Meng Yiyi felt as if a heavy hammer had struck her chest.

Her cheeks burned, and she stared in disbelief at Cheng Dabao.

Old witch? How am I old? How am I a witch?

Is this really a six-year-old child? Or is he a little devil? Why is he so mean and nasty?

She used to think that Cheng Dabao and Cheng Xiaobao were two pitiful children, always disliked by their own mother, shunned by other kids, and mistreated by Liu Honghua.

She often felt sorry for them and even planned to treat them well in the future!

But now, he treated her like this. He truly is a little demon!

After speaking, Cheng Dabao puffed up his cheeks angrily, pouted, and stubbornly glared at Meng Yiyi, waiting for his mother to scold him for being rude.

To his surprise, Jiang Lin did not scold him.

Meng Yiyi, with tears in her eyes, looked at Jiang Lin, “Linlin, look at him!”

Jiang Lin replied, “What do kids know? He probably just repeated something he heard in a story. Our Dabao has a sense of self-protection and doesn’t eat just anything from others.”

She glanced down at Cheng Dabao, thinking he did well!

Meng Yiyi couldn’t help but feel frustrated, “Someone must have taught him this, right? They must think our relationship is good and are trying to ruin it.”

She was clearly referring to Yan Runzhi.

She wanted to please Yan Runzhi, so she pretended to be good to Dabao and Xiaobao in front of her, hoping to sow discord between Jiang Lin and Yan Runzhi, so that Jiang Lin would dislike Yan Runzhi and return to the city after a quarrel.

But Jiang Lin didn’t react as Meng Yiyi wished, leaving her feeling stifled.

Cheng Dabao noticed that his mother didn’t scold him and sensitively felt that maybe his mother no longer liked this Meng Zhiqing?

He tested again, “If you keep talking nonsense to my mom and trying to persuade her to go back to the city, I’ll tell my dad and have him beat you up!”

Meng Yiyi’s face turned white immediately. She hadn’t even managed to drive Jiang Lin away yet or build a bond with the kids, but now she had already offended him?

What had she done to offend this little devil? Clearly, it was Jiang Lin who wanted to go back to the city and sell him out, so why was he blaming her instead?

She was so furious she could explode.

Jiang Lin added fuel to the fire, “Meng Yiyi, don’t mind it. Cheng Rushan spoils the kids so much. Look, in just two days, they’ve become so bold.”

Meng Yiyi saw that Jiang Lin was protecting the child.

In the past, if a child dared to speak against her, Jiang Lin would have slapped him immediately.

“Linlin, you’ve really changed.”

Jiang Lin was taken aback by Meng Yiyi’s tearful accusation, “People do grow and mature. You need to look at things with a developing perspective, not stay stuck in the past. In my heart now, Dabao and Xiaobao are the most important. Outsiders, well, they’re different.” She meant Meng Yiyi was now an outsider.

Meng Yiyi was so angry her face turned pale, and she stumbled, grabbing onto a small locust tree outside the door for support.

Jiang Lin continued, “You keep urging me to go back to the city, so why don’t you go back yourself? Is there something here you can’t leave behind?”

Meng Yiyi, gritting her teeth in anger, retorted, “Didn’t you always talk about going back to the city? Since you don’t want to go now, I won’t persuade you anymore. You’re my only sister here, what else is there for me to miss? If I get the chance, I’ll go back right away, I can’t wait to leave now!”

“I’m telling you to go back for your own good! Staying here is just asking for trouble!” With that, Meng Yiyi stormed off in a rage.

Watching her storm off, Cheng Dabao let out a breath and involuntarily lowered his head, ready to accept any punishment.

Jiang Lin pretended not to notice, “Let’s go see why Grandma and Xiaobao aren’t back yet.”

Cheng Dabao looked up in surprise, “You’re not going to scold me?” He was really surprised.

Jiang Lin reached out to touch his head, and Cheng Dabao instinctively tried to dodge.

Jiang Lin commanded, “Don’t dodge!”

Cheng Dabao, feeling wronged, stood still and didn’t move.

Jiang Lin ruffled his hair vigorously, enjoying the moment, and laughed, “Our Dabao is such a sensible child. Mom is so happy.”

