“Of course, it’s fine. Tell him to wait a moment.” Ning Shu took out a box of chocolate Swiss rolls from the cupboard. There were four rolls in the box, one roll was eaten in the morning, leaving three.

Ning Shu went to the room, tore off a piece of paper from the notebook, and then returned to the kitchen, wrapping one roll of Swiss roll in the paper.

“This way it’s easier to carry. Take it to him, then wash your hands, and we can eat.”

The paper had never been written on, and compared to their hands that had picked chestnuts, it was definitely cleaner.

“Ah.” The smile at the corner of Yibao’s mouth was as bright as the sun, a smile that came from the heart.

He was happy that Mom was willing to give Haicai such delicious things.

“Haicai…” Yibao ran out of the kitchen holding the Swiss roll.

“Haicai, you picked chestnuts with us this afternoon. Mom gave this to you. It’s called a Swiss roll, something others don’t have, and it’s delicious.”

The sensation of eating it in the morning, soft and sweet, made Yibao feel like he might start drooling.

“Really?” Lin Haicai eagerly took it, then opened the paper to see something he had never seen before.

More importantly, the fragrant smell of milk kept wafting, making him curious to lower his head and smell it.

Then he widened his eyes. “Yibao, it smells so good.”

“Yeah, it smells really good, and it’s delicious.” Yibao nodded heavily. It really smelled good.

Lin Haicai stared at the Swiss roll for a while, then broke it open. “Yibao, Erbao, this is for you guys. I’ll eat this one.”

“Haicai, are you really giving it to me?” Erbao asked uncertainly. This was a very delicious cake.

“Yeah yeah, it’s for you guys.” Lin Haicai grinned foolishly.

Ning Shu had been watching at the door, observing the interaction among the three older children.

It was unexpected for Lin Haicai to share half of the Swiss roll with Yibao and Erbao, but it was also evident that their relationship was genuinely good. Otherwise, Yibao wouldn’t have invited him to pick chestnuts together and exchange items.

At this moment, Ning Shu said, “Yibao, Erbao, call Haicai to come for dinner. Then go to the old house and tell Haicai’s mother, so they won’t worry about him not returning.”

To accommodate the children, with just two dishes at home, she decided to fry an egg.

“Mom…” Erbao exclaimed joyfully, “Mom, are you really going to invite Haicai for dinner?”

“Yes,” Ning Shu replied. “Hurry and tell his mother, I’ll fry an egg, and then we can eat.”

Perhaps they often had meals at the old house, but they had never invited Lin Haicai to dine at their own home before.

So now, being able to invite him for dinner here made both Yibao and Erbao very happy.

In fact, the kids also enjoyed hosting their good friends and brothers.

Lin Haicai still hesitated a bit about his aunt, but when he heard there would be fried eggs, he didn’t hesitate for a second. “Yibao, Erbao, I’ll go home and tell Mom.” Then he ran out holding the Swiss roll.

“Haicai, I’ll go with you,” Erbao also ran after him, not even bothering to eat the piece of Swiss roll Lin Haicai had given him.

The old house:

After Zhang Qinfang left at noon, Lin Guoliang and the three children also went out together to chase after her.

Later, Lin’s mother learned from Ning Shu that she had made a mistake and decided to go to Zhang Qinfang’s parents’ house to find her.

Nowadays, when a married woman runs away from her husband’s house, the only place she can go is her parents’ house.

However, Lin’s mother did not go to Zhang’s house but met Lin Guoliang, who was coming back to inquire about the news.

Lin Guoliang learned from his mother’s mouth that it was his own mother who had made the mistake, and she had brought back the mother-in-law who had hidden halfway and hadn’t gone to her father-in-law’s house yet.

So in the afternoon, Zhang Qinfang was also at work. However, after the events of noon, she was not worried about apologizing anymore; she had been frightened to the extreme.

Apologizing was nothing compared to reporting to the police.

“Mom… Mom…” Lin Haicai ran into the old house.

“Your mother hasn’t finished work yet,” Lin’s mother came back from picking vegetables and was preparing dinner.

“You’re back? Did you pick a lot of chestnuts at noon?”

“A lot. Auntie San exchanged this for me, it’s called…” Lin Haicai couldn’t remember the name of the Swiss roll.

“It’s called Swiss roll,” Erbao chimed in from behind. “Grandma, my mom said to invite Haicai to our house for dinner and inform you. Haicai, let’s go quickly.”

“Ah.” Lin Haicai responded and then followed Erbao, still holding the Swiss roll, out the door.

Lin’s mother: “?”

What’s going on? The third daughter-in-law is inviting Haicai to their house for dinner?

She was increasingly unable to understand the third daughter-in-law now, but… she could be sure that she had become more formidable than before, even more difficult to deal with.

When Erbao and Lin Haicai returned home, they didn’t see their older brother and Sanbao in the yard, so Erbao went straight into the kitchen.

As expected, their older brother and Sanbao were already seated.

“Dinner is ready. Erbao and Haicai, come and sit,” Ning Shu said.

“Thank you, Auntie San.” Lin Haicai sat down somewhat shyly next to Erbao, his eyes fixed on the eggs on the table.

Ning Shu had bought 22 eggs yesterday afternoon. Three were used for dinner last night, three for breakfast this morning, and now she had fried three more to treat the children. That left her with only 13 eggs, with 10 of them reserved for Lin Xiaoshan at night.

