Chen Shuting hid behind the clutter at the alley entrance, listening to her sister-in-law gossiping about her behind her back without any restraint, and felt extremely resentful.

She did want to take things from her parents' home, but unfortunately, Li Li kept a tight grip on the family's money, and she didn't have a single penny. She couldn't even buy anything for herself, let alone buy anything for her parents' home.

Looking down at her daughter in her hand, Chen Shuting became even angrier. If it weren't for giving birth to this little brat, her mother-in-law wouldn't have treated her like this. She might still be enjoying a leisurely life with money and gifts from her mother-in-law every month.

That's just how Chen Shuting is; when she encounters problems, she never looks for the cause within herself, but instead always pushes the responsibility onto others.

Doesn't she realize that if Li Li hadn't gone to prison, would her mother-in-law have been giving her money and gifts every month to appease her? She's just afraid that no one will take care of her son when he gets out.

But now that their son has grown up, the elderly couple has spent money to find him a temporary job as a gatekeeper, so he has a job. Naturally, the elderly couple will no longer spend money to support their family.

After all, the elderly couple didn't only have Li Li as their child. Li Li was just the one they favored. He had two older brothers and an older sister. If the elderly couple gave all their money to them, those children would have objections.

But Chen Shuting didn't think about any of that. She only felt that her daughter, Xiaoyue, had dragged her down and that she hadn't been good to the child.

Looking at her daughter squatting blankly behind the clutter, Chen Shuting felt a surge of annoyance. She pushed the little girl and yelled, "It's all your fault, you jinx! Why couldn't you be a boy?"

Little Yue'er was suddenly pushed and fell backward. Luckily, the snow on the road was thick enough that she didn't get hurt.

The little girl seemed to have gotten used to her mother's inexplicable temper tantrums. She got up on her own without crying or making a fuss, patted the snow off her body, and then stood quietly to the side, watching Chen Shuting without saying a word.

Seeing the child like this, Chen Shuting was furious but couldn't vent her anger. She could only stand up angrily and walk into the yard first.

Little Yue'er followed closely behind Chen Shuting, silently like a shadow.

Chen Shuning, who was in a hurry to get home, was unaware of all this. However, the driver, Xiao Liu, who had delivered the items, saw everything but did not intend to meddle.

Chen Shuning returned early, and Qin Yalan hadn't gone to work yet. Looking at the large and small bags scattered on the ground, she asked with some disapproval, "Why did you bring so many things again? Didn't I tell you not to keep bringing things back to your parents' house? Your mother-in-law will start to have opinions if this goes on for too long."

Sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a small quilt covering her feet, Chen Shuning said with a helpless expression, "I didn't want to bring so much stuff back either. It's quite heavy. Grandma packed all of this. I only saw all this stuff when I got off the bus."

"By the way, Mom, don't you get a day off today, the 15th? Why aren't Dad and Jian Dang home?"

As soon as Chen Shuning returned, he went to bed. Although the weather in Beijing was not as cold as in Heilongjiang Province, it was still dry and cold. This was quite a hardship for Chen Shuning, who was afraid of the cold. So, in winter, Chen Shuning would stay home as much as possible.

Qin Yalan got angry at the mention of those two people and said irritably, "We only work half a day today and have the afternoon off. We don't know what your dad is busy with all day. This lousy director doesn't even come home all day."

And your brother too, he spends all his time dealing with junk. He's 21 now, and he hasn't even started looking for a girlfriend.

By the way, we might be having dinner at the front yard today because of the holiday. See if you can find something for your grandparents to take there, so they don't keep gossiping about it to your dad; it's annoying.

Chen Shuning naturally wouldn't object to such a formality, simply considering it as paying money to ensure his father wouldn't make things difficult for him.

So Chen Shuning readily agreed, "Okay, I'll find some later. Oh, by the way, Mom, I want to eat the fried liver from the place near your supply and marketing cooperative for lunch. Can you bring me a bowl when you come back?"

"Okay, by the way, I'll go to the cellar and get you some apples and grapes. You know what, your method for storing fruit is really good. These grapes are still quite fresh after being kept for so long."

In those days, plastic film was hard to find and quite expensive, so few people used it for food preservation.

However, since the cellar at home was dug deep, Chen Shuning was worried about the trouble Qin Yalan would have to climb up and down. Besides, she didn't have any fruit in her space, so why would she need to go through all that trouble if she wanted to eat it?

So she quickly stopped Qin Yalan, who was about to leave, and said, "Mom, don't bother. I don't want to eat anything right now. I'm just sleepy. You should go to work. You'll be late. I'm not an outsider. Just get whatever you want to eat."

Chen Shuning was fine until he mentioned that he was going to get Qin Yalan's food. He became a little anxious and turned around, saying with a disapproving look, "You can't go down into the cellar by yourself. This is the most dangerous month for you right now."

Your in-laws' grandmother doesn't even need you to serve them rice. If something happens to you in my vegetable cellar, how am I supposed to explain it to Chaoyang?

"Alright, you should just lie there quietly. I'll go get it for you. It's already late, so a little longer won't make a difference."

Without giving Chen Shuning a chance to object, Qin Yalan grabbed the basket and went out the door.

Chen Shuning looked helpless and could only let her be.

Chen Shuning wasn't craving anything during this pregnancy, but she was extremely sleepy, sometimes even falling asleep while eating.

Chen Shuning, who usually sleeps until 8 a.m., got up before 6 a.m. today and was really sleepy. As soon as Qin Yalan left, she took off her coat, spread out the quilt and lay down.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!