self, then suddenly remembered that she hadn't even been born yet, and couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

She didn't ride her bike out, but walked home along the sidewalk. The city wasn't very bustling yet, the streetlights were few and dim, and it was pitch black, perfect for lost in thought. A thought had just crossed her mind, and she was already immersed in memories. She remembered carefully following behind her grandmother as a child, like a shadow, afraid of disturbing her, yet also afraid her grandmother wouldn't see her—that level of caution was truly remarkable.

I remember once when my grandma went to get her hair permed, my sister stood waiting outside the hair salon, so hot from the sun that she felt like she could stick her tongue out, but she didn't dare go in. She counted down the seconds, watching the ash from her cigarette fall from her lips...

Good heavens! What did she remember? The thing her grandmother wore when she got her hair permed was just a simple cap made of electric curling iron, which wasn't popular yet, and it wasn't even available in the north. She could easily get there first. But she still didn't know how.

The next day was Sunday. A woman who was getting married needed her hair styled and had made an appointment in advance. Qin Xiaoyu arrived at 5 a.m. and didn't get back to the shop until after 10 a.m. Sundays are busy with customers, including many junior staff. Fortunately, they were very hygienic and had short hair, so the service was quite efficient; she cut dozens of hair that day. Just after 6 p.m., Qin Xiaoyu had already finished curling three perms; now it was just a matter of time.

"You got up too early this morning, go back and go to bed early," Master Wang urged her to hurry up.

"It's alright, there are still three tasks to complete." Qin Xiaoyu was worried that her master would get tired.

"I can do it myself, you go back to sleep!" Master Wang felt increasingly sorry for Qin Xiaoyu, so he couldn't refuse any longer and had to leave with a smile.

As she rode into the alleyway near her home, she found the road to be much worse than usual, with more potholes. Qin Xiaoyu had no choice but to jump off her bicycle and push it forward.

"Sister-in-law is back. Look at your old bicycle, you can hear it rattling even before it enters the alley. Leave it here and I'll fix it for you." My cousin was much more talkative than before.

Qin Xiaoyu had no choice but to hand the bicycle to him. When she turned around, she saw Hanhan running over, her face and body covered in soot. Perhaps afraid of getting her clothes dirty, she didn't dare to come over and hug her, but she just smiled so hard her eyes were crescent-shaped.

"This kid's gone to dig coal!" Qin Xiaoyu exclaimed dramatically.

"He went to dig coal, but he wouldn't help us. He carried so many buckets himself, and the kids were exhausted too." My cousin's wife came over, her face also covered in soot.

"What's going on here?" Qin Xiaoyu looked into the depths of the yard and was amazed to see that the coal pile was like a small mountain. Her cousin's family had never brought back so much coal in previous years.

"You're always so busy, working from dawn till dusk. My family is hauling coal, so I'm bringing yours along too. We'll just pile it all up over there and use it together," my cousin-in-law said with a smile.

"Thank you so much! I was just worried about that, I don't have time to go out during the day." Qin Xiaoyu's eyes were burning with tears; it was so nice to have someone care about her.

That's what she said, but knowing that her cousin's family was struggling financially, she took out twenty yuan from her bag and insisted on giving it to her cousin's wife.

"Look how much you've helped my family! You expect me to repay that favor?" My cousin's wife refused to accept it no matter what.

"You don't owe me anything, I owe you guys, okay? Here, I don't have a job and I can't get coal coupons, so you can get the extra money yourself." The two of them grabbed and dragged the money into the house.