Author Archives: Thingyan

Yun Xi had a servant bring her a cup of coffee. Sitting calmly on the sofa, she said,

“I’ve never believed that money can solve everything. But your relationship is closely tied to money. Surely you don’t think she fell in love with your character, your personality, or your inner beauty?”

The look of disbelief on Yun Xi’s face made Fu Junjie feel deeply humiliated.

“What we love is each other’s personalities!” he snapped. “It has nothing to do with material things! Of course, someone like you would never understand.”

Yun Xi smiled.

“Out of all the wealthy heirs she could have chosen, she picked you solely because you’re the heir to my fortune. That’s all.

Otherwise, you’re hot-tempered, selfish, cold-hearted, and completely unaccomplished. What exactly is there for her to love?

You really are far too confident.”

The original host had never spoken harshly to Fu Junjie before.

His face turned livid as he stared at Yun Xi, unable to believe she would belittle him so openly.

Grinding his teeth, he shot back,

“The one who’s overly confident is you. You’re unbelievably self-righteous.

Zhixin and I were dating perfectly happily, but you’ve convinced yourself she has bad intentions and only wants your money.

You’re pathetic.

In your eyes, there’s only money. You don’t understand feelings at all.

When you married my father, it was only to produce an heir. You never cared about his feelings or what he wanted.

And do you think I care about being your heir?

You gave birth to me like you were completing a task. The only reason I exist is to continue the family line and inherit the Fu family.

You’re just a tool used by the Fu family to carry on the bloodline. A cold machine.

I honestly don’t understand what you’re so proud of.

Do you know how suffocating it was growing up as your son?

I’d rather have been born into an ordinary family and actually been happy!”

Having finally vented everything he had bottled up for years, Fu Junjie felt an immediate sense of relief.

He looked at Yun Xi provocatively, expecting to see her furious and shaken.

Instead, he was disappointed.

Not only was Yun Xi not angry, she actually laughed.

Embarrassed and enraged, he snapped,

“What are you laughing at? Do you think I’m funny?”

Yun Xi ignored the question.

Instead, she said,

“You keep saying you don’t care about being my son. You don’t care about being the heir. But that’s easy to say.

Do you actually dare to prove it?

You claim Yan Zhixin loves your soul and that her feelings have nothing to do with the Fu family or money.

Do you have the courage to test that?”

Fu Junjie froze.

Yun Xi continued,

“If you do, I’ll have someone draft the paperwork right now.

You can leave the Fu family completely. You’ll have nothing. No money. No inheritance.

Go to Yan Zhixin as a penniless man and see whether she still loves you.

If giving up being the heir truly makes you happy, and if you two can still get married and live happily together, then from this day forward I will never interfere in your life again.

Do you dare?”

For a brief moment, Fu Junjie hesitated.

That hesitation only made him angrier.

It felt humiliating.

He hated being born as an heir.

He hated being treated like a tool of the Fu family.

He wanted to prove that Yan Zhixin loved him rather than his money.

So why had he hesitated?

Even that tiny moment of hesitation felt like an insult to himself.

Without another thought, he immediately agreed.

“Fine. Let’s do it.

And don’t you dare regret it later.

I’ll show you that not everything in this world revolves around money.”

Yun Xi smiled and shook her head.

Then she made a phone call and instructed her executive assistant to arrange everything.

The assistant was stunned.

The mother and son had just finished arguing earlier that day.

Now they had escalated all the way to transferring assets.

Still, she asked no questions.

She immediately drafted all the necessary documents and brought them over for signatures.

In truth, Fu Junjie owned very little.

He had always spent money freely and never saved.

Later, he had simply used Yun Xi’s supplementary credit card.

He had no real savings of his own.

After turning eighteen, he had gone abroad to study and had only recently returned, so Yun Xi had not even purchased a house for him yet.

The only assets in his name were two cars.

He transferred both of them to Yun Xi.

The only other significant matter involved his father’s estate.

Both he and Yun Xi had inherited portions of it.

However, because of the prenuptial agreements and property arrangements established years ago, his father’s estate consisted only of two villas, three vehicles, some collectibles, and a sum of savings accumulated over the years.

Since there had never been any need to formally divide the inheritance before, it had remained untouched.

Now, Fu Junjie signed away all rights to it.

Once the documents were notarized, he would truly become penniless.

When he reached the final signature line, his hand paused briefly.

Then he noticed Yun Xi looking at him.

Immediately, he signed his name, tossed the pen aside, and felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

This time, he had defended his dignity.

Yun Xi sighed.

She honestly felt there was something wrong with his brain.

Was he truly confident that he could live well without money?

Did he genuinely not care?

Or was he simply convinced that he was the only heir and would eventually be welcomed back anyway?

To be fair, her earlier words had been somewhat misleading.

Anyone might assume she was merely conducting a test and would eventually take him back.

Still, the fact that Fu Junjie had signed everything without a moment’s serious thought was astonishing.

Looking at the documents, Yun Xi deliberately asked,

“You still have time to change your mind.”

Fu Junjie cut her off immediately.

“I won’t regret it.”

Yun Xi stood and headed upstairs.

“These documents will be notarized tomorrow.

Until then, you can still change your mind.

Countless people would love to be the heir to the Fu family.

Don’t ruin your life because of a moment of impulsiveness.”

Something about her words felt strange to Fu Junjie.

But the satisfaction of finally striking back at his mother overwhelmed any doubts.

Deliberately raising his voice, he shouted,

“I’ll never regret it. Not in this lifetime!”

No one answered.

Yun Xi had already returned to her room.

As far as she was concerned, the matter was resolved.

Now all she needed was a good night’s sleep, enough rest to restore her energy, and the beginning of a completely new life that belonged solely to her.

Fu Junjie sat alone in the empty living room.

Gradually, the exhilaration faded.

In its place came irritation.

Then anger.

Finally, he realized something.

The reason Yun Xi hadn’t been angry or upset was because she looked down on him from the bottom of her heart.

She was convinced he couldn’t survive without the Fu family.

Convinced he would eventually crawl back and beg her for help.

That was why she had remained so calm.

For all he knew, she was probably laughing at him internally.

He drained his glass of wine in one gulp.

Then he strode upstairs and began packing his belongings.

The moment the notarization was complete the next day, he moved out.

At that time, Yun Xi was at the company.

She had just finished a meeting and was leaving the conference room with a group of executives when she received a call from the family butler.

The butler informed her of what had happened.

Yun Xi responded casually,

“Fu Junjie will never return.

Remove every trace of him from the house.

Delete his fingerprints. Delete his facial-recognition access.

Notify everyone that from now on he is to be treated like a stranger.”

The butler hesitated.

“Madam… Young Master Junjie is still young and impulsive. He may realize his mistake soon and come back…”

“No.”

Yun Xi’s tone was firm.

“This is my Fu family.

I do not need a son like that.

I do not need an heir like that.

Do you understand?”

“…Understood.”

The butler was shocked.

He said nothing further and immediately went to notify everyone at the villa.

The executives, secretaries, and employees standing behind Yun Xi had heard the entire conversation.

They were even more shocked than the butler.

One of them cautiously asked,

“Chairwoman Fu… you and Young Master Junjie… what exactly happened?”

Yun Xi said,

“He repeatedly stated that he doesn’t want to be my son or the heir of the Fu family. He would rather leave the family penniless.

From today onward, he is no longer a member of the Fu family. Naturally, the company has nothing to do with him either.

If he comes to any of you for help, you don’t need to consider my feelings. I won’t be giving him any opportunities.”

Everyone understood the unspoken message.

In other words, they were not to give Fu Junjie any assistance.

As far as they were concerned, this was a battle between mother and son.

No one intended to get involved.

After all, if the two reconciled in the future, anyone who had chosen a side would be left in an awkward position.

It was like the struggles between an emperor and the crown prince in ancient times.

Wise officials protected themselves.

Those who recklessly picked sides usually died the fastest.

None of them were fools.

And just like that, Yun Xi cut off every avenue through which Fu Junjie might seek help from the company.

Even the receptionists and security guards were informed that Fu Junjie was now considered an outsider and was not to be admitted into the building.

Yun Xi quickly dealt with company affairs.

She delegated many responsibilities that did not require her personal attention and suddenly found herself with much more free time.

The original host had been a workaholic.

Everyone assumed this change was simply because she was heartbroken and needed time to recover.

No one thought much of it.

Only her executive assistant found it strange.

That was because Yun Xi asked her to hire several private tutors.

The original host had been carefully groomed by the Fu family since childhood.

She excelled at piano, oil painting, tea ceremony, flower arranging, horseback riding, and many other refined skills.

Yun Xi herself was only truly skilled at horseback riding.

Although she possessed the original host’s memories, she still needed proper practice before she could fully master the other skills.

So she instructed her assistant to hire tutors.

She considered it a way to enrich her life.

She also planned to learn calligraphy, chess, traditional-style painting, and the guzheng.

In addition, she wanted to study programming languages and ideally learn hacking techniques as well.

After all, she traveled randomly between worlds.

In her previous life, she had started in an era so underdeveloped that she had waited decades before smartphones even existed.

Who knew where she might end up next?

Ancient times were possible.

The distant future was possible.

This world happened to provide top-tier status, wealth, and social standing, along with advanced technology.

It was the perfect place to learn as much as possible and prepare herself for whatever came next.

She considered it a way of fully arming herself.

The assistant assumed that anyone dealing with emotional turmoil would need distractions.

Perhaps Yun Xi wanted to shift her focus and improve her mood through learning.

Being extremely considerate, the assistant selected only gentle and patient teachers, hoping the lessons would be relaxing and enjoyable.

With a single instruction from Yun Xi, everyone around her immediately handled the arrangements.

She couldn’t help thinking that being rich and being poor were obviously not the same.

This level of treatment alone was enough to brighten a person’s mood.

She was a simple woman in that regard.

She liked being wealthy.

If Fu Junjie didn’t want that life, then she wished him happiness.

After moving out of the Fu family home, Fu Junjie went directly to find Yan Zhixin.

When she opened the door and saw the mountain of luggage beside him, her face filled with surprise.

“Why are you…”

Then realization dawned on her.

“You had another fight with Auntie? Did you run away from home?”

Although Fu Junjie had left dramatically, actually arriving completely penniless still made him somewhat uneasy.

So when he heard her question, he instinctively replied,

“Yeah.

In her eyes, there’s only money.

I couldn’t get through to her, so I decided to prove my point through actions instead.

Just like you said yesterday in front of her, using money to measure feelings is an insult to love.

We don’t care about her filthy money at all!”

Yan Zhixin felt a flicker of panic.

This was not part of her plan.

Pressing her lips together, she stepped aside.

“Come in first.”

Fu Junjie’s expression turned awkward.

“Zhixin…”

He hesitated.

“The moving truck driver is still downstairs.L

“Could… could you pay the moving fee for me first?”

“I promise I’ll pay you back double once I start earning money.”

Yan Zhixin stared at him in shock.

“You mean you actually left the Fu family with nothing at all?”

“How is that possible?”

Normally, everyone had at least some money.

Even if they were broke, they should have a little cash in their digital wallet.

But Fu Junjie genuinely had nothing.

His payment accounts had been linked to credit cards.

When Yun Xi made him leave penniless, she had also paid off and canceled all of his credit cards.

