Chapter 16

Shiliu was already six years old, and Yu Li did not plan to hide the truth from her. Instead, she wanted to take this opportunity to teach her to distinguish between good and bad intentions from others.

She explained everything to Shiliu and then asked her to repeat it word for word.

Yu Tuanjie immediately became anxious: “Bench is very protective of his food, there’s no way he would give Shiliu cookies! With Gao Xuelian’s personality, how could she possibly give Shiliu cookies?”

Chen Ailan, holding Shiliu’s shoulders, said, “Shiliu, don’t be afraid. Because you have been sick, we need to know what you’ve eaten. Tell us, what did Auntie give you in the cookies?”

Yu Li also asked, “Were they sweet? Did they smell nice?”

Shiliu blinked her big eyes, still a little scared, but after thinking for a long time, she said, “They weren’t very sweet, just a little bit fragrant. They didn’t taste like the ones Grandma used to give me, they were a bit tasty, but… something seemed off about the flavor.”

She nervously glanced at Grandma, Auntie, and Uncle, and then suddenly said, “I know where Auntie hides the cookies.”

Yu Tuanjie immediately asked, “Where? Tell Uncle, I’ll go check!”

It happened that Gao Xuelian and Bench were not at home.

Shiliu went to Uncle’s room and pointed under the bed, saying, “They’re hidden in the bed frame! Auntie always takes them out from a hole in the wall in the bed frame!”

Yu Tuanjie quickly moved the bed and felt around the bricks. He found one that was loose, and when he took it out, there really was a hole inside, hiding something!

A small bag of crushed cookies. When he opened it, he saw that something had been spread on the cookies!

Chen Ailan was so angry that she cursed loudly, “Beast! This beast!! Tuanjie, if you continue living with a woman like that, I’ll disown you! She harms Li Zi, she harms Shiliu, she’s not even human!”

Yu Tuanjie felt like he had been struck by a thunderbolt!

Gao Xuelian, the woman he had shared a bed with, was so malicious!

Today, Yu Li had come into this room hoping to find her high school admission letter.

By coincidence, that letter was folded up and placed together with the poisoned cookies!

She picked it up and opened it, her face darkening as she gritted her teeth: “Big brother, look at this!!”

Tears almost started to fall!

It was the emotional weight of the original self that had been absorbed into her body!

If she had gone to high school back then, she would never have been engaged to Wu Guohua, and she certainly wouldn’t have been framed and died tragically at the Wu family’s hands!

Yu Tuanjie quickly took the letter. Having only attended one year of middle school, he could clearly see what it said!

Chen Ailan, anxious, saw her daughter’s red eyes and immediately asked, “What’s wrong? What is this? I don’t know how to read, don’t rush me!”

Yu Tuanjie couldn’t even speak, his fist crashing into the wall!

“Mom, this is the admission letter for Li Zi when she was accepted into high school!”

Chen Ailan slapped her thigh: “Li Zi got in? Then why is the letter here? Didn’t they say she didn’t pass? Huh? How could this be!!! How could this happen!!!”

She had always said that Li Zi was so smart, with such good grades, how could she not have gotten in!

Yu Li said nothing as she looked at Yu Tuanjie: “Big brother, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be calling her ‘big sister-in-law’. You deal with this. But Gao Xuelian will never be considered family by me for the rest of my life. She will only be my enemy!”

Chen Ailan was also furious, clenching her fists: “That evil-hearted troublemaker! I’ve tolerated her for long enough! Tuanjie, while she’s in custody, I advise you to think carefully about what to do next!”

Saying this, the mother and daughter left.

Yu Tuanjie sat down dejectedly.

Unable to hold back, his head dropped, and tears filled his eyes!

He didn’t want to be laughed at or looked down upon, but how could his marriage with a woman like Gao Xuelian continue?

After a while, Yu Jiefang and the second couple returned from selling pears in the county.

Yu Fendou was so excited: “Mom! Little sister! Guess how much we made selling the pears?”

They had been working into the night and had sold all the pears on the truck!

Wang Xinghua couldn’t stop talking: “We first went to the mechanical factory gate and sold some. Then we went to the school gate, and finally realized that the best place to sell was at the hospital and cafeteria gates! One unit cafeteria even bought ten pounds!”

Yu Jiefang took out the money, unable to hide his smile: “This whole truck of pears sold for thirty-two yuan!”

That amount of money was equivalent to a month’s salary for someone in the city!

This good news lifted Yu Li and Chen Ailan’s spirits a little.

The money was handed over to Chen Ailan for safekeeping.

