Shen Cui didn’t want to stay under the same roof as Mu Yunchuan.

Secondly, although the family looked relatively wealthy now, it was mainly due to the silver left over from before.

Without any new income, Shen Cui didn’t want to rely on her parents for support.

So, in fact, they couldn’t afford to support another person in this household anymore.

After dinner, Mu Er Pang continued practicing calligraphy.

In the afternoon, he completed the copying of the Three Character Classic and now took out the Hundred Family Surnames to copy.

Shen Cui noticed that he really liked practicing calligraphy. After practicing all afternoon and half the evening, he didn’t seem to lose interest at all.

Actually, Mu Er Pang couldn’t quite explain why he liked writing so much. He just felt that when he was writing, he only needed to focus on how to write each stroke of the character.

His mind would empty out, and he didn’t have to think about those troubling things.

But it got dark outside quickly, so Shen Cui only let him write for a short while and then told him to rest his eyes.

Soon, Mrs. Zhou finished washing the dishes and came in, ready to tell Shen Cui before leaving.

Unexpectedly, she happened to see the writing materials and couldn’t help but be surprised. “When did Er Pang learn to write?”

Mu Er Pang was going to study for years to come, so there was no need to hide this matter, and it couldn’t be hidden anyway.

Shen Cui simply explained, “Yes, didn’t we borrow books from Yunchuan last time? After that, Er Pang started reading them, and I found him a few more books. Now that he’s been reading for a while, he’s starting to write.”

Of course, studying was a good thing, especially since Mrs. Zhou liked scholars the most. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have agreed to marry Mu Yunchuan so wholeheartedly after just meeting him once.

Looking at Mu Er Pang again, she couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she did feel that he had gained a bit more scholarly air than before.

“No wonder Mother-in-law asked about the two taels of silver earlier; studying costs money. I understand now,” Mrs. Zhou said with a smile. “Er Pang is truly different now. I thought I was overthinking it during dinner before. After all, it was only a few days apart. It turns out it’s because of studying!”

Shen Cui rubbed her nose and didn’t say anything.

Mu Er Pang wasn’t familiar with this sister-in-law, but when he heard Mrs. Zhou praising him, he opened the copybook of Hundred Family Surnames and said, “Sister-in-law, I just learned the character ‘Zhou.’ Can you see how well I wrote it?”

The little guy clearly hadn’t had enough of writing and wanted to show off his cleverness!

Shen Cui gave him a amused look.

Fortunately, Mrs. Zhou waved her hand slightly embarrassedly and said, “I can’t read or write.”

“Not knowing how to write is great! You can learn with me, sister-in-law.” With Mu Er Pang’s enthusiastic invitation, Mrs. Zhou went over to watch him write.

It wasn’t really a forced gesture. Mrs. Zhou, who liked scholars so much, naturally thought about learning to read and write with Mu Yunchuan after they got married.

Unfortunately, Mu Yunchuan’s upcoming exam was a big deal, so she couldn’t mention this idea.

The two of them were both eager to pass the time, one eager to learn and the other happy to teach.

During the New Year, it wasn’t good to scold children, especially with outsiders present, so Shen Cui indulged Mu Er Pang this time.

Later on, it was getting late.

As the New Year approached, the village suddenly became lively, with people setting off firecrackers outside to usher in the new year.

Mrs. Zhou then remembered that she should take her leave, saying that she should go back in case Mu Yunchuan returned and couldn’t find her.

It was a bit embarrassing for her. She had come to show filial piety to her mother-in-law, but after coming, she had only made one meal and ended up eating a lot of food from the household.

Since her parents passed away, Mrs. Zhou had been making a living with her younger brother. Later, her brother grew up, learned a trade in the city, and the siblings rarely saw each other.

After that, her brother settled down in the city, and he had wanted her to come and live with him. She understood the difficulty of meeting but not living together, especially since the house in the city was purchased with her sister-in-law’s family’s money. She felt embarrassed to go. It was also around that time that she started considering marriage. Within two years, she married into the Mu family.

Mrs. Zhou never expected to feel the long-lost warmth of family here. It made her forget about the time.

Shen Cui didn’t think Mu Yunchuan would rush back overnight to accompany Mrs. Zhou for the New Year, but since she wanted to leave, Shen Cui didn’t stop her.

After seeing off Mrs. Zhou, Shen Cui and Mu Er Pang also went to sleep.

Shen Cui’s “lazy illness” was about to strike again, but she resisted the urge to lie down immediately and instead went to the kitchen to fetch hot water for washing up.

Outside, the sound of firecrackers and children’s laughter filled the air. After washing up, Mu Er Pang didn’t rush to sleep. He wanted to continue chatting with Shen Cui—this morning, they had only chatted for a short while, and he had only talked about his competition with Chen Danai. There were still many things left unsaid.

Shen Cui listened quietly, without any impatience. When Mu Er Pang was almost falling asleep, Shen Cui softly asked him a question.

Mu Er Pang didn’t hear clearly and, with a sleepy voice, asked her what she said.

Shen Cui tucked him in and said, “It’s nothing. Just go to sleep quickly. We have to go to your maternal grandparents’ house early tomorrow morning to pay our respects.”

Mu Er Pang smiled and nodded, then quickly fell asleep.

Shen Cui stayed with him for a while before calling out to the system in her mind.

“I’m here,” the system quickly responded. “How can I help the host?”

“I have a question. Mu Er Pang’s mentality is becoming more normal. Why, on a day like today when families are reunited, has he not mentioned his other family members?”

The previous Mu Er Pang’s mind was not developed, so naturally, he couldn’t remember to care about others.

But now that Mu Er Pang was clearly normal, wouldn’t a normal child think about his elder brother and father during the New Year? If he did, there was no reason for him not to mention them at all, and his mood value should have been affected to some extent.

“In this world’s setting, your accompanying study subject is part of the control group. In the world’s setting, he was in a chaotic state before you intervened. He only truly came to life after you intervened.”

So, Mu Er Pang had no feelings for past people or events. He only had memories of the people he met and the events that happened after he truly “came to life.”

Shen Cui nodded understandingly. It was fine. After all, there were no good memories for Mu Er Pang in the past. His elder brother had no feelings for him, and his father’s whereabouts were unknown. It was better not to remember.

Outside, firecrackers sounded again, and the light on Shen Cui’s screen showed that it was midnight.

“System, happy New Year,” Shen Cui said.

There was a pause for a moment, as if the system hadn’t expected Shen Cui to say that to it.

Soon, its voice, with a smile, sounded, “Host, happy New Year to you too.”