If he wanted to use them again, he would have to reapply.

His credit limits had been extremely high.

Had they not been canceled, he could have continued spending on credit for months.

Yun Xi’s reasoning had been simple:

Otherwise, the test would be cheating.

At the time, Fu Junjie had thought it didn’t matter.

No money was no money.

Yan Zhixin would never look down on him.

They loved each other so much.

Surely she would happily spend money on him.

He could always earn money later and repay her.

What he had not expected was how humiliating and difficult it would feel to ask her for money.

Fortunately, Yan Zhixin reacted quickly.

Her surprise lasted only a moment before she concealed it.

Looking at him with concern, she immediately transferred two thousand yuan to him.

“Go pay the moving fee first,” she said gently.

Fu Junjie let out a sigh of relief.

After going downstairs and paying the moving fee, he watched the truck drive away. He wiped his face hard and broke into a smile.

From this moment on, his new life was beginning.

Yan Zhixin really hadn’t looked down on him. She was even worried about him.

He hadn’t made the wrong bet.

Soon enough, Yun Xi would regret driving him away so easily. And when she wanted him to come back, it wouldn’t be so easy anymore.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhixin carried Fu Junjie’s luggage into her apartment piece by piece.

She kept her head lowered so he wouldn’t see her expression as she rapidly sorted through the chaos in her mind.

According to her original plan, the two of them would continue pulling back and forth with Yun Xi for a while. She would add a little subtle manipulation here and there, and eventually Fu Junjie would register a marriage with her.

Once they were legally married, the matter would be settled.

No matter how much Yun Xi opposed them afterward, it would be useless.

Even in the worst-case scenario of divorce, Yan Zhixin would still receive a considerable amount of property.

She had never expected Fu Junjie to run away from home.

Much less arrive completely penniless.

Had she pushed things a little too far yesterday?

Had she angered Yun Xi too much?

No.

This was a test.

Without drawing attention to herself, Yan Zhixin studied Fu Junjie carefully, trying to see whether he was lying.

Sure enough, his expression was relaxed.

What heir to a wealthy family could walk away with nothing and still look so carefree?

The only explanation was that he had confidence.

And that confidence came from knowing he could return whenever he wanted.

That was it.

Yesterday, Yun Xi had clearly dismissed her talk about true love.

She had asked whether Yan Zhixin would still love Fu Junjie if he had absolutely nothing.

Yan Zhixin had immediately answered yes.

Afterward, Yun Xi had declared that she would strip Fu Junjie of his inheritance and give her a penniless Fu Junjie.

At the time, Yan Zhixin had assumed those were just angry words.

She had never taken them seriously.

But now it seemed Yun Xi had actually intended to use this situation to test her.

And whether Fu Junjie was trying to prove something to Yun Xi or wanted to test Yan Zhixin himself, he had agreed to cooperate in this performance.

This was a test of her.

If she passed, Fu Junjie would trust her completely from now on.

She would become the unquestioned future Mrs. Fu.

Therefore, she absolutely could not show even the slightest hint of impatience.

Everything had to remain exactly the same as before.

She loved Fu Junjie for his soul.

Money had nothing to do with it.

Once she understood everything, Yan Zhixin regained her usual composure.

A delighted smile appeared on her face.

Taking hold of Fu Junjie’s hand, she said,

“From now on, we’ll get to be together every day.

We should celebrate tonight.

I’m going to cook a big meal myself and let you try my cooking.”

Fu Junjie’s mood immediately brightened.

As expected, Yan Zhixin loved him, not his money.

“Great. I’ll help.”

The two spent the evening wrapped up in domestic bliss in the kitchen.

He fed her a bite of food.

She kissed him.

The entire apartment seemed filled with pink bubbles.

Fu Junjie even ordered wine, candles, a tablecloth, and roses through a delivery app.

While Yan Zhixin was cooking, he transformed the dining room into a candlelit dinner setting.

In truth, Yan Zhixin only cared about tangible benefits.

Romantic gestures like these meant very little to her.

Still, when she walked out and saw the arrangement, her face filled with delighted surprise.

The two shared an affectionate candlelit dinner together.

After the meal, Fu Junjie took out a ring box.

Then he walked over and knelt on one knee in front of her.

Yan Zhixin’s heartbeat sped up.

Her eyes widened.

For the first time that evening, her surprise was genuine.

Had she passed the test already?

Had her performance really been that convincing?

Looking at her with deep affection, Fu Junjie said,

“Zhixin, our love may not be blessed by others, but I truly love you.

Even though I can’t give you a luxurious life right now, I’ll find a job soon and work hard to earn money.

I’ll support our family.

You can do whatever makes you happy.

We’ll live as an ordinary married couple together.

What do you think?”

His voice softened.

“Will you marry me?”

The moment Yan Zhixin heard that, she became even more convinced this was still part of the test.

He was checking whether she was willing to live an ordinary life with him.

Taking a deep breath, she excitedly extended her hand.

“I will!

Of course I will!

I love you too!”

Fu Junjie laughed happily.

Opening the ring box, he slipped a men’s diamond ring onto her finger.

The ring was slightly too large.

Embarrassed, he explained,

“I don’t have money to buy a proper engagement ring right now.

This is a ring I bought before, so it’ll have to do temporarily.

But once I start earning money, I’ll buy you the most beautiful diamond ring.”

Yan Zhixin’s smile froze for an instant.

Only an instant.

Then she quickly recovered.

“It’s okay.

The kind of ring doesn’t matter.

What matters is your sincerity.

As long as you love me, I’d even be happy with a ring woven from grass.”

Fu Junjie was deeply moved.

The girl he loved was simply too wonderful.

He pulled her tightly into his arms, as though he were embracing the entire world.

“Don’t worry.

I’ll definitely give you a good life.

I could never let you wear a grass ring.

You’re my priceless treasure.

I’ll cherish you properly and never let you suffer any grievances.”

Hidden from his sight, Yan Zhixin’s expression remained calm.

Only her voice was filled with emotion and joy.

“As long as I’m with you, I won’t feel wronged no matter what happens.

I’m so happy.

When you said yesterday that you wanted to marry me, I thought you were acting on impulse.

I never imagined…

I never imagined you’d actually propose.”

Her voice trembled.

“It still feels like a dream.

Can we really get married?

“What about your mother…?”

Fu Junjie let out a cold snort.

“Of course we can get married.

I’ve already left the Fu family.

She can’t control me anymore.

We’re going to register our marriage tomorrow.”

That question had been designed specifically to provoke him.

The moment he gave a concrete date for the marriage registration, Yan Zhixin’s lips curved upward slightly.

“Okay.”

In her eyes, Yun Xi had made a terrible mistake.

She had practically handed Fu Junjie over on a silver platter.

Once they obtained their marriage certificate, what test would even matter anymore?

By then, if Yun Xi regretted her decision, it would already be too late.

Yan Zhixin found herself wanting to see the look of regret on Yun Xi’s face.

╰───♡───╯

The executives exchanged glances.

The president’s son had spent several years studying abroad, finally returned home… and turned out to be rebellious? He didn’t even want to take over the company?

Had water gotten into his brain?

One executive tried to smooth things over.

“Junjie, don’t say things in the heat of the moment. Whatever the issue is, you and President Fu can sit down and discuss it calmly…”

“I’m not speaking in the heat of the moment!” Fu Junjie snapped. “And there’s nothing to discuss between us. She actually investigated my girlfriend. She doesn’t respect Zhixin at all, and she doesn’t respect me either. If that’s the case, what is there left to talk about?”

His face was filled with anger as he glared at Yun Xi.

“You’ve always been like a cold-blooded animal. I can’t stand you.”

Fu Junjie shoved past the crowd and stormed off.

The secretary hesitated and looked toward Yun Xi, unsure whether she should stop him.

Yun Xi remained calm.

“Everyone, go back to work. It’s just a private family matter. Don’t let it affect your work. Rest assured, the company won’t be left without someone to manage it.”

Seeing that she did not seem concerned, everyone quickly dispersed.

Of course, that did not stop them from gossiping behind the scenes.

After all, this was the sort of melodramatic rich-family scandal everyone loved.

The wealthy heir had fallen in love with an ordinary girl. His mother, the powerful CEO of a wealthy family, disapproved and secretly investigated the girl, only to discover that she was a gold digger who had deliberately approached him.

The mother kindly informed her son.

The son, however, flew into a rage and accused her of disrespecting people.

Wasn’t he focusing on the wrong issue?

Shouldn’t Fu Junjie be investigating his girlfriend’s motives?

Shouldn’t he be on guard against the possibility that she had ulterior motives?

Why was he instead talking about not wanting to inherit the family business?

The Fu family had passed its bloodline down through a single heir for generations.

Would it really end here?

Yun Xi was already in her forties. Having another child herself was hardly realistic.

Even if she pushed Fu Junjie to have children, it would take another twenty years before a grandchild was old enough to inherit the company.

No matter how they looked at it, the situation was worrying.

The easiest solution would still be to educate Fu Junjie properly.

Under normal circumstances, Yun Xi would agree that reforming an existing son was the simplest option.

But that was not what the original host wanted.

Fu Junjie and Yan Zhixin could both be considered enemies who had harmed the original host.

Even if one of them was her biological son, it did not change the fact that they had caused her to fall down the stairs and become paralyzed.

More than that, they had repeatedly come to her bedside to mock and torment her.

What kind of people did something like that?

And Fu Junjie still had the nerve to call her cold-blooded?

He was colder than cold-blooded.

Compared to him, even the ungrateful ingrates from Yun Xi’s previous worlds seemed merciful.

Naturally, she had no intention of letting him continue enjoying a comfortable life.

Still, driving him out of the family required the right opportunity.

Yun Xi felt that meeting Yan Zhixin would provide exactly that.

After making up her mind, she returned to reviewing documents and handling company affairs.

In her previous life, she had started from humble beginnings but had risen successfully by seizing opportunities during periods of rapid social change. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Her eventual achievements had given her tremendous influence in both the educational and business worlds.

Handling corporate documents was hardly unfamiliar to her.

In fact, she was quite skilled at it.

Combined with the original host’s memories, she adapted quickly.

Nothing about the job was particularly difficult.

When work ended for the day, she picked up her handbag and walked outside.

To her secretary, she said,

“Arrange a meeting with Yan Zhixin. We’ll have coffee together.”

She paused before adding,

“And reserve the entire café I usually visit. While we’re talking, I don’t want anyone else listening in.”

The secretary immediately acknowledged the order and began making calls.

Yan Zhixin was momentarily surprised when she received the invitation.

She had only recently parted ways with Fu Junjie and had already heard about his argument with Yun Xi.

She had not expected Yun Xi to seek her out so quickly.

What could the woman possibly want to discuss?

Obviously, she wanted Yan Zhixin to back off.

But Yan Zhixin felt she held the advantage.

She was the one in control of the situation.

There was nothing to fear.

She readily agreed to the meeting.

When she arrived at the café, Yun Xi had already booked the entire venue.

A server led Yan Zhixin inside and directly to Yun Xi’s table.

Yan Zhixin smiled politely.

“Hello, Auntie.”

Yun Xi nodded.

“Sit down. What would you like to drink?”

“An iced Americano, please. Thank you.”

After placing her order with the server, Yan Zhixin turned back toward Yun Xi.

