Unfortunately, no matter how much Bai Xiaoyue wanted a peaceful life, there were always people who wouldn't let her have a moment's peace.

That day, Bai Xiaoyue went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things and came back.

From afar, she saw her aunt Wang Xiumei stopping Yan Ci, looking very agitated, gesturing wildly to Yan Ci with her hands and feet.

Yan Ci frowned deeply upon hearing her words, looking extremely impatient.

Bai Xiaoyue found it strange that her aunt could talk to Yan Ci about something so exciting.

She quietly approached and listened for a while, only to hear her aunt say:

"Yan Ci, Xiao Yue almost killed my nephew from my maternal family."

Yan Ci glanced sideways at Wang Xiumei and slowly said:

“If you and Wang Baoshan dare to make a move on Xiaoyue again, with me here, she’ll have to take matters into her own hands.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiumei's face drained of color, and she pointed at Yan Ci, stammering, "Yan Ci, you..."

Bai Xiaoyue understood that Wang Xiumei was unhappy because she had approached Yan Ci.

She wanted to ruin her reputation so that Yan Ci would break off the engagement, thus confirming that Bai Xiaoyue was a widow who couldn't find a good man.

Bai Xiaoyue walked over and gave a cold smile: "What? Does your aunt have some issues with me and Yan Ci?"

When Wang Xiumei saw Bai Xiaoyue arrive, and then looked at Yan Ci, she quickly said, "No objection, no objection."

She ran off like the wind, as if a ferocious beast was chasing her.

Yan Ci took the things from Bai Xiaoyue's hands and carried them home himself.

The two returned to the Bai family home. Yan Ci moved two chairs to the courtyard and asked Bai Xiaoyue to sit down before he spoke:

"Xiaoyue, I've heard about what happened in the Bai family's courtyard that day."

Aren't you upset that your uncle and aunt almost pushed you into a fire pit?

Bai Xiaoyue gathered her thoughts before answering:

"I feel a little upset, but it doesn't come to the point of blaming them."

Ultimately, it's because the world is too harsh on women, especially widows whose husbands have died.

There's no doubt that the parents' intentions were for their daughter's good.

Yan Ci then asked, "Do you blame your uncle?"

Bai Xiaoyue said calmly:

"People's hearts are always biased. Isn't it normal for an older man to love and care for his wife?"

Besides, it would be easy for me to make a scene and cut off all ties with them. But I'm not alone.

If I were alone, it wouldn't matter what happened. But I still have Chang Le.

I don't know why I came here, nor do I know when I will leave.

If something were to happen to me one day, who would Chang Le rely on?

I can't just think of my own momentary pleasure and leave Chang Le isolated and helpless in the future!

Everyone bears inescapable responsibilities, and I am responsible to Chang Le.

After listening, Yan Ci praised, "Xiaoyue, you are a good mother!"

Bai Xiaoyue said playfully, "Thank you for the compliment, and thank you for defending me in front of my aunt."

Actually, my aunt's life isn't easy either. Now my uncle gives her the cold shoulder every day, and nobody in the family talks to her.

Yan Ci: "I'm your boyfriend now, isn't it my duty to protect you?"

Time flew by, and the corn stalks were all loaded with corn. Everyone went to the fields to pull weeds and earn work points. The corn leaves were cut so hard they hurt and itched.

Bai Xiaoyue didn't go to the fields. Anyway, she was just earning work points, and at worst she would get less grain.

She would stay home with her daughter every day to cook for Bai's parents and Yan Ci, and occasionally go to the fields.

That day, she took Chang Le for a stroll, and suddenly heard:

"Who broke the corn here? Who was that damn bastard who did it?"

Now that everything in the fields belongs to the collective, everyone loses their will to work when they hear that their interests have been harmed.

Everyone rushed over to watch, as if they were Sherlock Holmes, ready to solve the case.

