Chapter 7

“Mother, what’s this?”

The handkerchief was bulging. Clearly, it wasn’t money.

Other than cash, Xia Wenhua really couldn’t think of anything else Pei Mother might be giving her.

“No matter what happened before, now that you really want to live a good life with Songbai, what’s rightfully yours should be given to you. This was passed down from Songbai’s grandparents. Traditionally, it’s meant for the eldest daughter-in-law. So now, it’s yours to keep.”

As she spoke, Pei Mother unfolded the handkerchief, revealing a high-quality jade bracelet.

Xia Wenhua’s gaze shifted as she stared at the bracelet, instinctively reaching out to take it.

The bracelet shimmered with a gentle glow, and even at just a glance, anyone could tell it was valuable.

She should have declined it—after all, aside from Pei Songbai’s income, the Pei family wasn’t exactly wealthy. This bracelet, if taken to the black market, could probably fetch several hundred yuan.

But… she had seen this bracelet before! Or rather, before she transmigrated, this bracelet had always been in her possession!

“Mother, this bracelet… was it passed down from the Pei family’s ancestors?”

A flash of memory raced through Xia Wenhua’s mind—so fast she couldn’t grasp it—but she instinctively wanted confirmation.

She’d had a high fever and lost her memory as a child. From her earliest memories, she’d grown up in an orphanage. Logically, she should’ve been dirt-poor, yet no one knew she’d always had a bracelet of extraordinary value by her side.

When she earned her first goal in life, she had the bracelet appraised. It was said to be worth at least ten million. She had always wondered where it came from.

Who would have thought that after falling gravely ill and transmigrating, she’d see this exact bracelet in the 1960s or 70s?

Pei Mother didn’t seem bothered by Xia Wenhua’s shocked reaction. The bracelet had already been handed over, and her intention was clear—it was a gift.

“Our family’s ancestors… well, it’s not really appropriate to talk about those things nowadays. In any case, this bracelet has been passed down for generations and must go to the eldest daughter-in-law. It’s not worth much now, but I don’t have anything else to give you. This is all I can offer.”

Pei Mother didn’t say anything more. Sensing that the others outside might be coming back from the fields, she led Xia Wenhua out of the room and went off to the kitchen to cook.

The bracelet she had worn for many years in her previous life had suddenly appeared in this era—Xia Wenhua’s mind was in turmoil. She couldn’t make sense of her thoughts at all.

The two children were still playing in the yard. Once she returned to the room, she immediately showed the bracelet to Pei Songbai.

“Songbai, Mother gave me this. Have you seen it before?”

Pei Songbai was packing their luggage. He glanced at the bracelet in her hand and then quickly looked away.
“I think Grandma used to wear that when I was a kid. Later, she must’ve given it to Mother. But the political atmosphere hasn’t been good in recent years, so I haven’t seen her wear it since. So, she gave it to you?”

Xia Wenhua nodded absently and tried calling out to the Transmigration God in her mind again—but no response. It seemed like ever since she’d arrived in this era, the god who brought her here had disappeared.

Was the reason she transmigrated really as simple as the so-called god claimed?

It was an unsolvable mystery—at least for now. Xia Wenhua could only set it aside.

Since Pei Songbai had returned to formally split from the family, the rest of the Pei household was no longer as warm toward him.

When it was time to leave, only Pei Mother came to see them off.

She hadn’t expected that none of the other children would even show basic courtesy, and there was an apologetic look in her eyes as she faced the couple.
“Farm work is busy this time of year… they didn’t have time to come. I…”

“It’s fine, Mother. I understand the situation. You don’t have to make excuses for them.”
Pei Songbai interrupted her, not letting her be put in a difficult position.

Since he was young, he had carried the burden of supporting the family. Maybe because he was so capable, it made his younger brothers look even worse by comparison. His relationship with the family had never been great.

Now, whether his brothers came or not didn’t matter to him. Instead, he instructed his mother seriously:
“Mother, the money I send you—you must keep it for yourself. Only give it to whoever actually respects and cares for you. Don’t do what you did before and hand it out the moment you get it. You need to take care of yourself.”

Pei Mother, of course, knew in her heart who truly cared about her. But children are like debts; whether palm or back, it’s all flesh. She couldn’t help it.

Tearfully, she nodded.
“Songbai… Wenhua… take care of yourselves on the road.”

After speaking with her son, Pei Mother squatted down to talk to the two children:
“Chenchen, Guangguang, Grandma’s little treasures—you must listen to your mom and dad, okay?”

The original host hadn’t been happy living with the Pei family. Sometimes she even blamed the two children for her misery, and so she treated them with indifference.

The twins had mostly been raised by Pei Mother. It wasn’t until recently that the second daughter-in-law insisted her daughter sleep in the same room as Xia Wenhua. Unwilling to share her space, the original host had taken the children back.

Now, with the twins suddenly going off with their parents, Pei Mother was the one most reluctant to part.

“Grandma, you’re not coming with us?”
“Yeah, Grandma, come with us!”

Pei Xiangchen and Pei Xiangguang hadn’t even turned three yet. Even though they were a bit more clever than other kids, they weren’t emotionally mature.

Over the past two days, Xia Wenhua and Pei Songbai had told them they’d be taking them along—but the twins had assumed Grandma would come too.

Now, hearing the implied refusal from Pei Mother, tears instantly welled up in their eyes.

“Waaah! I don’t care! Grandma has to come with me!”
“Grandma, come with us!”

…

A child crying is scary, but twins crying together is pure terror.

Pei Songbai and Xia Wenhua took the kids to the train station, and only when the twins had cried themselves to sleep did the couple finally share a look—both looking utterly exhausted.

Ever since they found out Grandma wasn’t coming, Xiangchen and Xiangguang had been screaming their lungs out, making them look like human traffickers. They had to explain the situation repeatedly to passersby.

It had taken them over an hour to walk from Hongshan Village to the county train station, and the kids had cried the entire way—finally dozing off out of sheer exhaustion.

“The train won’t be here for another hour. You stay with the kids—I’ll go find something to eat.”

Pei Songbai spread a sheet on the ground, placed all their luggage on it, and gently laid Xiangchen down. He signaled for Xia Wenhua to do the same with Xiangguang.

The moment she put the kids down, Xia Wenhua felt like singing out loud: “Freedom at last!”

Even though the kids only weighed around twenty pounds, carrying them the whole way was brutal. Her arms felt like they’d been hugging iron blocks. She was almost dead from exhaustion.

With Pei Songbai off to buy food, Xia Wenhua stretched and relaxed, shaking out her sore arms. Suddenly, she felt a shadow loom over her. She looked up—

—and found a fierce-looking, bearded man standing right in front of her.