The gratitude Sheng Shiwen had felt toward Gu Jiaojiao for risking her life to save his mother had completely vanished.

All that remained was anger, especially since he had wanted to try the cold skin noodles earlier but couldn’t bring himself to spend the money, wanting instead to save it to visit Gu Jiaojiao.

That thought now seemed like a joke, and Sheng Shiwen was so furious he felt like spitting blood.

Seeing the veins on Sheng Shiwen’s hands bulge from anger, Sheng Xinglian knew her goal had been achieved.

“Second Brother~ Don’t be so angry~ It’s not good for your health. You should rest early~”

After saying this, she tearfully bid Sheng Shiwen goodbye. The sound of her suppressed sobs made Sheng Shiwen wish he could go and beat Gu Jiaojiao up right then and there.

As soon as Sheng Xinglian left Sheng Shiwen’s room, she almost burst out laughing. There was no trace of sadness on her face.

She simply couldn’t stand seeing Gu Jiaojiao doing well. Although setting up a stall to sell cold skin noodles was embarrassing, Gu Jiaojiao’s life should be even more miserable than that. She should be living in constant hardship.

Back then, Sheng Xinglian had heard that the disabled Su Shuoci still earned fifty yuan a month, and that Su’s parents also had salaries. That’s why she had schemed to marry Gu Jiaojiao off to the disabled man.

Once Gu Jiaojiao got her hands on the Su family’s money, she would naturally have to obediently hand it over to Sheng Xinglian.

Although it wasn’t much, Sheng Xinglian understood the principle of “many a little makes a mickle.”

But to her surprise, Gu Jiaojiao, who had been as timid as a quail in the Sheng family, seemed like a completely different person after marrying Su Shuoci.

She no longer listened to her, and what was even more infuriating was that she didn’t give her any money. How could this be!

Sheng Xinglian was the chosen one!

She should be as unattainable as the moon, with everyone bowing down to her.

As for Gu Jiaojiao, who had lived too well in her past life, she should be like a rat in the gutter in this life, with everyone stepping on her.

Sheng Xinglian, lost in her smug excitement, didn’t notice Sheng Shiwu standing around the corner.

He had just returned from Gu Jiaojiao’s place, holding a few chicken legs and a packet of spicy strips in his hands.

Because it was summer and his clothes were thin with no pockets, he was afraid his family would see what he was carrying.

So he tiptoed, trying to sneak back to his room quietly. As he passed his second brother’s room, he overheard Sheng Xinglian’s words.

Hearing his biological sister’s tearful voice, he felt uncomfortable and restless.

When he heard the door open, Sheng Shiwu instinctively hid around the corner, not wanting his sister to see him.

To his surprise, the tearful sister who had just stepped out showed no sign of sadness. She was practically laughing out loud.

Sheng Shiwu’s eyes turned red with anger. His biological sister was not only an ungrateful wretch but also malicious.

She had actually encouraged their second brother to go and beat up Gu Jiaojiao. Was this something a human would do?

Recalling all the foolish things he had done in the past, Sheng Shiwu felt even more guilty toward Gu Jiaojiao.

Putting himself in her shoes, if they ever fell into hard times and Gu Jiaojiao didn’t acknowledge them…

Just the thought of it made Sheng Shiwu’s heart tighten. No wonder Gu Jiaojiao’s eldest brother had fainted from anger.

If it were him, he might have died from rage!

Furious, Sheng Shiwu didn’t even notice that Sheng Xinglian had already returned to her room.

“Xiao Wu, what’s wrong?” Father Sheng asked worriedly.

He had come out to fetch water and saw his third son standing at the corner of the hallway, looking deeply sad.

“Nothing… it’s nothing…” Sheng Shiwu forced himself to appear calm.

He didn’t want to disappoint his father. Even though his biological sister was an ungrateful wretch, perhaps ignorance would spare him the pain.

“You look like this and say it’s nothing? Come to my study and talk.”

“Dad, try a chicken leg.” Once inside the study, Sheng Shiwu tried to divert his father’s attention.

