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

Evening, east wing.

Only one oil lamp was lit, and the flame flickered, casting two trembling shadows on the wall.

Lin Guozhu was taking off his dirty clothes, which were dusty and could kick up a layer of dirt if he patted them. He casually draped them over the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and, shirtless, was about to crawl into bed.

Ding Yuxiang didn't move; she sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Qianqian has made money." She said softly, as if she were talking to herself.

Lin Guozhu paused, his hand still pulling back the blanket, without turning around: "Who told you that?"

"That's what my sister-in-law said. She bought meat and cloth. Several pounds of pork belly, all greasy," Ding Yuxiang said.

Lin Guozhu lay down, facing the wall: "What money can a girl like her earn? Don't believe everything you hear."

"They said they earned it by selling poisoned potatoes."

"Poisonous potatoes?" Lin Guozhu turned over, frowning as he looked at her. "Who would buy that stuff? People will die if they eat it."

"Really." Ding Yuxiang moved closer to him, lowering her voice even further. "Qianqian said she can remove poison, and she's sold it all to the restaurants in town. I heard she made quite a few copper coins. Why don't you go ask her how to remove poison, and we can make some money too?"

"How should I ask?"

"You're her father." Ding Yuxiang said these four words in a light tone, as if it were a matter of course. "She'll definitely tell you."

Lin Guozhu didn't reply. He stared at the roof beam for a couple of seconds, then turned back over.

Ding Yuxiang looked at the back of his head, the little flame in her heart still burning.

She thought for a moment, sighed, and softened her voice: "Can you really bear to let me and Yuanyuan live this kind of life with you?"

Lin Guozhu did not move.

"Look at what we've been eating every day," Ding Yuxiang said, her voice tinged with grievance. "Our faces have turned green from all the food, there's not a drop of oil in it."

She paused.

"With my condition, I can't even raise a son?"

Lin Guozhu's back stiffened noticeably.

After a few breaths, he turned over.

"Give me a son?" His eyes lit up, and his voice rose a half-octave. "You're going to give me a son?"

Ding Yuxiang's heart skipped a beat—not panic, but a sense of relief.

She knew those words would work.

But she didn't rush to accept it. Instead, she sighed again, turned her face away, and looked at the flickering oil lamp on the wall: "Giving birth will only lead to a hard life."

She paused, then lowered her voice: "Her father is unwilling to earn this money for his son's sake."

"Of course I want to!" Lin Guozhu exclaimed anxiously, sitting up abruptly. "If I give birth, I'll definitely take good care of her!"

Ding Yuxiang turned to look at him.

Under the dim light, her man spoke with unwavering conviction, his eyes even brighter than before.

She smiled but didn't say anything.

She thought of the Su family.

That foolish woman, she probably listened to those words back then, married him, had one child after another, and still died in the end. And Lin Guozhu? Not two days later, he turned around and married Ding Yuxiang.

As for the two children left behind by the Su family—Lin Yulong—he doesn't even glance at them now.

Ding Yuxiang knew exactly what was going on.

But she doesn't care.

What she wanted was the method for poisoning the potatoes, copper coins, and the means to give her daughter a better life.

Whether Lin Guozhu's words hold true or not is not important.

"Then go talk to Qianqian tomorrow." Her voice was as gentle as if she were coaxing a child. She reached out and tucked the blanket around him. "Learn from that poisoned potato method. We can sell the restaurant and exchange it for copper coins."

Lin Guozhu nodded and lay back down.

This time, he was facing her.

Ding Yuxiang also lay down, pulled the blanket up to cover herself.

The light wasn't blown out.

The flames were still flickering, casting the shadows of the two people close together on the wall. They looked quite intimate, but there was actually a blanket between them.

Ding Yuxiang stared at the roof beam with her eyes open.

She wondered: Could Lin Guozhu get that method back tomorrow?

Lin Guozhu was also thinking about it.

He was thinking of his son.

After a long time, Ding Yuxiang reached out and blew out the lamp.

Even in the darkness, her eyes were still shining.

Like a dying ember in a stove.