“Did you want to discuss something with me today, Auntie?”

“I did.”

Yun Xi’s gaze was steady.

“It’s about the fact that you deliberately approached Junjie.”

She removed a stack of investigation documents from her handbag and placed them on the table.

“Miss Yan is obviously very intelligent and highly goal-oriented. Among the people available to you, you selected the one with the best qualifications to become your boyfriend.”

She continued calmly,

“Junjie says those wealthy young men were attracted to you because you’re outstanding. I don’t deny that.

But ordinary people don’t systematically get to know every rich heir they meet, experimenting to see which one is suitable. And they certainly don’t exclusively associate with rich heirs.”

Yan Zhixin remained completely calm.

She did not even glance at the documents.

Instead, she smiled.

“I think you’ve misunderstood one thing, Auntie.”

“What happened before Junjie and I got together isn’t important.”

“What matters is whether we can live happily together after we’re together and whether we can stay together for the long term. Isn’t that true?”

She tilted her head slightly.

“Do couples who get together for true love automatically stay together forever?”

Yun Xi was not swayed by the sophistry.

Looking directly at her, she said,

“The issue is that you approached him deliberately. There’s an element of deception involved. You weren’t honest.”

“When a relationship begins with dishonesty, trust is naturally compromised.”

“Junjie is the heir of the Fu family. His wife cannot be someone who lacks honesty.”

After only a brief exchange, Yan Zhixin realized that Yun Xi was far more difficult to handle than she had anticipated.

Her usual methods would not work here.

Still, she wasn’t worried.

As long as she controlled Fu Junjie, everything else could be managed.

She could simply leave Yun Xi for Fu Junjie to deal with while she remained safely in the background.

The thought relaxed her considerably.

Taking a sip of coffee, she smiled.

“No wonder you like this place, Auntie. The coffee really is excellent.”

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to taste such good coffee.”

She lowered her gaze slightly.

“My background is indeed humble. But I didn’t choose the circumstances of my birth.”

“I’ve worked very hard because I wanted a better life.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

She looked back at Yun Xi.

“I hope you’ll take the time to get to know me better for Junjie’s sake and not focus so much on superficial things.”

Yun Xi smiled faintly.

Yan Zhixin was doing this deliberately.

Since her calculated pursuit of wealthy men had already been exposed, she had switched tactics.

She was openly admitting that she was ambitious, while carefully portraying herself as someone with ambition but no ill intent.

In that respect, she somewhat resembled the husband the original host had chosen years ago.

It was obvious that Yan Zhixin had done her homework thoroughly.

But ignore outward appearances and appreciate inner character instead?

Yan Zhixin had personally pushed the original host down the stairs.

That alone proved her inner character was far worse than anything about her background.

Calling her “vicious” would not be an exaggeration.

Still, since none of that had happened yet, there was no point bringing it up now.

Yun Xi took out a check, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Yan Zhixin.

“Five million. That’s enough to improve your life considerably. Take the money and find another rich heir.

If you stay with Junjie, I won’t approve. I’ll continue interfering in your relationship, and you won’t have a pleasant life. If the company isn’t passed on to Junjie, then you won’t achieve the social mobility you’re hoping for anyway.

So why not choose someone else? What do you think?”

Receiving a check was entirely within Yan Zhixin’s expectations.

What she had not expected was Yun Xi’s reasoning.

It sounded logical and well thought out. If anything, it made it seem as though Yan Zhixin was the one benefiting from the arrangement.

After all, her goal was to climb the social ladder. If that was the case, wasn’t any wealthy boyfriend just as good as another? In fact, finding one whose family actually welcomed her would be even better.

However, Yan Zhixin knew something else.

The Fu family had passed down its bloodline through a single heir for five generations. This generation had only Fu Junjie.

There was no way the company would be given to someone else.

If she married Fu Junjie, she would one day become the mistress of the entire Fu family.

None of the other rich heirs she knew could compare.

Without hesitation, she pushed the check back across the table and shook her head.

“I won’t accept it, Auntie. You can try to accept me instead. Junjie and I will live happily together.”

That was what she said.

But privately, she felt that Yun Xi’s hostility toward her meant she needed to tighten her grip on Fu Junjie even further.

Under the table, she quietly dialed Fu Junjie’s number.

He had only argued with Yun Xi earlier that day and was still angry. Hearing more of this would only make him angrier, more rebellious, and more firmly on her side.

The moment the call connected, Fu Junjie heard Yun Xi’s voice.

His expression darkened immediately.

Yun Xi, meanwhile, did not hesitate.

She took out another check.

“Twenty million.”

She set it on the table.

“An ordinary person couldn’t spend that amount in a lifetime. Take the money, break up with Junjie voluntarily, and find a family that’s easier to get along with.

I believe you’re smart enough to know which choice is better.”

Yan Zhixin tightened her grip on her phone.

Here it comes, she thought.

Her voice immediately became choked with emotion.

Looking wronged and sincere, she said,

“Auntie, I don’t want your money. Junjie and I truly love each other. Love can’t be measured with money. What you’re doing is an insult to love.”

The sudden shift in attitude caught Yun Xi’s attention.

She glanced around the café.

Fu Junjie was nowhere nearby.

A phone call, then?

Yun Xi narrowed her eyes at Yan Zhixin.

“So you’re saying you love him for who he is, not for his money?”

Yan Zhixin answered without hesitation.

“Of course!”

Yun Xi let out a cold laugh.

“In that case, I’ll revoke Fu Junjie’s inheritance rights.”

She stared directly at Yan Zhixin.

“I’d like to see whether you’ll still love him so much when he’s penniless and has absolutely nothing.”

Yan Zhixin’s voice became even more tearful.

“Auntie, you’ve misunderstood me completely. The only reason I’m with Junjie is because I love him.”

Yun Xi had gotten the answer she wanted.

She put both checks away and stood up.

“Since that’s what you say, then I’ll give you a Fu Junjie who has nothing.”

She turned and walked away.

Even after Yun Xi disappeared through the café doors, Yan Zhixin still hadn’t recovered her senses.

That was it?

No more threats?

No more persuasion?

How could Yun Xi give up so easily?

Yan Zhixin was completely baffled.

She still had an entire speech prepared.

Fu Junjie hadn’t even heard most of it.

Thinking of him, she picked up her phone and burst into tears.

“Junjie…”

Fu Junjie’s heart ached with both anger and concern.

His voice softened immediately.

“Zhixin, don’t be afraid. Where are you? I’ll come find you right now.

“My mother has gone too far this time. I’ll settle things with her. Don’t worry about her.”

He paused.

“I heard everything you said just now. Trust me, no matter what happens, I believe you. I love you. I won’t let anyone destroy our relationship.

Besides, these days you don’t need parental approval to register a marriage. We don’t even need the household registration book anymore.

We can just get married directly and become husband and wife. Then she won’t be able to do anything about it.”

Yan Zhixin pressed her lips together.

Of course she wanted a grand wedding.

But under the circumstances, secretly registering their marriage seemed like the safest option.

If Yun Xi came up with another scheme and prevented her from marrying into the family, things could become troublesome.

After only a brief hesitation, she asked in a delighted voice,

“You… you really want to marry me?”

Fu Junjie laughed.

“Of course. Don’t you trust me?

We’ll pick an auspicious date and get married. Then we’ll throw the marriage certificate right in front of my mother’s face and see what she has to say.

She’ll probably be furious. She’ll definitely start pressuring us to have children.”

He laughed again.

“And then we’ll tell her we’re staying child-free.

I’d really like to see the look on her face when she’s angry and disappointed.”

A chill ran through Yan Zhixin’s heart.

Although Fu Junjie was clearly taking her side, she suddenly saw through his true nature.

A selfish, cold-hearted man.

If someone could treat his own mother this ruthlessly, how much better would he treat a spouse?

If his mother had been a terrible person, that would have been one thing.

But Yun Xi obviously cared deeply about him.

She was willing to train him, invest in him, and pay attention to every aspect of his life.

Yet Fu Junjie remained rebelliously defiant, showing no regard whatsoever for his mother’s feelings.

A man like that could not be relied upon.

In that instant, Yan Zhixin made a decision.

Once she married into the family, she would accumulate as much wealth as possible as quickly as possible and transfer assets into her own name.

That way, no matter what happened in the future, she could always divorce him and leave with enough money to live comfortably.

The two chatted for a while longer.

Finally, Yan Zhixin said,

“I’m feeling much better now. It’s already late, so don’t come over. I’m a little tired and want to go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Fu Junjie felt guilty.

If he had handled things better, Yun Xi would never have approached Yan Zhixin in the first place.

Yan Zhixin would not have been frightened and distressed.

Wanting to sleep so early must mean she was trying to calm herself after being wronged.

She really had suffered today.

So he readily agreed.

After hanging up, he sat down on the sofa in the living room and waited for Yun Xi to return.

He needed Yun Xi to understand something.

This family was not hers alone.

He had his own thoughts.

His own dreams.

His own pursuits.

He would never allow Yun Xi to control his life.

He had been born to enjoy the world.

Not to inherit the Fu family business.

When Yun Xi walked through the front door, the first thing she saw was Fu Junjie glaring at her.

Before she could say anything, he stood up and sneered.

“You really have endless energy, don’t you?

“Even with all your work, you still found time to deal with us, just an ordinary couple.”

His expression was full of mockery.

“Too bad for you. Not everything can be solved with money.”

╰───♡───╯

World 2: The Dominating CEO’s Mother

Yun Xi perfectly completed the mission in the first world, dispelling the original host’s resentment and allowing her to reincarnate smoothly. When the original host departed, a thread of merit settled onto Yun Xi, nourishing her damaged soul and making her feel extremely comfortable.

The feeling was wonderful, so Yun Xi did not rest. She immediately summoned her second destined client.

This time, the client was furious. Her request was that her son be made to live the life of an ordinary person and never again have anything to do with the family business.

An ordinary person’s life did not sound like such a bad thing. But after Yun Xi woke up and received the woman’s memories, she realized that for this bargain-bin son, it would definitely count as a life of hardship.

The original host, Fu Yunxi, came from a family that had been in business for five generations. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Their foundation was deep and prosperous, but they had never been blessed with many descendants. By her generation, she was the family’s only child.

As a result, her family arranged for her to marry a husband who would join her family so that she could inherit the business.

In modern society, there was no formal concept of marrying into the wife’s family anymore. They had simply registered a legal marriage like any other couple. However, they had signed a prenuptial agreement that clearly separated their assets. The original host was responsible for all household and living expenses, but money, property, and family assets would not be shared with her husband. In addition, any children they had would carry the Fu surname.

On the surface, it seemed as though the arrangement offered the husband no benefits.

In reality, simply by becoming Fu Yunxi’s husband, a person’s status, connections, and social circle would undergo a complete transformation. He would gain countless invisible advantages. At the same time, he could enjoy a luxurious lifestyle and spend the rest of his life in wealth and comfort without having to struggle for it.

Back then, many men were willing to marry into the Fu family. Some even came from families of equal status, sending over younger sons who were not expected to inherit their own family businesses.

In the end, the original host chose one of her university classmates.

He was handsome, gentle, and carried a faint air of melancholy. During four years of university, no one had ever seen him lose his temper with anyone. He had no family and was an orphan, making his background exceptionally simple.

All he wanted was a stable home and a peaceful life.

