Chapter 14

Early the next morning, Shen Cui and Mu Er Pang were awakened by the sound of firecrackers outside.

Mother and son were both woken up early and felt lazy and didn’t want to move.

But you couldn’t stay in bed on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They didn’t linger for long before getting up to wash up.

Mu Er Pang put on the new padded jacket his grandmother had prepared for him, looking brand new from head to toe.

Of course, the old people wouldn’t care much about the style. Comfort and warmth were the main considerations.

Zheng Shi was particularly fond of her grandson Mu Er Pang, and the cotton in the jacket was stuffed generously. When Mu Er Pang put on the jacket, he turned into a round ball even more.

When he tried to put on his shoes after wearing the jacket, he almost couldn’t bend down.

Shen Cui, watching from the side, laughed until her cheeks were sore.

Mu Er Pang was feeling shy now. Seeing his own mother laughing at him, his cheeks flushed.

Seeing that he noticed, Shen Cui suppressed her smile, went up and held his hand, helping him put on the new cotton shoes, and curiously asked, “Didn’t you try on the jacket your grandma gave you before?”

Mu Er Pang said he did try it on, scratching his head, and said, “At that time, I was just thinking of finding ways to say nice things to Mom, and I didn’t think too much about it.”

Shen Cui felt too embarrassed to laugh at him anymore. After tidying up, the mother and son held hands and went out of the village into the town.

Actually, before yesterday, Shen Cui still had the same idea as before—she didn’t want to have too much contact with the original mother.

But yesterday, Zheng Shi sent Mu Er Pang with a bag of food for “feeding the little dog,” which was an initiative to show goodwill.

After all, she had lived through the original body and got a chance to live again. With Zheng Shi’s goodwill, it wouldn’t be right for her not to take the initiative to visit on such a big New Year’s Day.

Shen Cui was also mentally prepared. As long as Zheng Shi didn’t ask her to remarry or try to force her to make things difficult for Mu Yunchuan, she would not refuse the old lady’s face and would agree to whatever she said.

When visiting for the New Year, you naturally couldn’t go empty-handed. Unfortunately, there was really nothing good at home. Shen Cui wanted to buy something, so she took Mu Er Pang to the market first and bought a box of pastries for two coins.

At this time, there were very few shops still open, and the pastries sold in that shop were not cheap. A box of pastries cost two coins, equivalent to almost half a month’s wages for a worker in the city.

After buying the pastries, the two went to Tea Pot Alley.

They set off from the village and made a detour to the pastry shop before arriving at the Shen family’s house when it was already bright daylight.

The Shen family’s house was already bustling with activity.

Shen Lao Ye and Zheng Shi were not young anymore, and they held high positions in their respective clans, so many younger generations came to pay their respects.

In the main hall, everyone was chatting happily. When Shen Cui and Mu Er Pang entered, everyone suddenly fell silent unconsciously—Mu Cheng’s disappearance was only a few months ago.

According to common sense, Shen Cui should be devastated and haggard by now.

But on this day, although Shen Cui was not wearing new clothes, just a plain jacket, her complexion was rosy, and she smiled, showing no signs of fatigue.

As for Mu Er Pang, he was even more so, smiling happily as he ate a string of candied haws.

In the eyes of others, how should I put it, it’s not that they really wanted to see someone looking gloomy and depressed on such a big New Year’s Day, but it was still somewhat strange.

Zheng Shi was welcoming the younger generations, her eyes…

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Shen Cui saw the expressions on everyone’s faces and understood their thoughts.

Despite Zheng Shi’s secret arrangements to have Shen Cui remarry, only Shen Lao Ye and the reliable Li Shi knew about it. they wouldn’t make it public, as it would damage her reputation.

At this moment, she sent Mu Er Pang away to play with the children and sighed lightly, saying, “My daughter here has been worrying me to death. Ever since her husband went missing, she cried and wailed. I told her, ‘Smile with joy, cry with sorrow,’ but she’s been forcing herself to smile ever since! It’s the New Year, but she refuses to wear the red jacket I bought for her. Oh…”

As she spoke, Zheng Shi pulled Shen Cui close and looked at her with concern. “Look how thin you’ve become. Have you not been eating well these days?”

