Qiu Yingying is reborn and bound to a learning system.

Guan Juer turned pale with fright and stood helplessly to the side, whispering, "Auntie, please don't be like this. Please get up. We can talk about it slowly."

"What's the use of talking slowly?" Sister Fan's mother cried and pounded the floor. "What I need is money, life-saving money! You are all Shengmei's good friends, and you all work in big cities, you must have money. Please lend me some and save me!"

She was sobbing uncontrollably, her face a mess of tears and snot, clinging tightly to Qiu Yingying's trouser leg, repeatedly muttering, "I want to eat! I want to live! Please have pity on this old woman!"

The coldness in Qiu Yingying's eyes deepened. She didn't try to pull her leg back, but slowly squatted down to meet Fan Jie's mother's gaze, her tone terrifyingly calm.

"Auntie, please don't cry. I understand that you have a hard life, but your hard life is not caused by us."

Fan Jie's mother was stunned for a moment, and her crying subsided a little. She seemed not to have expected that Qiu Yingying, who was usually easy to talk to, would speak to her like that.

Qiu Yingying continued, "You said you need to eat and survive, that's your son's responsibility, not ours. You gave birth to a son, not us. When you were raising your son, you didn't think about us, but now that you need to take care of yourself, you suddenly think about us?"

Upon hearing this, Sister Fan's mother's face flushed red instantly. Her eyes darted around, and she muttered, "My son has it tough too."

"Your son has it tough, but do you think it's easy for us?" Qiu Yingying laughed, but there was no warmth in her laughter. "We take the subway every day, work overtime, and have to put up with our bosses' attitudes. Every penny we earn is hard-earned. We also have parents to support and our own lives to live. We don't run a bank, and we're not your ATM."

She paused, her voice growing colder, "You just said you'd lend me a little, just a tiny bit, but you know yourself you never intended to pay it back. You borrow a little today, a little tomorrow, and in the end, it becomes that we should give it to you. Your son is unfilial, so you're using moral blackmail against us outsiders, is that it?"

Fan Jie's mother was speechless, her lips trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Qiu Yingying looked at her and said, word by word, "Auntie, I respect your age and that you are Sister Fan's mother, but respect is mutual. Now you're hugging my leg and crying. Are you begging me or forcing me? Are you borrowing money or robbing me?"

Sister Fan's mother was humiliated. She suddenly raised her head and glared at Qiu Yingying, "How could you talk to me like that? I'm an elder, is that how you talk to your elder?"

"Elders?" Qiu Yingying repeated the word softly, her eyes filled with disappointment. "A true elder will think of their children and understand the difficulties of the younger generation. A true elder will not block someone's door early in the morning, cling to their legs and cry, forcing them to give money. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be called an elder; you only deserve to be called a scoundrel."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

Sister Fan's mother was trembling with anger, pointing at Qiu Yingying, "You, you just wait, I, I'll get Shengmei to be the judge!"

"Fine," Qiu Yingying said without fear, even slightly raising her chin. "Call Sister Fan right now, and we'll make things clear in front of her. Did you come here today to borrow money, or to embarrass her?"

Mentioning Sister Fan immediately deflated Sister Fan's mother's arrogance. Of course, she didn't dare call Fan Shengmei; she knew she had already suffered enough at her hands.

Looking at her like that, Qiu Yingying's last bit of pity vanished. She stood up and struggled with her legs. This time, because of her guilty conscience, Fan Jie's mother was much weaker and was easily freed.

Qiu Yingying patted her wrinkled trouser leg, her tone returning to calm, yet carrying an undeniable firmness, "Auntie, we won't lend you money, not because we don't have any, but because we don't want you to treat us like fools anymore. If you need food, you can go to your son; if you want to live, you should also go to your son. We can help Sister Fan because she deserves it, but we can't help you because you don't deserve it."

She paused, then added, "Also, you just said you wanted to run over here and die. If you really wanted to die, you wouldn't have chosen this place. You're just taking advantage of our soft hearts and fear of bloodshed. Don't worry, we won't stop you. If you really have the courage, go ahead and run over. Don't scare us two young girls like this."

These words were so harsh and absolute that Sister Fan's mother's face turned deathly pale, and she was completely stunned.

Just then, the elevator doors opened with a "ding".

Qu Xiaoxiao, dressed in a bright yellow dress and high heels, stepped out of the elevator, humming a song. She glanced up and saw the scene at the elevator entrance: Sister Fan's mother was slumped on the floor, her face deathly pale; Qiu Yingying stood beside her, her eyes as cold as ice. Although Guan Juer was still somewhat frightened, a hint of respect crept into her gaze towards Qiu Yingying.

Qu Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow, walked over, crossed her arms, and looked down at Sister Fan's mother, saying lazily, "Oh, what's going on here? A collective performance art piece so early in the morning?"

Upon seeing Qu Xiaoxiao, Fan Jie's mother grasped at the last straw and was about to use the same trick again, rushing over to hug her leg, but was stopped by a look from Qiu Yingying.

Qiu Yingying said calmly, "Qu Xiaoxiao, it's alright, it's all resolved."

Qu Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow, glanced at Qiu Yingying, then at Fan Jie's mother's disheveled appearance, and immediately understood what was going on. She smiled, said nothing more, and simply stepped aside, giving Qiu Yingying some space.

Qiu Yingying looked at Sister Fan's mother and said calmly, "Auntie, if you don't leave, I'll call the police and accuse you of disturbing public order and extortion. You should think about it."

The words "extortion" were like the last straw, completely crushing Sister Fan's mother. She trembled all over, dared not say another word, scrambled to her feet, glared fiercely at Qiu Yingying, muttered something under her breath, and slunk away.

The area around the elevator finally quieted down.

Guan Juer finally breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes filled with shock and admiration as she looked at Qiu Yingying. "Yingying, you were amazing just now."

She had never seen Qiu Yingying like this before—calm, rational, eloquent, and even, one could say, sharp and shrewd.

Qiu Yingying smiled, but there was a hint of weariness in her smile. "I don't want it to be like this either, but some people, if you don't make things clear, they'll always think you're easy to bully."

She paused, looked at Guan Juer, and said seriously, "Guan Guan, remember this: if you encounter something like this in the future, don't be afraid, and don't be soft-hearted. The softer you are, the more others will take advantage of you. We can be kind, but kindness must have a bit of an edge."

Guan Juer nodded heavily, her eyes slightly reddening. "Yes, I've got it."

Qu Xiaoxiao watched from the side, a meaningful smile playing on her lips. "Well, Qiu Yingying, I didn't realize you little earthworm had grown thorns."

Qiu Yingying ignored her teasing, took a deep breath, and pulled Guan Juer's hand, "Come on, let's go to work, or we'll be late."

Qu Xiaoxiao stepped into the elevator first, then turned back and gestured with her chin at the two of them, "Let's go, let's go to work, or we'll be late."

Qiu Yingying and Guan Juer exchanged a glance, both seeing the relief of surviving a disaster in each other's eyes, and quickly followed each other into the elevator.

The elevator doors slowly closed, shutting out everything outside.

Qiu Yingying leaned against the wall of the sedan chair and let out a long sigh of relief, but secretly thought to herself,

The troubles in Sister Fan's family are probably far from over.