The two hit it off immediately.

There was no passionate love between them, but there were no dramatic conflicts either. They simply treated each other with mutual respect and lived together peacefully.

After the original host’s elders passed away, she took over the company and became extremely busy. Her husband took care of the household, and life remained stable and harmonious.

Everything changed when their son, Fu Junjie, turned sixteen.

The original host’s husband died from illness.

To her shock, Fu Junjie suddenly revealed deep resentment toward her. He believed that the arrangement where the woman worked outside while the man managed the home had suppressed his father. He also blamed her for spending too much time working and too little time with the family. In his eyes, her lack of gentleness and warmth had caused his father to become depressed and eventually die.

The original host found the accusation absurd.

Her husband had never suffered from depression. Their marriage had been a mutually beneficial arrangement from the very beginning. Everything had been discussed and agreed upon beforehand.

How had it suddenly become her fault that he had supposedly died of depression?

And why was her son blaming her?

Had the obedient, sensible son she thought she knew merely been pretending all these years? Had he secretly resented her the entire time and only chosen this moment to explode?

Naturally, the original host did not hold it against him.

Instead, she tried her best to make more time for him.

Unfortunately, he had no interest in her efforts.

He spent most of his time outside with friends and rarely came home. Once he became an adult, he left to study abroad. For four whole years, he never contacted her.

If not for the fact that he continued using the supplementary credit card she provided, she would have thought he had disappeared altogether.

The original host tried countless methods to repair their relationship.

She even consulted psychologists, wondering whether she herself had done something wrong.

In the end, she found no answers.

She could only conclude that perhaps the bond between mother and son was simply shallow and continue living her life.

Then Fu Junjie returned from abroad.

The first thing he did was not join the company.

Instead, he brought home a girl and announced that she was the love of his life.

The original host had seen enough of the world to judge character.

From the girl’s behavior and mannerisms, she immediately sensed that the girl was not nearly as innocent as her son believed. She was clearly approaching him with ulterior motives.

Naturally, the original host opposed the relationship.

The more she opposed it, however, the more determined Fu Junjie became.

Every day, he and the girl, Yan Zhixin, appeared inseparable, as though he wanted the entire world to know she was the person he had chosen.

The original host investigated Yan Zhixin and discovered that she had previously associated with several wealthy second-generation heirs. Although she had never officially dated any of them, she had begun a relationship only after meeting Fu Junjie.

This made the original host even more suspicious.

Yet when Fu Junjie learned that she had investigated his girlfriend, he merely accused her of being despicable.

He did not consider any of the findings problematic.

On the contrary, he claimed that Yan Zhixin was simply outstanding enough to attract such people.

In short, Fu Junjie was completely impossible to reason with.

Nothing anyone said could get through to him.

The original host was exhausted.

After being tormented by these issues for so long, she finally compromised. She told them that if they signed a prenuptial agreement, just as she had done years ago, she would accept their relationship and they could live together peacefully as a family.

Unexpectedly, this touched a nerve.

Yan Zhixin cried as though she had been deeply insulted.

Fu Junjie accused his mother of caring only about money.

The two of them secretly registered their marriage behind her back. They even continued living in the family home, seeing her every day and deliberately provoking her.

By this point, the original host had already given up on repairing her relationship with her son.

She simply waited for a grandson or granddaughter to be born so she could cultivate a new heir.

Her obsession with preserving the family bloodline was the only reason she had never dealt harshly with Fu Junjie.

Instead, her tolerance only encouraged his arrogance.

From time to time, he would intentionally do things just to disgust and annoy her.

The original host could not understand why he behaved this way.

Her patience wore thinner and thinner.

Then the young couple announced that they intended to remain child-free.

At last, the original host reached her limit.

She decided to throw them out.

Instead, they came to argue with her.

Fu Junjie even grabbed her while demanding answers.

Right before her eyes, Yan Zhixin deliberately tripped her.

She tumbled down the staircase, struck her cervical spine, and became completely paralyzed.

From that day onward, only her eyes could move.

At first, Fu Junjie was frightened.

But very quickly, he assured Yan Zhixin that he would protect her and make sure no one ever found out what happened.

He erased the surveillance footage, hired a foreign maid to care for the original host, and then triumphantly took over the company.

The irony was that when the original host had tried to train him before, he had refused to learn.

Now that he had suddenly become the head of the company, he was utterly incapable of steering the Fu family’s massive enterprise.

Worse, he had no awareness of his own limitations.

He made reckless decisions one after another.

He would even come to the original host and proudly show off those decisions, mocking her in the process.

He laughed that she had spent her entire life being strong and capable, only to end up a cripple confined to a bed.

The original host was utterly despairing. Yet she stubbornly clung to a sliver of hope, wishing she could recover her health and save the company. It was the foundation her family had built over five generations. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. She could not bear to see it destroyed in her hands.

Unfortunately, no miracle ever came.

No one saved the company, either.

By the time Yan Zhixin finally gave birth and carried the baby to her bedside, speaking as though she were bestowing a favor upon them by providing an heir, the company had already gone bankrupt.

Seeing that Fu Junjie had no chance of making a comeback, Yan Zhixin packed up every valuable asset left in the household and ran away.

Fu Junjie immediately fell apart.

He came crying to the original host, saying he had been blind and misjudged Yan Zhixin. But as he talked, he gradually shifted the blame once again.

He claimed that the original host had always spoken badly about Yan Zhixin, almost like she had cursed her, and that was why things had turned out this way.

If only the original host had blessed their relationship, continued managing the company properly, and spent a few more years teaching him, none of this would have happened, right?

After talking in circles, he somehow managed to blame everything on her again.

Only then did the original host finally understand.

The problem had never been her.

The problem was that this child was naturally cold-hearted, selfish, and unwilling to take responsibility.

A large part of a person’s character was innate. No amount of later guidance could easily change the core of who they were.

She also finally realized that bloodline inheritance was not nearly as important as she had once believed.

Now she had a grandson.

Yet the company was bankrupt.

What good had preserving the family bloodline done?

If she had not been so obsessed with that bloodline, how could she have tolerated Fu Junjie for so many years?

In the end, she had only earned herself such a tragic fate.

Eventually, the household staff were dismissed.

Fu Junjie drank constantly and took care of her carelessly.

Before long, the original host died.

She was furious.

Furious that Fu Junjie had turned out to be this kind of person.

Furious that she herself had tolerated him for so long.

As a result, her greatest wish was simple: cut the knot cleanly and stay as far away from Fu Junjie as possible.

Didn’t he like the life of an ordinary person?

Then he could go live it immediately.

No one should stop him.

However, judging from Fu Junjie’s reaction after the company went bankrupt, he had long since become accustomed to a life of luxury.

He would not want to endure even a single day of ordinary life.

Yun Xi felt that this request was much easier than her previous mission.

At the very least, she would not have to spend all her time cleaning up after an ungrateful wolf.

Life would be far more comfortable.

When Yun Xi opened her eyes, she was sitting in an office reviewing documents.

No one else was around, which gave her plenty of time to organize the memories and settle into her role.

At this rate, she thought, after inhabiting a few more bodies, she could probably become an actress.

She would likely be quite good at it.

The current point in time was after Fu Junjie had already introduced Yan Zhixin to his family.

The original host had disapproved of the relationship and had investigated Yan Zhixin. She had been planning to show the investigation results to Fu Junjie.

In the original timeline, she had gone home and spoken with him privately.

Fu Junjie had flown into a rage and cursed her for meddling in his affairs.

This time, however, Yun Xi looked at the investigation report on her desk and used the office intercom to instruct her secretary to contact Fu Junjie and have him come to the company in one hour to discuss Yan Zhixin.

Fu Junjie answered the call impatiently.

The moment he heard he was being summoned to the company, he was ready to hang up.

But when he learned that the topic was Yan Zhixin, he changed his mind and drove to the company at once.

He pushed open the office door without knocking and frowned.

“What did you call me here for? What are you trying to say this time?”

Yun Xi tossed the investigation report onto the desk in front of him.

“Read it.”

The moment Fu Junjie opened the file, he became angry.

“You investigated Zhixin? That’s outrageous! You’ve gone too far! Who do you think you are? How can you do something so ridiculous? What’s wrong with Zhixin? She has lots of friends and everyone likes her. You’re the only one constantly picking faults and looking down on her.”

Yun Xi said calmly, “I don’t look down on her. Your logic is flawed. Your father was an orphan with no background. In terms of family circumstances, he was in a worse position than she is. I never looked down on your father, so why would I look down on her? What exactly would I be looking down on?”

Fu Junjie froze.

He had simply assumed that Yun Xi disliked Yan Zhixin because she came from an ordinary family.

He had never thought it through.

Now that she pointed it out, it was true.

Back then, Yun Xi herself had chosen to marry an ordinary man.

Why would she look down on him for choosing an ordinary woman?

But there was no way he would admit he was wrong.

Immediately, he shouted, “Don’t mention my dad! You’re not worthy of mentioning him!”

The argument grew louder.

Several company executives heard the commotion and gathered outside the office.

Security personnel were also called to stand by.

Yun Xi was quite satisfied with that.

This way, the company would not have room for wild speculation later.

In front of everyone, she said,

“The reason I oppose your relationship is because Yan Zhixin has been searching for wealthy men all along. She’s associated with numerous rich heirs. You’re nothing more than the prey she selected, the stepping stone she intends to use to climb upward. Of course I don’t approve of someone approaching you with such obvious motives.”

Fu Junjie immediately retorted,

“That’s not true. Stop slandering her. The fact that those people associated with her only proves that she’s exceptional enough to attract them. Why are your thoughts so disgusting? Do you think everyone is like you, caring only about benefits and not about feelings?”

Yun Xi’s expression turned cold.

“Fu Junjie, over the past few years you’ve become increasingly arrogant and reckless. You speak without restraint and lack even the most basic manners. How am I supposed to feel comfortable handing the company over to someone like you?”

The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

“Who cares about your stupid company? You’re the only one who treats it like a treasure. I want to do what I actually like!”

Yun Xi frowned.

“What are you talking about? Don’t tell me you have no intention of taking over the family company.”

Fu Junjie answered without thinking.

“Of course not! I’ve told you a long time ago that I’m not interested!”

╰───♡───╯

Many people in Yun Xi’s hometown city began to envy the villagers of Yangliu Village.

Yun Xi had truly provided too many opportunities for them. Now she had even signed contracts with many work units. As long as students from her school passed the graduation assessment, they could go directly to those units and start working. It was almost the same treatment as university graduates being assigned jobs.

Children from the village could study at Yun Xi’s school or work for her. As long as they were willing to work hard and improve themselves, they could build a good future.

Even those without strong abilities, if they were diligent and careful, could work for her in logistics, cleaning, security, or similar jobs. To the villagers, those were all excellent paths forward.

After working hard for a few years, they could save money to buy homes and become urban residents, putting down roots in the city. Whether in the city or in the capital, their future children would enjoy much better educational and medical resources. In one stroke, they could change the fate of their once-poor families.

In Yun Xi’s hometown, her name had already become synonymous with “opportunity.”

Yun Xi also paid to have a road built for Yangliu Village, making travel to the city much more convenient. Naturally, the village developed even better and had already become the wealthiest village under the city’s jurisdiction.

If another place had developed rapidly, the Dong family might not have felt much.

