“Mom, what should we do now?”  

Jiang Dazhuang asked his mother.  

But Mother Jiang just sighed.  

What could they even do about this? It was obvious Zhao Chunmei was deliberately picking a fight, yet they couldn’t exactly make a scene over it.  

Ugh!  

For some reason, Mother Jiang’s gaze gradually drifted toward her youngest daughter.  

As absurd as it sounded, after everything that had happened these past few days, she couldn’t help feeling that her daughter might actually have an idea.  

Noticing her mother’s gaze, Jiang An’an cleared her throat softly.  

“Mom, big brother, sister-in-law, second brother—let’s head back first.”  

Hearing this, Mother Jiang shook her head to herself. She was overthinking things. Her daughter wasn’t even twenty yet—how could she expect someone so young to come up with a solution?  

“Let’s go back,” Mother Jiang said.  

The others working in the fields watched as the Jiang family left dejectedly, whispering among themselves.  

“What’s going on with them?”  

“Didn’t you hear? Accountant Li said the Jiang family wasn’t assigned any work today!”  

“What? No work? Does that mean the whole family gets no work points today?”  

“Exactly. But there’s plenty of work today—how come the Jiang family didn’t get any?”  

“Who knows? Maybe they’re just unlucky. The Jiang family has really been down on their luck lately—something’s always happening. At this rate, they probably won’t get much grain at the end of the year…”  

Zhao Chunmei overheard the chatter and smirked disdainfully. “Those who work less obviously get less grain. If any of you feel sorry for the Jiang family, why not give them your share?”  

The moment she said this, everyone fell silent. Only Liu Quanwang, the village chief’s older brother, and his family chimed in, “Chunmei’s right. Why should those who didn’t work get grain?”  

A few other households murmured in agreement.  

…

The Jiang household.  

Jiang Dazhuang paced back and forth restlessly, too anxious to sit still.  

“Enough already, stop pacing—you’re making everyone dizzy. Sit down!” Mother Jiang said helplessly.  

Hearing this, Jiang Dazhuang reluctantly sat down, but his furrowed brows looked tense enough to crush a fly.  

“What are we supposed to do? A full day’s work points are nothing to scoff at. And if there’s no work today, who knows about tomorrow? If this keeps up, how are we going to make it to the end of the year?”  

He grew more agitated as he spoke and stood up again.  

“It’s not like there’ll be no work every day. Since we have nothing to do, why don’t you go gather some firewood from the mountain? We’re running low anyway.”  

Seeing no other choice, Mother Jiang tried to send her eldest son off on an errand.  

But just as Jiang Dazhuang was about to leave, someone called out to him.  

“Big brother, I’ll go with you!”  

It was Jiang An’an.  

“Why would you go? No!” Mother Jiang immediately vetoed the idea.  

What happened to her daughter last time? Wasn’t it on the mountain? If something like that happened again, how could she go on living?  

“It’s fine, Mom. Big brother will be with me, and there’s firewood right at the foot of the mountain. We won’t go deep into the woods—nothing will happen!” Jiang An’an quickly made an excuse.  

She couldn’t just sit around at home. She needed to retrieve items from her spatial inventory and trade them, preferably for some meat!  

“But what if something happens?” Mother Jiang still worried.

Surprisingly, it was Yang Shulan, who was usually quiet and reserved, who spoke up.  

“Mom, just let An’an go. I’ll go with them too. With both of us keeping her company, will that put your mind at ease?”  

“Well…”  

Mother Jiang didn’t understand why her daughter-in-law had suddenly spoken up.  

“Mom, I’ve got nothing to do at home anyway. Why not let me go out for a walk…”  

Jiang An’an was just making an excuse, but Mother Jiang paused for a moment, thinking that after what had happened on the mountain, her daughter must still be feeling upset. Maybe a walk would do her good.  

“Alright, but you have to stick with your big brother and sister-in-law. No wandering off on your own!”  

After repeated warnings, the three of them finally set off.  

Along the way, Yang Shulan glanced at Jiang An’an several times, but whenever she noticed Jiang Dazhuang, she hesitated to speak.  

Seeing this, Jiang An’an deliberately asked Jiang Dazhuang to walk ahead to scout for firewood while she lingered beside Yang Shulan.  

“Sister-in-law, did you want to tell me something?”  

Caught off guard by the question, Yang Shulan was startled, but after collecting herself, she whispered, “An’an, I took one of the pills you gave me last night. It’s amazing—it actually worked! The pain wasn’t as bad at all!”  

She had initially thought the medicine wouldn’t do much, given how severe her condition felt, as if she were dying. But to her surprise, just one pill had made such a difference!  

“That’s right, sister-in-law. Once you finish the rest of the pills, you’ll be completely better.”  

Jiang An’an smiled.  

Yang Shulan could hardly believe it.  

“An’an, is that really true? This illness of mine…” Her voice choked up. “I thought it might be something terminal. How could it be cured so easily with just a few pills?”  

“Terminal?!”  

The word made Jiang An’an wonder if she had misheard.  

At worst, it was just a severe case of food poisoning—nothing life-threatening.  

“Sister-in-law, you’re overthinking it. My… my friend told me it’s just a stomach issue from eating something bad. There’s nothing else wrong. Why would you think it’s something terminal?”  

Yang Shulan stood frozen, her lips trembling slightly before she finally managed to ask, “An’an, are you telling me the truth?”  

Her voice was shaking.  

She had even prepared herself for the possibility of dying at any moment, convinced she wouldn’t live long enough to hear her child call her “Mom”!  

But now her sister-in-law was telling her she didn’t have a terminal illness—it was just stomach trouble?  

“Sister-in-law, why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe me, finish the rest of the pills, and then we’ll go see the village doctor. I guarantee he won’t find anything wrong!”  

Jiang An’an assured her confidently.  

Yang Shulan’s eyes reddened, and she wondered if she was dreaming. She pinched her arm, winced at the pain, and then broke into a smile.  

Thank goodness—she didn’t have a terminal illness. She wasn’t going to die so soon…  

“An’an, I don’t know how to thank you. This is such a huge kindness!”  

Yang Shulan couldn’t help grabbing Jiang An’an’s arm, her voice trembling with emotion.  

“Why are you two just standing there?”  

Just then, Jiang Dazhuang walked back over.  

“N-nothing,” Yang Shulan hurriedly replied.  

Seeing this, Jiang An’an understood—Jiang Dazhuang clearly didn’t know about this.  

Then again, her sister-in-law was the type to suffer in silence. If she suspected she had a terminal illness, why would she tell Jiang Dazhuang? It would only make him suffer too.  

“Really, nothing?”  

Jiang Dazhuang wasn’t entirely convinced. He could’ve sworn his wife looked like she was about to cry.  

But An’an had no reason to bully her…  

“Big brother, it’s really nothing!” Jiang An’an replied.  

Seizing the opportunity, she quickly added, “Sister-in-law was just saying she wanted to go into town!”  

She then winked at Yang Shulan. “Right, sister-in-law?”