Guan Baiyu's biological father's surname is Lü, and his family is quite well-off.

Guan Baiyu's grandfather used to be a cadre in the town, and later he was promoted to the city.

In his previous life, when Guan Baiyu was alive, he told Shi Zhen some things he had heard from the villagers about his grandfather's family, but Guan Baiyu never intended to acknowledge his relatives.

After Guan Baiyu passed away, Shi Zhen had no further contact with the Lü family.

But they all lived in Changxi City, and he had met the Lü family.

Guan Baiyu's grandfather's second wife had several children, and these children had children of their own, making the Lü family prosperous. According to others, the family had a good reputation.

Those who were of Guan Baiyu's generation were all quite successful.

Of course, this is also because the Lü family has connections.

There is no absolute fairness in this world. When the elders of the Lü family are in places like the education and medical systems, it will always be much easier for their younger generations to get in.

Shi Zhen didn't know what had happened back then that made the Lü family refuse to keep Bai Yu. All he knew was that he didn't want to have anything to do with the Lü family.

Upon learning that the house belonged to the Lü family, he hesitated, wondering whether he should rent it...

He lied to Guan Baiyu, saying he was Guan Baiyu's cousin, but that wasn't true at all. What if Guan Baiyu had contact with the Lü family and found out?

After a moment's hesitation, Shi Zhen rented it anyway.

There are too few houses for rent in town, so it's not easy to find a suitable one.

Moreover, given Guan Baiyu's personality, he would not associate with the Lü family.

As for Guan Baiyu's mother, he couldn't find any trace of her in his past life, and she probably won't suddenly appear in this one either.

Shi Zhen paid the rent and planned to personally repair the house in the days to come.

In his past life, when he first started his business, he also did some hands-on work, whether it was building walls or laying bricks, he knew how to do it.

He was an exceptionally good tiler; back then, some business owners even paid him a high price to do it.

Although the house looks a bit dilapidated because it has been uninhabited for a long time, the walls are quite sturdy. The biggest problem is the wooden floor in the attic. Due to years of disrepair and leaks, some parts are infested with insects. If it is not renovated, it is impossible to go up into the attic—if the wooden floor breaks, a person could fall down!

Of course, the roof is also very important; some of the tiles are broken and need to be replaced.

Shi Zhen planned to buy some tiles, wood, lime powder and other materials to repair the house, and also buy some cloth to use as curtains to divide the upstairs into three rooms, so that his sisters could each live in a room.

His parents lived in the room next to the courtyard downstairs, while the outside was used for cooking and storing their stall items.

With this house, he won't have to bring his stall goods home every day anymore; he can just store them here.

As for his family's employment... his parents can help him set up a stall.

His stepmother's two daughters dropped out of school early; they either went to work or, like their parents, followed him to his stall.

His younger sister is a year younger than Guan Baiyu and started school later; she's currently in the first year of junior high. Shi Zhen is planning to find a way to let her continue her studies here.

At this point, transferring schools or attending a school temporarily is not difficult, it just requires money.

Shi Zhen felt that he still had to pay for it.

Compared to the two daughters brought by his stepmother, Shi Zhen values ​​his own younger sister more.

After all, this is someone he watched being born and growing up, someone with whom he shares blood ties.

In his past life, his relationship with his sister deteriorated as they grew older...

His sister, for some reason, was extremely love-struck. Before she was even twenty, she was seduced by a good-natured but useless pretty boy and moved into his house before they got married. Soon after they got married, she gave birth to two daughters.

After that, the young man's whole family treated her badly, and she repeatedly threatened to divorce him. He stood up for her and took her away more than once... but she was always coaxed back as soon as she turned around.

Those years were truly chaotic.

After Guan Baiyu passed away, he didn't want to do anything and had no mood to stand up for his sister. For a long time, he ignored her and didn't give her any money. She was beaten by her in-laws and then simply divorced them.

Then... his sister fell for another man who was good at sweet-talking and charming, and they got married.

This man had a son with his ex-wife, and another son with his sister after they got married. In addition, his sister brought two daughters from her ex-husband's family after their divorce... This family had a total of four children, making it quite lively.

Shi Zhen looked down on both of his brothers-in-law; they were essentially the same: glib-tongued and all talk and no action.

Of course, his sister also has problems.

His sister is extremely vain and loves to spend money. She doesn't earn any money herself, but she buys all sorts of luxury goods for the family every day.

The main conflict between her and her first husband's family was that they couldn't stand her spending money recklessly... but she didn't spend her husband's family's money; she asked Shi Zhen for all the money she spent.

Because she said she couldn't work while taking care of her child at home, and the child's expenses were too high to afford, Shi Zhen sent her money every month at that time.

Her husband doesn't work, so he tries to get money from her. Her in-laws also ask her for money all the time. Even after all this, her in-laws still complain that she spends money recklessly and that she doesn't give them enough money... Shi Zhen is very angry.

When she found her second man... her second brother-in-law originally had some connections, and he himself made some money at a young age by relying on these connections. But later his backer fell, and the man fell into poverty because he had no way to make money. He also divorced his wife.

