After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Lin Guodong, clutching the ninety copper coins, walked briskly, his footsteps making the dirt road steam. When he reached his doorstep, he wiped the sweat from his brow, lifted the curtain, and went inside.

"How did it go?" Second Grandma leaned forward on the bed, an old pillow behind her back. As soon as he came in, she leaned forward, her eyes shining with eager anticipation. "Did Qianqian receive it?"

"Take it!" Lin Guodong slammed the copper coins in his arms onto the table with a clatter, his voice brimming with triumphant satisfaction. "Ninety coins, not a penny less! Qianqian said—her grandma is her grandma, and she is herself. Today, my aunt even went and made a scene, in front of the whole courtyard, refusing to let us accept our money. Guess what? Qianqian stood her ground, and my aunt was so angry her face turned green, but she couldn't do anything about it!"

Upon hearing this, Second Grandma's eyes reddened slightly, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the corner of the quilt. She remained silent for a long time.

Lin Xiaojing, who was sewing shoe soles nearby, also came over, tucked the needle and thread into her hair, and asked with bright eyes, "What did Qianqian say? You should repeat it, her exact words."

Lin Guodong cleared his throat, straightened his back, and mimicked Lin Qianqian's unhurried tone: "She said—'I accepted the poisoned potatoes from Second Grandfather's house without breaking the law, violating village rules, or owing anything to the Lin family.'"

After listening, Lin Xiaojing smiled, her eyes glistening with a thin layer of moisture: "This girl has her own ideas."

Grandma Er let out a long sigh of relief, as if a huge weight had finally been lifted from her heart.

Her voice was so soft, as if afraid of disturbing something: "That's what she actually said... She's not like your uncle's branch of the family. She inherited her sister-in-law Su's kindness; her heart is upright, and her eyes are bright. It's a pity your sister-in-law Su had a short life and didn't have the fortune to see her daughters and sons grow up."

The room fell silent for a moment.

"If anything happens to Qianqian in the future," the second grandmother's voice suddenly turned serious, her gaze sweeping from her son to her daughter, emphasizing each word, "if you see anything, lend a hand. We can't let people feel disheartened."

"Mom, do you even need to tell me?" Lin Guodong sat down at the table, picked up a bowl of cold tea and gulped down half of it, then wiped his mouth. "By the way, Dad, Qianqian asked about you. Not all of Uncle's family members are like that, at least Qianqian isn't."

The second grandfather, who had been lying down smoking his pipe, paused slightly in his hand.

He didn't look up or say a word. He simply took the cigarette holder out of his mouth, tapped the ash on the edge of the stove, and put it back in his mouth. In the swirling smoke, something flickered in his cloudy old eyes before quickly dimming again.

"Take a rest," Second Grandma broke the silence, shifting her weight to the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), her tone regaining its usual energetic tone. "We'll continue digging up the mountain later. Let's save up some money and get your father's leg checked."

"It's no use looking at it." The second grandfather finally spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing against wood. "Why spend that money? Save it to buy clothes for the children; that's better than anything else."

"It can definitely be cured." The second grandmother's voice was not loud, but it was very stubborn, as if she was competing with herself.

Outside the window, the sun was high in the sky, and the ninety copper coins stacked on the table gleamed dimly in the setting sun, like a small, silent pyramid.

Lin Guodong stood up, picked up the copper coins one by one, strung them together with a rope, and put them into the earthenware jar in the corner. The jar was already half full, and the clinking sound was the most pleasant sound the family had heard in years.

He put the lid on the jar, dusted off his hands, and glanced back.

My second grandfather was still smoking, the bluish-gray smoke rising and dispersing under the roof beams.

The silhouette resembled an old tree bent by the wind.

Lin Guodong suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

He turned around and strode towards the door.

"I'm not tired, I'll go dig another basket."

As dusk deepened, smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household in Qinghe Village.

On the distant hillside, figures could still be seen moving about. The moonlight shone on their hunched backs, as if illuminating a silent hillside.

At the foot of the mountain, in front of the Lin family's old house, Lin Qianqian was still checking the books in the last rays of sunlight.

She didn't know that from today onwards, some things had already changed.

The kindness she unintentionally planted is quietly taking root in the shadows.