After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

"Hello, please help me prepare some yellow paper, ingots, and incense," Lan Yujuan said with a smile.

The shopkeeper, who had been somewhat dazed, immediately recognized the familiar voice and her eyes lit up as she said:

"Yujuan? You're Xiaoman's mother, Lan Yujuan!"

Lan Yujuan pursed her lips, smiled, and nodded. "Yes, it's me."

Although she disliked most of the people in Xiahe Village, she had a fairly good relationship with the owner of the village store.

While most people in the village clearly sided with Liu Zhiyuan's family when faced with problems, the shopkeeper was unusually kind to her.

"Oh my! I never expected this, I really never expected this!"

The shopkeeper stepped forward and grasped her hand, as if she had unexpectedly met an old friend, unable to hide her excitement:

"I thought you'd never come back after you went back to your parents' house!"

"I never expected to see you again!"

The sudden closeness made Lan Yujuan feel somewhat uncomfortable.

She gave it a light squeeze, then slowly withdrew her hand discreetly, explaining as she did so:

"I heard that Xiaoman's grandma is sick, so I brought Xiaoman back to see her grandma."

"Back then, her grandfather passed away suddenly, and by the time we received the news at her parents' home, it was too late to get back."

"It's still early. While we have some time, I'll take Xiaoman to her grandfather's grave to kowtow. After all, we've been grandfather and granddaughter."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately understood and, while helping her pack the items, praised her:

"I remember, your family is from southern Hunan, right?"

"You traveled thousands of miles to bring your child back to visit your grandparents; it shows how filial Xiaoman is!"

"This child has always been of good character; he'll definitely be extraordinary when he grows up!"

Lan Yujuan smiled slightly. After buying the memorial supplies, she also bought a lot of food and other necessities at the convenience store.

Two boxes of milk, a large bag of apples, a large bag of bananas, a large bag of bread with a long shelf life, and various kinds of eight-treasure porridge, snacks, etc.

"We were in a rush on the road, and I had Xiaoman with me, so it was really difficult to carry all the things. I decided to buy them all back in the village."

"Anyway, you have everything here, and the quality is guaranteed. It's convenient for me to buy from you, and I feel at ease!"

Originally, Lan Yujuan was not planning to bring anything to the Liu family's house. She had already done more than enough by sending Xiaoman back to see her grandmother.

But the shopkeeper's casual compliment just now gave her a sudden inspiration!

The village store at the entrance is the place in Xiahe Village where everyone is well-informed.

The landlady, in particular, is a regulator of public opinion in the village, and she has always been very clear-headed.

Since that's the case, she was happy to buy more things at the convenience store to do the other party a favor.

In this way, even if people in the village gossip about her and Xiaoman in the future, the landlady will definitely not sit idly by and will be happy to help Xiaoman gain a reputation for filial piety.

Moreover, this huge pile of things, which looks like it would take several trips to carry, is actually mostly just space-consuming but inexpensive items.

Spending a few hundred yuan can give Xiaoman a good reputation; this deal is worth it no matter how you look at it!

Sure enough, the shopkeeper was overjoyed to see her so generous!

While helping to pack the things, he pretended to advise them:

"Oh dear, Grandma Xiaoman's health is very poor now. She's lying in bed and can't eat anything. Everyone in the village says it's only a matter of days before she passes away."

"Yujuan, don't buy so much, it's a complete waste of money!"

Lan Yujuan replied with a smile, "It's alright, someone will eat it eventually."

Even if someone who is lying down can't eat, there are still people around to take care of them, right? It's the thought that counts.

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper glanced outside, then, taking advantage of the moment when no one entered the house, mysteriously pulled Lan Yujuan aside and whispered:

"By the way, there's something you might not have heard about?"

Lan Yujuan paused, a look of confusion on her face. "Sister, which one are you talking about?"

The shopkeeper winked at her, then pulled her close and whispered in her ear:

"It's about Uncle Xiaoman and Xiaoman's aunt, have you heard?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Yujuan quietly swallowed, then shook her head.

"No, I haven't heard of it."

"What happened to them?"

The shopkeeper covered her mouth and burst out laughing, unable to hide her schadenfreude, saying:

"This is a long story! It all started when Grandma Xiaoman was diagnosed with a tumor, and the treatment required a large sum of money!"

"At the time, I didn't know why, but Liu Zhiyuan suddenly became unreachable. I heard that he was heavily in debt and had long since disappeared."

"Only the two siblings, Liu Zhigang and Liu Zhifang, were left at home to make a decision."

"Unexpectedly, the two of them kept passing the buck, neither willing to pay, and in the end, even when Grandma Xiaoman was hospitalized, no one was there to take care of her!"

"Liu Zhigang blames his mother for ruining his marriage and making him a laughingstock in the village!"

"Liu Zhifang blames her mother for favoring boys over girls, only having eyes for her second brother, and never truly treating them equally. When she's sick and needs someone to pay for her care, she only thinks of her mother."

Although Lan Yujuan had heard the general outline of these events, hearing them recounted by someone she knew still sent chills down her spine.

She used to think that Liu Zhigang and Liu Zhiyuan were just a little selfish, but she never expected them to be so cold-blooded!

At a critical moment, he even abandoned his own mother.

But then Lan Yujuan realized something was wrong.

"So, for the past few months, Grandma Xiaoman has been carrying this burden all on her own?"

When the shopkeeper saw that she had finally gotten to the point, the gossip blazing in her eyes was almost palpable.

"She was sick herself, how could she take care of herself? It was the head of the Liu family, Xiaoman's grandfather's cousin, who personally led the fundraising and hired a caregiver to look after her!"

"Not only that, I heard he even spent a significant portion of his savings on his funeral!"

Lan Yujuan blinked, remained silent, and her heart pounded wildly.

She remembered vaguely hearing that Tian Xiuhua, in her youth, had a past relationship with the clan chief...

Seeing that she didn't speak, the shopkeeper lowered her voice and bluntly said:

"You'd never guess, would you? Liu Zhigang and Liu Zhifang, brother and sister, are actually descendants of the clan chief!"

Upon hearing this, Lan Yujuan immediately opened her mouth wide, revealing a perfectly timed yet incredulous expression:

"Huh? No way?"

"Sis, who told you that? You must be mistaken, right?"

"There must be some mistake! Just listen to the gossip in the village and don't believe it all."

Seeing her disbelief, the shopkeeper smiled and gave her a reproachful look, "Yujuan, you're just too honest!"

"Do you think everyone in the village is as foolish as you? Your husband works far away and never comes home, so you just stay home and take care of the kids and your in-laws?"

"You don't know, many people who seem respectable on the surface are actually quite shady behind the scenes!"

"When Grandma Xiaoman fell ill, the clan chief couldn't sit still and started getting anxious and flustered. The older generation in the village started spreading rumors."

"Later, the situation escalated, and the clan chief's children were the first to object, insisting on a paternity test to clear the clan chief's name!"

"And then, who could have imagined..."

At this point, the proprietress clapped her hands and laughed until tears streamed down her face.

"It turns out, he really is her biological son!"

"You wouldn't believe it, during that time, those two paternity test results were all over the news in the Xiahe Village group chat!"