But Yangliu Village was developing rapidly right before their eyes, and that left a bitter taste in their hearts.

The environment around them improved year by year, and the effect on them was too great.

They should have been happy that the village was becoming better.

But when they saw more than half the village’s young people working for Yun Xi, constantly sending money home, allowing their elderly parents to build brick houses, listen to radios, and even watch television, they felt miserable.

Almost every household had a bicycle now. The Village Chief even rode a motorcycle when he went out.

The Dong family felt the changing times more vividly than anyone else.

The era was improving and developing rapidly. Everyone else had boarded that favorable wind and become wealthier. Only they remained where they were.

The more they compared, the more painful it became.

And the person who had brought all of this to everyone was their own mother, the ignorant shrew they had once despised.

This influence would continue for a very, very long time.

Meanwhile, Yun Xi gradually stopped hearing news about them.

After all, the distance was truly too great now, and the gap between them was even greater.

The villagers all felt that those people were stains in Yun Xi’s life. Naturally, no one mentioned them to her.

Gradually, they and Yun Xi truly became as if they were people separated into two different worlds.

Yun Xi seized the opportunities of the era.

By providing large numbers of practical talents to society, she took deep root in this period and developed quickly and well.

More importantly, by staying true to her original intentions and never lowering her standards, she made the school’s reputation grow brighter and stronger.

Years later, her students had gone all across the country.

Quite a few became business owners and lived well.

A few especially outstanding ones even became nationally famous. Whenever they were mentioned, they said they were deeply grateful that Yun Xi had given them such a good opportunity, allowing them to learn skills and shine in society.

In this unexpected way, Yun Xi achieved the classic ideal of having students all over the world.

Her accomplishments were extraordinary, and even the education system recognized her highly.

When Yun Xi turned seventy, she finally prepared to step back.

Xiao Zhang’s research achievements were also very impressive, and he had started his own company.

An authoritative magazine specially invited mother and son to do an interview together.

Throughout the entire interview, it was clear that Xiao Zhang took very good care of Yun Xi.

The host smiled and said,

“Principal Li is truly blessed. President Zhang is so filial.”

Yun Xi smiled and nodded.

“Yes. This godson has been by my side for more than twenty years. He’s sensible and filial, and he has always been so thoughtful.”

Xiao Zhang, sitting beside her, said,

“The fact that such an outstanding person is my mother means I’m the blessed one.”

The host quickly said,

“That’s absolutely right. Principal Li is truly outstanding. You’ve been my role model since childhood. You’re especially remarkable.

“I heard that Principal Li is preparing to retire. Are you planning to enjoy your later years in peace? Will President Zhang take over your school and commercial affairs?”

Yun Xi laughed.

“Him? He has a huge pile of his own matters. How would he have time to manage mine?

He has his own career plans. The mobile phones launched by his company all have excellent performance. If he wants to make them even better, he’ll need to invest much more energy. He can’t also handle the school.

Fortunately, over the years, many of the students I’ve taught and the children I’ve sponsored have become very capable. Managing my affairs won’t be a problem for them.”

The host looked somewhat surprised.

“That’s different from the usual pattern of passing things down to descendants. I imagine many people will be as surprised as I am. I didn’t expect Principal Li to pass the school and businesses you founded by hand to… students or other people. Sorry, may I ask about this?”

Yun Xi waved it off.

“It’s fine.

“Actually, everyone knows I have biological children. Four of them. When I left home, I already had grandsons and granddaughters too.

“People are used to the idea that descendants should inherit, right? Because of blood ties.

But when I had nothing, I clearly realized that whether people can get along well has nothing to do with blood.

The facts proved that later, Xiao Zhang and I became as close as mother and son.

Just now, you asked whether I would let Xiao Zhang inherit, precisely because although he isn’t my biological child, he is the godson I acknowledged. In name, he is still my child.

As for the students who have stayed by my side for so many years, and the children I sponsored, in truth they are only missing that one thing, the title in name. Isn’t that right?

So if we only look at the essence, they are the same as Xiao Zhang. They all get along with me very, very well.

I don’t have an obsession that everything must be passed down to blood descendants.

“So who receives what mainly depends on whether they have the ability. If you think of it this way, doesn’t it become understandable?”

The host nodded.

“I understand now. I only feel that your awareness is exceptionally high. You’re no longer limited by worldly customs. No wonder you’ve been such a role model all these years.

“May I ask how you developed this kind of awareness?”

Yun Xi thought for a moment.

“Probably by learning to see things clearly.

A human life is like a season of grass and trees. To live freely, to live brilliantly, and when one has the spare strength, to nourish others as much as possible, that is the best state.

That is also what I’ve always tried to do.”

The host said,

“Indeed. Your own career has been extremely successful. You have provided society with countless talents and many jobs, and your salaries and benefits have always been excellent.

At the same time, your charitable work has also been outstanding. Over the years, the number of orphans you’ve sponsored is already too high to count. The charitable foundation you founded has also helped countless women and children who were lost and uncertain.

Your life truly is a brilliant one.

I know that the children you’ve sponsored all affectionately call you ‘Mother Li’ and say they are all your children.

Then I’d like to ask, now that you plan to retire and enjoy your later years, will there come a day when you acknowledge your four biological children again? Do you regret being separated from them for decades without contact or interaction?”

Without even thinking, Yun Xi said firmly,

“I will not acknowledge them, and I have no regrets.

Back when I worried over them, they didn’t like it. They wanted independence and autonomy.

So as a parent, one must know when to let go. Everyone living their own life is very good.

Back then, I was the person most looked down on in that family. Yet I was still able to rely on myself to study, work, and start a business.

I believe they can do the same.

We are all adults. Everyone must be responsible for their own life.

When I left, I also left them houses, and the village later allocated them land. No matter what, they could survive. So there is nothing to regret.”

The host truly admired her.

Every time Yun Xi faced such questions, she answered so directly.

In truth, a small number of people said she was heartless and that they had never seen a mother like her.

But Yun Xi never paid attention to those voices. Her stance had always been firm. She would not acknowledge them, and she did not regret it.

The host smiled and asked,

“Principal Li is already seventy years old, but you look as though you’re only in your forties. Everyone is curious about how you maintain yourself.

“It seems all your aging happened while you were still in the village. In all the years afterward, you seem to have been frozen in time, always this young.”

Yun Xi replied,

“I suppose it’s about nourishing oneself.

Like raising flowers and plants, you nourish yourself from the inside out. Care for the body and mind, and nourish the spirit.

What should be abandoned, abandon.

Run in the field you are good at.

When you enjoy every day, naturally, you won’t age easily.”

The host asked, “Finally, Principal Li, is there anything you would like to say to the people who admire you?”

Yun Xi replied:

“I want to tell everyone this: being doubted, being knocked down, being abandoned, none of that matters. The world is very large. Treasure yourself, and there will always be a path you can walk.

And keep up with the times. Just because there was no opportunity before doesn’t mean there isn’t one now. And just because there isn’t one now doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future.

The cost of trial and error in life is very high.”

After the interview was edited, it was broadcast on television nationwide.

The villagers were thrilled to hear Yun Xi was appearing on TV. They all gathered at the village chief’s house to watch. The chief simply carried the television into the courtyard so everyone could watch together.

After some hesitation, the four Dong siblings went too, standing at the very back of the crowd.

At this point, they were the only members of the Dong family still farming in the village. Their children had long since grown up and moved to the cities. Their lives were ordinary, and none of them had brought their parents to live with them. Sometimes they did not even return for the New Year.

Wang Huijuan spent her time helping her son cook and care for his children, but he constantly criticized her and treated her more like a nanny than a mother. She was terrified that no one would support her in old age, so she swallowed her resentment and stayed, hoping to become close to her grandchildren so they might care for her someday.

As a result, Dong Zhihong remained alone in the village.

After all these years, none of the four siblings retained the spirited confidence they once had before the family split apart. Their backs had begun to stoop, their bodies bent with age and hardship.

They stared at Yun Xi on the television screen.

Confused.

Dazed.

This was their mother?

Others voiced the same doubts.

“Is that really Sister Li? She’s several years older than me. How does she look younger than my daughter-in-law?”

“Look how elegant she moves. Like… like one of those wealthy young ladies from old rich families. She looks so refined. Is that really Sister Li?”

“Sister Li’s life really turned out well. She takes such good care of herself. She’s so beautiful. If she came back to the village, I wouldn’t dare recognize her.”

“Look! She has all those assets, and she isn’t leaving them to her biological children or even her godson. She’s passing them on to outsiders!”

Someone noticed the Dong siblings and immediately looked displeased, shifting farther away.

“I’ll never understand it. They had such a wonderful mother and didn’t cherish her. They drove her away. I still don’t know what exactly happened back then that made Sister Li cut ties so completely. Now look. Everything’s benefiting other people.”

“Well, there’s no helping it. Look at the four of them. They’re not capable of managing all that anyway. Give it to them and they’d probably ruin it. Better to let capable people handle it. At least our descendants can keep attending those schools.”

“That’s true. Whatever Sister Li decides, I support it.”

“Remember how they used to say Sister Li shouldn’t expect them to support her in old age? Hahaha! Now look how many people are fighting to call her Mom and fighting for the chance to take care of her.”

The Dong siblings stood there as if their clothes had been stripped away.

Embarrassment burned through them.

Their backs bent even lower.

During the interview, several photographs from Yun Xi’s younger years were shown.

Not truly young, just from the years after she turned forty-five.

There was one of her standing in front of Tiananmen, with the red flags and the portrait of the great leader behind her.

Another at the Nine-Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City.

Another with her arm around a tiger.

Another standing proudly in front of an airplane.

The Dong siblings stared without blinking.

Through those photographs, they seemed to glimpse the vibrant life Yun Xi had lived.

And at the time those photos were taken, she had only been gone from them a few years.

They had never had much money.

Rarely left the village.

Had never flown on an airplane.

Had never even seen one up close.

Yet Yun Xi had been flying decades ago.

So the Great Wall really was that magnificent.

People always said, “He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true hero.”

They had never even been to the capital.

Perhaps they never would.

If they had simply treated Yun Xi well and fulfilled their duties as children, would they have lived such lives decades earlier?

The thought alone made their hearts ache.

The interview also spent considerable time talking about Xiao Zhang.

He had founded a company that produced computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, and many other products.

The prices were not cheap, but everyone said they were excellent.

No one in the village owned one. They still used old, inexpensive phones.

Yun Xi was extraordinary.

Who would have guessed that the godson she had adopted would become just as extraordinary?

People constantly praised them, saying they truly deserved to be called mother and son.

The praise only deepened the Dong siblings’ inferiority.

When some people in the crowd began openly mocking them for failing at everything they tried, they could no longer bear it.

One by one, they fled home.

Facing their empty houses, sorrow washed over them.

Dong Zhihong thought about his son.

As the eldest son who had produced the eldest grandson, he had always considered himself the head of the family. He believed Yun Xi should listen to him.

He had looked down on her.

Yet he was not worthy of even a single strand of her hair.

After growing up, his son developed a favorite phrase:

“What do you two know?”

He constantly used it against his parents.

He showed them little respect, believing that because he had studied in the city and seen more of the world, they knew nothing.

Dong Zhihong felt humiliated.

But every time he tried to lecture his son, the boy would throw Yun Xi’s story back in his face.