He was incredibly eloquent and knowledgeable about food, drink, and entertainment. He set his sights on his sister and charmed her into falling for him. After getting involved with him, her spending increased even more.

This man was even more eager to use Shi Zhen's name to get involved in various activities outside. It was only because he hadn't done anything too outrageous that Shi Zhen was able to tolerate him.

Shi Zhen had no choice but to give up on his own sister, and he also had no liking for her three young children who knew how to trick him out of money at such a young age.

Fortunately, he was reborn.

In his previous life, he discovered his sister's problems many years later, when she had already reached adulthood and matured. He wanted her to change, but she couldn't change no matter what he did.

Even her children... When his sister got divorced, he was grieving over Guan Baiyu's death and had no mind to care about the two daughters his sister brought from her husband's family. And later... later his sister got married again and felt that her marriage was happy. He wanted to teach his children, but they wouldn't let him.

His sister is only fourteen years old right now, and he doesn't believe that if he keeps her under his watchful eye and disciplines her, she can't behave properly.

Her spending habits also need to be changed.

In his past life, he made money and was happy to spend it on his family, but he never told them how hard he worked to earn it.

Her younger sister was the youngest in the family and had suffered the least. Seeing that he had money made her arrogant and that's why she turned out the way she did.

Now... this summer, let his sister work for him.

In short, he was so anxious about not being able to receive payment for his projects or pay his workers that he couldn't eat or sleep. Then he heard that his sister had spent thousands on a pair of shoes, something he never wanted to experience again.

It was only the beginning of the second millennium. Because they had no money, Guan Baiyu ate cabbage and noodles with him every day.

In his will from his previous life, he left some money for his family and several of his houses to his sister. However, if his sister continues to act recklessly, she may face a miserable old age.

He still remembers talking to his sister about Qian Qi's son before he was diagnosed with cancer, saying that the boy was quite promising, having become a policeman after graduating from university and earning 200,000 yuan a year.

He genuinely thought the child who had been pampered and spoiled since childhood was quite good, and advised his sister to raise her three children well. However, his sister immediately retorted, "Two hundred thousand? That's not even enough for me to buy a bag."

Shi Zhen was furious at the time.

After renting the house, Shi Zhen went home.

Guan Baiyu was still at Xinhua Bookstore, and Shi Xinghuo was not at home either—after finishing his work, he usually didn't stay at Guan Baiyu's house, but went to Guan Jianguo's house instead.

Guan Jianguo's mother was well-liked in the village, and old ladies often came to chat with her, bringing their grandchildren along. Shi Xinghuo would listen to the gossip from the sidelines.

Shi Zhen ate something quickly, then lay down and fell asleep.

Guan Baiyu went home at 4:30, while Qian Qi would come back a little later.

Shi Zhen usually sets up a stall in town before he even gets back from making money. When Guan Baiyu arrived, he was already having dinner. Upon seeing Guan Baiyu, he invited him to come and eat with him, and then told him that he had already rented a house.

Guan Baiyu knew that Shi Zhen was going to rent a house to bring his family over.

He felt very uncomfortable when Shi Zhen first started talking.

He wanted Shi Zhen to belong to him alone.

He was upset that Shi Zhen was getting married, and he was also upset that Shi Zhen's family was coming.

But Shi Zhen has family, and he knew this from the beginning, so he couldn't stop Shi Zhen's family from coming...

Guan Baiyu felt he had gone a bit too far, even a bit scary; he actually hoped his brother would have a bad relationship with the family.

He can't keep thinking like that!

His brother is such a good person, he deserves to have loving family!

Guan Baiyu asked, "Brother, where is the house? Should I go and tidy it up?"

Shi Zhen said, "No need. It's empty there now, and there's nothing to tidy up. But I can store my stall items there from now on, so I don't have to move them back and forth every day."

Guan Baiyu nodded repeatedly.

That evening, Shi Zhen's fried skewers sold exceptionally well.

When it gets hot, people in town come out for a stroll in the evenings, and they tend to spend money when they do.

Some customers are particularly generous and will buy tens of yuan worth of fried skewers from Shi Zhen at one time!

Over the next few days, Shi Zhen asked Guan Jianguo to buy back some building materials.

Guan Jianguo drives a tractor outside, usually transporting things like bricks and tiles. Knowing the prices of these things, he can buy them at a low price.

Shi Zhen bought a bunch of odds and ends and piled them up in that room. Whenever he had free time, he would go and repair them.

He first repaired the roof, and then bought wooden floorboards to replace the damaged floorboards upstairs.

Next, he renovated the house, adding a stove and a partition, and whitewashing the walls.

Seeing that there was extra wood, Shi Zhen also planned to nail three wooden frames to divide the attic. These three wooden frames would be used to hang clothes for his sisters.

Shi Zhen hadn't formally studied carpentry and couldn't do anything too complicated, but he could still nail together a wooden frame.

As he was working, the retired teacher who had signed the rental contract with him came strolling over from next door, carrying a small teapot, to watch Shi Zhen work.

Shi Zhen has recently become acquainted with this old man.

The old man was a retired high school math teacher. He was from Anshan Town, but he used to teach in Changxi City. His two sons and one daughter also worked in Changxi City.

