Niu gave Chen a wink, but Chen didn't immediately understand what she meant.

She had no idea what Niu was up to, so she said rather irritably:

"Come inside quickly, don't just stand there like an idiot. If outsiders hear this, they'll say the Shen family is neglecting you. You're not afraid of losing face, but I am."

Shen Danru didn't have a good impression of these two people, and asked directly, "Where are my father and mother? Aren't they home?"

"Your father and mother went to the fields to weed and haven't come back yet. If you want, you can wait here."

Chen lifted the curtain and went inside, and Niu followed. The two whispered to each other, their laughter audible through the curtain.

It seems this family isn't so easy to get along with; she just wants to finish the system task and leave as soon as possible.

I wonder where Qingtan went, and whether those masked men harmed her. It seems I need to hurry up and complete the mission to find her.

She had long regarded Qingtan as her own sister. The Marquis's mansion was devoid of human warmth, and the Shen family was no better. Only Qingtan was truly sincere towards her.

Shen Danru sat on a stool in the courtyard and waited for a while before hearing noises outside.

“Honey, our An’er’s marriage is already arranged. Could you talk to our mother and ask her to provide the funds to build another annex so that the two children can get married?”

"I'm afraid that will be difficult."

How will you know if you don't try?

...

Shen Danru knew that Ange'er was her elder brother, Shen Yu'an.

As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Shen entered the house, they saw Shen Danru sitting and waiting in the courtyard. Mother and son are of one mind, and they immediately understood who Shen Danru was.

He stood up as if from a deep sleep.

Zhou's eyes immediately reddened. She stepped forward to hug her daughter, but then she remembered that she was unclean and was afraid that her daughter, whom she had not yet recognized, would find her disgusting. So she suppressed the urge to hug her and cry.

Is it Ru'er?

He nodded blankly.

Upon hearing that it was indeed her child, tears instantly streamed down Zhou's face.

Shen Cheng's face also showed joy: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

Two other people followed behind Shen Cheng, and they both came over to greet her. One called her Second Sister, and the other called her Second Sister.

Shen Danru guessed that one of the two people should be his older brother, Shen Yu'an, who was twenty years old this year.

The other is the third brother, Shen Yuyan, who is eleven years old this year.

Before returning, Shen Danru had also learned about the Shen family's situation.

Her grandmother, surnamed Chen, had six children: four sons and two daughters.

The two daughters are already married, and the four sons are Shen Dazhuang, Shen Cheng, Shen Wan and Shen He.

Her father is Shen Cheng, the second son in his family.

Shen Cheng has five more children. His eldest son, Shen Yu'an, is twenty years old and already engaged. His second son, Shen Yutang, left home to join the army at the age of eighteen. His eldest daughter, Shen Yulan, is seventeen and already married. His second daughter, Shen Danru, is fifteen years old, and his youngest son, Shen Yuyan, is eleven years old.

"Child, you must be tired from the long journey. Come on, let's go back inside and have a meal."

Suppressing her excitement, Zhou pulled Shen Danru into the main room.

When the group entered the house, they found it in complete disarray.

The room was empty, but the wooden table was covered with bowls and chopsticks, and the food on the plates had been eaten clean.

Seeing this, Zhou felt a surge of anger. They had taken advantage of the time when she was cooking and going to the fields to call the second wife home for dinner to finish the food.

Zhou couldn't help but find Chen in the inner room and said, "Mother, what do you mean by this? Chen Cheng and An Ge'er worked in the fields all day, and when they came back, you didn't even leave them a warm meal."

Normally it would be fine, but today Ru'er just happened to come back. The child has just returned to her side after a long journey, and must be tired and hungry.

Upon hearing this, Chen's face immediately darkened: "Second son's wife, how dare you yell at your elders like that? Have you forgotten all your manners? I'll ask her how she raised her daughter when I meet her in-laws!"

"Mother, I..." Zhou panicked immediately upon hearing this. She couldn't bear such a huge accusation. She wanted to explain, but swallowed the words back.

She knew that explaining was useless.

Niu and Chen were whispering in the inner room earlier, and they haven't left yet.

"Second sister-in-law, this is your fault. Why did you come back so late? How could you let Mom and Dad wait for you on an empty stomach? This is extremely unfilial. There are plenty of meals left for you in the kitchen. Remember to clean up the pots and pans after you finish eating."

After speaking, Niu lifted the curtain and went back to the east room.

The house, made of blue bricks and tiles, has six rooms in total. The main house has two rooms in the east wing, and the inner room of the main hall is where the two elders of the Shen family live. The third house has two rooms in the west wing, and the second house only has one annex room, an earthen house.

The fourth son's wife was a girl from the town. Her family couldn't bear to let her suffer, so they left her to live in the town.

"Second brother, I think your wife is trying to fly to the moon. Why don't you hold her down and beat her to death?"

Shen Yu'an felt sorry for her mother, Zhou Shi, and retorted, "Grandma, my mother does laundry, cooks, and takes care of the whole family all day long. Why do you hit her? She was just worried that my father and I had worked all day without food. She did nothing wrong."

Upon hearing that even Shen Yu'an dared to defy her, Madam Chen's face turned pale and then red. She slammed her hand on the table and roared:

"Second brother, does your family want to rebel against heaven? Your parents aren't dead yet."

"mother…."

Just as Shen Cheng was about to explain, Chen interrupted him: "Don't call me mother, I'm not your mother at all."

Shen Danru looked up at Madam Chen, then at Shen Cheng.

She really doesn't resemble her father's mother.

This old woman looks mean-spirited; she doesn't seem like the type to give birth to such a handsome son.

However, Shen Danru only thought these words to herself; she wouldn't actually say them aloud.

Shen Cheng thought Chen was just saying it out of anger and didn't take it seriously, but Chen herself felt guilty as soon as she said it. Her eyes darted around, and she sat down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum:

"My life is so hard. I had a difficult childbirth when I gave birth to you, and it almost cost me my life. I finally managed to raise you, and now you want to drive your mother to her death..."

Hearing Chen sing and shout, Shen Danru opened her eyes.

This is even more spectacular than the Marquis's mansion.

"Grandma, there are bugs on the ground, they're about to crawl onto you."

Startled, Ms. Chen quickly got up.

She was most afraid of black bugs covered in legs.

"Where are the bugs? Where are the bugs?"

Shen Danru: "Perhaps I'm seeing things."

Upon hearing this, Chen realized that the girl was clearly mocking her.

The anger she had been holding in escalated, and she took off her shoe and swung it at Chen Danru:

"You brat, I'll teach you a lesson for playing tricks on me! I'll beat you to death today! You jinx! The Marquis's mansion doesn't want you, so you run off to the Shen family to cause trouble. I'll beat you to death right now..."

Shen Danru wouldn't let herself be taken advantage of. She had no liking for this old woman. If she thought she could bully her, she'd better do it in her next life. She was already prepared to break the old woman's arm. When she transmigrated to the modern world, she hadn't been training for nothing by enrolling in a boxing class.

If she can't beat those men in black, surely this old woman from the countryside can beat them too?