Inside the main room, Song Yueying sat on a long bench, her chin resting on her hands. Her shimmering eyes gazed quietly at Qi Yanjue, who sat opposite her.

She looked like she was waiting for him to ask her a question.

Qi Yanjue didn't keep her waiting long, carefully considering his words before asking, "What did you just use on Mom...?"

The word "hypnosis" rolled around in Qi Yanjue's throat, but he still didn't say it.

“It’s hypnosis.” Song Yueying took the initiative to say the word “hypnosis” for him, and took out the pocket watch that she had just used to hypnotize her mother and put it on the table.

Qi Yanjue was well-informed and could tell that her behavior was hypnotic, so it wasn't surprising.

Thinking of the suffering her mother had endured in the past, Song Yueying felt a little heavy-hearted. She sighed and said, "In the past, when she had an attack, she would push herself to the brink of collapse and then faint."

"After waking up, I didn't remember anything, and I felt completely recovered."

"If she doesn't faint today, she'll stay in that state. She's already pitiful enough; I can't bear to knock her out, so I can only hypnotize her."

"Can I take a look at this?" Qi Yanjue asked, pointing to the pocket watch on the table.

"Okay." Song Yueying readily agreed, reaching out to push the pocket watch towards him.

Qi Yanjue picked up the pocket watch and examined it carefully, turning it over and over again, but couldn't see anything different.

Song Yueying was amused by his actions. "It's just an ordinary pocket watch. No matter how you look at it, it won't turn into any rare item."

When she said it was just an ordinary pocket watch, Qi Yanjue asked, "Don't you own more than just this one pocket watch?"

"Mm." Song Yueying nodded. She had bought twenty identical pocket watches in one go in order to learn hypnosis.

"You didn't use this pocket watch to hypnotize Mom?" Qi Yanjue asked again.

"It's this one," Song Yueying replied from her dormitory.

"Then why do you still say this is an ordinary pocket watch?" In Qi Yanjue's opinion, since this pocket watch can hypnotize people, it cannot be considered an ordinary pocket watch.

“It’s just an ordinary pocket watch,” Song Yueying insisted.

Qi Yanjue didn't want to argue with her about whether the pocket watch was ordinary or not, so he changed the subject and asked, "When did you learn hypnosis?"

Song Yueying rolled her eyes and replied, "I learned it from someone after I came back to the village last year."

"Who taught you?" Qi Yanjue continued to ask.

"I can't say," Song Yueying shook her head.

She said she couldn't say, and he didn't ask anymore. Qi Yanjue then changed the subject, "How did Mom get sick?"

“I was young then, so I don’t remember very clearly.” Song Yueying shook her head. “I only know that our dad and mom went out together in the morning and were carried back together when it was almost dark.”

"Then the villagers told me that our father died and our mother fainted from crying."

“Our mother already had mental problems back then, but no one noticed.”

“After my father was buried, my uncle’s family and my grandparents came to take our house and forced my mother and me to live in the old house.”

“Mom said that she and Dad built the house together. Dad died, and the house became Mom and me. Grandpa and Grandma beat and scolded Mom, and my aunt and two cousins ​​beat me together.”

“My mother knelt down and begged them, but instead of stopping, they became even more aggressive.”

"Mom was driven to desperation and had no choice but to go to the kitchen to get a cleaver to attack someone. When Grandpa and Grandma saw that things had gotten out of hand, they stopped pressuring Mom."

“After that, the villagers said that my mother had gone mad and would use a kitchen knife to kill people.”

"But I know that my mother didn't go crazy at that time; she was slowly driven crazy by them later."

Song Yueying was able to recount these events so clearly because they left a very deep impression on the original owner, and were also the reason for the drastic change in the original owner's personality later on.

Qi Yanjue had read the investigation report, and all the things she had said were clearly written in the report. Her father had been dead for more than eight years, and the cause of death was retaliation by secret agents after he saved someone.

The death was extremely gruesome.

Her mother was locked in the hospital room by her father, who stood guard at the door. He used his own body and life to protect her mother and the person who was being rescued.

When she talked about that incident, her expression was calm and her tone was even, as if it wasn't her own experience, but rather someone else's.

Qi Yanjue was not good at comforting people, and naturally he couldn't say anything comforting.

The main room fell silent.

After a moment, Qi Yanjue broke the silence, "Do you have a way to cure madness?"

“Mental illnesses have all sorts of causes and can’t be cured, only managed.” Song Yueying shook her head. “If we could find out the cause of our father’s death back then…”

"If we can resolve Mom's emotional distress and comfort her so that she feels less depressed, we might be able to control the chances of her having another attack."