Hadn’t he treated Yun Xi exactly the same way?

Why couldn’t he endure it now that it was happening to him?

His son deeply resented him for offending Yun Xi and causing her to reject all her descendants, cutting off the family’s path to prosperity.

Eventually, his son devoted himself to pleasing a young woman and her family, practically becoming their live-in son-in-law.

When they needed childcare, they summoned Wang Huijuan to help.

They never even mentioned Dong Zhihong.

They did not want to see him.

To this day, he still had never met his grandson.

He did not know if he ever would.

Dong Zhijie’s daughter had long since disappeared with Wang Xuefen.

He heard that Wang Xuefen remarried and moved to the provincial capital.

Her new husband owned a restaurant.

Business was average. Some years were good, some years were bad.

Still, it was better than life with him.

Neither mother nor daughter had ever returned.

Neither had contacted him.

For all practical purposes, they no longer acknowledged him.

Dong Zhiyong continued living alone with his crippled leg.

At the time of the family division, he had been in the best position among the siblings.

Who could have guessed that one disastrous marriage would ruin him?

Seeing his brothers’ children bring them nothing but misery, he never remarried.

He remained a lifelong bachelor, drifting through life.

Dong Zhizhi’s reputation and personality became infamous throughout the surrounding villages.

No suitable man wanted her.

The good prospects looked down on her.

The poor prospects she looked down on.

So she raised her daughter alone.

When the girl grew up, she resented her mother.

“It’s your fault,” she said.

“If you hadn’t hidden Dad’s admission letter, I wouldn’t have grown up without a father.”

She also blamed her for mistreating Yun Xi.

“In fact,” she said, “those orphans Grandma sponsored live better lives than we do.”

Those words cut deeply.

Dong Zhizhi tried explaining her hardships.

Her daughter only replied:

“Don’t all women live like this? You actually had it pretty good. Why are you never satisfied?”

Soon afterward, her daughter left for southern China to work.

Sometimes she would call when she was in a good mood.

Sometimes an entire year passed without any contact.

Behind closed doors, Dong Zhizhi cursed her countless times as an ungrateful child.

Only then did she finally understand how much she herself had hurt Yun Xi.

The four siblings had all been trapped by their past failures.

They stopped moving forward.

They lost heart.

In truth, their thinking had become frozen in that earlier era.

So they remained in the village, farming and raising chickens.

Yet without the original owner’s efforts on their behalf, this was probably the life they would have lived from the start.

Yun Xi had merely returned their own lives to them.

Why, then, could they not bear it?

The interview was watched by countless people.

In the public imagination, Yun Xi had become a legendary woman.

A positive symbol.

An extraordinary role model.

She also provided an example for countless women trapped in households, repeating the same chores day after day.

She awakened their hidden desires and dreams.

Gradually, more women stepped beyond the boundaries of the home and began creating meaningful lives of their own.

That alone gave her story tremendous significance.

Her fame only grew.

The Dong siblings believed this would be the final blow.

After all, Yun Xi was already seventy.

Surely she did not have many years left.

As for the interview airing nationwide, there was nothing they could do about that.

They could only pretend not to see it and hope people would stop talking once the excitement faded.

But they never imagined what happened next.

Yun Xi’s life was adapted into a television drama.

At a time when there were not many television series to begin with, a show based on a true story, filled with dramatic twists and emotional highs and lows, immediately attracted enormous audiences.

The villagers of Yangliu Village never missed an episode.

After every broadcast, they passionately debated which scenes were accurate and which had been dramatized.

Some people might have missed the interview.

Almost nobody missed the television series.

Even those who did not watch heard others discussing it.

As a result, Yun Xi became even more famous.

And so did the four Dong siblings.

The difference was that Yun Xi inspired admiration and respect.

The Dong siblings inspired disgust.

The series did not air only once.

It returned every winter vacation and every summer vacation.

Even if other cities stopped broadcasting it, Yun Xi’s hometown continued showing it.

Parents even used it to teach their children.

“You kids need to be sensible and filial. Don’t turn into those four ungrateful Dong siblings. They had such a wonderful mother and still ruined everything.”

No matter how hard they tried, the Dong siblings could not escape.

They lived forever beneath the shadow of that television drama.

They became synonymous with ingratitude.

After retiring, Yun Xi spent her time traveling.

The nation developed rapidly.

Transportation became convenient.

Cities flourished.

Tourist sites were beautifully maintained.

She saw countless magnificent landscapes.

She visited many countries.

She learned several languages.

Eventually, the original owner’s memories could no longer help her, because Yun Xi had lived far longer than the original owner ever had.

Only when her body finally began to fail did she decide it was time to leave.

Of course, her will had been reviewed repeatedly.

Not a single cent would go to her biological descendants.

Her mission in this world had been completed perfectly.

As she closed her eyes, she found herself wondering with anticipation what her next mission would be.

╰───♡───╯

News of Dong Zhijie’s divorce quickly overshadowed the news of Yun Xi’s large apartment.

In this era, there might still be a few divorced people in the city, but in the countryside, there was not a single divorced person at all.

Everyone felt that unless something truly earth-shattering had happened, why would anyone divorce?

The couple usually had not caused much commotion, so why had they suddenly divorced? And in such an ugly way too.

The Village Chief immediately brought people to Dong Zhijie’s house to ask.

“Dong Zhijie, why did your wife’s family beat you like this? They even emptied the house. Did they bully you? Our village will never allow outsiders to bully our own people. If something happened, say it. I’ll stand up for you.”

“That’s right. They even took the child away. What is this? Why did you two divorce?”

Dong Zhijie cared most about face.

Being despised by his wife and daughter was already humiliating enough. Now that so many people were watching, he said in a muffled voice,

“It’s nothing. I can’t earn money. Wang Xuefen and the child didn’t want to suffer with me. They said they could eat meat more often at the Wang family. It’s fine. I wasn’t bullied. The divorce is already done. That’s it.”

Everyone looked at one another.

“Just because of that? We’re all farmers. Each person has six mu of land. Just farming is enough to live on. What is she dissatisfied with? Doesn’t she also have nothing? Is the Wang family some rich household?”

Reform and opening had only just begun. No one had yet thought that Wang Xuefen had set her eyes on the colorful world outside, that her heart had flown away and she wanted to seek a better life elsewhere.

So no one could understand.

If the family had no money, shouldn’t they find ways to earn it? Why divorce instead?

But Dong Zhijie refused to say more and did not want to pursue anything, so everyone could not keep asking.

Privately, they muttered that Wang Xuefen must have seen how well Yun Xi was living. Such great wealth was right there, yet she could not touch any of it. The gap was too big, so she could no longer endure a hard life and divorced Dong Zhijie.

Some even suspected that the couple had staged a fake divorce to sell misery to Yun Xi and make her soften her heart.

Very soon, someone told Yun Xi about it.

Yun Xi was not surprised at all.

Both of them were selfish and valued comfort, which was why they had secretly cooked extra meals before.

Back then, both of them had jobs and were better off than most people around them. When difficulties came, there was also the mother above them to bear the burden. Their lives had been full of hope, so of course they had been loving.

Now, the better Yun Xi lived, the more miserable they felt.

They would wonder whether, if they had not secretly eaten extra food and angered her, they might now be following her, living in a big apartment and riding in cars.

During this period, poverty and wealth were separated by a chasm. They had no idea how to struggle their way into a good life.

On top of that, they had lost their jobs, did not know how to run stalls or sell goods, and could only exhaust themselves farming. They had also lost their house after all that trouble. Their lives only grew worse, so naturally they began blaming each other.

Once Wang Xuefen heard Yun Xi say that opportunities were everywhere on the streets, she no longer wanted to stay trapped in the countryside.

Wang Xuefen was still young and fairly good-looking. If she went out to work and developed well, that would be good. If not, she could still find someone with better conditions and remarry. That was also a way out.

No matter how one looked at it, it was better than staying with Dong Zhijie.

Wasn’t divorce only natural?

Among the four Dong siblings, the second brother and his wife had once been the most loving, yet now they had divorced, and the child had been taken away.

Although the third and fourth siblings had not received divorce certificates, their spouses had both disappeared and could no longer be found.

One had become lame and struggled to run a stall.

One was overwhelmed caring for an infant.

Their lives were all bitter and miserable.

This was not only financial torment. It was also mental torment. They felt their lives were a complete mess.

Only the eldest son’s family remained intact, but the number of arguments at home increased day by day.

In the past, the eldest son had loved saying that the original owner had “long hair and short vision.” Now his wife’s favorite retort was that he had “short hair and even shorter vision.”

Wang Huijuan straightened her back and shouted at him,

“If you dare provoke me again, I’ll divorce you and take our son with me. Then you can be like Second Brother and Third Brother, lonely and single, with no one to see you off in death when you’re old.”

Dong Zhihong snapped, “You dare!”

Wang Huijuan sneered.

“What wouldn’t I dare? Women hold up half the sky. What right do you have to look down on women?

“I handle everything inside and outside this house. You have no ability, yet you still want to act like the head of the family. Keep dreaming.

“If you want to live properly, then shut up and behave. Don’t spend all day running that rotten mouth.”

Dong Zhihong looked at their son, who had grown taller.

“You tell me. Isn’t your mother being unreasonable? She acts like a shrew. Who could tolerate her? She even wants to divorce me. With that dark face of hers, does she think she can find someone else to marry?

“Can you let her divorce me? When the time comes, your classmates will laugh you to death.”

Their son impatiently moved to another spot and continued playing marbles.

“You two can do whatever you want. Aren’t people laughing at me already?

“You were the one whose rotten mouth angered the old lady. Otherwise, I’d be her only grandson, and all her money would be mine. Would I still be wearing patched clothes?

“And you still have the nerve to get angry. Shut up.”

Dong Zhihong shouted, “Your grandmother was clearly angered by you…”

“Didn’t I learn that from you?”

The whole family argued endlessly. There was never a peaceful day.

Even the neighbors grew sick of it. They thought the couple might as well divorce. With all this daily fighting at home, who knew whether living like this was better than divorce?

But for Dong Zhihong to end up like this, one could only say that wicked people were tormented by their own kind. He deserved it.

Dong Zhijie took what little money he had and tried reselling electronic watches. Not only did he fail to earn money, but when he took the train to purchase goods, a thief stole his money.

He tried selling tea eggs. The unsold tea eggs were not stored properly and began to smell a little rotten. He still tried to mix them in with fresh ones and sell them, but he was caught and scolded so badly he could not continue.

He then tried selling popsicles. After struggling for many days, he still failed to make money.

Then he discovered that several work units in the city were recruiting. Overjoyed, he hurried to sign up for the exams. He even deliberately kept it hidden from everyone in the village, afraid someone might compete with him.

Who knew that after taking exams for two different units, he failed both.

He even wanted to argue with them, but was mercilessly driven out.

They said,

“If you’re looking for work, you should have some self-awareness. Look for jobs based on what you actually know how to do. If you know nothing, why are you taking these exams?”

After thinking it over, he could only join a construction crew.

That job did not select people too carefully, and the wages were not bad. But it involved carrying bricks and mixing cement. It was unbearably exhausting. After only two days, he could not endure it and gave up.

After tossing back and forth for several months, Dong Zhijie earned no money at all. Dusty and defeated, he returned home to farm.