Father Sheng was no ordinary man. He knew his youngest son was troubled, likely over matters concerning his daughter or Gu Jiaojiao.

He didn’t know how to speak well of his daughter and didn’t want to discuss her faults with his son.

So he took the chicken leg. “Then you should go to bed early. You have school tomorrow.”

“Okay, Dad. Try a spicy strip too. I’m going back to my room.”

Gu Jiaojiao had no idea that the original female lead, Sheng Xinglian, was once again plotting against her in secret.

At that moment, she had already prepared the filling for the meat buns and was chilling it with well water. She thought it was about time to “buy” a refrigerator.

“Jiaojiao, you two should go to bed. I’ll get up early tomorrow to wrap and steam the buns, then go out to sell them.”

Seeing that it was getting late, Mother Su instructed Gu Jiaojiao and Su Shuoci to go to sleep.

The Gu family, seeing that Gu Jiaojiao and Su Shuoci had returned to their room, also went upstairs to sleep.

There were three rooms upstairs for the five members of the Gu family. Grandpa Gu shared a room with the eldest son so they could take care of each other.

The room where Su Qinchun had been sleeping was given to Father Gu, while Mother Gu and Second Brother Gu each had a smaller room.

Su Qinchun moved to a small room on the first floor next to her parents, which was still much more comfortable than her living conditions in the countryside.

Moreover, her sister-in-law had bought her a high-quality towel blanket and a premium bamboo mat from the Overseas Chinese Store, which she was extremely satisfied with.

Gu Jiaojiao still needed to give Su Shuoci an IV drip, including detoxifying and anti-inflammatory fluids.

After setting up the IV, she slept soundly. Although this era was poor, having supplies in her space made it less daunting.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, before dawn, Father Su, Mother Su, and Su Qinchun got up to wrap the buns. Second Brother Gu also woke up early.

Grandpa Gu and the others, whose health had been severely depleted, surprisingly slept until daybreak after eating well the previous day.

Father Su and the others had already gone out to sell the buns, and no one knew what time they had left.

Gu Jiaojiao got up and cooked a pot of lean meat porridge, boiled a few eggs, and left various types of buns in the steamer.

Mother Gu said apologetically, “Son-in-law, your parents have gone out to sell buns, but we slept so late…”

“Grandpa, Dad, Mom, Eldest Brother, your health hasn’t fully recovered yet, so don’t blame yourselves. Let’s have breakfast first.”

Su Shuoci added, “I also slept through the night, and it feels great. It’s much better than being tormented by illness and unable to sleep.”

“Shuoci is right. Being able to sleep is a blessing. Thank you, Jiaojiao,” said Grandpa Gu.

“Grandpa, no need to be so polite. After eating, you’ll still need to help us with work. Hehe…”

Gu Jiaojiao pointed at a large bag of peanuts in the living room, blinking her eyes as she spoke.

In truth, she had ready-to-use peanuts in her space, but there wasn’t a better task for Grandpa Gu and the others to do.

“Jiaojiao, why did you buy so many peanuts?” Eldest Brother Gu asked in surprise.

“Didn’t I say they’re for the cold skin noodles?” Gu Jiaojiao replied.

She knew what her eldest brother was implying, but she didn’t know how to explain it properly.

The Gu family: …

The Su family was really wealthy. They had heard from Uncle Dong that the Su family was so poor they couldn’t afford meat and might not even have enough rice to eat.

He had also said that their Jiaojiao was always causing trouble and being unreasonable. Clearly, rumors couldn’t be trusted!

The Gu family each drank two bowls of lean meat porridge, ate an egg, and had several buns.

It was the heartiest breakfast they had eaten in many years.

Although they could use food to nourish and regulate their bodies, it would be too slow. Gu Jiaojiao still gave each of them several bottles of IV fluids.

After tidying up, the four members of the Gu family stayed home to shell peanuts, while Su Shuoci took Gu Jiaojiao to the black market.

Monkey handed over the money from yesterday’s sales to Su Shuoci. He had made a net profit of sixty yuan, equivalent to a manager’s monthly salary.