Despite having so much money, they still relentlessly squeezed every penny from their family. Every month, when her parents received their salaries, the elderly couple would immediately come to demand fifteen yuan for their living expenses.

If her parents came home even a little late that day, they would be scolded with accusations of being unfilial, heartless, and unwilling to support the elderly.

After putting the money away, she took out a brand-new cotton quilt and a piece of red floral fabric from the new product display hall.

The floral fabric was likely the original cover of the old quilt, but after the exchange, it had become a brand-new piece of cloth.

After some thought, she went to the chicken coop in the backyard, tossed the worn-out mat into the Old goods storage, exchanged it for a new mat, and brought it all to her grandparents’ house.

Seeing her daughter carrying all these things, Jiang Xiuqing was stunned.

What had gotten into her daughter?

Old Lady Gu, however, was overjoyed and quickly stepped forward to take the items. “Xiaoxi, you’re so filial!”

Gu Xiaoxi smiled and said, “This is a new quilt I bought just yesterday. The cotton is new and very soft. The quilt cover and mat are also new. Together, they count as fifty yuan. Grandma, do you want them?”

Just as Old Lady Gu was about to take advantage of the situation, Gu Xiaoxi added, “Good cotton outside sells for six or seven mao per jin, and it’s not always easy to get. This is an eight-jin heavy quilt, and the quality is excellent! I had to pull some strings and use connections to get it, and I even had to use cotton and fabric coupons.”

“If you don’t want it, I’ll keep it, and my dad can give you fifty yuan instead, so you can buy your own.”

Old Lady Gu was immediately torn. The items were good, but she also wanted the money.

Gu Yilan reached out to touch the quilt and sighed, “If it were me, I’d definitely take the items. Fifty yuan couldn’t buy all this, and there’s even a piece of fabric. Xiaoxi is really filial!”

The youngest daughter scoffed, “Filial? If she were truly filial, would she be charging money?”

Jiang Xiuqing, seeing her sister-in-law’s sarcastic tone, couldn’t help but retort, “You’re filial? As a daughter, you’re planning to delay giving fifty yuan until the end of the year! By then, Mom and Dad can just lie on the ground and cover themselves with air.”

Gu Xiaoxi couldn’t help but laugh. Her mother’s words were sharp and spot on!

The youngest daughter’s face turned red with anger. “I’m already married. It’s your responsibility to take care of our parents. To put it bluntly, a married daughter is like spilled water—I don’t have to give anything. Just coming back to visit is already being filial.”

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoxi immediately clapped her hands and cheered, “Auntie, you’re so filial! Aunt Yilan, did you hear that? You should learn from Auntie!”

Gu Yilan was momentarily stunned, then patted her niece’s head. “You’re right! I’ve been too narrow-minded.”

Old Lady Gu was so angry that she poked her youngest daughter’s forehead. “What kind of heartless nonsense are you spouting? I raised you, and now you’re going to abandon your parents? If you’re so capable, don’t come running back to your parents’ home…”

The youngest daughter, her head aching from the poking, quickly retreated. “I was just saying it out of anger…”

Old Man Gu, feeling exhausted, said, “We’ll take the things Xiaoxi brought as the fifty yuan.”

“Okay, Grandpa,” Gu Xiaoxi immediately agreed, then handed the newspapers to her father. “Dad, you and Uncle can go paste the newspapers on the walls. Once the burned side is covered, it’ll be livable again.”

“Alright,” Gu Yimin nodded and went to prepare the paste.

“Mom, you and Aunt Yilan can help Grandma thread the needle and sew the quilt,” Gu Xiaoxi assigned her mother another task.

Jiang Xiuqing nodded. “Okay. But we only have the quilt cover. We’ll need another piece of fabric for the lining.”

“Go look in Third Uncle’s room! He started the fire, ran away, and hasn’t come back. Surely he won’t begrudge Grandma and Grandpa a piece of fabric,” Gu Xiaoxi said matter-of-factly.

Hearing this, Liu Chunhua immediately said, “I’ll go look!”

Within five minutes, Liu Chunhua returned with several pieces of fabric.

She said angrily, “Third Brother is such a scoundrel. He’s been hoarding all this fabric to give to that widow Li. I think he started the fire to steal money to marry her…”

Jiang Xiuqing didn’t care who Third Brother married, so she didn’t respond. She just glanced at the fabric and picked out a piece.

Gu Yilan wasn’t one to gossip, so she spread the mat Xiaoxi had brought on the floor and helped her sister-in-law unfold the fabric and quilt to sew it together.

Gu Xiaoxi, meanwhile, threaded the needles with great focus.

The youngest daughter, seeing how well they were working together, snorted. “It’s only September, and the weather isn’t cold yet. It’s not time for such a thick quilt. You really have no common sense.”

Gu Xiaoxi glanced at her calmly. “Grandma and Grandpa’s bed was burned, right? The mat is too cold, and sleeping directly on the floor would let in the chill. The quilt can be used as padding for now, and later we can take a thinner quilt from Third Uncle’s room to use as a cover.”

Old Lady Gu looked at Gu Xiaoxi but didn’t say anything harsh this time.

The girl actually seemed more agreeable today, and she was even thinking ahead for them!

By the time the quilt was sewn and the walls were pasted, it was already past eleven at night.

The youngest daughter didn’t go back but stayed with her mother in Third Brother’s room, while Old Man Gu slept on the new makeshift bed on the floor.

Gu Xiaoxi invited her aunt to stay at their house.

Back home, Jiang Xiuqing couldn’t help but ask, “Xiaoxi, why were you so nice to your grandmother today?”

Gu Xiaoxi said softly, “Grandma and Grandpa’s house only has two rooms. Third Uncle took one, and if Grandma has nowhere to stay, she’ll definitely come to our house. Who knows how much trouble she’d cause then? Isn’t it said that spending money can avert disaster? We’ll take a small loss for some peace.”

Jiang Xiuqing quickly understood. If her mother-in-law really came to stay, the losses would far exceed fifty yuan, and she would be truly miserable.

She smiled and patted her daughter’s head. “My little cotton-padded jacket has grown up!”

Gu Yilan also couldn’t help but say, “My mother has always been biased. If you didn’t know better, you’d think my second brother and I weren’t her biological children. Xiaoxi did the right thing by not giving her a chance to come stay with you.”

At this point, Gu Yimin suddenly spoke up. “Yilan, Xiaoxi is getting engaged tomorrow. Don’t go back just yet.”

Gu Yilan was shocked. “Really? Why didn’t you mention it earlier? Who’s the groom?”

Gu Yimin briefly explained the situation. “We were going to bring it up when we went to Mom and Dad’s place tonight, but we lost the mood. We’ll tell them tomorrow.”

Mentioning the engagement, Jiang Xiuqing suddenly remembered something. “Xiaoxi, why did you suddenly think of buying a heavy quilt?”

Gu Yimin also looked at his daughter with curiosity.

Gu Xiaoxi was silent for a moment before saying, “Dad, Mom, yesterday I heard from a friend that Gu Xinli was planning to scheme against me. She tried to secretly sign me up to go to the coldest, northernmost place for rural work. Luckily, someone stopped her, saying that I had to sign up myself. I thought it was better to be safe, so I asked someone to buy a warm new quilt.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xiuqing became furious. “How dare she! That black-hearted woman! I’m going to ask her what right she has to do this!”

“Little cotton-padded jacket” (小棉袄, xiǎo mián’ǎo) is a metaphor for a daughter, symbolizing warmth and care for parents in Chinese literature and culture.