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

The sound of my father's worn-out canvas shoes, which he had worn for several years, clattering on the cement stairs gradually faded into the distance.

As Qi Weiwei watched her father's figure disappear into the stairwell, her eyes welled up with tears, and her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

These are her parents, who will always love her unconditionally.

I wanted to give her the best of everything.

Even though she did so many stupid things that caused her family to incur huge debts;

Even though she rarely went back to her parents' home for several years because of Tang Aijun;

Even though the neighbors all say, "Old Qi's youngest daughter is such an ingrate"...

They still cherish her, and as soon as she comes back, they want to give her the best of everything.

What did she do in her past life?!

She followed Tang Aijun and became estranged from her family.

She repeatedly asked for money and things, emptying her parents' savings.

She even... even under Tang Aijun's instigation, helped the Tang family scheme against her own family time and time again!

They were forced to relinquish their remaining benefits to the Tang family during these difficult years, as if cutting off a piece of their own flesh!

"Weiwei? What's wrong? Are you really feeling unwell?"

Seeing that she was standing still and her face was pale, Chen Hongxia quickly helped her up. "Come on, let's go upstairs and rest first."

The mother and daughter went up to the second floor.

The stairwell was piled with coal briquettes, cabbages, and pickled vegetable jars, and each household had a half-length cloth curtain hanging at their door.

Room 201 is the Qi family's home. The dark green wooden door has a faded "Five-Good Family" certificate on it—it was awarded many years ago.

As I pushed open the door and stepped inside, a familiar, homey scent wafted towards me.

The house is small, with a three-bedroom layout.

Upon entering, there is a small foyer, with the kitchen on the left—but since it's used as a dining area, the stove has been moved to the balcony—this is how all the residents in the apartment building do it, making it very convenient to cook with the window open.

Directly opposite the door is the living room, furnished with an old sofa, a square table, and several chairs.

The master bedroom is to the left of the living room, and two smaller bedrooms are to the right.

Chen Hongxia pulled Qi Weiwei towards the living room: "Sit down and rest, Mom will get you some water."

Qi Weiwei didn't sit down; she went straight to the balcony.

A simple stove was built on the balcony with bricks, and an iron pot was placed on top of it.

A small pot of cabbage and tofu was simmering in the broth, which was rather bland, with only a few slices of fatty pork floating on top, providing a hint of meat.

On the small table next to it were four cornbread buns, dark yellow in color, clearly made with a lot of coarse grains.

There was also a dish of fermented bean curd, consisting of two quarters of a piece, showing that they were eating very frugally.

This is my parents' lunch.

Qi Weiwei remembers very clearly that her parents' meals were not like this before.

My father is a train driver with a good salary, and my mother is a purchasing agent at a supply and marketing cooperative, receiving both salary and bonuses.

Although our home isn't luxurious, we have meat and eggs at every meal, and we can treat ourselves to something nicer on weekends.

But now...

She knew that her parents had been paying back the huge debt of three thousand yuan that she owed.

After the policy was relaxed, they set up a small stall and worked from dawn till dusk.

Now, my dad is constantly working overtime and covering for others, spending more than 20 days a month on the train.

My mother took odd jobs everywhere—pasting matchboxes, sewing gloves, making clothes for people…

In one corner of the living room, there was a large stack of unsealed cotton gloves.

The white cotton gloves were piled up in bundles, reaching about half a person's height.

Qi Weiwei walked over, picked one up and looked at it.

The edges of the gloves are rough and need to be sewn together stitch by stitch. This kind of work is particularly hard on the eyes, and you only get a penny or two for sewing a pair.

No wonder Mom squinted when she looked at her earlier.

Chen Hongxia followed, and seeing her staring at the pile of gloves, quickly said, "Weiwei, Mom just had nothing to do, so she just grabbed a few to do. It's easy work, you can do it sitting down..."

"Mom," Qi Weiwei interrupted her, her voice trembling, "Don't lie to me."

Chen Hongxia opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing. She simply sighed softly and reached out to tidy up the stray hairs on her daughter's forehead.

Qi Weiwei turned around and walked towards her bedroom.

Even though she had been married for six years, the family still kept that master bedroom for her.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a blast of sunlight mixed with a faint floral scent wafted out.

The room was kept clean and tidy.

The light blue sheets were laid out neatly, the quilt was folded into a square block, and the pillows were placed upright.

The clivia on the windowsill is growing very well.

The lush green leaves are thick and glossy, with three flower stalks emerging from the center. The orange-red flowers are in full bloom, dazzling in the late autumn sunlight.

Qi Weiwei walked over and gently touched the petals with her fingers.

She remembered; it was a clivia she had raised since it was a baby.

Other clivia plants only bloom once or twice a year, but this one, with careful tending, blooms four times a year.

Before she got married, she casually told her mother to take good care of the flower.

Six years have passed, and the flower is still here, blooming even better than before.

Her bedroom remained exactly as it was, as if she had just left yesterday.

The room was bright and clean, and her high school textbooks were still on the desk, covered with kraft paper.

The wall was covered with her favorite propaganda posters—simply because the steelworker in them looked a bit like Tang Aijun—though they were faded, they were still smooth.

She frowned.

On the bedside table was the tin frog she used to play with as a child, which could jump when wound up.

Everything is still there.

Only she is gone.

The naive and foolish Qi Weiwei who abandoned everything for a man is no more.

She almost burst into tears.

But no, now is not the time to be sentimental.

She has more important things to do.

Qi Weiwei took a few deep breaths to suppress her surging emotions.

She turned around and took her mother's hand: "Mom, let's come inside and talk."

The mother and daughter entered the bedroom, and Qi Weiwei quickly drew the curtains.

The room darkened, with only a few rays of light filtering through the curtains, illuminating the petals of the clivia. The orange-red glow felt especially warm in the dim light.

Chen Hongxia's expression had become extremely anxious.

She could tell that something was wrong with her daughter today—not that she was physically unwell, but that something was on her mind, and it was something important.

"Weiwei, what's wrong?"

She pulled her daughter to sit down on the edge of the bed, her voice trembling.

"Tell Mom the truth, did...did Tang Aijun bully you? Or did his family...have a conflict with your sister-in-law? Or did his grandmother hit you again?!"

Qi Weiwei held her mother's hand.

Those hands were rough and dry, with large knuckles and calluses on the palms—hands that had been used for needlework and housework for many years.

But she remembered that her mother's hands weren't like this before.

When my mother worked as a purchasing agent at the supply and marketing cooperative, her hands, though not delicate, were at least smooth, with neatly trimmed nails, and she would occasionally apply some face cream.

"Mom, I'm back today. I have something to tell you and Dad." Qi Weiwei's voice was soft but firm. "Is Dad on a day off? Is he going to work this afternoon?"

"Your dad can rest for three days after this trip," Chen Hongxia said hurriedly. "He only got back late last night, so today is his day off. Weiwei, what exactly..."