The beloved but ungrateful girl is reborn: This time she has truly changed.

Qi Weiwei felt guilty and confused. She pinched the web of her hand, forcing herself to calm down.

According to Tang Aijun's dying words, his daughters were sent to Tang Tiantian's hometown—all she knew was that it was an extremely poor mountain village in Shandong Province.

There, finding a wife basically involves buying or stealing her; her daughters…

Qi Weiwei dared not think too deeply about it.

What will happen to two girls growing up in that kind of place?

She quickened her pace.

She made a decision—first, go home, gather evidence, find the specific address, and then—find a way to go to Shandong Province.

However, in 1974, a letter of introduction was required to travel long distances.

There's still money.

There were also grain coupons.

As she was thinking, she had already reached the entrance of the alley.

This is my grandfather's courtyard house, with blue bricks and gray tiles. It was renovated less than ten years ago and is considered a fairly respectable house in this alley.

Grandpa and Grandma moved to their old house in the suburbs and gave this respectable courtyard house to their most beloved granddaughter—that is, her—as her wedding home.

But on the night of the wedding, Tang Tiantian arrived with a suitcase, crying and saying she needed to stay at his place.

Soon after, Tang Aijun's grandmother, Sun Xidi, also moved in, ostensibly to "take care of her granddaughter-in-law."

The two lived together for six years.

Qi Weiwei stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at the familiar vermilion gate.

In her past life, she was always uneasy when she returned home, because she didn't know if Tang Aijun was in a good mood, what Sun Xidi would pick on, or what Tang Tiantian had "accidentally" broken.

but now……

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

In the courtyard, a thin, white-haired old woman was sitting on a small stool picking vegetables; it was Sun Xidi.

Hearing the door open, she didn't even look up, and said in a shrill voice, "Oh! You finally know how to come back? Look at the time! You haven't cooked dinner, and you haven't washed a pile of clothes. Where have you been gallivanting off to again?"

Qi Weiwei didn't answer and walked straight inside.

Sun Xidi then looked up and saw the two boys behind her, their faces covered in blood and crying. She immediately jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Oh my dear grandsons! What happened?!"

She rushed over and pulled the two boys into her arms, trembling with heartache: "Who did this?! Who beat my darlings like this?!"

Seeing his powerful backer, Tang Yaozong perked up again, pointing at Qi Weiwei: "Her! My mom beat her up!"

"What?!" Sun Xidi whirled around, her triangular eyes flashing with venomous light. "Qi Weiwei! How dare you hit my grandson?!"

Qi Weiwei stopped, turned around, and looked at her calmly: "Is there a problem with me hitting my own son?"

"You—" Sun Xidi choked for a moment, then became even angrier, "You still have the nerve to talk back?! Look what you've done to the child?! Let me tell you, this isn't over! Wait until Aijun gets back, then we'll see how he deals with you!"

She didn't even ask why the two children were beaten.

"Oh," Qi Weiwei replied, turning around and continuing to walk towards the main house.

Sun Xidi was taken aback by her reaction. She froze for two seconds, then screamed, "Stop right there! Did I say you could leave?!"

Qi Weiwei ignored her.

Sun Xidi was trembling with anger. She shoved the two boys aside and rushed forward to grab Qi Weiwei's hair: "You've gone too far! Today I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of Aijun!"

Qi Weiwei dodged to the side, grabbed Sun Xidi's withered wrist with her other hand, and twisted it forcefully.

In her past life, she had been beaten by this old hag many times.

Filial piety weighed on her, and she never fought back.

"Ah!" Sun Xidi screamed, "Let go! Let go!"

"Grandma," Qi Weiwei whispered in her ear, her voice so soft that only the two of them could hear, "you're getting old, your bones are brittle, be careful not to break them."

Sun Xidi looked at her in horror.

This granddaughter-in-law, who has always been submissive, seemed like a completely different person today.

His eyes were as cold as ice, and the strength in his hands was astonishing.

"You...you let go..." Sun Xidi's voice began to tremble.

