Sheng’s mother was utterly exhausted from dealing with her son and daughter. “Xiao Wen, are you trying to drive me to my grave?”

Sheng Shiwen looked at his mother’s haggard face, and his heart trembled. When had their once-elegant mother changed so much?

And they hadn’t even noticed!

“Yueliang, it’s your second brother’s fault. I beg you, stop crying. Today, I went to see Gu Jiaojiao.
She said we’re done, that we’ll go our separate ways and never cross paths again. If you have any other grievances, tell me, but don’t bring up Gu Jiaojiao anymore.
(She changed her name from Xinglian (星莲), which means “Star Lotus,” to Yueliang (月亮), which means “Moon.”)

We’ve already cut ties with her, so let’s not give the people in the compound more reasons to say we’re immature.

Now that she’s married to a cripple, what are you still worried about?”

The words “If you want to die, go die outside, don’t cause a scene at home” lingered on Sheng Shiwen’s lips, but he didn’t dare say them out loud.

What if he pushed his sister too far and she actually did something drastic? Their family would never know peace again!

“Yueliang, after your father finishes eating, he’ll give your second and third brothers a good beating to vent your anger. Stop crying, be good, and eat first.”

Exhausted, Sheng’s mother spoke softly, her eyes burning with concern as she carefully watched her daughter.

That afternoon, she had also heard Gu Jiaojiao’s resolute words to her second son: “Let’s part ways and never owe each other anything again. From now on, we’ll be strangers.”

When she heard that, her heart had clenched, and she felt a wave of dizziness. But it was the Sheng family who had first publicly announced the severance of ties…

In her previous life, Sheng Yueliang (formerly known as Sheng Xinglian) had lived until the age of 38, surviving into the new millennium.

She had witnessed the prosperity of the future and seen the heights that the Song family’s Song Zijin would reach. In this life, all of that would belong to her.

If she were to die now, Zijin would probably marry some other beautiful vixen.

Even without Gu Jiaojiao, there would still be Li Jiaojiao, Wang Jiaojiao, and so on. So she decided to step back.

“Mom~ I overheard some gossip on the road and felt so wronged that I couldn’t help but cry. Dad, don’t hit my brothers. I’ll stop crying now.”

After saying this, she lowered her head and began eating. She wasn’t really that heartbroken, after all—she wasn’t truly eighteen anymore.

This trick of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide was something she had learned from her sister-in-law in her previous life, Dong Yuanyuan.

Grandpa Gu had taught her that she had to rely on herself in everything, and that crying wouldn’t solve any problems.

So in her past life, she had rarely cried or complained. Even with the Sheng family’s backing, she had always shrunk back in her in-laws’ home.

She had watched her sister-in-law, Dong Yuanyuan, throw tantrums in front of the entire He family, and He Aiguo would always grovel to appease her.

But she herself had never dared to make a scene in public. Occasionally, she would cry in private, and her husband, He Aijun, would slap her.

He would mock her, saying she wasn’t as capable or as beautiful as her sister-in-law, so why was she trying to act spoiled?

It infuriated her to the point of spitting blood. It seemed like everyone was out to upset her, and that’s why she had died young, consumed by anger.

After being reborn, she had started bullying Gu Jiaojiao the same way Dong Yuanyuan had bullied her. And surprisingly, it worked.

The more she thought about it, the happier she became, and her appetite grew. She ate heartily, finishing two bowls of rice without even realizing it.

Sheng Shiwen watched as his sister went from heartbroken one moment to devouring her food the next.

How had he never noticed before that his sister could be so heartless? He glanced at his father, who was also eating with gusto.

Meanwhile, his mother kept piling food onto his sister’s plate. The food in his own mouth tasted like mud…

*

At the Su family’s dinner table, halfway through the meal, they heard Sheng Shiwu calling from outside, “Jiaojiao, are you still selling cold skin noodles?”

“We sold out a long time ago. Haven’t you had dinner yet?” Second Brother Gu ran to open the door, curious.