Just as Bai Xiaoyue was about to go up and see what was going on, she was pulled far away by a hand. She looked and saw that it was Yan Ci, who was also carrying Chang Le in his other hand.

Yan Ci's voice was gentle: "Just watch from here. There are so many people, you and your mother will be squeezed later."

Chang Le found it quite fun and grabbed Yan Ci's hand, shouting, "Uncle Yan, again, again!"

He then pulled Chang Le around and swung her back and forth, and Chang Le kept giggling.

Seeing that there were indeed many onlookers and that she wasn't particularly tall, Bai Xiaoyue decided not to squeeze in with them.

She asked Yan Ci directly, "You know, right? What happened?"

Yan Ci tossed Chang Le onto his back and carried her home, answering as he went:

"It's all because there's no food. When there's no grain at home, people secretly break off fresh corn cobs from the field and eat them. This has happened several times already, and it's not going to stop anytime soon."

Bai Xiaoyue frowned and pondered deeply after hearing this.

After dinner, Bai Xiaoyue sought out Yan Ci to discuss:

"We have enough grain at home to eat, but we have some left over. Do you think I should give some to the village?"

Yan Ci's eyebrows twitched: "How much is left?"

Bai Xiaoyue did a quick mental calculation before saying:

"It can extract 900 jin of coarse grains and 100 jin of wheat."

Upon hearing this, Yan Ci was startled, thinking to himself that this young girl was usually very frugal in her eating and dressing.

They managed to produce so much grain without making a fuss.

He remained silent for a long while before speaking:

Do you know what the price of food is on the market right now? And there's almost no food left to sell.

Bai Xiaoyue asked in confusion, "Yan Ci, how do you know? You don't need to buy grain."

Yan Ci was speechless: "Do you think everyone is like you, not caring about anything?"

Bai Xiaoyue wrinkled her nose:

“I have food to eat and I lack nothing, so what do I care about what’s going on outside?”

Besides, even if I wanted to go out and have some fun, I couldn't. It would be another twenty years before I could walk freely again.

Sigh... I'll be 40 years old then, I don't know if I'll still have the energy to travel around.

Yan Ci listened to Bai Xiaoyue's rambling with a smile in his eyes, and only spoke after she finished speaking:

"Xiaoyue, leave the grain to me. If there's enough grain, cook more for each meal."

Take good care of your health, and patiently wait for better days to come. You'll definitely be able to travel the world freely.

Bai Xiaoyue gave him some words of advice out of concern:

"Yan Ci, you need to be careful. The world is in chaos now, and you can't let anyone find fault with you."

Yan Ci felt a warmth in his heart when he felt that someone cared about him.

Later, Yan Ci asked Bai Wenyi to tell Uncle Bai that 500 jin of grain had been given to the village in someone else's name.

It's still 1 yuan per jin, which is more than half the price of the market price.

The remaining 500 jin of grain were taken away by Yan Ci and Yan Xiaosong.

Bai Xiaoyue didn't care when Yan Ci got so close to her second cousin and Yan Xiaosong.

Later, Yan Ci gave Bai Xiaoyue a total of 1,500 yuan for grain.

Holding so much money, Bai Xiaoyue smiled like a little mouse that had stolen some lamp oil.

Seeing her greedy little face, Yan Ci felt very pleased.

Bai Xiaoyue took out 100 yuan and gave it to Yan Ci:

"Here's some money for you. You've worked hard. A man needs to have some money in his pocket."

Seeing her reluctant expression, Yan Ci teased her, "Why are you only giving me 100 yuan?"

Bai Xiaoyue's almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise:

"How much do you want? You eat at home every day, so you don't need any money. I'm saving it for you to use when you get married."

Seeing her take the money back, Yan Ci couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Bai Xiaoyue was stunned. She forgot to count the money. It was the first time she had ever seen Yan Ci laugh so heartily. She felt as if she could hear the sound of flowers blooming in her heart.