After retiring, he initially lived with his children, but because the house was too cramped and uncomfortable, and he also had conflicts with his daughter-in-law, he simply moved to his old house in Anshan Town.

He had only been here for a few months, and it was only after he started living here that the Lü family decided to rent out the house.

He usually had nothing to do, so he would go to the bookstore in town to look at books. Today, seeing that Shi Zhen was repairing something, he came over to chat with Shi Zhen.

"Young man, you're really good. You can do everything, but I can't do any of these things." The old man's surname was Fei, and everyone around him called him Teacher Fei.

"We were poor, so we had to do everything. You learn by doing." Shi Zhen smiled as he accurately hammered nails into the wood with the hammer in his hand.

Teacher Fei picked up the small teapot, took a sip of tea, moved a stool and sat down to chat with Shi Zhen, asking him why he didn't study, and Shi Zhen told the truth directly.

Teacher Fei sighed, "It's not easy for anyone."

Recently, Shi Zhen hasn't been going home for lunch because he's been busy with things here, and today was no exception.

He arrived at nine o'clock, worked for two hours, and was hungry, so he took out a rice ball to eat.

The rice balls weren't as tasty when they got cold, but he wasn't someone who cared about taste, so he didn't mind. When he was thirsty, he just filled a bottle with tap water to drink.

"Hey! Young man, you can't drink tap water directly! Wait a minute, I have some cooled boiled water at home, I'll get you some." Teacher Fei stopped Shi Zhen, took Shi Zhen's cup, and went next door to pour him a glass of cooled boiled water.

He also handed Shi Zhen a salted duck egg: "This is for the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival. My son brought it to me. I can't finish it all by myself. You should try it! This duck egg has only been pickled for a little over ten days. It's not salty at all."

"Thank you." Shi Zhen did not refuse. He had been helping Teacher Fei with things from time to time these past few days, so he wouldn't be unable to accept even a single egg from her.

Shi Zhen has been bringing over some things recently. In the afternoon, he would take a nap on his newly purchased bamboo bed, and when he woke up, he would continue working. He would usually work until around four o'clock, when Guan Baiyu would come to find him or he would go to pick up Guan Baiyu, and the two of them would go home together.

That day, Shi Zhen had just finished his work and was about to pick up Guan Baiyu when he saw Teacher Fei from next door lighting the coal stove at the door.

However, he wasn't very good at it and couldn't get the coal briquettes to light.

Shi Zhen, now an expert in this field, immediately went to help and quickly lit the coal briquettes.

"Thank you, but I really can't figure this out. The gas at home is all gone." The gas he was referring to was liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

"Teacher Fei, your house is out of gas? Here, give me your gas cylinder, and I'll fill it up for you tomorrow," Shi Zhen said immediately.

Liquefied gas cylinders are generally large and heavy; Professor Fei, being an elderly person, probably wouldn't be able to move them.

Even if he could carry it, asking him to tie the LPG cylinder to his bicycle and then push the bicycle to get the LPG... that would be absolutely putting the elderly person in a difficult position.

"Wouldn't this be too much trouble for you?"

"It's nothing," Shi Zhen said.

"Thank you so much!" Teacher Fei said gratefully, and went inside to get her own liquefied gas cylinder.

Shi Zhen was worried that he couldn't carry it, so he immediately went in to help.

“Sigh, my back is bad, I can’t lift things… When my son came a few days ago, it was still gas, I never thought it would suddenly be gone! My wife used to take care of these things, I just remember that if the flame went low, I could pour some hot water on it and it would last a few more times…” Teacher Fei muttered. When they were in Changxi City, his wife took care of everything at home. Back then, when the gas in the liquefied gas tank ran out, his wife would find someone to refill it.

He now lives in Anshan Town, but his wife hasn't come to help their son take care of their grandson, so he's been struggling to manage some things. Shi Zhen said, "In winter, if the gas runs out, pouring in some hot water will make it usable, but it won't work in the summer."

In winter, some components in liquefied petroleum gas will settle and become unusable due to the low temperature. Pouring hot water on it will make it usable again, but this is not the case in summer.

Shi Zhen kept the liquefied gas cylinder in his rented house so that he could refill it whenever he had free time the next day.

Just as he finished setting it up, Shi Zhen saw Guan Baiyu arrive.

"Xiaoyu," Shi Zhen called out with a smile.

"Do you know this child?" Teacher Fei looked at Shi Zhen, then at Guan Baiyu.

“He is my brother,” Shi Zhen said.

Teacher Fei said with some emotion, "You and your brother are both good. He studies very hard and will definitely get into a good high school."

Thank you for your kind words!

Shi Zhen had previously chatted with Teacher Fei and learned that he often went to bookstores to read books, so he knew that Teacher Fei might know Guan Baiyu. Now that he saw it was true, he was not surprised.

He's a retired high school teacher, it would be good for Guan Baiyu to get to know him... Shi Zhen praised Guan Baiyu in front of Teacher Fei.

Teacher Fei nodded repeatedly. He also thought that Guan Baiyu was a good kid, and the young man in front of him was also a good kid.