Although the compound was large, news spread quickly. The Su family couldn’t possibly produce so much rice at once.

So, Su Shuoci took Gu Jiaojiao to the black market to sell rice. As soon as they left the compound, gossip exploded behind them.

“Did you read the newspaper today? General Sheng publicly clarified that he has no relationship with Gu Jiaojiao.”

“I saw it, I saw it. Gu Jiaojiao really got what she deserved this time. After doing such a disgraceful thing, how could the Sheng family still want her?”

“It’s her own fault. The Sheng family raised her for eighteen years. She should have quietly let Song Zijin go. Alas…”

“You busybodies, what nonsense are you spouting again? Yesterday, you made my sister-in-law faint, and no one came to hold you accountable, right?”

Su Qinchun rushed home after school at noon. Today, many classmates had looked at her with pity, saying that with one disabled person and one sickly person in her family, how could they possibly survive.

Her brother had said they still had money and would take her sister-in-law out for lunch today, so she wanted to go home and see if her brother had actually gone or not.

Hearing the women gossiping about her sister-in-law again, Su Qinchun angrily confronted them.

She might chatter nonstop in front of Gu Jiaojiao, but in front of outsiders, she fiercely defended her.

“That sickly woman, without the Sheng family’s tonics, won’t live long even if she doesn’t get angry.”

“Exactly. Little Su, don’t you know? The Sheng family publicly announced they’ve cut ties with Gu Jiaojiao.”

“Who cares about their family? My sister-in-law has our Su family to take care of her, and that’s enough.”

“With your Su family? A bunch of country bumpkins, do you have the means to provide tonics for a sickly person?”

“What’s wrong with being country bumpkins? Watch your mouth! My parents have jobs, and my eldest brother gets a monthly salary and a pension. How could we not have money?

At worst, I’ll drop out of school and take care of my brother and sister-in-law at home. What’s there to worry about?”

“Tsk tsk… You’ve got a point. Three incomes supporting two sickly people should be more than enough.”

The women fell silent. Their families weren’t doing as well as the Su family. Seeing no one arguing with her anymore, Su Qinchun hurried home.

“Mrs. Su is such a strong woman. How could she agree to take care of a sickly person?”

“Who knows? Maybe it’s because Gu Jiaojiao is pretty. Didn’t you see how well Gu Jiaojiao and that cripple looked together just now?”

“Pretty? Can looks put food on the table? The Su family went from one sickly person to two. What kind of good life can they have in the future?”

“You’re right. Gu Jiaojiao is really cursed. Why haven’t her biological parents come to take her back?”

“Her biological parents are living on a farm. What can they do? It’s better they don’t come. If they do, it’ll only make things worse.”

As lunchtime approached, the women dispersed in twos and threes to go cook. None of them noticed Sheng Xinglian hiding behind a large tree.

Seeing the radiant and glamorous Gu Jiaojiao earlier had filled her with jealousy and hatred. How could Gu Jiaojiao, married to a cripple, still flaunt herself so boldly in public?

These foolish women didn’t even realize that the Su family had just held a banquet and received a lot of gift money.

They should have confronted Gu Jiaojiao and demanded she repay the Sheng family for eighteen years of food and expenses. Well, she would write to the Gu family.

Since she couldn’t get her hands on Gu Jiaojiao’s money, she would sic the troublesome Gu family on that bitch.

Let’s see how she flaunts herself after that. A bitch like her deserves to be despised by her in-laws and mocked by everyone.

She knew the Gu family was currently living in dire straits, on the brink of collapse, but she had no intention of saving them.

Useless people, what’s the point of saving them? But now they could serve a purpose—to drag Gu Jiaojiao down.

Sheng Xinglian never dreamed that her jealousy and desire to torment Gu Jiaojiao would end up saving the Gu family’s lives.

Having been reborn, she considered herself very clever and thought she had a clear understanding of many things.

Her father had only publicly severed ties with Gu Jiaojiao after hearing demands for her to repay the food expenses.

In truth, her father and eldest brother still cared for the sickly girl as much as they had in her past life. Their kindness toward her was merely out of pity.

So Sheng Xinglian didn’t dare to incite the second and third fools anymore. The second fool was stubborn; once he cut ties, he would never seek out the sickly girl again.

The third fool had started looking at her with disdain ever since he found out Gu Jiaojiao had given her eight hundred yuan.

It was all that sickly girl’s fault. If she hadn’t revealed it, the third fool would still be obediently following her every whim.

Sheng Xinglian stomped her foot in frustration and could only walk home dejectedly. When she encountered people in the compound, she put on a sweet, obedient smile again.

Gu Jiaojiao had actually pushed the cripple out of the compound. Wasn’t it said that the cripple never even left the house?

She would go home and write to the Gu family, telling them that Gu Jiaojiao was their biological daughter. The second brother of the Gu family had come looking for her before.

Afraid that Gu Jiaojiao might give the New Year’s money from the Sheng family to the second brother, she hadn’t told him that Gu Jiaojiao was his sister.

The letter her father sent to the Gu family had never reached them because the eldest brother of the Gu family had lost too much blood and was on the verge of death.

In her past life, she had been studying in the county town at this time and had no knowledge of the Gu family’s situation, nor had anyone told her.

Later, when she returned to the Sheng family after being recognized, she completely forgot about the Gu family.

Seeing Gu Jiaojiao so radiant and glamorous, she wanted to bring the Gu family over to torment her, but the Gu family had already perished.

Meanwhile, the cripple she had been cursing, Su Shuoci, was leading Gu Jiaojiao through the black market with ease.

His wheelchair was covered with a white cloth, and two hundred pounds of rice were placed on it. Although they were right at the entrance of the black market, Gu Jiaojiao was struggling to push the wheelchair.

She deeply regretted not keeping some cash in her space.

But it had been years since she last used cash, so it hadn’t occurred to her that one day she would desperately need it.

Ah, there’s no cure for regret in this world.

“Jiaojiao, just hold onto the wheelchair. I’ll do the pushing,” Su Shuoci said, hearing Gu Jiaojiao’s heavy breathing.

“It’s fine. You just hold onto the rice. Do you know anyone in the black market?”

“Yes, if we keep walking further in, someone will come over to greet us. Don’t say anything.”

After saying this, Su Shuoci used one hand to hold the rice and the other to push the wheelchair, lightening his wife’s burden.

After walking about two hundred meters, a young man in his twenties approached. “Boss, what are you doing here?”

“Monkey, I’ve got some rice here. See what price you can offer.”

“Right now, rice in the stores costs eighteen cents per pound, but you need ration tickets. On the black market, it’s twenty-three cents. If the quality is good, it can sell for thirty-five cents per pound.”

Monkey was a soldier Su Shuoci had once led, a young man with great potential. But his father had injured his leg while working on a construction site.

As the only son in the family, he had been forced to retire and return home to take care of his father.

The nickname “Monkey” had been given to him by his comrades, who said he was as clever as a monkey.

Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t expected the black market to be so straightforward. She thought Monkey’s price didn’t include what he would sell it for.

The rice she had in her shopping mall sold for five yuan and sixty cents per pound. She thought selling it for fifty-six cents wouldn’t be a problem.

Su Shuoci had told her not to speak, but she couldn’t help herself. “Are you buying our rice for thirty cents a pound and then selling it for fifty-six cents?”

Monkey: “…”