Mu Xiaoqi bit her lip, unsure whether to mention Zhao Xilie.

She had anticipated her uncles’ reactions, but she hadn’t guessed that they would all turn grim.

“Which bastard is Zhao Xilie?”

“Introduced by Jiang Xueqin?”

“That dog Mu Yuehui actually entrusted such an important matter to her!”

The three uncles exchanged glances, and the youngest finally spoke for them. “Xiaoqi, you’re only eighteen.  You don’t need to rush into this, do you? There’s an old saying:  A long journey tests the strength of a horse, and time reveals a person’s true character.”

He paused, his voice choked with emotion. “We don’t want you to get hurt like your mother.”

After Mu Xiaoqi went back to her room, the three Xu brothers sat in the living room smoking.

“Tomorrow, I’ll get Zhao Xilie’s file. That scoundrel actually wants to marry our Xiaoqi.” Xu Yingyong took a hard drag on his cigarette, his brow furrowed.

Xu Yingcai and Xu Yingyong exchanged glances; this matter needed serious attention.

Xiaoqi, like her mother, was a kind child.  The three brothers had always felt guilty for failing to protect their younger sister’s happiness.

Now, they wouldn’t let Xiaoqi repeat her mother’s mistakes.

Zhao Xilie, far away in Wanxing Village, didn’t know that the three Xu uncles already harbored animosity towards him. He placed the book Mu Xiaoqi had given him on the bookshelf, his sister’s cheerful voice in the background.

“Brother, Sister Xiaoqi bought me so many gifts! You should have stopped her; they must have cost a lot of money, right?”

This was the first time Zhao Baixue had received gifts. She examined them carefully; they were all things she needed.  It was clear that the person who bought them had put thought into it, not just doing it for show.

The changes in their family had made the siblings mature early, making them particularly sensitive to kindness.

“Xiaoqi said she’ll come visit you when she’s free.”

When Zhao Xilie said this, he thought of Mu Xiaoqi’s smile, his voice unusually gentle.

Hearing this, Zhao Baixue immediately leaned closer. “Brother, do you like Sister Xiaoqi? What does she look like? Is her skin fair? Are her eyes big? She must like you too, right?”

Zhao Xilie put his hand on his sister’s forehead and pushed her away.

“Are you a walking encyclopedia?”

Zhao Baixue didn’t give up. “Brother, just tell me about Sister Xiaoqi, okay?”

In the tile-roofed house at the southeast corner of Wanxing Village, the siblings’ conversation continued, their expectations for their new life growing.

To avoid the three Xu brothers, Mu Yuehui took half a day off and chose to visit Xiaoqi during work hours.  He stood near the Xu family’s gate with his briefcase, hoping Xiaoqi would come out so he wouldn’t have to go inside.

Since Jiayun’s death, he had been turned away every time he came to the Xu family.

Mu Yuehui was a man with a strong sense of self-esteem. He thought Xueqin was right: the Xu family was too selfish and heartless.

Mu Yuehui was pleased that Xiaoqi had cut ties with the Xu family.

He never expected that a single blind date would completely change Xiaoqi’s attitude towards him. She hadn’t even greeted him, packing her things and going back to the Xu family, even having her uncle come and humiliate him.

Even so, Mu Yuehui wanted to win back his daughter’s heart.

After a while, there was movement at the gate, and he instinctively hid behind a large tree.

“Xiaoqi, Grandma doesn’t really want to eat Liu’s cold noodles; you don’t need to go out of your way.”

“You just wait at home. The one who’s craving it isn’t Grandma, it’s Xiaoqi!”

After focusing her attention on her family, Mu Xiaoqi increasingly felt the love surrounding her.  She had only been back for two days, and her three uncles, two aunts, and her doting grandmother were showering her with money and food coupons, afraid she would be short of anything.

This love was the same as in her past life, unchanged.

What had changed was Mu Xiaoqi’s response to them; she shouldn’t take it for granted.

Mu Yuehui watched Xiaoqi walking towards him. She was wearing a white shirt, black slim-fit pants, and black cloth shoes, her two braided pigtails black and shiny.

She was becoming more and more like her mother!

In Mu Yuehui’s memory, when he first met Xu Jiayun, she had been dressed exactly like this, beautiful enough to captivate anyone.

“Xiaoqi!” Mu Yuehui didn’t know why, but he felt nervous under his daughter’s gaze.

Would she ignore him?

“You’re here?” Mu Xiaoqi put away her smile and looked at him coldly.

When she saw Mu Yuehui hiding behind a tree, Mu Xiaoqi’s lips curled into a sneer. If he wasn’t guilty, why didn’t he ever dare to face her grandmother and uncles?

“Xiaoqi, let’s talk.”

He hadn’t realized before that his daughter’s eyes were so much like Jiayun’s—bright, as if able to see the hidden darkness in people’s hearts.

Mu Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow.  The father she had respected in her past life now seemed like a coward.

The willows by the river swayed in the wind.  In the height of summer, cicadas chirped incessantly. This summer felt different from any other.

“Xiaoqi, Dad was wrong, I’m sorry.” Mu Yuehui had been thinking about how to win back his daughter; showing weakness was his first move.  No one knew better than him that his daughter, like her mother, was proud and kind.

“And then?” Mu Xiaoqi stood with her arms crossed, knowing Mu Yuehui’s tactics too well.

Receiving no expected response, Mu Yuehui froze.  Had Xiaoqi changed so much in just two days?