Since it was late and they were tired, they quickly had a meal, took a bath, and went to bed.

As for Gao Xuelian, neither Chen Ailan nor Yu Li planned to force Yu Tuanjie to make a decision yet.

He needed to think it through himself.

When you’re trapped in a marriage, others can’t help you much.

Yu Li pondered that her big brother, Yu Tuanjie, was essentially a good man, and she couldn’t just stand by and watch him be taken advantage of.

Early in the morning, Yu Tuanjie and Chen Ailan were preparing to make sesame pancakes to sell at the river excavation site.

Yu Jiefang couldn’t sit still and was heading out to work in the fields to gather grass.

Yu Fendou followed his father to the fields, while Wang Xinghua went off to work.

Shiliu ran off to play with the other girls in the village. Yu Li cleaned up the yard, hung out the bedding to dry, and then decided to go out for a while.

She needed to gather some information about Gao Xuelian and Gao Daliang!

First, Yu Li went to find the midwife, Xu Pozi, who had delivered Gao Xuelian’s baby.

Bench was only eight years old, but Xu Pozi remembered the delivery of the Yu family’s daughter-in-law well.

She recalled it clearly for a reason.

When she saw Yu Li, who brought eggs as a gift, Xu Pozi sighed: “I shouldn’t be talking about this, so I kept quiet back then. Your sister-in-law kept saying she had a premature birth.

But based on my experience, she wasn’t premature at all. The baby was born perfectly healthy. Premature babies wouldn’t be so strong. Also, about her…”

Yu Li noticed Xu Pozi hesitating, and quickly handed her a packet of brown sugar: “Aunt Xu, please keep this brown sugar to nourish your body.”

Xu Pozi accepted the gift and whispered, “Before giving birth to your nephew, she definitely lost a child! You can ask an experienced doctor to check her; they’ll be able to tell right away!”

Yu Li was shocked. She hadn’t expected things to be even worse than she had thought!

She nodded: “Thank you, Aunt Xu!”

It was Yu Tuanjie and Chen Ailan’s first time selling sesame pancakes.

Both were born farmers, and being first-time business owners, they felt a little nervous and restrained.

When they arrived at the river excavation site, they were tentative and didn’t dare speak loudly.

But unexpectedly, as soon as they took out the warm pancakes, a hungry man rushed over: “Are these for sale?”

Chen Ailan quickly nodded, “Yes, yes! Three cents each!”

The man immediately bought two!

He eagerly devoured them!

The fragrant, crispy pancakes tasted much better than steamed buns!

Soon, the delicious aroma of the pancakes attracted more customers.

Chen Ailan and Yu Tuanjie hadn’t even fully grasped what was happening when they started serving customers non-stop.

One after another, the pancakes were sold out!

They had made sixty pancakes in total and earned one yuan and eighty cents!

If they could keep the business going like this every day, they might be able to earn dozens of yuan a month!

Excited, the mother and son felt hopeful for the future. Life really seemed to hold possibilities!

Sometimes, you don’t know how things will turn out until you try. Many things aren’t as difficult as they seem!

The Yu family had discovered a new world over the past few days.

During lunch, everyone was excited, planning for the future.

Yu Fendou ate heartily, full of ambition: “I’ve realized that city people can’t get the good stuff we have in the countryside. They love to eat our fruits and vegetables, and some even asked if we have wild chickens. Hospital patients love wild chicken soup! I’m thinking, why not, in my spare time, clear some land on the mountain, plant fruit trees, and raise chickens!”

Wang Xinghua was the first to support him: “Shiliu’s father, I think this idea is great!”

Yu Li also strongly supported it: “Second brother, you go ahead with it. I can tell you’re going to be a big boss in the future! Don’t worry, even if it doesn’t work out, the family will back you. We all support you!”

At this time, if they really cleared land, planted fruit trees, and raised chickens, it was clear that the future development prospects were quite good.

Many people stuck to their small plots of land, afraid they wouldn’t have enough to eat if they didn’t farm well, because they had no backup plan and no way out.

But the Yu family was united, and they could all back each other up, so they weren’t afraid of this.

Yu Tuanjie’s bad mood was lifted by the joy of selling pancakes. He excitedly said, “I’ve talked it over with Mom, we’re not just selling pancakes, tomorrow we’ll make a big pot of mixed soup to take with us. Mom’s cooking is really good, it’ll definitely sell well!”

Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, Yu Li was overjoyed.

She knew that as long as she gave her family a little guidance, they could quickly get things done beautifully!

But some things couldn’t be avoided.

After eating, Yu Li found Yu Tuanjie.

“Big brother, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”