As someone passed by Nie Bozhao’s house, they couldn’t help but peek inside: “Wow, what a lively scene! Nie Gong’s yard is full of people, both kids and adults. It’s quite a sight!”

In the family quarters like this one, the number of visitors on the weekend meant a lot.

If a family had many people visiting, it meant they were well-liked.

But if no one ever came, and the doors were always shut, it was a sign of poor social connections.

Normally, Nie Bozhao’s house was quiet, but now it was bustling with visitors—this was definitely something new.

A little white bunny, tied to a string, was sitting in the corner of the yard, mindlessly hopping around.

A small, trembling hand cautiously approached, holding shredded greens.

The bunny stopped, sniffed, and then began munching happily.

“Oh, this bunny is so cute!” Chen Tiantian exclaimed as she and Nie Weimin crowded together to watch the bunny.

Er Dan, eager to get closer, was immediately scolded by Chen Tiantian: “Er Dan, Er Dan, don’t go too close, you’ll scare the bunny!”

Er Dan, always carefree and oblivious, rushed forward and scared the bunny into retreating.

Chen Tiantian screamed, and she sheepishly ran back to her mother, laughing.

Chen Lina was sitting outside, basking in the sun.

An icicle hanging from the eaves was slowly dripping water.

Er Dan rushed over, his head diving into Chen Lina’s arms. “Mom, mom…”

“What’s up, Er Dan? If you have something to say, just tell me, I’m here,” Chen Lina said.

Er Dan rubbed his head, unsure of what to say, but finally said, “Mom is really great. It’s so good to have a mom.”

The child couldn’t quite explain it, but he knew that this mother could drive a Jeep, gave them mooncakes, and would always surprise them with things like pulling out a soft, fluffy white bunny from her arms when they were so tired they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

Er Dan thought that this “Yao Po” (stepmother) was just the best—better than his real mom.

Next door, Ha Gong (Uncle Ha) had taken a break from work and was using iron wire to make a rabbit cage.

He was from the Kazakh ethnicity, with hair curled tightly and a sharp nose, dressed in work clothes that carried a strong smell of mutton.

When he spoke, there was also a distinct scent of lamb skewers in his words. “Comrade Chen is really great. You know, these kids’ mother never holds them. What’s the saying? Sun Gong always says, ‘A mother who doesn’t hold her child will spoil them, strictness is the best way to educate.’”

“Why wouldn’t she hold such a cute child?” Chen Lina said, giving Er Dan’s round little butt a playful slap.

It was so soft and squishy.

It didn’t matter to her that they weren’t her biological children.

She didn’t feel guilty about spoiling them, laughing as she did.

San Dan, who was intently watching Uncle Ha making the cage, saw that Chen Lina had slapped Er Dan’s bottom but hadn’t done the same to him.

He wobbled to his feet, climbed onto her lap, and began kissing her face, slobbering everywhere.

Chen Lina gave him a kiss and then turned to Ha Gong. “By the way, how did Xiao Gong get into trouble with the people from Mulan Farm? Did they really chase him in a big truck in the middle of the night? Was it true what Nie Gong said, that he’s been seeing someone from the farm?”

Ha Gong chuckled knowingly. “No, no, Mulan Farm has some nice things. Xiao Gong probably owes someone money.”

“What kind of nice things?” Chen Lina was curious, but Ha Gong’s smile made her suspicious about the answer.

Ha Gong, holding the rabbit cage, continued to explain, “They have alcohol, they have singing, and they can… make friends.”

“Make friends with the educated youth?” Chen Lina asked, still innocent and naive, not suspecting anything worse.

Ha Gong bluntly replied, “No, not that kind of friend. These are paid friends. Some are fifty cents for a night, others are a dollar. That’s what they’re there for.”

Chen Lina stood up in shock. “Such things really happen?”

Ha Gong quickly waved his hand. “Don’t worry. Nie Gong has never gone there. Nie Gong is like a rabbit, and Mulan Farm is like an eagle. He’d never go near it.”

