Every day, Granny Song would count: there were 72 pears on the tree.

These 72 pears were reserved for her youngest daughter, Song Qingyu, to help soothe her cough.

Little Gou Dan, worried because his mother had been asleep for a long time and her lips were dry, secretly picked a pear from their family plot.

But little did he know, this pear would soon ignite yet another family battle.

“Gou Dan! How dare you steal Granny’s pears? Don’t you know your little aunt has asthma and relies on these pears to soothe her throat and stay alive?”

Before Gou Dan could react, Granny Song burst in with a broom.

She saw him holding the pear, running from the well to the west room, and swung the broom straight at his backside.

Su Xiangwan, who couldn’t tolerate anyone hitting her child, was even more furious because Granny Song hit particularly hard.

Gou Dan was only six years old.

Being poor, he didn’t have new clothes, so he wore crotchless pants. Just one swing of the broom left a bloody mark on his bare bottom, and several more quickly followed.

Leaping off the kang (a heated bed), Su Xiangwan grabbed the old lady: “Try touching my son again!”

“You lazy good-for-nothing, spoiling your kids into thieves! Mark my words, I’ll throw you out of this house one day!” Granny Song, enraged, swung the broom at Su Xiangwan.

To say Granny Song was a piece of work would be an understatement.

Based on the memories of Su Xiangwan’s predecessor in this life, Granny Song was the very definition of unreasonable.

For instance, when Su Xiangwan was about to marry into the family, it was initially arranged for her to marry Song Laosan, the second son, because they were the same age and had attended a few days of primary school together.

It was a reluctant match, but acceptable.

Su Xiangwan agreed to the marriage, and her father approved as well. The dowry was modest, and everything was settled.

But on the wedding day, she discovered that the refined and scholarly Song LaoEr(Second Brother) had been swapped for the tall and stoic Song Laoda the eldest son his current husband who died.

Granny Song didn’t favor either Song Laoda or Song LaoEr.

Her favorites were the third son, Song Laosan, and her youngest daughter, Song Qingyu.

Song Laosan was the youngest son, who stayed home with his wife.

The couple was lazy but knew how to sweet-talk Granny Song.

As for the youngest daughter, Song Qingyu, she had married at fifteen, but after her husband died, she returned to the family home with her child and had been looking for a new husband ever since.

Granny Song, heartbroken over her daughter’s young widowhood, spoiled her endlessly.

Su Xiangwan grabbed the broom, smacked Granny Song twice, and then threw it into the yard.

Being younger and stronger, Su Xiangwan easily overpowered Granny Song in their physical scuffle, leaving the old woman spinning helplessly.

Meanwhile, the pear fell to the ground, smashing one side.

“Mom, why are you fighting with my eldest sister-in-law again? She just survived a hanging herself; giving her a pear won’t kill you,” said the little sister-in-law, peering out from the kitchen where she was preparing lunch.

“Survived? She’s always pretending—either trying to die or live dramatically. She barely earned eight work points yesterday. I wish she’d hang herself properly and be done with it. Look at her now, alive and kicking, teaching her kid to steal pears. Useless freeloader!” Granny Song spat venomously but seemed wary, noticing Su Xiangwan’s unusual strength today.

Granny Song kept cursing but didn’t dare lay hands on her again.

Arguing? Su Xiangwan excelled at it.

“Mom, why can’t I eat a pear?” she asked, blocking Granny Song’s way.

“The pears are for Qingyu to treat her cough! Do you have asthma?”

“All I know is if someone truly has asthma, they should take medicine. If pears could cure asthma, what would doctors be for? Should we just turn all drug factories into pear farms?”

Saying this, Su Xiangwan picked up the smashed pear, washed it by the well, and handed it to Gou Dan. “Here, take a bite. Mom will eat with you.”

“I dare you to eat my pear!” Granny Song threatened.

“Why wouldn’t I? I planted this pear tree the year I got married. I watered it myself every time. When the commune wanted to cut it down, I fought to save it. Why should Qingyu eat the pears, but not my child?”

Su Xiangwan bit into the pear, its thin skin cracking to release sweet juice that spread across her tongue.

After years of eating waxed fruit and takeout meals, this pear was the sweetest she’d ever tasted.

From the predecessor’s memories, Song Qingyu didn’t even have asthma.

She pretended to cough to hoard the pears for herself and her precious son.

“Delicious.” Su Xiangwan took another crunchy bite and handed the pear to Gou Dan. “Here, take a big bite.”

“You lazy, shameless shrew! You think you’re in the right? I’ll report you to the commune and have you thrown out of the Song family! You’ll never see my second son again!” Granny Song’s voice rose as she played her trump card.