Sheng Shiwu looked dejected as he glanced at the Su family’s table full of food. “I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Mrs. Su kindly filled a bowl of rice and handed it to Sheng Shiwu. “If you had come earlier, you could have had some chicken soup.

Jiaojiao loves spicy chicken gizzards. Since you don’t have much of an appetite, you can have some of that. It’s a great dish to go with rice.”

Sheng Shiwu didn’t take the bowl immediately. Instead, he looked at Gu Jiaojiao. He had money on him, but he wasn’t sure if it was okay to eat at the Su family’s table.

Gu Jiaojiao, having lived to the age of 28 in her previous life and even serving as a military doctor with peacekeeping forces abroad, had met all sorts of people.

Moreover, Sheng Shiwu’s worries were written all over his face. So Gu Jiaojiao said, “Go ahead and eat first. We can talk while we eat. Actually, I have something to discuss with you.”

Hearing that Gu Jiaojiao had something to say to him, Sheng Shiwu happily took the bowl and chopsticks from Mrs. Su.

Standing next to Second Brother Gu, he picked up a piece of spicy chicken gizzard. It was delicious. Then he tried a piece of braised pork—also amazing.

Next, he went for the green pepper scrambled eggs. They were simply too good. Sheng Shiwu couldn’t stop eating, bite after bite.

He ate like a starving man, finishing two bowls of rice and a lot of the dishes.

Su Qinchun’s eyes widened like saucers. “You call this ‘not having an appetite’? What would it look like if you did have an appetite?”

“Hehe, your family’s food is just too delicious. It’s not that I didn’t have an appetite—it’s just that Yueliang made me lose it.”

“What did Yueliang do to upset you?” Gu Jiaojiao asked, surprised.

“Ugh, not the moon in the sky—it’s…”

Once Sheng Shiwu had eaten his fill, he started rambling about everything that had happened in his family.

He felt that the Gu family weren’t outsiders, and neither were the Su family, so it wasn’t like airing dirty laundry in public.

Mr. and Mrs. Su, being simple and honest people, listened without much reaction, treating it more like a story.

Su Qinchun, however, rolled her eyes so hard they nearly got stuck. But she didn’t dare say anything, just busied herself clearing the table while continuing to roll her eyes.

Mr. Gu and Eldest Brother Gu were so angry at Sheng Yueliang’s actions that they nearly fainted. Eldest Brother Gu almost passed out.

Gu Jiaojiao quickly gave him a few acupuncture needles to stabilize him. She couldn’t let him die from anger.

Second Brother Gu helped his older brother lie down on a recliner. In that moment, he felt that Sheng Shiwu wasn’t so bad after all.

“You just changed her name like that? Did she agree?”

“Yeah, she said she likes being the moon surrounded by stars, not a tiny star or a white lotus.”

Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but laugh. Sheng Xinglian—no, Sheng Yueliang—had come from the future.

She knew that “white lotus” wasn’t a compliment but an insult. To thank Sheng Shiwu for the information, Gu Jiaojiao said, “Sheng Shiwu, starting tomorrow, you can help us sell spicy strips at school. We’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.”

She vividly remembered that the Sheng family had only started living comfortably in recent years, thanks to the salaries of Sheng’s eldest and second sons.

In the earlier years, the Sheng family had barely scraped by, and eating meat every day was out of the question. They could only afford meat once a month, and even then, they couldn’t eat their fill.

Mrs. Sheng would set aside a small bowl for Gu Jiaojiao, even though Sheng Shiwu was only a year older than her and didn’t get the same treatment.

Sheng Shiwu had always been understanding and never fought with Gu Jiaojiao over food. Eldest Brother Sheng would even share some of his portion with her.

The original Gu Jiaojiao had grown up pampered in the Sheng family, never experiencing a moment of hardship.

When the Sheng family’s biological daughter returned, Mrs. Sheng poured all her maternal love into compensating her.

She would divide all the good food into extra portions for her biological daughter.