Finally, Chen Lina understood.

The oil base, with its strict management, was a clean and pure place.

But thirty miles away at Mulan Farm, there were bars, karaoke, and even prostitutes.

It wasn’t surprising that Xiao Chen and his friends would sneak out in the middle of the night to visit.

Her impression of Chen Lina immediately soured.

San Dan, who had been watching the icicles fall, curiously stuck out his red tongue, getting ready to lick one, when he suddenly heard the sound of a car horn outside. “Xiao Shu Shu is here! Xiao Shu Shu is driving a car!”

Nie Weimin, dressed in a fresh green velvet jacket and black striped pants, looking like a doll from a New Year painting, was the first to run out.

He was sensitive, kind-hearted, and only at moments like this could he give Chen Lina the feeling of a child.

When the door opened, the children looked up and saw that it was the base’s driver, Xiao Chen.

They were puzzled. “Uncle Chen, why isn’t it Uncle Xiao driving the car? We wanted to see Uncle Xiao drive.”

Xiao Chen handed the keys to Nie Weimin, saying, “Little Nie, this is a car from Secretary A for your mother. From now on, it’s hers. Take the keys and registration to her.”

“Xiao Chen, did Secretary A really give me a car?” Chen Lina asked as she pushed open the window, unable to believe it.

She looked at the car outside—an old Hongqi sedan.

She quickly said, “Xiao Chen, come in and have something to eat.”

“Everyone says Nie Gong’s family has delicious food. Sister, it smells so good! What are you cooking?” Xiao Chen asked.

Er Dan eagerly jumped up and, with his round head nodding, said, “Oats with sweet dumplings, it’s so tasty! Uncle Xiao, do you want some?”

In the kitchen, Chen Lina was serving homemade yogurt for the kids.

They were used to cheese and didn’t like regular yogurt, so Chen Lina came up with an idea.

She made sweet dumplings with oats and added canned yellow peaches, turning it into a special kind of yellow peach oatmeal yogurt, which later became a popular product.

All three kids loved it, especially San Dan, who would lick his cup clean every time, savoring it as if he couldn’t let go.

“Xiao Chen, did Secretary A really give you a car for me?” Wang Jie asked when she heard the car outside and came to see the new car.

There was only one like it in the entire base at the moment.

Aunt Ha also gave a thumbs-up. “I heard Xiao Chen can drive. That’s amazing, really amazing.”

“Wow, Comrade Chen has a car now,” Sun Xiaoyi said, walking in with Liu Xiaohong following behind her, no longer wearing her pretty little leather shoes.

“This car was awarded to our Lao Nie by the base. It has nothing to do with me, but Lao Nie doesn’t know how to drive, so I’m driving it for now,” Chen Lina explained.

Sun Xiaoyi commented, “I bet you had to get a driver’s license, right? My aunt had to get one to drive a three-wheeled vehicle.”

“I have one. I used to drive a tractor back in our hometown,” Chen Lina said.

Actually, she hadn’t passed the driving test yet, but she certainly couldn’t lose face in front of Sun’s family.

Sun Xiaoyi was wearing a mink fur jacket with a large work outfit over it, and to show how hot she was feeling, she kept fanning herself in the cold weather, repeatedly saying, “Ah, it’s so hot, really hot.”

After the onlookers left, Chen Lina stepped aside, letting Sun Xiaoyi enter.

“Wow, Nie Gong’s room is locked,” Sun Xiaoyi remarked, looking around.

Chen Lina poured a glass of water and placed it on the dining table.

Looking outside, she saw Nie Bozhao and his brothers pushing Liu Xiaohong away, refusing to let her enter.

The poor girl was standing outside the Nie family’s door, her nose running, her hair messy as she sniffled, too scared to go far in the bitter cold.

“I heard Comrade Chen went to college back home. How come, at your age, you didn’t finish your degree?” Sun Xiaoyi asked, trying to learn more about her background.