Qi Weiwei released her grip, and Sun Xidi staggered back a few steps, almost falling.

"Grandma, be careful," Qi Weiwei said calmly. "If you fall, there will be no one to help you up."

After saying that, she walked into the main room without looking back.

The furnishings in the room were just as she remembered.

An eight-immortal table, four chairs, a five-drawer chest, and on the wall are portraits of leaders and several certificates of merit—all belonging to Tang Aijun.

Aside from a few pieces of clothing, almost none of her belongings were present in this space.

Qi Weiwei walked to the chest of drawers and opened the second drawer.

Inside were some odds and ends: needles, thread, thimbles, and a few buttons.

She reached into the back of the drawer and touched a small, hard cloth bag.

Take it out, open it, and inside are thirty-seven yuan and sixty cents, twelve jin of grain coupons, and five feet of cloth coupons.

This is all her possessions.

In her past life, Tang Tiantian "borrowed" all this money in installments and never paid it back.

Qi Weiwei carefully put away the money and tickets and stuffed them into the inner pocket of her cotton-padded jacket.

Then I started looking for other things.

The pair of bracelets that her parents gave her when she got married were taken away by Sun Xidi on the grounds that "young people wearing these will bring bad luck," and they are probably in the old lady's room.

Tang Aijun took and used the fountain pen that his older brother had given him.

Tang Tiantian took all the gifts from her other five older siblings and gave them away.

Qi Weiwei slapped herself again.

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the door.

"Grandma! Look! Isn't my new hair tie pretty?" a sweet, coquettish voice called out.

Qi Weiwei paused.

It's Tang Tiantian.

She slowly turned around.

A pretty and charming woman stood at the door.

She had an oval face, thin eyebrows, and big, watery eyes. She wore a brand-new red plaid blouse, black trousers with an altered waistband, and shiny little leather shoes.

Her hair was styled into two braids, with red glass thread hair ties tied to the ends, which was quite eye-catching.

This is Tang Tiantian.

Tang Aijun's distant cousin, and also... his true love.

Tang Tiantian is clearly a year older than Qi Weiwei, but she looks younger than her now.

Tang Tiantian's husband is a soldier who is stationed abroad most of the year.

So she has been able to live here all this time, and she calls this her "home".

In her past life, Qi Weiwei always thought Tang Tiantian was gentle and kind, always helping her take care of her children and do housework, and often giving her small gifts.

Looking back now, those "help" were nothing more than a means to better control her, and those "gifts" were nothing more than worthless trinkets, but in exchange they took away her watch, fabric, food, and all the valuable items she coveted.

"Sister-in-law, you're back?"

Tang Tiantian walked in with a smile and naturally sat down in the chair.

"The factory gave out employee benefits today, and I got a pound of brown sugar. I'll make some sugar water for my sister-in-law later."

If this were her past life, Qi Weiwei would have been so moved she wouldn't know what to do.

But now, she simply looked at Tang Tiantian indifferently and said, "No need, you can keep it yourself."

Tang Tiantian was taken aback for a moment, then laughed again, nudging Qi Weiwei with her shoulder: "Why are you being so polite with me, sister-in-law?"

Her gaze fell on the watch on Qi Weiwei's wrist, and her eyes lit up.

"This watch is so beautiful! I saw it last night! Sister-in-law, I'm going to the movies tomorrow, can I borrow it for a bit?"

coming.

The exact same words as in the previous life.

Qi Weiwei raised her wrist, glanced at her watch, then looked at Tang Tiantian's expectant eyes, and slowly said, "No."

Tang Tiantian's smile froze on her face: "Wh...what?"

"I said, no," Qi Weiwei said, emphasizing each word. "This is my watch, I won't lend it."

Tang Tiantian's face flushed red and then turned pale, clearly not expecting to be rejected.

She forced a smile: "Sister-in-law, what's wrong today? Are you in a bad mood? I just need to borrow you for one night, I'll return you tomorrow! Please!"