The old lady was still lying on the bed cursing, but inside the room, only Xiao Fei was sitting blankly in the corner.
"Where is the daughter-in-law in that room?" Bi Qiaoan asked Zeng Yiming in a low voice.
Zeng Yiming smiled, too embarrassed to say anything. Shen Yanming's eyes flickered, but he remained silent.
Not getting an answer, she asked again, "Is the old lady's leg still not healed?"
Zeng Yiming had a lot to say about this: "I'm getting old, and I'm not eating well. No one is taking care of me, so I've been putting it off. I heard that my bones haven't healed properly, and now I can only walk a little with crutches. I can't move around on my own yet."
"Where is that old man?"
"I went out to work, otherwise how would my family have enough to eat?"
Bi Qiaoan's expression was somewhat complicated: "Even if I work hard, I can't support three people." At least, she felt she couldn't.
"Ha, they have two people working to support two people. One of them gets a super high salary."
Bi Qiaoan: "..." Has something happened that she doesn't know about?
She looked at Shen Yanming with a puzzled expression, but seeing that he remained calm throughout, she just pursed her lips and said nothing.
The family chatted at the Zeng family's house for a while before heading home. Only after An'an and Nuannuan fell asleep that night did Bi Qiao'an begin interrogating Shen Yanming.
Do you know what happened?
Shen Yanming smiled and said, "Go to sleep!"
Bi Qiaoan snorted: "Are you hiding something from me?"
Shen Yanming: "Are you sure you want to know?"
"If I didn't want to know, would I be asking you? Oh my, my little heart is itching like a cat is scratching it."
"Shall I rub it for you?" he said, placing his large paw on it.
Bi Qiaoan: "Get out of here and speak properly!"
Shen Yanming sighed and confessed honestly: "Chen Jin went to the shack outside."
Bi Qiaoan was stunned for a while before she said, "You did this?"
Shen Yanming's face immediately darkened. He roughly ruffled Bi Qiaoan's hair and said, "Am I that kind of person? Besides, I have nothing to do with her."
Bi Qiaoan said guiltily, "I'm sorry!"
What she didn't know was that her husband, Lao Shen, actually had this idea, but before he could even make a move, someone else beat him to it.
To be honest, the Xiao family was really in a terrible situation. At first, people would sympathize with them and occasionally help them out, but no family is rich, and that couldn't last forever. Xiao's mother was also constantly crying and making a fuss, which annoyed everyone, so someone came up with this terrible idea.
Although the old lady was reluctant, they had no rice to cook. After discussing it with the old man, they sold Chen Jin. Anyway, their son was impotent, and they didn't expect their daughter-in-law to give birth to a child to carry on the Xiao family line.
When Chen Jin was taken to the shack, Brother Long was unhappy.
Although he was in that kind of business, he didn't just take in any scoundrel. But the middleman exaggerated the Xiao family's tragic story, making it seem as if Brother Long's rejection had pushed the family into a desperate situation.
"Brother Long, look, this girl may be a bit slow-witted, but she's obedient. Although she's a bit dull, she won't resist. The key is that her family is asking for a low price, so you're guaranteed to make a profit."
Brother Long hesitated, but his underlings thought the business was worthwhile: "Look, Boss, this girl has fair skin and is pretty. She'll definitely have a lot of customers."
"While most people enjoy interaction, you never know if some people might actually like this kind of thing, right? Anyway, it's not expensive, so let's just put them in there and give it a try. If things don't work out, we can always send them back."
Brother Long thought about it and agreed. From then on, Chen Jin lived in a shack, not having to do any work, only needing to...
At first, customers found it strange, but gradually, some wanted to try it. The initially unpopular product suddenly became very popular. The key thing is that unlike others, she didn't complain of getting tired and could use it all day long.
Brother Long felt he had made a profit.
The Xiao family was temporarily relieved of their crisis thanks to the grain delivered by Brother Long's younger brother. At the same time, the two elders also reaped the benefits.
The old lady was still cursing, but her aggression had subsided. Although the neighbors disapproved of their behavior, none dared to intervene. Otherwise, they risked being blamed and no one could bear the consequences.
After learning the whole story, Bi Qiaoan felt relieved but also saddened for Chen Jin.
"It's a pity about Xiao Fei, he has his parents protecting him."
Shen Yanming smiled dismissively: "How long can they protect each other?"
Bi Qiaoan grasped his large hand: "Compared to them, we are much luckier, don't you think?"
“Yes,” Shen Yanming comforted her, “this is the price they have to pay.”
In their past lives, one stole a cheat code and the other committed murder. In this life, they suffer such torment. It can only be said that karma is cyclical.
"Alright, stop paying attention to them. None of them will have a good ending."
"I understand, go to sleep. An'an and Nuannuan have to go to school tomorrow."
Bi Qiaoan nodded in agreement.
The temperature began to drop in September, and snow started falling before the end of the month. The cabbages and radishes in the fields hadn't been harvested yet, and Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan, fearing they would freeze, braved the heavy snow to go and harvest them. Of course, many others did the same.
"It's getting cold again, and I don't know when things will get back to normal."
"Don't think about it, it's useless." Shen Yanming shook his head, not mentioning his concern that from now on, there would only be winter.
The two worked quickly, but it still took them a whole day and several trips to carry all their spoils home. Winter is getting longer, and it will be very boring at home.
An'an and Nuannuan were excited watching the snow fall in the classroom. The little ones didn't realize this was abnormal; they just thought it would be fun to have a snowball fight and build a snowman.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan were exhausted, but they still went downstairs to pick up the two children. They couldn't help it; the children were too young, and they were simply too worried about letting them travel alone. They'd wait until they were eight years old before leaving them to fend for themselves.
When An'an and Nuan'an saw that their parents looked disheveled, they wondered what had happened. But when they asked, they found out that they had just come back from the fields.
The two women linked arms with the couple and sweetly said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mom and Dad."
Then they changed the subject: "We want to take the entrance exam for higher education."
The couple were astonished and asked, "You two have only been here for three months, and you've already learned it?"
The two children nodded firmly: "Yes, Mom, we listen to the second-grade lessons every day after we finish the first-grade lessons. We already know all the Chinese characters and math. The teacher said that as long as the parents agree, we can move up to the next grade. My sister and I don't want to waste any more time."
"There's no need to rush. You two are still young. If you go to second grade so soon, what will happen to your friends?"
An An Nuan Nuan was a little confused for a moment, and after a long while she said, "But we don't have any friends now."
Everyone disliked them because they were too young and didn't want to play with them. Some were even jealous because they were well-dressed and chubby. Don't think that just because they're young, they don't understand the exclusion among children.
"Since we're going to have to study anyway, we might as well use this time to learn more. Mom, we don't need to force ourselves to study hard in first grade."
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