The next morning, before the roosters even crowed, Jiang Yu was already up. Of course, she wasn't there to prepare for going to her parents' house, but rather to prepare breakfast for everyone.

Yesterday's glutinous rice cake was really delicious. Even in her sleep, Shen Niannian was still smacking her lips, looking like she wanted more.

At the breakfast table, Jiang Yu told the children that she was going to the neighboring Jiang Village. Shen Niannian asked in a low voice:

"Mommy, can I go?"

I often hear children talk about going to their grandparents' house, what delicious food their grandparents buy for them, and how many new friends they make. Chen Niannian's eyes are full of anticipation.

However, from the time he can remember until now, he has never recalled anyone telling him about his maternal grandparents' house, and he and his sister were also very sensible and never asked.

Hearing this now, I don't want to miss it at all.

"Of course you can!"

Jiang Yu's eyes were full of doting affection as she gently stroked his little head. After breakfast, she took a square piece of cloth, picked out two pounds of eggs, and tied them on.

When visiting a sick person, people would bring milk or eggs, which was considered quite a good thing in those days.

After finishing tidying up, the man, who had been silent all along, said calmly:

"I happen to be free today, I'll go with you."

In the original owner's memory, since getting married, Shen Ying had never had any contact with anything related to her parents' family. The process of going back to her parents' home was also very simple: after eating, she would go there, leave the money she was holding, do housework all day, and then in the evening, they would not even let the original owner have a bite of food before anxiously sending her back.

It is possible that this long-term oppressive environment caused her to be very afraid of her own family, and then she vented all her pent-up anger on her husband's family.

They think that once they get married, they can live a good life without having to work and still have money to spend. They are typical bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong.

In the past, Shen Ying would never have gotten involved in anything, but the feelings he had developed for this woman after spending these days together were something he never expected. He stubbornly insisted that it was nothing more than pity, not love.

Jiang Yu instinctively wanted to refuse, but a fleeting memory of the original owner of the body filled her with a bad feeling. Fine, she thought, she might as well go. If something really happened, he wouldn't just stand by and watch her die.

Amidst the family's preparations, only Shen Suisui's expression betrayed resistance. She had always been afraid of Jiang Meier, and this time was no exception.

Jiang Yu noticed her resistance, squatted down and whispered a few words in her ear, and Shen Suisui's face immediately brightened up.

Jiang Yu took the leftover glutinous rice cakes from yesterday to Wang Cuihua's house and entrusted the child to her care.

Compared to Shenjiazhuang, the road to Jiang Village was even more rugged. Jiang Yu, panting heavily, put her hands on her hips, shielding her eyes from the sun, and gazed ahead. This winding mountain road was going to wear her out.

Shen Niannian was already tired from walking, and now she was leaning on her father's shoulder, looking at the rows of big trees in the distance, humming a nursery rhyme that her mother had recently taught her:

'Little white rabbit, white and white...'

While his dad wasn't looking, he secretly pulled a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth. Ever since his mom bought the candy, she'd been worried that he and his sister would get cavities from eating too much, so she'd been controlling their intake. But after eating sweet glutinous rice cake yesterday, his mom wouldn't let him have any more, so he had to hide it and eat it secretly.

The weather has been quite nice these past few days since the Lunar New Year, and the wheat seedlings in the fields are growing quickly, so many villagers have gone to work in the fields.

Seeing a tall, handsome man carrying a miniature child on his back, with a sunny and beautiful woman in front of him, I couldn't help but stop what I was doing and take a second look.

This family seemed extremely out of place in this field of crops.

Not long after they left, the people in the fields began to gossip:

"These family members look unfamiliar; I wonder whose relatives they are."

"This girl looks a lot like Jiang Chun's eldest daughter. She looks much more radiant than she did a few years ago, and her clothes and appearance are no longer like those of someone who stayed at her parents' home, looking disheveled. She has the air of a city person now."

Someone reminded them, and everyone started discussing it animatedly:

"You know what, of their whole family, only this girl is pretty. Her features don't really resemble those of Jiang Chun and her husband. But didn't I hear she caused quite a stir in Shenjiazhuang? First, she kicked her mother-in-law and sister-in-law out, and then she acted like a big shot at home, refusing to do any work. It seems like she hasn't been coming to her parents' house much since she had her second child. I wonder what she came here for today?"

"It's said that this eldest son-in-law is a junior officer in the army and is quite famous in the town and even the city. He's good-looking and makes money. I don't know what kind of luck Jiang Chun's family had to find someone with such a promising future."

The more they talked, the more regretful they became, recalling the events of that year. Back then, a story circulated in the town: a man from a family went to work in the city, made money, and then got involved with the daughter of a wealthy family, planning to divorce his original wife in the village and remarry.

The wife disagreed, and during the argument, the man accidentally killed her and dismembered her body, causing widespread panic in the town.

So when Shen Ying's mother asked a matchmaker to find a spouse for her son in the surrounding villages, everyone was worried that such a thing would happen again, so they turned the matchmaker away.

At this moment, Jiang Yu and Shen Ying, along with Shen Niannian, had arrived at Jiang Village and, relying on their memories, went to her parents' home.

The house at her parents' home looked much better than theirs. Through the fence, they could see a plot of land in the yard where vegetables were grown, and the bean vines that had died last year were entwined around the fence.

Jiang Yu took a deep breath at the door and knocked.

Half a minute later, the door opened, and Jiang Meier glanced at the room with a resentful look before turning around and walking into the house without saying a word.

Jiang Yu didn't bother to pay attention. In her opinion, the reason her younger sister was like this was because the original owner's father spoiled her. And the original owner was born a slave in this family, where everyone could bully and exploit her.

"Dad, I heard you broke your leg. What happened?"

Jiang Yu went inside, put the eggs on the ground, and walked towards the old man.

There was a small kang (heated brick bed) made of mud in the outer room. The original owner lived here before he got married so that he wouldn't disturb their sleep when he got up to work in the morning. Later, it became the old man's place for his afternoon nap.

"Da Ni'er, you're finally back."

Taking the opportunity, Jiang Chun coughed twice and sighed softly. He said he was old and useless, and had accidentally fallen off the roof while trying to clean the chimney.

It was only during their conversation that Jiang Yu was able to see his face clearly.

His face was covered in wrinkles, and his cloudy eyes were full of calculation. Below his hooked nose, which looked very similar to Jiang Meier's, were chapped lips. When he spoke, his teeth were blackened, clearly the result of long-term smoking.

Seeing that Jiang Yu had only taken two jin of eggs, Jiang Chun's face immediately darkened, and he said sarcastically:

"Now that you're living a good life, you've started to go through the motions when you go back to your parents' home."