Only after the Bai family—seventy to eighty people in total—closed the courtyard gates did the tension ease.

While the men had been discussing splitting the family earlier, the women had already teamed up to prepare the meal in the courtyard. By now, the food was ready.

The main dish was rice mixed with beans, served in abundance. The side dishes included braised pork belly with green beans, stir-fried duck giblets with chili, and minced pork stewed with winter melon.

The clan members were stunned.

——Wow, eating only white rice in the city? Three dishes, all with meat? Especially that big bowl of braised pork belly with green beans, clearly with more meat than beans!

The clan members’ eyes lit up!

Grandma Qi ate until her belly was round and asked Tang Liren, “Liren, did you become rich or what? How did you move to the city, rent such a beautiful courtyard, and even afford meat as big as the palm of your hand?”

Li Cuier leaned in and strained her ears to catch any evidence that Tang Liren had embezzled public funds.

Tang Liren naturally wouldn’t say that just a few days ago, their family made 300 yuan by reselling over a hundred chickens, ducks, and geese. However, she simply sighed and said, “Wasn’t Zhengqian injured? The state allocated 400 yuan for medical expenses, and we’ve already spent over 100… We used it first. As for the future costs, we’ll deal with them later.”

Grandma Qi grew upset. “Oh, then I have to say something! We’re all neighbors from the same village. Everyone knows you’re well-off, but even if it’s just eating bean porridge and some cabbage or potatoes, that’s perfectly fine. Yet here you are being so extravagant!”

Tang Liren said, “I troubled everyone to come to the city. Was it just to let you laugh at my family? I’m really upset inside…”

“Oh, you silly child! Every family has its own struggles!” Grandma Qi glared fiercely at Chen Juxiang before turning back to Tang Liren and asking, “By the way, what about building your house?”

Tang Liren replied, “Before Third Grandma left, I accompanied her. She gave me the land deed for the plot on the west side of the river. We’ll build our house there! The old man (Uncle Bai) also wants to build a house, but he probably doesn’t have land. I’ll split some for him and draft the paperwork later.”

Li Cuier immediately shouted, “If that’s the case, we should get a share of that land too!”

Tang Liren gave her a calm glance.

Grandma Qi snapped, “Sure, trade it for your ancestral home!”

“Favoritism!” Li Cuier huffed and turned away.

Meanwhile, Bai Taotao and Song Zhi sat side by side, each holding a big bowl of rice piled high with thick slices of meat and vegetables.

Bai Taotao usually loved eating meat.

But she realized that the green beans in the braised pork were even tastier. So she scooped the beans and winter melon from Song Zhi’s bowl into her own, then swapped her pork belly into his bowl…

Song Zhi held his bowl and let her do as she pleased without complaint.

Tan Fenghui, as the eldest sister-in-law, took it upon herself to care for the younger ones. She always made a round to check that everyone was eating well before relaxing. Then she saw Taotao sitting next to Song Zhi, constantly piling food into his bowl?

Tan Fenghui scolded Taotao, “Taotao, are you bullying Song Zhi again?”

Bai Taotao: …

That word ‘again’ hit hard.

Tan Fenghui patted Taotao’s head and said to Song Zhi, “Song Zhi, Taotao is just a child. Don’t take it personally. There’s plenty of food over there. If it’s not enough, go grab more!”

Song Zhi nodded in response.

Suddenly, Bai Taotao remembered something and shouted, “Mom, Dad, there’s someone named Wu… Wu Rui’an. He said he’s coming to visit you tomorrow at noon!”

Bai Zhengqian and Tang Liren froze.

“Rui’an is in the city too? He’s back?” Bai Zhengqian asked.

Bai Taotao knew nothing more.

Tang Liren smiled and said, “It’s already good enough that Taotao remembered Rui’an’s name and passed on the message about his visit tomorrow…”

While speaking, Tang Liren glanced at Song Zhi and asked curiously, “By the way, Little Song, how did you end up in the city too?”

This time, it was Song Zhi’s turn to be stunned.

—Didn’t you leave me a note saying that if you didn’t return in three days, I should come to the city and look for you?

Bai Zhengqian suddenly thought of something else and said to Tang Li, “Didn’t Aunt Guihua need someone who understands foreign languages? We have one right here!”

Tang Liren brightened up. “Yes, yes! Little Song, your uncle said you know two foreign languages? Here’s the thing—I have a distant relative who needs help from someone who knows foreign languages. You…”

Song Zhi nodded. “I know English and Russian, so I can handle general translation tasks. As for Japanese, I can manage written translations, but my spoken Japanese might be weaker. I’ll go with Auntie tomorrow and see if I can help.”

When they heard that Song Zhi knew three languages, everyone looked at him with envy.

Meanwhile, Bai Nansheng was sitting in a corner, shoveling food into his mouth.

Today’s meal was excellent. The palm-sized pork belly was first fried and then braised until tender, paired with fragrant white rice. It was absolutely delicious.

But to Bai Nansheng, it was like chewing wax.

He quickly finished eating, put his bowl and chopsticks in the sink, and slipped out the door.

Bai Nansheng hurried to the maternity ward at the hospital.

Chen Lanfan lay in the ward, with a chubby baby sleeping soundly in the crib beside her, tiny fists clenched.

Bai Nansheng stared at Chen Lanfan.

Since childhood, he knew he wasn’t likable—no matter how well he performed, in Chen Juxiang’s eyes, he could never compare to the favored son from the fourth branch.

When he was young, his parents and older brothers were busy working, so he was left in Chen Juxiang’s care and endured an extremely twisted childhood. Later, as he grew older, he was disciplined by his parents and brothers, slowly learning right from wrong.

