Chapter 14

She was truly frightened by the fact that this child had run away from home. She knew that in her past life, this guy would often run away, and when he did, he wouldn’t come back for days.

What would happen if one day he ran away because he was upset?

She wanted him to know that this was also his home, and that this home needed him, this little man. Maybe, by understanding that, he would feel a sense of responsibility and wouldn’t leave so easily.

Zhiyuan tilted his head and thought for a while before saying: “Whoever bullies you, I’ll help you fight them.”

Lin Qingping: “…Zhiyuan, hitting people is not the best way to solve problems. Also, I’m not afraid of being bullied. I’m pretty strong.”

Lin Qingping was quite worried about Zhiyuan’s tendency to think violence was the solution. She would need to talk to him more about this later.

“Then what are you afraid of?” Zhiyuan still didn’t understand.

“Hmm… I’m afraid of a lot of things…” Lin Qingping frowned as she thought. “For example, I’m afraid of the dark…”

When Zhiyuan heard this, he frowned with a look of confusion on his face.

Lin Qingping: …She needed to continue making things up. “I’m also afraid of insects. Later, when we pick vegetables, can you help me remove the insects?”

Zhiyuan, although not really understanding the things she was afraid of, nodded and agreed. These things were small matters!

Lin Qingping smiled and extended her hand to make a pinky promise with him. “You have to help me forever! Always, always.”

“Okay!” Zhiyuan quickly hooked his pinky with hers without hesitation.

Only then did Lin Qingping lead him back to the house for dinner. He truly loved sweets, and his eyes lit up when he saw the pumpkin cake.

Lin Qingping smiled and said: “If you finish your homework well today, we’ll go to the county later. When we come back in the evening, I’ll make something tasty for you.”

Zhiyuan listened, and his eyes brightened again. In the end, children always loved to eat…

Lin Qingping had two purposes for going to the county. The first was to buy study materials and supplies, and the second was to see if she could find any ways to make money.

She wanted to start earning earlier than in her past life and also hoped to encounter some of the people she had met in her previous life. After eating, she took Zhiyuan and set off.

They first went to the department store. Zhiyuan’s clothes were old and short, with two large patches on the hem, and the patches had worn out again.

When they entered the department store, Lin Qingping noticed that this child seemed not at all surprised by the city surroundings, as if they were nothing new to him…

Lin Qingping thought about his mother, who had never been mentioned before, and had never appeared in either her past or current life. She didn’t know what kind of person she was.

She bought Zhiyuan two sets of clothes and two pairs of shoes. After thinking for a moment, she also went to the yarn counter and bought several pounds of yarn.

She was quite good at knitting sweaters, and with autumn approaching, it would be a good time to knit some sweaters for her family.

As they passed the women’s clothing counter, she saw a beautiful red women’s coat and immediately bought it for her younger sister. By then, she had a full load of things. After they finished buying the study materials and supplies, Zhiyuan was holding the smaller items.

Lin Qingping felt a bit regretful. There were really too few materials for the college entrance exam. Compared to later generations of students buried in mountains of books and endless practice questions, it was truly insufficient.

Carrying the large and small bags, she headed to her final destination—the state-owned sugar factory. There lived a person who was very important to her.

However, when she arrived, she was disappointed to find that the person was not there. It couldn’t be helped; in this era, without mobile phones, communication was really inconvenient and not timely.

And at that moment, they were still strangers to each other… Never mind, she thought, perhaps they would meet again by fate someday.

She bought two bags of sugar at the sugar factory’s shop and a few buns for Zhiyuan to eat on the way back, then took him back home.

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By the time they got home, it was almost dark.

Inside, her Mother-in-law was cooking, and Father-in-law had also come back from work.

Seeing the large and small bags in her hands, neither of them said anything. Lin Qingping washed her hands and went into the kitchen to help with the cooking. Zhiyuan followed her in. The little one, in the small kitchen, kept bumping into Liu Fen and then Lin Qingping from time to time.

Liu Fen laughed: “What are you crowding in for in such a tiny space?” 

Lin Qingping smiled. This child, not to mention anything else, just his loyalty to keeping promises, had remained unchanged from when he was little. She handed him some vegetables. “Zhiyuan, can you help me pick the vegetables?”

Zhiyuan nodded and immediately took a small wooden basin to wash the vegetables.

Today, Lin Qingping had specifically made double-skin milk. It was something she had promised to make for Zhiyuan. Unexpectedly, Zhiyuan, who loved sweets, took a bite and then stopped eating.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t it good?” Lin Qingping asked.

Zhiyuan shook his head. “I’ll keep it, for tomorrow…”

“Eat it, it’ll spoil by tomorrow. If you like it, I’ll make you another one tomorrow.” Lin Qingping said.

Upon hearing this, Zhiyuan finally ate it, eating in small bites.

After the meal, Lin Qingping took out the things she had bought that day.

There were five pounds of yarn, all in dark colors, and she asked Father-in-law and Mother-in-law to choose which one they liked.

The sight of the yarn completely stunned them, and the way they looked at her was as if they were seeing a monster.

Lin Qingping cleared her throat twice. This was truly a self-inflicted situation, wasn’t it?

“Chengzi asked me to do this. It’s autumn now, so I thought I’d get you both a few clothes. Since we live in the countryside and need to do farm work, I thought it’s better to make our own outerwear. I only got Zhiyuan two sets, and in a month or two, when the weather turns cold, I’ll knit each of you a sweater.”

The only good thing about her husband not being around was that she could put the blame on him for anything.

Although this explanation was a form of justification, it clearly lacked convincing power. But her in-laws didn’t say anything more and just casually pointed to a color.

“Well then, we’ll take these two for you both, and this color for Zhiyuan.”

As for the rest of the yarn, it was enough to knit at least one more sweater. She packed everything away, and since there was nothing else to do that evening, she could start knitting.

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The day passed by in a busy flurry.

The next day, she first gave Zhiyuan two lessons.

They weren’t long—about 20 minutes per session.

She assigned homework, cooked the meal, and of course, didn’t forget to make Zhiyuan double-skin milk.

Afterward, she packed her things and headed to her Maternal Family.

The main reason she had come was for her younger sister. She went directly to the fields. As expected, her sister was working there, her small body bent over in the hot sun, looking like a little shrimp.

“Second Sister!” she called as she approached.

Her father saw her first, and when he did, his face immediately darkened. It seemed that their mother had said a lot of bad things about her when she returned. Lin Qingping didn’t care about her father’s sour expression. She just pulled her sister aside and asked: “Have you prepared the study materials I asked you to get?”

Second Sister kept her head down and didn’t respond.

Lin Qingping suddenly thought of something. “The money’s gone, isn’t it?”

Second Sister lowered her head even further, her face turning red.

Lin Qingping was sure now—the money had definitely been taken by their mother. 

“Never mind, it’s my fault for not thinking things through.” she said, handing the bundle to her sister. “Inside, there’s a piece of clothing, as well as some review materials and study supplies. Keep them, and study well.”

The clothes were deliberately chosen to be red, so their mother wouldn’t be able to take them and give them to her younger brother, right?

But to her surprise, Second Sister held the bundle and quietly said: “Sister, never mind, maybe it’s not necessary…”