"Is it only controllable?" Qi Yanjue lowered his eyes, concealing the disappointment in them.

Song Yueying could sense a low mood emanating from him, assuming it was due to worry about their mother. She comforted him, saying, "Brother, don't worry too much, I'll take good care of Mom."

Suddenly raising her eyes, Qi Yanjue's deep, dark eyes stared straight at her.

"What's wrong?" Song Yueying didn't think she had said anything wrong, but judging from his reaction, it seemed that she had said something that had offended him.

"It's nothing." Turning his gaze away, Qi Yanjue stood up. "I'll go to the kitchen to see if the food is ready."

After saying that, he strode out of the main room without waiting for Song Yueying to nod.

Song Yueying didn't think much of it; she had a more pressing problem to solve right now: survival. She took the envelope out of the space laboratory vehicle and counted the money inside.

"I'm so poor, so very poor." Song Yueying couldn't help but sigh. Old Wang gave her two hundred yuan, and she paid fifty yuan for Qi Yanjue's medical expenses and spent some more money.

There's a little over 140 yuan left, let's say 140 yuan.

One hundred and forty yuan can last a long time in this era, but what about later? She can't just sit around and live off her savings forever.

Given Song's mother's current condition, it's impossible for her to go out and earn work points again.

In the original owner's memories, Song's mother always ran into trouble when she went to work in the fields. The brigade leader stopped letting her go to the fields to earn work points and only let her cut pig feed with some other children.

Earning only two or three work points a day is barely enough to support oneself.

The burden of life fell on the original owner's shoulders. The original owner was able to earn some money by going up the mountain to collect herbs and treating people.

Unfortunately, he was tricked away by Song Rumeng using various excuses.

She's now using the original owner's body, and the burdens of life have fallen on her shoulders. But she's hopeless at managing daily life; she might encounter even more problems earning work points in the fields than Song's mother.

After much thought, Song Yueying decided that she could only continue doing what she used to do. She went back to her room, closed the door, and slipped into the space experiment vehicle, rummaging through the room where items were stored.

She remembered making some potions a long time ago that weren't incredibly effective. She thought she could make some money by turning those potions into pills and selling them.

Because those medicines were low-grade versions, she was too embarrassed to hand them over and kept them.

"Big Sister, Big Sister, dinner is ready." May's voice came from outside. Song Yueying flashed out of the space experiment vehicle, opened the door and walked out.

On a winnowing basket on a square table, there were some cooked sweet potatoes.

Although she was mentally prepared, Song Yueying still curled her lips in disgust when she saw the sweet potato.

"Big sister, dinner's ready, I'm going back now," May said with a smile, then turned and left.

"Wait." Song Yueying called out to Wuyue, but in her heart she was cursing the original owner for being so inhuman. Every time Wuyue came to cook for her, she would send her home after finishing the meal, without giving her any reward.

She couldn't do such an inhumane thing. Song Yueying said, "May, stay and have dinner with us before you go back."

May was stunned. What did the eldest sister just say? He must be too hungry to be hallucinating.

Qi Yanjue carried a plate of food into the house and happened to hear Song Yueying's words. He couldn't help but glance at her.

Seeing Qi Yanjue walk in, May also came to her senses and quickly waved her hand to refuse, saying, "No, no, no, Big Sister, I'm going home to eat, I'll just eat at home."

"Just eat here, why all the fuss?" Song Yueying had already sat down at the square table. "It's just a few sweet potatoes, it's not like your family can't afford it."

"No..." May wanted to say it wasn't sweet potato, but Song Yueying didn't give him a chance to finish speaking. She tapped her fingers on the table and said, "Come and sit down."

Qi Yanjue placed the bowl on the table. When Song Yueying saw the noodle soup in the bowl, her eyes lit up, and she stared intently at Qi Yanjue.

"Did you make this?" Song Yueying's voice was filled with joy.

Not daring to disobey his eldest sister, May walked to the table and sat down. Upon hearing Song Yueying's words, he immediately stood up and looked at her hesitantly.

Today, his eldest sister's family is serving noodle soup, and he's afraid she'll regret inviting him to stay for dinner.

Song Yueying glanced at Wuyue, "Why did you stand up?"

"I...I...I'll go...go home for dinner..." May finally managed to finish a sentence, stammering.

"You're eating here, so eat here. Why do you want to eat at home?" Song Yueying asked Wuyue with a stern face. "Are you looking down on me?"

"No, no, absolutely not." May hurriedly waved her hands and shook her head.

He would never look down on the eldest sister; he wouldn't dare to.