When he saw that the fields were full of weeds and insects, he had no choice but to bitterly work from dawn to dusk cleaning them up.

The other villagers knew he had gone out trying to earn money. Seeing that he had ultimately returned, his back seemed much more bent, his head was always lowered, and he no longer liked speaking to others.

Behind his back, they all said he was no good, not the kind of person who could make his way outside. He could only obediently guard his few mu of land and live out his days.

The rest of the Dong family had been watching.

They thought that if he kept trying so stubbornly and really discovered a way to make money, they could copy him.

Who knew Dong Zhijie would fail again and again?

Their original bit of courage vanished too.

They only felt that the outside world was far too difficult to survive in. There were even thieves who could steal without anyone noticing.

It was still the small patch of land in the village that felt solid and safe.

This made the Dong family retreat even more.

Especially since Dong Zhiyong had previously made a little money running a stall, but once everyone else began setting up stalls and doing business, he could no longer compete.

That only proved money was hard to earn.

Opportunities might be everywhere, but it still depended on whether you were suited for them and whether you had the ability to seize them.

And so the Dong family finally quieted down.

Yun Xi no longer heard news about them and continued developing the school.

The school added several new courses, including cutting-edge technical fields like electrical appliance repair. Neither students nor parents had expected this. Once they heard the prospects were excellent, enrollment filled up quickly.

By now, they had developed an almost blind trust in Yun Xi.

Fortunately, Yun Xi did not disappoint them. She continued to hold to her original intentions and devoted herself to cultivating talent.

Another year passed.

Once again, Yun Xi provided the city with a large number of technical workers, filling technical vacancies in various work units and making a major contribution to the city’s development.

Her marketplace was also extremely convenient for the public. It became a vegetable market that everyone visited and shopped at. It even became one of the city’s landmark buildings.

As the first self-employed individual, she had relied on her own development to inspire many others to start businesses. Over the years, she greatly promoted the city’s economic development.

The Mayor had accumulated impressive achievements and was about to be promoted.

Yun Xi was also named a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder, the highest honor specifically recognizing outstanding women.

The Mayor also helped Yun Xi become a Party member. At this time, there were not many Party members in the entire city, so this was an immense honor.

The Mayor was promoted and moved to the provincial capital.

At this time, Xiao Zhang graduated.

He called Yun Xi and said that a large company had offered him a position, while the school recommended him for a specialized research project. He felt a little lost and did not know which path to choose.

Yun Xi did not fully understand the technical terms he used, but combining them with the original owner’s memories of the future, she understood.

Those research topics were related to future computers and mobile phones, weren’t they?

Then of course he had to go.

Yun Xi said firmly,

“Go into research.

The stronger your knowledge is, the easier it will be to find work. But the opportunity to participate in important projects is too rare. So don’t hesitate.

If you don’t have enough money normally, just tell me.”

Hearing her steady voice, Xiao Zhang’s hesitation also turned firm.

“I have enough money. Mom, don’t worry.

All right. I also think research is better. I’ll reply to the school.”

“Do your best. In a while, I’ll also move to Beijing. We’ll see each other then.”

Xiao Zhang immediately became excited.

“Really? Mom, are you moving here for good this time?”

Yun Xi smiled.

“Yes. I won’t be leaving anytime soon. When I decide to retire in the future, I’ll find a place with beautiful mountains and clear water.

You can help me look at houses first. Once it’s settled, I’ll mail my things over.”

“Good. Leave it to me.”

Xiao Zhang had been outstanding even when he worked at the city government. He handled matters very efficiently.

One week later, he called to say that he had found a suitable house according to Yun Xi’s requirements.

Yun Xi also thought it sounded good, so she told him to rent it first. Then she packed her luggage and mailed it over.

Those ungrateful children had already been dealt enough blows.

Yun Xi’s career in the city had also reached its peak and was no longer suitable for further development.

So she simply moved to the capital.

Over the past few years, many people from Yangliu Village had worked with her and had already gained solid experience.

Yun Xi selected the two most capable among them and had them manage the school and marketplace.

Then, after selling her car, she went first to the provincial capital and took a plane from there to Beijing.

It was her first time flying.

Yun Xi was extremely curious. She circled the outside of the airplane once and stared at it in fascination for a long while before boarding.

Throughout the journey, she kept looking out the window.

Technology truly was miraculous.

In the past, they had needed magic to fly. Yet here, fuel alone could carry so many people into the air.

After landing, a photography studio employee came over and said passengers could take commemorative photos. The price was twice as expensive as outside.

Of course Yun Xi immediately took the offer.

She even took several photos.

The background was the airplane and the passengers, making the pictures quite distinctive.

After arriving in Beijing, Yun Xi took the recommendation letter written by the Mayor and went to the relevant departments to apply to open a technical school.

The approval process was strict, difficult, and complicated. It took a very long time.

Fortunately, her original school back home had been recognized by the government and had indeed provided society with a great deal of talent. In the end, her application was approved.

Yun Xi knew that this was only possible in this particular period.

Ten years later, it would be impossible.

She had taken advantage of the era.

So she did everything within her ability and opened a large school.

After all, expanding in the future would not be possible, so she might as well do it properly in one step.

Yun Xi busied herself with school matters, while Xiao Zhang began his research work.

Since both of them were in Beijing, they had more opportunities to meet.

Xiao Zhang had even worried that because they had not spent much time together over the past few years, Yun Xi might have forgiven her biological children. If so, their relationship would no longer feel so natural.

Unexpectedly, the moment the Dong family was mentioned, Yun Xi’s expression became indescribable, and she told him many of the things the Dong family had done.

Xiao Zhang was dumbstruck.

He found it difficult to imagine that some people could make such a complete mess of their lives. Just when it seemed they had already hit bottom, they could still make things even worse.

Yun Xi laughed at his expression.

“You won’t understand them.

“And they don’t understand how you could work and study at the same time and still get into Qing University.

“It’s like someone who scores full marks in mathematics and someone who fails. Neither side can understand how the other thinks.

“In any case, they wore away their own spirit through all their reckless struggling. They probably won’t come looking for me again.

“I’m so far away from them now. Even if they wanted to find me, it wouldn’t be easy.”

Xiao Zhang nodded.

“Mom, don’t let them upset you. You still have me.”

“All right. I have so many things to do. I don’t have time to think about them.”

Yun Xi was telling the truth.

As an outsider, it was extremely difficult for her to establish herself in Beijing.

Moreover, the moment she arrived, she opened a school and affected many people’s interests. Naturally, some people tried to create obstacles for her.

Yun Xi treated it all like a game, countering whatever moves came her way.

This world did not allow cultivation anyway. Since she had to complete her mission, she might as well use the opportunity to enter the secular world and experience it as a kind of training.

She felt that she had integrated quite well.

Her words, behavior, and mannerisms all resembled someone from this era, almost as if the original owner had transformed and been reborn. There was not much of her original self showing.

That way, no one would find her strange, and she also got to experience another kind of life.

It was quite interesting.

It took Yun Xi a full two years to establish herself in Beijing.

The employment period for her students happened to overlap with the graduation of university students.

University graduates were directly assigned jobs.

Her students, however, had to attend interviews and practical assessments on their own.

After they had been working for a while, their leaders and colleagues discovered that Yun Xi’s students were extremely practical, excellent at solving problems, highly ideologically aware, and very forward-thinking.

They were the kind of people who could be used as talent immediately upon starting work.

At last, Yun Xi’s school became famous.

Not only did the number of students double, but the quality of teachers applying for jobs also improved greatly.

Yun Xi’s interviews were strict, but the pay and benefits were excellent.

Those working at the school did not have an iron rice bowl, but they felt very secure.

There were no messy internal politics. They only had to focus on doing their own jobs well.

They earned more too.

The more they worked, the more motivated they became, and their overall spirit was excellent.

A newspaper came to interview Yun Xi, asking about the development of her career.

When the reporter heard that Yun Xi had only left the countryside at forty-five and had once been illiterate, he was stunned.

He asked a long series of questions.

The more he listened, the more shocked he became.

Yun Xi’s life story felt like a legend.

Very soon, that newspaper was distributed nationwide.

Although many ordinary city residents did not like buying newspapers, every work unit subscribed to them. Employees would read them and then spread interesting stories by word of mouth.

Recently, the story spreading most widely was about Principal Li of the technical school.

From the age of forty-five to fifty-one, an illiterate farm woman had taken only six years to enrich herself and become Principal Li, known in every household.

She had learned to drive and repair vehicles, placed first in a provincial examination, become the country’s first self-employed individual, single-handedly driven the development of a city’s economy, revitalized Yangliu Village, and opened a vocational school to provide society with practical talent.

She was incredible.

How could one person become this extraordinary in just a few short years?

People could only say that she was a genius.

For the previous forty-plus years, she had been limited by the era and by the village. She had never had the chance to study or develop.

Back then, even wanting to read and learn could have brought criticism, not to mention that she had raised four children alone and had no time for herself at all.

More than forty years of hardship had not worn away her ambition. Instead, it had forged her resilient character.

The moment she had an opportunity, she soared into the sky.

When people learned that her four children and grandchildren had all been unfilial, they sighed deeply.

Some elderly people said perhaps those were debts she had owed in a past life. Once the debts were repaid, she could finally live for herself, and a good life came to her.

Even those who criticized her for not acknowledging her children fell silent after learning that she had sponsored many orphans.

She had a loving heart and was willing to spend money.

While doing good deeds, she gave those children hope and did her best to cultivate them into capable people.

No one could have done better.

In the hearts of those children, she was the best “Mother Li.”

So whatever had happened in her family must have been the fault of those ungrateful children.

The newspaper’s reach was enormous.

Yun Xi’s story rapidly spread across the land.

The vice principal brought a copy of the newspaper for Yun Xi to read.

After reading it, Yun Xi laughed.

Those ungrateful children were probably going to be furious.

Now they had lost face nationwide.

The Dong family really did jump in anger.

The moment they heard Yun Xi had been featured in the newspaper, they had a bad feeling.

The newspaper reported many things clearly. Would it mention that they had been unfilial?

After finding a way to see the newspaper, they discovered that it really did.

The article said they had been trials that tempered Yun Xi, and that Yun Xi’s life with them had been suffering.

Their vision went black.

How could they face people in the future?

Even before this, they had been afraid that when they went into the city, someone might recognize them and curse them as ingrates.

Now the entire country knew.

Did that mean no matter where they went, someone might recognize and curse them?

What was this?

At the same time, they felt deep jealousy.

Yun Xi had reached a new height again. She had gone to the capital to open a technical school and had become a figure praised by the whole nation.

That was their mother.

How could the gap between them be so enormous?

Why had she not passed even a bit of that ability down to them?

Sourly, they said that Yun Xi was simply lucky. She had saved the Mayor’s family, and with the Mayor protecting and escorting her all the way, of course success came easily.

The Village Chief happened to hear this and fired back,

“If you encountered a human trafficker throwing a child, would you be able to save the child?

You still call it luck? That was Principal Li’s ability.

Only she could walk this path step by step. Anyone else would have failed.”

The Dong family did not dare say another word.

They only dared to grumble quietly in private. Openly, they did not dare curse Yun Xi at all.

Just as the entire village was happy for Yun Xi, Yun Xi called the Village Chief.

