At this time, a thousand yuan was a huge sum of money. She had been thinking about when she could buy a bicycle to make trips to town much more convenient. With this thousand yuan, buying a bicycle would be a breeze.  

“Are you really giving this to me?” Jiang Qiuyue had already tucked the savings book into her pocket.  

Lin Zhengrong said yes, and Jiang Qiuyue immediately went to pour him some water. “You must be tired from the journey—have some water. Are you hungry? I made dough drop soup for lunch. Should I heat it up for you?”  

Lin Zhengrong: “…” Why hadn’t she been this enthusiastic earlier?  

Just then, Lin Zhengrong’s stomach growled loudly in response. Faced with her newfound goldmine, Jiang Qiuyue promptly called Lin Beibei to light the stove.  

“No need for the trouble,” Lin Zhengrong stopped his son. “It’s hot out—cold food is fine.”  

“That won’t do. You’re the pillar of this family—what if you get sick from eating cold food?” Jiang Qiuyue insisted on reheating the food. “I added salted pork, water spinach, and wild mushrooms to the dough drop soup. Do you eat spicy food?”  

Lin Zhengrong said yes, so Jiang Qiuyue went to fetch the chili sauce.  

Soon, Lin Beibei skillfully got the fire going. Seeing how adept his son was at chores, Lin Zhengrong realized he must have done this often, deepening his guilt.  

“Dad, I picked the mushrooms with Mom and the others!” Lin Beibei was still a bit shy around his father, but seeing his mother happy made him cheerful too.  

“Good boy, Beibei. I brought back some candy—Uncle Chen gave it to me.” Lin Zhengrong dug out the milk candies from his bag and gave them all to the two children. But when he turned around, he saw Jiang Qiuyue’s eyes gleaming with excitement. Just as he was wondering why, he watched as the kids shared the candies with her.  

White sugar was a rare commodity, and milk candies were even rarer. Since transmigrating here, Jiang Qiuyue hadn’t tasted any candy.  

She unwrapped a piece, and as the milky sweetness touched her tongue, she kissed each child on the cheek. “Alright, you can have the rest.”  

The more Lin Zhengrong observed Jiang Qiuyue, the more intrigued he became.  

When they first married, Jiang Qiuyue had been shy and quiet, often leaving long stretches of silence between them.  

But the current Jiang Qiuyue felt vibrant, as if she carried a glow that was impossible to look away from.  

Jiang Qiuyue reheated the dough drop soup for Lin Zhengrong and even fried two sunny-side-up eggs, drizzling a bit of soy sauce on them just before taking them off the heat, creating a sizzling aroma.  

Lin Zhengrong wasn’t picky. He picked up his bowl and took a bite of the egg—crispy on the outside, tender and runny inside. When he sipped the soup, the umami of the wild mushrooms melded with the rich spiciness of the chili sauce, instantly awakening his taste buds.  

He looked at Jiang Qiuyue in amazement—since when was her cooking this good?  

Such a simple dish, yet it was the best dough drop soup he’d ever had.  

After Lin Zhengrong finished eating, Lin Beibei took the bowl to wash it. When Lin Zhengrong glanced over, Jiang Qiuyue explained, “Kids need to develop practical skills. Children in the village start helping with chores early—I just give them tasks they can handle.”  

Put that way, it made sense. At Beibei’s age, Lin Zhengrong had also helped out at home.  

“By the way, what do you plan to tell your parents?” Jiang Qiuyue asked.

Speaking of his adoptive parents, Lin Zhengrong frowned. “I can see their intentions. Some things are better settled decisively to avoid future trouble.”  

“I understand. You should go talk to them yourself then.” Jiang Qiuyue didn’t want to get involved. She could tell Lin Zhengrong was a man with his own mind, and saying too much might make him suspicious.  

Lin Zhengrong wiped his mouth and took out the dried seafood he had brought back. “You mentioned wanting dried shrimp before, so I traded with some villagers for some. Sort through these—I’ll head next door.”  

Hearing that his father was going to Grandma’s house, Lin Beibei asked worriedly, “Mom, will Dad get bullied?”  

“No way. Even if your grandma and the whole family ganged up on him, they still couldn’t take him down.” Jiang Qiuyue was busy checking the items Lin Zhengrong had brought back—dried shrimp, seaweed, and scallops. Not bad for a man—he actually delivered on his promises.  

