To please others? It's better to please yourself.

The next day, Xu Jing'an met the female lead, Gu Panpan. She was wearing a slightly worn black and red plaid top, blue pants, and two withered yellow braids hanging down in front of her chest.

It was clear that the girl across from her was having a hard time. Mother Shen didn't say anything else, but warmly invited the girl to drink tea, eat sweets, and have some snacks. Although this girl didn't suit her taste, she had to consider her eldest son's feelings.

Gu Panpan responded obediently and shyly, but her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

This was the first time in her two lifetimes that she had met her in-laws. In her previous life, Shen Yue had never brought her back until their divorce.

She returned with a fever after diving. Shen Yue was on a mission there and took the opportunity to visit his comrade's parents. In her past life, she only cared about pressuring Shen Yue to marry her, and it took her more than ten days from pestering him to agreeing, submitting the application, and finally getting the marriage certificate. Afterwards, he turned around and went back to his unit with a cold face.

She only found out later, during their divorce, that he hadn't seen his family for several years. He had originally planned to go home to visit his parents at the end of the year, but he used his leave to marry her. This time, she didn't stop Shen Yue from leaving. Instead, she chose to believe him and let him go back to the army to reapply. They would get their marriage certificate when he went home to visit his family at the end of the year.

This way, time wasn't wasted, and she took the opportunity during her year-end family visit to have Shen Yue bring her back. When Shen Yue heard her words, his expression softened.

At lunchtime, Shen's mother prepared a lot of dishes. Just like when Xu Jing'an first came to visit, she also prepared serving chopsticks.

"Here, have some more braised pork." Mrs. Shen used serving chopsticks to place a piece of pork in Gu Panpan's bowl.

"Mom, that's enough, that's enough," Gu Panpan said hurriedly.

Xu Jing'an noticed that Shen Yue paused for a moment while picking up food with his chopsticks.

"Alright, help yourself to whatever you want to eat, don't be shy." After saying this politely, Mrs. Shen stopped worrying and hurriedly fed her grandson the steamed egg custard, otherwise it would get cold.

After lunch, Xu Jing'an took the child back to the room and coaxed the child to take a nap. Shen He helped his mother get ready and followed Xu Jing'an back to the room.

"What are your plans?" Mr. Shen asked.

Gu Panpan turned her head and looked at Shen Yue expectantly.

Shen Yue put down his teacup, looked up at his father and said, "Dad, don't bother. We're short on time, we'll leave tomorrow. We still need to get our marriage certificate." The marriage certificate is obtained at the woman's registered residence location.

"Mom, Shen Yue can't go with his military unit. Do you think you could take over his job for me?" Gu Panpan's words startled Shen's mother, who subconsciously looked at Shen Yue.

Shen Yue's face darkened: "Mom has already retired."

"Returned? When did you return it?" Gu Panpan asked Shen's mother in surprise.

In her memory, Shen's mother passed away on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month after the New Year in her previous life; otherwise, she wouldn't have asked about it as soon as they met. Why did it happen earlier in this life?

Shen's mother also looked unwell.

Retirees receive a monthly pension. If a family member takes over the job, it's equivalent to them taking over the position, and the person will no longer receive a pension. Furthermore, the household registration status of both individuals will need to be changed.

In other words, Gu Panpan became an urban resident, while Shen's mother became a rural resident. As a result, Shen's mother lost all her ration coupons and food supplies.

Anyone who can take over their parents' job is definitely the most beloved member of the family. Taking over is no joke!

How can a daughter-in-law who has only just met her mother-in-law, especially one who married into the family by scheming against her son, possibly win her mother-in-law's favor?

The politeness that Shen's mother had shown to her eldest daughter-in-law out of consideration for Shen Yue had vanished.

Besides, she could tell that her eldest son knew nothing. This woman was too cunning and calculating!

"She left early, more than a year ago." In her heart, Shen's mother looked down on Gu Panpan even more, and she was too lazy to force herself to greet her again. She glanced at Shen Yue with a sidelong look.

Seeing the look in his mother's eyes, Shen Yue stood up and said, "Mom, let's go for a walk."

"Alright, it's too stuffy at home, and you young people can't stand it, so I won't keep you here." Mother Shen immediately chimed in, "Eldest son, take your wife out for a walk. You've come all this way, so let's see the People's Park, the Qin River, and climb Mount Taihuang."

Shen Yue nodded. It was good that there were few people and it didn't cost any money. He turned around and pulled Gu Panpan out of the house, determined to visit all the places his mother had mentioned.

Xu Jing'an chuckled upon hearing Shen's mother's words from inside the room. Shen He pinched his wife's nose, "What are you laughing at? Isn't it good to move around more? If you're tired, you'll talk less!"

Gu Panpan was led around by Shen Yue for the entire afternoon. During this time, Gu Panpan tried to start conversations, but Shen Yue didn't respond to a single word.

After dark, Shen Yue took Gu Panpan directly back to the guesthouse. "Get some rest, I'll come pick you up again tomorrow," he said before leaving.

Gu Panpan was too exhausted to speak and staggered back to her room. After walking all afternoon, her legs ached so much she couldn't lift them; her feet felt like they were on fire, and she couldn't even touch them.

That evening, the Shen family had a lively reunion dinner together. No one mentioned Gu Panpan again.

The next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year, snowflakes were falling outside. Shen Yue got up early to kowtow to his parents and wish them a Happy New Year. After eating a bowl of dumplings, he got up and left home under his parents' reluctant gazes.

With tears in her eyes, Shen's mother saw her son off. Turning around, she went into the room and instructed Shen He, "Second son, mail these things to your brother at the army base."

Shen's mother packed malted milk powder, milk powder, sugar, homemade mushroom sauce, meat sauce, chili sauce, boiled salted duck eggs, frozen dumplings with chive filling, and a new sweater and trousers she had knitted for Shen Yue into a large bag.

Shen He carried it on his bicycle and rode to the post office.

Xu Jing'an guessed that Shen's mother originally intended for Gu Panpan and Shen Yue to take these things when they left. However, since Gu Panpan was scheming against Shen's mother's job, Shen's mother simply didn't give them a single penny and sent the things directly to her eldest son's military unit.

The Shen family returned to peace, going to work and living their lives as usual.

Sitting on the train, Gu Panpan felt a pang of regret. Looking at Shen Yue sitting opposite her, eyes closed and silent, she knew she had acted too hastily this time.

Although it wasn't appropriate to bring up the succession issue at their first meeting, time was limited and Shen's mother was about to retire, so she thought that Shen's mother should agree for Shen Yue's sake. Who knew that things were different from her previous life, Shen's mother had already retired! She was too shocked at the time to react in time and missed the opportunity to explain to Shen's mother and Shen Yue.

She had no choice but to endure the hardships of rural life before her rebirth, otherwise she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to marry Shen Yue. After her rebirth, she found it even harder to accept such a miserable existence and really didn't want to spend another five or six years suffering in the countryside.

But now, the relationship with Shen Yue, which had finally improved, has returned to square one, or perhaps even worse.

Gu Panpan sighed inwardly, realizing she had returned too late after her rebirth. Using diving to force marriage was too simple and direct, making Shen Yue extremely resentful of her.

I'm still too young and haven't thought things through enough! It seems I need to calm down and take a patient, persistent approach to win over Shen Yue. In the future, I can't rely on memory; I need to understand things thoroughly first!