Dabao wouldn’t be rude to someone for no reason, unlike Xiaobao, who is so innocent and mischievous!

Dabao immediately brightened up and smiled at Jiang Lin, “Thank you, Linlin.”

Jiang Lin thought to herself, “I just praised you for being sensible, and you’re already too sensible.”

From her conversation with Meng Yiyi, she had confirmed that Meng Yiyi had ulterior motives.

When she got married, Meng Yiyi benefited; now she wanted her to go back to the city.

Why would Meng Yiyi be so enthusiastic if she had no gain?

If she went back to the city while Meng Yiyi stayed, it meant the benefits were here in the countryside, not in the city.

Besides this house, Jiang Lin had nothing. Could it be that Meng Yiyi was after this house?

In other words, was she after Cheng Rushan’s money? If she wanted him as a person, she should have married him years ago.

Now, she must be after money.

Of course, it was also possible that Meng Yiyi had her eyes on Cheng Rushan now.

He was good-looking, had a great body, and could make money—any normal woman would like him.

At this thought, Jiang Lin felt a sudden displeasure.

Cheng Rushan was hers now, and she wouldn’t allow any other woman to covet him!

Lost in her thoughts, Jiang Lin led Dabao to find Yan Runzhi and Xiaobao.

She didn’t expect to find a heated argument under the big locust tree.

Earlier that morning, Yan Runzhi had taken Xiaobao to the big locust tree to work.

Aunt Shang had eaten too many cold cucumbers from the well and got a stomachache, so she went home first. Later, Ma Kaihua, Wei Qiongfang, and other women came to the big locust tree to twist ropes for the production team.

Yan Runzhi didn’t like Ma Kaihua.

Ma Kaihua, relying on Cheng Fuguo, her husband, was very arrogant in the village. Because the former secretary Shang Lao often took care of Yan Runzhi’s family, Ma Kaihua would often make sarcastic comments to Aunt Shang.

Now, because Jiang Lin had earned eggs and grain by repairing roofs for the villagers, Ma Kaihua kept making indirect insults.

Everyone knew whom she was targeting.

With Yan Runzhi present, Ma Kaihua’s words became even more sarcastic, constantly mentioning things like “landlord’s wife” but without directly naming names.

Yan Runzhi initially wanted to take Xiaobao and go home, but then she thought, why should she leave?

Dongsheng was back, and Bao’er’s mother was united with the family.

If she kept being timid, wouldn’t that embarrass her son and daughter-in-law?

So, she didn’t leave.

She sat there and continued her needlework.

Over the years, she had developed a strong mental fortitude and was good at regulating her emotions.

Even when criticized, she could remain expressionless, let alone care about a few jealous words from Ma Kaihua.

The more Yan Runzhi listened, the happier she became. Look at that, it’s the face of jealousy!

Bao’er’s mother is really capable! Making the production team leader’s wife jealous!

Seeing that her usual taunts about being a “landlord’s wife” didn’t bother Yan Runzhi, Ma Kaihua pouted and changed the subject.

Someone mentioned childbirth, saying that some women in the village couldn’t have children.

They had tried many folk remedies and even secretly prayed and made offerings, but nothing worked, so they considered adopting.

Someone said adopting wasn’t the same as having your own child and suggested raising a small child who wouldn’t remember their past.

Others countered that adopting a child wasn’t easy, leading to talk about buying a child instead.

When it came to buying a child, someone said, “I heard there’s a young intellectual with two sons looking to sell them for a hundred yuan each.”

As she said this, she glanced at Yan Runzhi, and the other women, whether they had heard it before or not, also looked at Yan Runzhi.

There was only one young intellectual in Shuihuai Village with two sons besides Jiang Lin.

Yan Runzhi was immediately displeased.

They could mock and ridicule her all they wanted—she was used to being criticized and had learned to adjust her mindset, treating their words like air.

But what right did they have to talk about her daughter-in-law?

Even though Bao’er’s mother hadn’t been very attentive to her children in the past, she would never sell them.

She had overheard such rumors before and thought they were jokes, but now they had brought it right to her face.

Her daughter-in-law had finally united with the family, and she was so grateful.

How could she stand to hear anyone speak ill of her?