Before long, angry shouts from Lin Fugui erupted from the neighboring Lin household. Jiang Qiuyue stood by the wall, pressing her ear against it, with Lin Beibei and Lin Nannan following suit.  

“Lin Dazhu, do you really think you’re something now? That your wings have hardened?” Lin Fugui had just warned his family to watch their words. Since Lin Dazhu was back, coaxing him into continuing to send money was the priority.  

But now Lin Dazhu wanted to sever ties with them. Hearing this, Lin Fugui couldn’t help slamming the table. “You may not be our flesh and blood, but we raised you, didn’t we? Don’t you know the saying, ‘A nurturing mother is greater than a birth mother’?”  

Lin Zhengrong stood at the doorway, his expression cold as he looked at his adoptive parents. “It’s not me who’s being ruthless. Mom, Dad, search your hearts—have you ever truly treated me as family?”  

“Don’t bother making excuses. Before coming home, I already spoke with the brigade leader. Everything Qiuyue said was true. It’s not like she’s the only one in this family, yet you made her do all the chores. And the kids—they’re so well-behaved, yet Nannan was beaten into silence.”  

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Lin Fugui gritted his teeth, refusing to respond. Lin Erzhu frowned and said, “Big brother, how have Mom and Dad not treated you as family? They arranged your marriage—was that just some random whim?”  

“That’s right, Dazhu.” Wang Chunhua looked at her eldest son with tearful eyes. “If I didn’t see you as my son, why would I have bothered finding you a wife?”  

“That’s because you heard I was going to join the army. You were afraid that once I made something of myself, I’d never come back. So you rushed to set me up with someone to tie me down.”  

Lin Zhengrong had known this for a long time. “Mom, save your tears. You know exactly what’s in your hearts. The only reason I haven’t smashed this house apart is out of respect for the years you raised me. Consider that my one concession.”  

As he spoke, Hu Haizhi and others arrived in the yard—Lin Zhengrong had asked Niu Jianshe to call them over.  

Seeing that Lin Zhengrong had summoned the brigade leader and other relatives, Lin Fugui realized he was dead serious, his face darkening further.  

Wang Chunhua, however, wasn’t thinking that far ahead and immediately burst into tears. “Brigade leader, you have to stand up for Fugui and me! We worked so hard to raise Dazhu—if there’s no credit, at least there’s effort. And now he just decides to disown us?”  

Lin Jiawang, a member of the Lin family, usually sided with them. He turned to Lin Zhengrong. “Dazhu, what’s going on here?”

The others also turned their attention to Lin Zhengrong. Severing family ties was rare in these times, and it would reflect poorly on the village—no such incident had occurred in their community in the past five years.  

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lin Zhengrong spoke calmly, “I believe everyone already knows how my parents have treated Qiuyue and the children these past years. To say they were like the cruel landlords of the old society wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”  

“Dazhu, that’s too harsh,” Lin Jiawang frowned deeply. Being labeled as landlords would mean public denunciation—if his cousin’s family were branded with such a label, the entire Lin family would be humiliated.  

“Uncle, do you mean to say you haven’t seen the kind of life Qiuyue was forced to live?”  

Lin Zhengrong had called the brigade leader and other Lin family members to serve as witnesses. If the Lin family caused trouble in the future and the military came to investigate, the truth would be clear.  

Lin Jiawang fell silent, unable to refute.  

Hu Haizhi knew how hard Jiang Qiuyue’s life had been raising the children alone all these years. He supported Lin Zhengrong’s decision to sever ties and instead tried to persuade Lin Fugui and his wife, “Uncle Lin, we’re all from the same village—no need for roundabout schemes. In fact, this might be for the best. Since you wronged Dazhu first, instead of continuing to stir up trouble, why not just be polite neighbors from now on?”  

“Brigade leader, it’s easy for you to talk!” Wang Chunhua was practically grinding her teeth. “If it weren’t for Fugui and me back then, Dazhu might have starved to death! I worked so hard to raise him, and now he just wants to cut ties—what are we supposed to do?”  

Hu Haizhi thought to himself, You never treated Lin Dazhu as a real son anyway—you only remember him when you want money. What kind of parents are you?

But he couldn’t say it so bluntly. Instead, he asked, “Then what do you want?”