Chen Lina replied, “It was because Comrade Nie’s parents begged me to come help take care of him. As for studying, I wasn’t interested. Our two families are close, so I couldn’t just watch him be bullied at the base, so I came.”

“Aren’t Nie Gong and engineer, making his own money? He doesn’t interfere with fights, doesn’t seek promotions—who would bully him?” Sun Xiaoyi questioned.

“Who’s bullying him?”

If no one was bullying him, why did he end up with nothing?

“Whether anyone’s bullying him or not, this family belongs to me from now on,” Chen Lina said firmly.

“You really gave up your university degree for Nie Gong?” Sun Xiaoyi was still skeptical.

A university degree was so hard to earn, and she was a rural girl to boot.

When Sun Zhuannan went to college, it took the entire village’s effort—people gave food, money, and even saved every penny for her tuition.

After she graduated, she made the whole village proud, bringing everyone out of the poor place of Zhang County.

Chen Lina leaned closer and whispered to her, “Actually, there is something like this. In our village, there’s an old woman, very troublesome. She liked stealing eggs from my family’s chickens and even poisoned them. She was so bold, she even dug up graves. Guess what happened?”

“What happened?”

“I poisoned all the chickens she kept and had a big argument with her. She got so angry, she fell down, and she never got up again.”

Sun Xiaoyi’s mouth dropped wide open as she listened. “She really died?”

“Of course.”

“She died, and no one reported you? You didn’t go to jail?”

“I didn’t even touch her. We argued, but I couldn’t win, so I went home, and she died from the anger. Can you blame me for that?” Chen Lina said, acting like she had done nothing wrong.

Sun Xiaoyi quickly said, “Little Chen, my family’s still busy. I’ll leave now. We’ll talk later.”

Thank goodness the old woman only fainted last time from anger.

If they had argued more, wouldn’t she have been the one to kill her?

I can’t afford to offend her, Sun Xiaoyi thought.

Chen Lina knew Sun Xiaoyi was trying to find out more about her for her mother’s sake.

Having scared her a bit, Chen Lina politely smiled and saw her off.

Watching the two little ones playing outside, Chen Lina pulled Nie Weimin into the study, gave him two slaps on the backside, and asked, ” Comrade Little Nie, Liu Xiaohong’s mother came to our house. By rights, she could come in, so why didn’t you let her in?”

Little Nie Weimin sniffled and sobbed for a while, calling out, “Yao Po.”

“If you dare call me ‘Yao Po’ again, I’ll take your pants off and spank you. Tell me, why did you chase Liu Xiaohong away? Haven’t I told you never to bully other people’s children, especially Liu Xiaohong? She’s a girl. Why do you take care of Chen Tiantian, give her popsicles every day, but bully Liu Xiaohong?”

Little Nie Weimin tightly grabbed his pants, as if it was his last shred of dignity.

Although he had been naked in front of his stepmother during bath time, and sometimes she would compliment him while comparing him to Er Dan, this was different.

A spanking was a shameful thing.

If she really took his pants off and spanked him, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay at the base anymore.

He didn’t cry, but his eyes were filled with tears.

“Tell me why, or you’ll go apologize to Liu Xiaohong and give her this cup of yogurt, or I’ll spank you today,” Chen Lina said, bringing a firewood stick over, with no intention of letting him off easy.

If he continued to bully the weak and favor the rich, she wouldn’t tolerate it.

He could end up becoming a troublemaker.

“Liu Xiaohong said her mother from Zhang County beat her. You didn’t hit her, so you wanted her to call you mom? I don’t want you to be someone else’s mom,” the little boy said, rubbing his eyes and starting to cry.

Chen Lina, feeling a bit of resentment, realized the situation was more complicated than she thought.

She pulled him into her arms and rubbed his little head. “When did I say I wanted to be someone else’s mom? And I don’t always hit people. Every mom will spank their child when they’ve done something wrong.”