Ning Shu smiled. “Eat up, help yourselves to whatever you want.”

“Okay.” Lin Haicai responded timidly.

“Haicai, why did you bring the Swiss roll back again?” Yibao couldn’t help asking when he saw him place the Swiss roll on the table. Didn’t he just go home?

Lin Haicai pouted. “It’ll get eaten if I leave it at the old house.”

Though he was simple-minded, he wasn’t stupid. With so many older brothers and sisters at home, whenever there was something delicious, Grandma would share it with everyone.

He only had a little bit of cake left, and he didn’t want to share.

“In that case, leave it in our room for later. If you want to eat it, come and get it,” Yibao suggested.

“Okay.” Lin Haicai still trusted Yibao, after all, it was Yibao who gave it to him in the first place.

Ning Shu found their interactions amusing, but she agreed with Lin Haicai’s thinking.

It was originally something the children exchanged themselves by picking chestnuts, and only half remained, so it was natural for them to prioritize themselves.

One can be a good person, but one shouldn’t be foolish. In her opinion, sacrificing one’s own interests to be good is just foolish.

“…Third daughter-in-law…” Lin’s mother brought Zhang Qinfang and Qian Aifen over and saw Ning Shu sitting under the eaves with several children, peeling chestnuts.

At this moment, Qian Aifen’s mood was a mix of confusion and a hint of joy.

The children at the old house didn’t like to play with her son because they were several years older than him, and the older children at home didn’t want to play with him either, leaving him only with Yibao and Erbao as companions.

Qian Aifen was quite pleased with this; Haicai had a good relationship with Yibao and Erbao, which might earn him some favor in the eyes of the third daughter-in-law in the future.

“I was wondering why you weren’t at home today. Turns out, you stayed here with your third aunt” Qian Aifen had already learned the details from Lin’s mother, about how Ning Shu had exchanged pastries for her youngest son and let him eat here.

So when she saw her son peeling chestnuts here, she didn’t think much of it. In fact, even without these things, she wouldn’t have minded.

“Mom, Sister-in-law,” Ning Shu called out, without greeting Zhang Qinfang.

“Grandma, Auntie, Second Auntie,” Yibao and Erbao couldn’t understand the subtle exchanges between adults.

Moreover, they often had meals at the old house, so they were familiar with Zhang Qinfang.

Lin Haicai followed Yibao and Erbao’s lead: “Grandma, Mom, Second Auntie.”

“Ah.” Lin’s mother looked at the three obedient grandchildren and then gave Zhang Qinfang a meaningful look.

Qian Aifen was fine with it. She sat down and joined in peeling chestnuts, while also observing how Zhang Qinfang would apologize. “Third sister-in-law, are you gathering chestnuts? I’ve never seen you like chestnuts before.”

“I came back to my mother’s house this time, and my mother wanted chestnuts, so I picked some. But I didn’t pick a lot. I also collected some chestnuts picked by the village children. It’s one jin of chestnuts for two pieces of fruit candy,” Ning Shu casually mentioned.

Upon hearing this, Qian Aifen became interested. “Do you still need more? If you do, I can have my family collect some too.”

Ning Shu hadn’t thought about making a lot of money from the app. After all, the money from the app couldn’t be withdrawn. It wasn’t practical to buy things on the app and then sell them elsewhere because the price difference was too large. So her simplest goal was to improve her life with the app, not to make money.

As for making money… not buying houses to make money until the 1970s, and still thinking about starting a business? She didn’t have that drive. If she bought 20 or 30 houses and became a landlady by the time the real estate market boomed in the 1990s, the money earned from these dozens of properties would be enough for her to spend for the rest of her life.

She wasn’t greedy; enough money to last her lifetime was sufficient. Making money until she was in her seventies or eighties just to leave an inheritance for her descendants, she couldn’t do it. Everyone has their own fate.

But then again, even if she died, the houses she left behind would be enough for her children.

Although at the moment, she didn’t have a single house. No, she had to earn money in reality to buy houses.

“I don’t mind having more, but chestnuts need to be peeled,” Ning Shu offered, with a ready-made excuse. It wouldn’t hurt to collect a few more, and saying it was for the sake of helping her mother get a good deal, who could object?

Zhang Qinfang noticed that they were talking and ignoring her the whole time. She pursed her lips… finally gritted her teeth, “Third sister-in-law, what I said to Yibao and Erbao was wrong. I apologize to you. It was my own fault for speaking out of line. But I won’t do it again. Please forgive me.”

Ning Shu didn’t like to split a sentence into two parts and speak in riddles. She preferred to address matters directly.

So since Zhang Qinfang had spoken up, she also spoke directly, “Your apology to me alone is not enough. The words you said in front of Yibao and Erbao didn’t just hurt me. If Yibao and Erbao had listened to you, you would have caused discord between us mother and sons. You would have caused my husband and sons to drift apart. You would have deprived Yibao and Erbao of their biological mother, and maybe in the future, they would be scolded and abused by a stepmother. They would have been physically and emotionally harmed, hindering their progress. Moreover, you would have caused Guodong to be distracted while doing his tasks, worrying about the children at home. An accident could happen if he’s not careful. Lastly, if something happened to Guodong, do you think our parents would be okay? So, with just a few words of instigation, you would have harmed me, Yibao, Erbao, Guodong, and our parents!”