"If you don't have any, sit down and wait to eat." Song Yueying gave Wuyue a warning glare, then turned to Qi Yanjue and asked with a grin, "Brother, did you make this?"

"Hmm." Qi Yanjue hummed in response, turning his face away somewhat awkwardly.

He felt awkward every time she called him "brother".

"My brother is amazing, he can even cook, he's a great man." Song Yueying praised him generously, got up, picked up a bowl, filled it with noodle soup, and placed it in front of Qi Yanjue.

"Brother, you've worked hard."

Qi Yanjue's eyes flickered, thinking that this little woman would say anything for a bite to eat.

May looked at Song Yueying in horror, not daring to speak.

Song Yueying filled another bowl and placed it in front of Wuyue, her smile undiminished. "Wuyue has worked hard too, cooking sweet potatoes so well... she knows how to cook sweet potatoes."

Song Yueying couldn't find any more words to praise him, so she forced herself to.

Qi Yanjue's lips twitched. It's a skill to force praise when you can't find anything else to say.

May was even more terrified. The eldest sister praised him for cooking sweet potatoes. Did she have a problem with him? He remembered that the eldest sister didn't like sweet potatoes, but that was all she had at home.

In the past, when he cooked sweet potatoes for the eldest sister, she would scold him, not only him but also the sweet potatoes.

Today, this older brother came into the kitchen, found some flour, and made noodle soup. He was stunned; it was the first time he'd ever seen his older sister have so much flour in her house.

In May, he stared restlessly at the noodle soup placed in front of him. Wheat flour was a refined grain, something his family could only afford once a year; how could his eldest sister bear to give it to him?

May pushed the bowl away, picked up a sweet potato, and said, "I'll eat sweet potato, that's all I need."

"You're eating sweet potatoes instead of noodles? Did you forget to bring your brain home with you?" Song Yueying looked at him unhappily.

"I...I..." May started stammering again. She didn't know whether to eat the sweet potato she had just picked up or not. She was so nervous that she was about to cry.

A large hand took the sweet potato from his hand and pushed the bowl of noodle soup back in front of May. Qi Yanjue said, "Eat."

Two simple words saved May, and May was so moved she almost cried.

When Song Yueying heard Qi Yanjue speak, she lowered her head and started eating; she was truly hungry.

The three of them quickly finished their noodle soup. Qi Yanjue and Wuyue went to the kitchen, while Song Yueying sat in the main room to rest.

There was another urgent knocking at the courtyard gate.

Qi Yanjue and Wuyue came out of the kitchen and bumped into Song Yueying, who was walking out of the main room. Song Yueying told the two of them to go back to the kitchen and that she would open the door.

The two exchanged a glance and, with surprising unison, turned and went back into the kitchen.

Upon opening the courtyard gate and seeing the three people standing outside, Song Yueying frowned.

Upon seeing that it was Song Yueying who opened the door, Wang Muxiang immediately launched into a tirade, "Song Yueying, what are you up to? Do you want to kill my Mengmeng?"

"Shut up!" A powerful roar came from Uncle Song.

Uncle Song, in his fifties, had a dark face etched with the marks of time. He wore patched, coarse cloth clothes, and looked honest and simple.

His eyes, however, gleamed with a sharp light.

Being yelled at by her husband in front of Song Yueying already made Wang Muxiang feel resentful. Now, being yelled at again, she turned around and started cursing at Uncle Song, "Uncle Song, you good-for-nothing!"

"You've got some nerve, haven't you? You dare yell at me like that?"

"If you're so tough, yell at Song Yueying! Why are you yelling at me? It's Song Yueying who bullied your daughter, not me."

"You're utterly unreasonable," Uncle Song hissed. Didn't he have any dignity, being asked to yell at a junior?

Song Yueying glanced at her uncle. He seemed honest and reliable, but in reality, he had a sharp eye. He was shrewd and not at all honest.

Indeed, birds of a feather flock together.

Song Rumeng cried and said, "Dad, Mom, can you please stop arguing and let Song Yueying set my finger first? I'm in so much pain, I'm dying from the pain."

"If my finger can't be reattached, I won't live."

“Mengmeng…” Wang Muxiang glanced at her daughter with concern, her gaze falling on Song Yueying’s face, “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and help Mengmeng reattach her finger.”

Song Yueying blinked, looking puzzled, and said, "You didn't say anything and just asked me to reattach her finger. I don't dare. I'm afraid you'll scold me."

"She just pointed at you, and you broke her finger? How could you be so vicious? Now hurry up and put her finger back on, do you want to die in your sleep?" Wang Muxiang cursed.