Lin Yongnian was furious, his face turning ashen. “How did our family become a pit of fire? She abandoned her husband and children, doesn’t care for her son or grandchildren, and she still has the nerve to be right? When she gets old, she wants her children to support her with money, and if they don’t, she goes to court to sue her own kids—where in the world is there such a mother?”

Lin Yongnian spoke through gritted teeth, his chest heaving from the anger.

Both Lin Guodong and Lin Jianshe had similarly dark expressions, feeling both anger and heartbreak.

Liu Qin raised an eyebrow and elbowed Lin Jianshe, who was sitting next to her. “Are you two brothers sure she’s your real mother?”

Lin Jianshe, irritated, pursed his lips and ignored her.

“No!” Lin Yongnian said loudly. “Oldest and second, you two should treat her as if she’s no longer your mother. If she wants to shame herself, let her. If anyone asks, just tell them she abandoned her husband and children, and she’s no longer a part of our family!”

Lin Guodong and Lin Jianshe exchanged glances, then lowered their eyes.

Since this was what their mother said, they shouldn’t feel bad about treating her as if she was no longer part of their lives.

…

In Courtyard No. 23, Li Shuping was happily counting the money she earned today with her daughter, Lin Xiaoyu.

“Mom, I have five yuan and fifty cents.”

Li Shuping, holding a stack of bills, smiled. “I have ten yuan and two cents, so together it’s fifteen yuan and seventy cents.”

“Mom, you’re amazing! You made fifteen yuan and seventy cents in one day!”

Li Shuping was also pleased. “It’s not that much. The cost of ingredients, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and coal balls added up to about six or seven yuan. The net profit should be around eight or nine yuan.”

She had only calculated the cost of ingredients for lunch and didn’t count the cost of seasonings and coal balls.

Lin Xiaoyu said, “That’s still a lot.”

Eight or nine yuan a day means eighty or ninety yuan in ten days.

In a month, that’s over two hundred yuan!

Li Shuping suddenly remembered something and handed a coin to her daughter, Lin Xiaoyu. “Here, I’m giving you a yuan as pocket money. From now on, I’ll give you a yuan every week.”

She had meant to give pocket money a long time ago but had forgotten with all the things on her mind lately.

She had seen on TV in her previous life that daughters should be raised well and given enough pocket money.

If you don’t give it, someone else will.

A little thing like a cup of milk tea could win over a kid.

She suspected her daughter in her previous life had been lured away by Zhang Tiejun with such tricks.

In this era, a bottle of soda only cost five cents.

A whole week’s worth of pocket money was one yuan, which was already a lot.

Many people didn’t even get a single yuan for a whole month’s pocket money.

With one yuan, you could buy twenty eggs at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Now, she even had pocket money herself!

Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes widened. “This, this is too much. You don’t need to give me that much. Two dimes are enough.”

In her class, Zhao Siyu’s father was a section chief, and his weekly pocket money was only five dimes.

That was already the most in their class.

“Take it. When your two brothers were in middle school, they got eighty cents a week. You can’t have less than them.” Li Shuping stuffed the money into her daughter’s hands.

“Buy whatever you want at school, don’t hold back. You saw, I can earn money now and can support you,” Li Shuping said proudly, tilting her chin at her daughter.

Lin Xiaoyu held the money, nodded vigorously, and was deeply moved.

Her mom was so nice.

She would save the pocket money and buy her a pair of shoes for her mom’s birthday.

“Alright, wash up and go to bed early. You have class tomorrow.” Li Shuping rubbed her sore back and yawned.

All the ingredients were used up, and she still had to open the stall tomorrow.

If she went to Three Road Village to collect ingredients, it would be too late.

But luckily, tomorrow was a big market day, and it wasn’t far.

She’d need to get up early to buy vegetables and eggs at the market.

Li Shuping and her daughter went to bed early, but the Lin family members were sleepless.

At the first light of dawn, Li Shuping got up.

She moved quietly, and when she pushed the tricycle into the courtyard, she heard a “creak” as a slender figure walked out of Room No. 1.

Both of them froze for a moment when they saw each other. Qin Ye swallowed and said first, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Li Shuping smiled and replied.

Li Shuping pushed the front of the tricycle out of the courtyard when she felt the back of the cart being lifted up.

It was Qin Ye.

Li Shuping pushed the cart out, turned around, and thanked Qin Ye. “Thank you.”

Qin Ye lowered his head. “I should thank you. If you hadn’t helped me the other day, I might have ended up in the police station.”

He couldn’t afford to pay five yuan.

“Hey, that’s what I should do. I couldn’t just watch you, a kid, being bullied.”

Qin Ye lifted his head to look at her but quickly lowered it again. It had been a long time since anyone treated him like a kid.

Ever since his father lost his job, he hadn’t treated himself like a kid either.

“The sky hasn’t even lightened yet. Where are you going?” Li Shuping asked curiously.

Qin Ye licked his lips. “I’m going to the supply and marketing cooperative to see if they need help unloading goods.”

The supply and marketing cooperative received a lot of goods in the morning. Sometimes they couldn’t unload them all and would hire casual workers for help.

This kid really wasn’t having it easy, and Li Shuping’s sympathy surged again.

After walking with the tricycle for a while, she suddenly asked, “I have a job for you. Would you be willing to do it?”

Qin Ye abruptly looked up.

Li Shuping stopped and said, “I set up a dumpling stall at the alley entrance. I need to go to the countryside to collect ingredients like eggs and chives for dumplings, but I don’t have the time. Would you be willing to help me collect the ingredients from the countryside? I’ll pay you eighty cents per trip, and I’ll pay you on the same day.”

She made a gesture with her hand to show the amount.

In this era, the usual wage for ordinary workers was eighty cents a day, so offering him eighty cents was already quite generous.

She wasn’t exploiting him, and paying him daily kept it from being considered an employment relationship, so no one could make an issue out of it.

Qin Ye stared at the gentle and kind aunt in front of him, stunned.

Was he hearing things?

Was she asking him to help her collect eggs and chives from the countryside for eighty cents per trip?

Eighty cents per trip?

Ten trips would be eight yuan, and if he went thirty times in a month, that would be twenty-four yuan. That was the monthly wage of a factory worker!

Even if he only went twenty times a month, he wouldn’t need to worry about making ends meet anymore.

Qin Ye’s heart began to race.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want to?” Li Shuping asked when he didn’t respond for a long time.

“If you don’t want to…” She didn’t finish her sentence before Qin Ye interrupted.

“I’ll do it! I’d love to! Thank you, Aunt! I can go to the countryside and collect the eggs and chives today!” Qin Ye’s voice trembled with excitement.

Li Shuping smiled. “I thought you didn’t want to do it. Alright, then you go back home first. After I buy the vegetables from the market, I’ll give you the money to go to the countryside and collect the ingredients.”

Qin Ye said, “Aunt, I’ll go with you to the market.”

Li Shuping smiled and waved her hand. “No need. I have the tricycle and don’t need help with the goods. You go home first.”

With that, Li Shuping rode off on the tricycle.

Qin Ye stood there, watching her ride into the first light of dawn.

She was like a beam of light that entered his dark, uncertain life.