But he still wanted to be a good son in their eyes.

—Being good meant being bullied.

When Chen Juxiang suppressed him, the word ‘respecting elders’ was enough to crush his parents. When Li Cuier took advantage of them, the word ‘pitying the young’ forced his family to forgive all her schemes.

Bai Nansheng hated it.

Was kindness the only way to protect his family?

Did his family have no other choice but to endure Chen Juxiang and Li Cuier’s malice?

Bai Nansheng swallowed his anger.

He decided to use cruelty to protect his family.

Living recklessly and selfishly made him feel exhilarated, but it came at a great cost—other than his family, no one was willing to approach him, and he didn’t even have a single friend to talk to.

Chen Lanfan’s appearance meant so much to him.

—She was beautiful.

And for once, a beautiful girl didn’t mind talking to him.

And now… she had become someone else’s wife and the mother of someone else’s child.

—The first time she saw him, she blushed and pulled him into the cornfield?
It was a bit abrupt, but it was rare for a girl not to dislike him or be afraid of him.

—Did she have too good of a temper?
No problem. He had a good temper too. He could slowly learn to treat her well in the future.

—Was it really from that one time that she got pregnant with his child???
God! What a huge blessing! He finally had his own family?

—Her father wanted a bride price of one thousand yuan?
That was outrageous, but he could work hard in the future and pay that thousand yuan back to his parents.

Bai Nansheng built all kinds of psychological defenses for himself… He even felt deeply grateful to Chen Lanfen for being willing to give him a family, a child, and stay by his side for the rest of his life.

However, as the initial excitement gradually faded, Bai Nansheng slowly calmed down.

He could sense the difference in how Chen Lanfen treated him compared to how she treated her maiden family. He also vaguely heard some rumors, but he trusted her and never paid them any attention.

What made him feel strange was his own feelings toward Chen Lanfen.

When chatting with his comrades in the company, he could go on and on about his parents, siblings, nephews, and nieces!

But when they laughed and asked, “What about your wife?”

Bai Nansheng couldn’t say a single word for a long time.

It was then he realized that, aside from knowing her name was Chen Lanfen, that she was from Chenjia Village, and that she was 25 years old—two years older than him…

He knew absolutely nothing about her. He didn’t know her at all.

After some time, he even… often forgot that he was already a married man!

When his family urgently called him back this time, he had already guessed it had something to do with her. Was it something about the baby in her belly? His heart was uneasy, but more than that, he felt lost.

How did he, so muddle-headedly, end up with a wife and, soon, a child?

He hadn’t even…

memorized her face.

When he finally came back and saw her, he couldn’t even bring himself to speak or look her in the eye.

She felt too unfamiliar.

If it weren’t for her enormously pregnant belly, he wouldn’t have recognized that this woman was… his wife.

In the end, he heard a truth that left him both furious and humiliated.

—It turned out she hadn’t pulled him into the cornfield because she liked him.
—It turned out she hadn’t wanted to marry him at all.
—It turned out the child in her belly wasn’t even his.
—It turned out she had always treated him like a fool.

So, was he still all alone in this world?

At that moment, Chen Lanfen, who was lying quietly on the bed, suddenly turned her head and unexpectedly saw Bai Nansheng standing stiffly at the door.

She was pleasantly surprised and tried to sit up, but accidentally touched the wound on her abdomen and let out a low cry of pain.

“Don’t get up. I just came to see you, and then I’ll leave,” Bai Nansheng said.

Chen Lanfen took a long time to suppress the tearing pain. With a hoarse voice, she called out, “Nansheng,” but then fell silent, tears streaming down her face.

She didn’t even know how it came to this—how every trembling step she had taken in life had landed perfectly on the wrong path.

—She was an abandoned baby picked up by her grandmother in the Chen family. She grew up abused. The neighbors pitied her. When she turned sixteen, the village official asked if she wanted her own household registration. It was a clear hint that she could move out of the Chen family. But she got scared, backed down under the official’s disappointed gaze, and refused to set up her own registration.

She lost her first chance to escape.

—The first time Chen Daniu assaulted her, she cried and struggled so much that the neighbors were alarmed. A kindhearted neighbor came over with an ax, cursed Chen Daniu loudly, and asked through the window if she needed help. But she got scared again, lied through the window to send the neighbor away, and completely fell into the hands of the Chen family’s men.

She lost her second chance to escape.

—Once, she got pregnant. She was probably three or four months along? Then she miscarried and bled heavily. Chen Daniu was afraid she might die, so he sent her to the county hospital. The doctor immediately understood the situation from her symptoms. Taking the opportunity of a physical exam, the doctor drove Chen Daniu out and locked the door, asking her if she wanted to call the police. She hesitated again. Afraid of having no support, afraid of the Chen family’s revenge, she ultimately refused.

She had once again lost her chance to escape.

—And this time, she had already married Nansheng, already escaped her misery. How could this happen again…

Chen Lanfen broke down, sobbing, her heart wrung with pain.

Bai Nansheng stood silently by her side, not making a sound.

“Nansheng, will you… still remember me in the future?” she asked softly.

Bai Nansheng replied, “It’s better to forget.”

After a long pause, Chen Lanfen said in a low voice, “Thank you, Nansheng… It’s my fault. I was… such a fool.”

T/N: I’m a bit confused by Chen Lanfen. Because even though I sympathise with everything she’s gone through, I find it hard to understand her. I get the fact that she didn’t have the courage to take those escape routes when they were presented to her, but why did she still keep close to the Chen family once she married Nansheng? It was said before that she spent more time there than at the Bai family’s house. I’m not blaming her for her situation, I’m just a bit confused…