After all, Su Xiangwan had stayed because of Song Laosan.

“Go ahead! Let’s see what the leaders say about you abusing the family of a fallen soldier!” Su Xiangwan retorted, deliberately taking another loud bite of the pear.

Song Laoda, her late husband, had been a soldier with a special status.

Though he hadn’t worn a uniform, he had been recognized as a martyr posthumously. If news of this mistreatment spread, Granny Song would certainly face consequences.

And just like that, Granny Song fell silent.

Su Xiangwan’s smile widened as she bent down gently, holding the fragrant, crispy pear to Gou Dan. “Eat, Gou Dan. Why aren’t you eating?”

Gou Dan licked the part his mother had bitten, tasting a pear for the first time in his six years.

“Mom, this pear is so sweet!” he said with heartfelt joy.

“Yes, the pear is sweet. Go, bring your older brother here. We share blessings and misfortunes together, and we’ll eat the pear together.”

“But, my little aunt says that a pear can’t be eaten by two people because it means separation. If we share the pear, we have to part ways. So my little aunt always eats the pear alone. Mom, you should eat it alone too.”

“Since we can’t share the pear, let’s cut it. If we cut the pear, we won’t be separated, right?”

The original character had been so hysterical in the past two years, always either hitting or scolding, that the little boy, Gou Dan, was still a bit scared.

It wasn’t until Su Xiangwan found a kitchen knife and cut the pear into three pieces that Gou Dan, like a little puppy, excitedly ran to find his older brother, Lu Dan.

“Mom, Mom, did you call me?” A round-headed, round-faced little boy ran in when he heard the voice.

This child had slightly dark skin, but it was clear that his foundation was quite fair. With just a little care, he could easily become fair-skinned.

Especially his eyes—thin, almond-shaped eyes—oh, they sparkled with vitality, making him look incredibly handsome.

The little guy was carrying a stick on his shoulder.

When he stood it upright, he proudly said, “Grandma, I bought this pear. Let my mom eat it alone. I’ll earn work points to pay off your debt. No one is allowed to take it from her.”

Oh, the boy looked so fierce and mighty. Although he was young, you could see the strength in him, and he was quite charming.

This was the male lead of the original story.

Determined despite his disability, when he first joined the police force, he designed a plan that led to cutting off two bad guys’ legs.

But with his indomitable willpower, he stood back up and became the most successful criminal detective in the Republic, Song Donghai also currently known as Lu Dan.

According to the book, this boy was very loving toward his mother.

However, after the original character sold his younger brother and sister, he started to hate her.

In the last chapter Su Xiangwan read, Su Xiaonan revealed that the boy had been secretly planning to send his cruel mother to prison, so she could spend the rest of her life there.

But that event hadn’t occurred yet, and Su Xiangwan wasn’t worried about it for now.

She just suddenly felt moved by the little boy.

Although she had read so many novels, it wasn’t until she truly crossed over and saw the two little children on the ground that Su Xiangwan realized how different life was in the 60s and 70s.

With food shortages, the family would fight over a single cornmeal pancake.

Endless labor meant working for twelve hours to earn enough food for one adult.

Without contraception, there was one child after another, and parents barely had any time for each other, but the children were running everywhere.

At first, Su Xiangwan had enjoyed reading about the era, but the more she read, the more she realized how harsh the environment was for her.

The thought made her head spin, and there was also a baby crying nearby, hungry for milk.

“Mom, are you really not going to feed my little sister?” Gou Dan nervously asked. “You said you’d let her starve, but you don’t mean it, right?”

Indeed, the original character hadn’t breastfed her youngest daughter for two days.

Of course, with her husband dead for two years, her mother-in-law being abusive, the baby crying, and her own hunger, the original character doesn’t have the spare time to feed her youngest daughter and deliberatly starve her.

Now, Su Xiangwan, a single woman who had never had children, was faced with the task of feeding a child?

“Mom, go ahead. We won’t look,” Lu Dan said, raising his stick and covering Gou Dan’s eyes.

He, too, tightly closed his own eyes in front of Su Xiangwan.

He kept reassuring, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be hurt, Mom, hurry up and feed her, I’ll protect you.”

Su Xiangwan was taken aback.

For the first time, as she was encouraged by this little handsome boy, she actually lifted her shirt to breastfeed.

Her little daughter, starving, latched on eagerly and drank greedily.

Both boys kept their eyes tightly shut.

Especially Gou Dan, hearing his sister suckling, couldn’t help but smile with joy.

Su Xiangwan had always loved children, and the reason she hadn’t had any before was simply that she hadn’t found the right man to have a relationship with.

However, in that moment, she couldn’t help but feel that the two little handsome boys at the edge of the bed were incredibly brave and charming.