Chapter 13

Lin Qingping remained expressionless. “The cookies were bought by Chengzi for Zhiyuan.”  

“What’s wrong with you, girl? Why can’t you figure things out?” her mother looked at her as if she were a fool. “That little wild brat, does he deserve such good things? He’s an outsider. What good can come to you if he eats them? Do you think he’ll remember you when he grows up?”  

When Lin Qingping heard this, the ferocious face of her nephew before his death resurfaced in her mind.  

Yes, an outsider.  

And yet, when she was dying, it was that outsider who remembered her…  

Hmm. Of course, the people she had poured everything into—the so-called ‘insiders’—they remembered her too. But what they remembered was only her wealth…  

She saw that when Zhiyuan heard the words “little wild brat.” he turned his head away.  

Lin Qingping immediately snatched the glass of milk from her younger brother’s hand and gathered up all the cookies from the table.  

“Hey, what are you doing?” Her mother was displeased.  

Lin Qingping collected everything neatly and turned around with a solemn expression. “I don’t ever want to hear the words ‘little wild brat’ again! He is the child Chengzi is raising as his own son! He is Chengzi’s and my son!”  

Her mother mumbled awkwardly: “It’s not just me saying this. Aren’t all the neighbors from the surrounding villages saying the same thing? Are you going to go around controlling everyone’s mouths?”  

Lin Qingping sneered coldly. “I truly can’t control what others say. But people like that—don’t even think about stepping foot in my house! If anyone dares to say it in front of me, I’ll slap them right across the face!”  

Her mother got angry. “So what, are you saying you’ll slap my mouth today? You’d hit me over that little wild… that outsider?”  

Lin Qingping paused for a moment, then told Zhiyuan to go out and play. Only after he had walked off into the distance did she say: “Because you are my mother, I’ll let it go today. But if there’s a next time—don’t come here again.”

Such a mother-daughter relationship was not a positive one, and she did not want the child to witness it.  

Her mother, furious, suddenly stood up to leave, but her younger brother tugged at the corner of her clothes to stop her. Only then did her mother sit back down, exhaling heavily in frustration.  

“Fine.” she said. “Who told me to be your mother anyway? There’s no overnight grudge between mother and daughter.”  

Lin Qingping already knew that her mother wouldn’t have come for no reason. Since there was no such thing as visiting the Three Treasures Hall without a cause, she did not ask anything and simply waited.  

Her mother then began to speak. Apparently, after listening to someone’s persuasion, she wanted her son to join the army, claiming how wonderful the Military Unit was, and she hoped Gu Juncheng could help pull some strings to get him in.  

Lin Qingping glanced at her younger brother. To be honest, if he had even a bit of ambition or capability, she too would have hoped he could achieve something. But boys raised in rural areas rarely turned out this delicate.  

From childhood to now, he had been spoiled by their mother and pampered by their father. She and Second Sister were the ones holding the household together. Her younger brother didn’t even know how to do farm work. During the busy farming season, he once went down to cut wheat and got so tired he lay down under a tree and fell asleep.  

With that kind of stamina, how could he possibly endure the hardship of the Military Unit?  

She merely said: “Alright, it’s a good path. Let him go then.”  

“And Chengzi…” Her mother’s face lit up with delight.  

“He has to register on his own. He is not to mention Chengzi’s name anywhere. He must not use Chengzi’s identity to pull connections. If I find out, you’ll never be allowed to step foot in the Gu Family’s home again.”  

Her mother’s expression changed instantly. “How can that work? If Chengzi doesn’t look after him, won’t the training be too harsh? When has your brother ever suffered…”  

As Lin Qingping had expected, it was exactly this.  

“So you’re saying you want him to enter the Military Unit to enjoy a cushy life?”  

“Of course! We have a connection like Chengzi—why should he have to suffer? Just arrange for him to stay by Chengzi’s side, maybe even give him a minor officer position…”  

What kind of dream was her mother dreaming?  

“What are you thinking? Chengzi doesn’t have that kind of power. He’s just an ordinary soldier himself! Besides, no one gets in without suffering. There’s no such precedent. Everything is fair and just. Taking backdoor routes? Impossible!” Lin Qingping spoke bluntly.

Her words made her mother even more furious. “Fine, I see. It’s like we’ve raised you for nothing!”

Her mother stood up and pulled her younger brother to leave. “Now that you’ve married well, you don’t care about your maternal family anymore. Don’t forget—if we hadn’t helped you with this marriage, could you have been so good? Fine, if this marriage is beyond our reach, we won’t try to climb up anymore!”  

Lin Qingping watched her mother’s rage and felt a pang of pain in her heart. After all, this was her biological mother.  

“Mother, let’s let my brother focus on studying. Let him study for two or three years and try to get into college.”  

Lin Qingping knew the path her younger brother would take in life.

Later on, she had forced Gu Juncheng to ask his comrades-in-arms to help her brother find a factory job. Her brother spent his days idling in the factory, and later, when her business took off, he quit the factory and came to her asking for money to invest.

He was practically a wastrel, losing money in everything he tried. Eventually, she simply supported him, and she ended up taking care of him for his whole life, as well as his children…  

“Humph! If you won’t help, then don’t! Acting all cultured! Fine, now that you’re so noble and cultured, we country folk are not worthy of you! From now on, I’m done with these relatives!” Her mother dragged her younger brother away.  

Lin Qingping sighed inwardly. This was her last piece of advice for her brother. Her younger brother was incapable of handling any responsibility.

The past few years of trying to get into college hadn’t been that difficult, and if he could find a way out through studying, it might change his life. But…  

She shook her head. No matter what, she had to pull her younger sister out of her miserable life!  

She thought for a moment, then decided to cook first and then go to Town to buy some things. She wondered how her sister’s school supplies were coming along and needed to check.  

When she went to the courtyard to get the vegetables, she discovered that the basket of vegetables she had just picked from the field was gone…  

She smiled bitterly. Her mother’s greedy little habits—it seemed they could never be changed, no matter how many generations passed.

She quickly cooked while also thinking carefully about the path ahead. By the time the meal was ready, she had roughly mapped out her plans.

In her previous life, she had met so many people—some she never wanted to see again, and some she still wanted to find and reconnect with.  

As she thought about how Zhiyuan had been wronged again today, she made his favorite pumpkin pancakes while cooking.

After everything was done, she served the meal and went to the fields to deliver food to her Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, intending to call Zhiyuan back for dinner.  

But after searching around, she couldn’t find him. Thinking about Zhiyuan’s past experience of running away from home, a sense of panic surged in her heart. She started calling his name throughout the village, but it was a neighbor who heard her and told her: “Zhiyuan isn’t in your courtyard? Why are you shouting outside?”  

Lin Qingping hurried back, and sure enough, she found him behind the house, next to an old tree stump. He was lying on it, writing.  

Lin Qingping quietly approached and saw that he had already written a set of numbers. The second version, with pinyin letters, was in progress, and he was finishing the last row. His childish handwriting was very focused, though… somewhat crooked.  

She watched Zhiyuan finish the last letter, then crouched down beside him. She first praised him for being diligent in his writing, then crouched down further, gazing into his bright eyes.  

“Zhiyuan.” her voice was soft. “Zhiyuan, will you help me from now on?”  

Clearly, Zhiyuan’s bright eyes showed surprise.  

“Look.” she continued gently: “Uncle Gu is often not home because he’s in the Military Unit, and Grandpa is getting old, having to work in the fields every day. You are the youngest and most capable man in the family. Will you help me, and help Uncle Gu guard our home?”