Everyone was chatting and laughing at the gate, and their hands were busy carrying large wooden crates off the tractor and then moving potted flowers into the house.

The south wing of Li Xiangdong's outer courtyard was empty. It was spacious and sunny, with a cannonball stove inside, making all the rooms warm. It would be perfect as a greenhouse.

While we were working, Li Ping, Li Jiabao, Zhang Huan, and Li Yan came running over.

Today is Tuesday, so we only have half a day of school.

On their way home, the group heard that their second brother (second uncle) had returned, which excited them so much that they didn't even go home and ran straight over with their schoolbags on their backs.

"Second Brother—"

"Second brother, you're back!"

"Second brother, I miss you so much—"

"Second Uncle, you're home!"

The four of them rushed towards Li Xiangdong like swallows returning to their nest, then hugged him and started chattering away, vying to speak.

After talking for a while, their attention was drawn to the clivia. They went over to observe it closely for a moment, and Li Ping asked, "Second Brother, this flower is so beautiful! What kind of flower is it?"

Li Yan pointed to the most beautiful phoenix crown pot and said, "Bring this pot to my room! I want to see it!"

Li Jiabao chuckled and said to his younger sister, "You have a good eye; this pot of flowers is the biggest and prettiest among all of them."

Li Yanfen proudly put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Of course!"

Before Li Xiangdong could speak, his eyes suddenly swept across the area and he noticed two figures heading straight towards them.

He straightened up, squinted, and looked closely. Wasn't this Sister Zaohua?

The little boy she was leading was Xiao Leizi.

"Hey, what brings Sister Zao Hua here?"

When Li Ping heard her second brother ask the question, she replied, "Sister-in-law Zaohua and Xiao Leizi have come several times looking for you, but you're not here."

"Oh? What do you want with me?"

Before Li Ping could answer, Sister Zao Hua had already brought Xiao Lei over.

She came several times but was turned away each time, never seeing Li Xiangdong. She came this time to try her luck, but unexpectedly saw a lot of people in front of Li Xiangdong's house from afar. When she got closer, she saw that Li Xiangdong was indeed there!

"Xiangdong! Xiangdong! You're back!"

Sister-in-law Zaohua greeted Li Xiangdong happily.

"Hey, Sister-in-law Zaohua, what brings you here?"

Li Xiangdong went to greet him.

"Splash~ Splash~"

Sister-in-law Zaohua knelt down with Xiao Leizi.

Before Li Xiangdong could react, the mother and son kowtowed three times.

"Hey, hey, what's going on? What's going on?!"

Li Xiangdong quickly helped the mother and child up.

After kowtowing, Sister-in-law Zaohua stood up. She brushed the dust off her son's forehead and knees and said to Li Xiangdong with a smile, "Little Lei hasn't thanked you yet, your savior!"

He then nudged Xiao Leizi, saying, "Son, it was your Uncle Dongzi who saved your life! Hurry up and thank Uncle Dongzi!"

Xiao Lei looked up at Li Xiangdong with his big, bright eyes and said very seriously, "Thank you, Uncle Dongzi, for saving my life!"

Li Xiangdong reached out and touched Xiao Leizi's cheek, replying earnestly, "You're welcome! Have you been feeling unwell lately?"

Xiao Lei shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

Li Xiangdong straightened up. "Sister-in-law Zaohua, let's go inside. It's cold outside!"

"Okay!"

The three of them walked home, and when they saw the clivia in the wooden box, Sister Zaohua suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "A clivia?"

Li Xiangdong looked at her strangely. There were no Clivia plants in the area. How did she, a housewife who rarely left her home, know about Clivia plants?

Once inside and chatting, I learned that Sister Zaohua was actually from Changchun!

“My father died early, and my mother raised me. At that time, there was a famine, and we had nothing to eat. So my mother took me to the river to catch small fish and shrimp to eat. Later, one time, my mother and I fainted from hunger when we went down to the river and fell into the water. We almost drowned, but our neighbor, Uncle Er, happened to be there and saved us.”

As Sister-in-law Zaohua recalled those days, tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped them away with her hand and continued:

"At that time, there was a heavy rain upstream, and the water level rose a lot. My second uncle saved us, but he couldn't get up himself."

"Just like that, my daughter and I owed them our lives."

"Later, my mother and I had a really hard time. Luckily, an old man who worked as a boiler operator on a train took pity on us and took us to Qianjiang."

“I got married to Xiaoleizi’s father in Qianjiang. Right after the wedding, my mother and stepfather died of carbon monoxide poisoning.”

"Later, his father and I came to Huichuan. When his father was building a house, he fell off the scaffolding and hit his head."

Sister-in-law Zaohua's few words silenced everyone in the room.

What a tragic and bumpy life!

She lost her father at a young age, her mother and husband in her youth, and raised her posthumous child, Xiao Leizi, on her own. Forced by life, she married Yan Guodong and ended up with a ruthless mother-in-law.

Seeing the somber expressions on everyone's faces, Sister Zaohua exclaimed "Oh dear!" and forced a smile, "Look at me! Once I start talking about these old stories, I never stop! By the way, Xiangdong, I've come today for two reasons: first, to thank you for saving Xiaoleizi's life, and second, to return the money to you."

As she spoke, she carefully took out a small handkerchief pouch from her bosom, untied the knotted pouch, and took out a roll of money from it.

It mostly contained one-cent, two-cent, and five-cent bills, with a few one-cent bills as well.

These small bills are all old, some even torn, but they are all flattened and neat.

Sister Zaohua said somewhat embarrassedly, "Xiangdong, this is the twelve yuan I've saved. I know it's far from enough, but I don't have any more right now. I'll pay you back this first..."

Before Li Xiangdong could refuse, a shrill female voice rang out from outside the window.

"You spendthrift woman, Chen Zaohua! You actually came here to cheat on me!"

Li Xiangdong frowned!

Who is this?

They actually went to his house and caused trouble!

When Xiao Lei heard the woman's voice, his little body trembled with fear, and he kept hiding behind Zao Hua.

"Clap clap clap~"

Heavy footsteps sounded, and Zao Hua's mother-in-law, supported by her son Yan Guodong, walked in with a look of disdain on her face.

She first scanned the people in the room and saw that the old were old and the young were young, and there were no men of similar age to Sister-in-law Zaohua, which calmed her down by half.

However, when her eyes fell on the handkerchief and loose change, she immediately perked up and asked in a shrill voice, "Did you steal the money from the house?"

Zao Hua's face turned ashen, and she looked to her husband for help.

But Yan Guodong lowered his head as if to avoid looking at his wife.

The light in Zao Hua's eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by endless disappointment.

She held Xiao Leizi's hand tightly, as if she had made some kind of decision.

Seeing that no one in the room spoke, Sister-in-law Zaohua's mother-in-law snorted coldly, exuding an aura of dominance, and took two steps closer like a victorious peacock. "What? Nothing to say?"

"Get out!"

A loud shout rang out.