Interestingly, while the first part of her words were fabricated, the latter part was true. Shen Cui had indeed lost weight.

When she first arrived, her personal data panel showed her weight as 60kg, and she had a somewhat plump figure.

During this period, despite being affected by the original Shen Cui’s “lazy illness,” she was much more diligent than before. She took care of the household chores and accompanied Mu Er Pang in studying and practicing calligraphy, unknowingly losing several pounds.

Upon hearing Zheng Shi’s words and looking closely, Shen Cui’s chin did seem sharper, highlighting her good complexion.

Despite not having particularly deep feelings for each other, family members were still better than strangers. They began to advise Shen Cui.

One said Mu Cheng must have a bright future, while another advised Shen Cui to take care of her health for the sake of her son.

Shen Cui, who had been a loner in her previous life, didn’t have much experience dealing with relatives. After Zheng Shi’s reminder, she realized she needed to react appropriately.

She then put on a concerned look, sighed several times with a troubled expression.

Zheng Shi then called Mu Er Pang over.

In front of the children, naturally, no one mentioned Mu Cheng anymore and they began to chat about everyday matters.

As they chatted, everyone noticed that Mu Er Pang had changed!

Although they didn’t speak ill of Mu Er Pang in front of others, privately, they would shake their heads whenever his name was mentioned.

Today, however, everyone could see that Mu Er Pang could easily greet people in order and bow respectfully for New Year’s greetings, no longer showing his previous foolishness.

Mu Er Pang was now Zheng Shi’s pride and joy. Without waiting for anyone to ask, Zheng Shi proudly said that he had started studying at home, which had made him smarter!

While the relatives of the Shen family and Zheng Shi’s family had not had any serious scholars, they had all heard of the saying that “a full belly is the source of poetry and books,” so although they were all surprised, they didn’t think in any negative direction.

The lively atmosphere continued until after lunch, when the relatives dispersed to visit the next household for New Year’s greetings, and the Shen family returned to its usual appearance.

Sunflower seed shells and peanut shells were scattered on the floor, and both Chen Shi and Li Shi naturally helped to clean up.

Li Shi behaved quite normally, but Chen Shi absent-mindedly swept with the broom, occasionally casting a glance at Shen Cui.

Shen Cui thought Chen Shi was criticizing her for not working hard enough, so she hesitated about whether to help or not.

Her hesitation was not due to laziness, but rather because she thought that according to the original Shen Cui’s personality, she would definitely not help.

In fact,

Shen Cui guessed wrong; Chen Shi was not concerned about the household chores at all. She was thinking about money—

Her younger sister-in-law was married off, and Mu Er Pang was not surnamed Shen but Mu. Although Zheng Shi often helped them in the past, it was only a few times a year, and it was from Zheng Shi’s private savings, not the family’s public funds, so she didn’t say much.

Today, how could she understand from her mother-in-law’s words that she would have to support Mu Er Pang’s education year after year?

Her maternal family was preparing to support her nephew, Li Da Niu, to study, which was already a huge effort for the whole family.

To ask her to support Mu Er Pang, she naturally was very unwilling!

After exchanging several glances, Zheng Shi called Shen Cui into her room.

After dealing with relatives she was not familiar with all day, Shen Cui relaxed as soon as she entered the room.

There was no lingering resentment between the mother and daughter. Zheng Shi, as if she had completely forgotten about the remarriage incident, only said to her, “Your father and I have discussed it. We will bear the cost of Mu Er Pang’s education in the future. Since Mu Cheng is gone, it’s not good for you and your son to live alone in the village. It’s better to move back to the city.”

Shen Cui certainly could not agree to this.

If they really moved back to the Shen family, she could hide the system on her body, but there was nowhere to explain the things that appeared out of thin air!

Shen Cui naturally quickly shook her head and refused, “It’s easy to meet, but it’s hard to live together. If I take Mu Er Pang back to my mother’s house to live, my younger sister-in-law might not say anything, but my older sister-in-law will definitely be unhappy! She was glaring at me just now. A harmonious family brings prosperity to all, and if there’s trouble at home, we won’t have peace.”