“My school in Beijing still has quite a few positions. People from our village will be given priority. Village Chief, first screen a batch of capable people willing to come to the capital to develop. I won’t accept anyone without ability.”

The Village Chief froze, then became ecstatic.

Jobs in the capital.

A chance to develop in Beijing.

That was the capital!

He immediately agreed.

Then he hurriedly convened a village-wide meeting and began selecting talent.

The entire village soared with excitement.

Only the Dong family felt increasingly bitter.

The villagers had already gone to the city to work for Yun Xi. Now they were going to the capital too.

Such wonderful treatment was given by Yun Xi to villagers without hesitation.

Yet the Dong siblings could not touch any of it.

It made their hearts itch and ache terribly.

They wished time could turn back, wished they could have been filial to their mother from the beginning.

Yun Xi’s move struck with precision.

It hit the Dong family with both regret and pain.

With the entire village grateful to Yun Xi, the Dong family could not say a single bad word about her.

They were nearly suffocated by their frustration.

They finally understood how good their earlier lives had been.

In that era of food and clothing shortages, they had all grown up healthy.

That had all been Yun Xi’s achievement.

Unfortunately, by the time they understood, everything was already too late.

Yun Xi was far, far away from them now.

It was as if she had already gone to another world.

╰───♡───╯

That’s right. Yun Xi donated money to the orphanage specifically to make the ungrateful children suffer. Her money could go to many children. She could give it to anyone she wanted.

Just not to her ungrateful biological children.

Because Yun Xi became the first person in the city to engage in charity work and donated such a large amount of money, public opinion of her improved even more.

The entire city knew about her now.

Some called her Sister Li.

Some called her Teacher Li.

Some called her Auntie Li.

Some called her Grandma Li.

Some called her Mother Li.

Whenever people mentioned her, there was no longer any jealousy.

Most people were still struggling just to make ends meet. Yun Xi had already risen to a height beyond their reach.

Nobody envied her anymore.

They simply looked up to her.

The children she sponsored frequently wrote letters to her, always addressing her as “Mother Li.”

Whenever she had time, Yun Xi wrote back.

Her letters were never long. She simply offered a few words of encouragement.

To those children, that warmth meant everything.

As principal of the vocational school, Yun Xi personally taught driving and vehicle repair.

Her classes had the largest enrollment.

After all, she had once placed first in the province in driving competitions. That alone sounded authoritative.

Now that she was willing to teach, many people naturally wanted to learn.

Once they mastered the skill, they could become drivers for various organizations and earn twenty yuan a month.

The other classes had fewer students, but they still attracted enrollments.

This was because Xu Ziyan had announced that tuition would be half-price for first-year students.

Anyone who enrolled could switch classes within a week if they discovered the subject was not suitable.

In other words, one tuition payment allowed students to explore any subject in the school.

The only catch was graduation.

Students had to pass examinations.

If they spent a few days sampling every skill without mastering any of them, they would fail the exams and receive no diploma.

After becoming famous for so many years, Yun Xi had earned the complete trust of a portion of the population.

Those people felt that anything she did would succeed.

The moment they heard tuition was half-price, they immediately enrolled their unemployed children.

Sister Qin was still somewhat worried.

“With benefits like that, won’t the school be overwhelmed? What if there are too many students and not enough teachers?”

Yun Xi smiled.

“Don’t worry. There won’t be that many students.

“My reputation may be big, but this is still my first time opening a school. Only a small group truly trusts me.

“Besides, now that the college entrance examination has been restored, many people are already studying. Others have jobs.

“Among those who are idle, many don’t want to learn anything. Others don’t want to pay tuition because they’re afraid they won’t successfully learn a skill.

“In the end, there won’t be many people who actually come.”

Sister Qin hesitated.

“Should we try to advertise? We can all help.”

Yun Xi shook her head.

“The school is still imperfect in many ways.

If there are too many students now, I won’t be able to manage them properly.

This is actually ideal.

After one year, when students graduate and find jobs through their skills, the school’s reputation will establish itself.

At that point, I won’t need advertising. Students will come naturally.

If too many people come now, we won’t have enough teachers.

Running a school is a long-term endeavor. It can’t be rushed.

I know exactly what I’m doing. Don’t worry.”

Hearing that, Sister Qin felt relieved and happy for her.

As Yun Xi had predicted, the school attracted enough students to avoid feeling empty, but not so many that it became crowded.

Some people privately sighed.

“Sister Li just can’t sit still. She always has to be doing something.

This school is probably going to fail.

Honestly, she was such an excellent driver. Wouldn’t it have been better to stay in the city government until retirement?

People would kill for a job like that.

Even selling the position could have brought in hundreds, maybe thousands of yuan.

But she just resigned.

What a waste.

And she was incredible at business too. How long did it take her to turn that tiny shop into a marketplace?’

“She practically revived all of Yangliu Village.”

“If she’d just focused on that, it would’ve been fine.”

“But why open a vocational school?”

“Do ordinary people have the ability to run a school?”

Others responded,

“But Sister Li isn’t ordinary.

“Nobody believed in her when she opened her shop either. Look how successful it is now.

“Maybe the school will succeed too.”

Even so, very few people were optimistic.

The main reason was that there had been no college entrance examinations for ten years. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. People simply didn’t place much value on schools anymore.

They also believed that high schools and universities at least offered state-recognized diplomas.

But a privately operated vocational school?

Would anyone recognize those credentials?

If students spent years there only to discover the education was worthless, they would have wasted both time and money.

So most people continued to wait and watch.

Yun Xi ignored all the noise.

As soon as enrollment ended, classes began immediately.

Not a single lesson was wasted.

Her goal was simple:

Teach students the maximum amount of practical knowledge in the shortest possible time.

Every classroom had a bulletin board in the back.

But instead of artwork, the boards displayed wage charts.

The charts clearly listed jobs associated with each skill and their starting salaries.

They also included notes about job availability and competition levels.

Everything was clear at a glance.

Students immediately understood why they were there.

They were there to learn skills and earn money.

The wage charts gave them a concrete goal.

They reminded students constantly not to waste time.

Every extra day spent idling meant another day of tuition paid and another day of income lost.

When Xiao Zhang learned about the school, he specifically gathered many of the newest technical books from Beijing and mailed them back.

Yun Xi simply established a library at the school.

The shelves were filled entirely with practical books.

Students could borrow them anytime.

Whenever they encountered something they didn’t understand, they could ask Yun Xi or the instructors.

If a teacher didn’t know the answer, that teacher was expected to research the issue and learn it before teaching the students.

The academic atmosphere grew stronger and stronger.

People who had been observing from the sidelines were astonished.

After hearing about the classroom wage charts, many began to think that mastering a trade through vocational school might actually be better than taking the college entrance examination.

University graduates still had to worry about where they would work afterward.

A trade skill, however, could lead directly to employment.

One culinary student returned home and cooked for his family.

His knife skills alone made it obvious he had learned something real.

A tailoring student repaired and altered clothes for relatives.

The garments immediately looked much better.

Although none of them had graduated yet, the results were already visible.

Naturally, their families proudly shared these stories with neighbors and relatives.

Word spread.

Enrollment gradually increased.

Finally, the first driving class taught by Yun Xi graduated.

The class had more than a dozen students.

All of them learned driving and vehicle repair.

Their abilities varied, but every one of them passed the graduation examination and received a diploma.

When they nervously applied for driving positions at organizations that owned vehicles, they expected a difficult process.

Instead, the mayor had already spoken with everyone beforehand.

The organizations immediately arranged practical driving tests.

Anyone whose skills met standards would be hired.

There was already a shortage of drivers, and experienced drivers rarely wanted apprentices.

The talent Yun Xi had trained became useful immediately.

Some graduates discovered local positions were already full and found jobs in neighboring cities instead.

No matter where they went, they all successfully found employment and began earning wages.

The discussions exploded.

A single phrase spread rapidly:

“If you attend Principal Li’s vocational school, you can find a job.”

Soon the entire province knew.

Young people who had failed the college entrance examination suddenly discovered a new path.

Some families even borrowed money to pay tuition and send their children there.

Enrollment tripled almost overnight.

The mayor later invited Yun Xi for tea and said with emotion,

“When you first proposed opening a vocational school, I wasn’t sure it would work.

I never imagined you would provide so many skilled workers for the city.

You’ve helped countless young people solve their employment problems.

I’m not exaggerating when I say there are fewer idle troublemakers wandering the streets now.

Public security has improved too.

Sister Li, you’ve made another tremendous contribution to our city.”

Yun Xi smiled.

“As long as I can help, that’s enough.

“I’m one of this city’s people.

The villagers treated me well.

My coworkers and leaders treated me well.

And so many others throughout the city showed me kindness.

When I was at my lowest point, they gave me light and hope.

So now I want to do my part for everyone too.

I want to give something back.”

“Good! Sister Li has always had a strong sense of social responsibility and civic awareness. This time, the city has decided to give you an award in recognition of your contributions and to encourage you to keep up the good work. On a personal level, all of us care about you as well. We hope you stay healthy and don’t work yourself too hard.”

Yun Xi often visited the mayor’s mother during holidays and festivals, and they had become quite close. Hearing this, she smiled and agreed, saying she would take better care of herself.

Soon afterward, Yun Xi’s vocational school was awarded the title of Advanced Collective, while Yun Xi herself was named an Advanced Individual. The province also granted her an Outstanding Contribution Award.

These honors added another layer of prestige to both Yun Xi and the school, raising the school’s reputation even further.

Vocational schools were a product of the opportunities unique to that era. For many young people who felt lost and uncertain about the future, the school clearly laid out several possible paths. As long as they worked hard and kept improving themselves, they would inevitably find a place in society.

Since Yun Xi had decided to run the school, she intended to do it properly.

Someone once privately suggested that she slow down the curriculum.

“If you stretch the program out to three or four years, wouldn’t that be better? Universities take that long too. A vocational school lasting several years sounds perfectly reasonable. Then you could collect tuition for much longer.”

Yun Xi rejected the idea immediately.

She wasn’t running the school to squeeze money out of people.

That would make the whole thing meaningless.

She wanted the teachers to teach practical knowledge every class period. The faster students learned, the better.

Students who excelled could even apply for early examinations and graduate ahead of schedule.

If a student spent an entire month wasting time and refusing to learn, Yun Xi would call in the parents to discuss whether the student should switch specialties or withdraw altogether rather than continue wasting tuition money.

Parents trusted the school more and more.

They felt it genuinely prioritized students’ interests and wasn’t trying to exploit anyone.

As a result, they trusted Yun Xi even more.

Her name became known in every household. She had already become one of the most influential figures in the region.

Meanwhile, the city government began constructing a residential complex for employees.

Staff members who wanted apartments could purchase them at half price. Those without money could continue living in the free employee dormitories.

It was one of the government’s employee benefits.

During a meeting, the mayor brought up Yun Xi.

“Sister Li has always lived alone. She was once one of our own colleagues. Why don’t we let her buy a unit in the employee housing complex as well? She can be neighbors with everyone. We’ll see each other more often, and it will also be safer for her. If anything happens, we’ll all be nearby to help.”

No one objected.

Even setting aside the fact that most of them already had good relationships with Yun Xi, being on friendly terms with someone of her status and influence was a good thing.

Besides, the employees were buying their apartments at half price. Yun Xi would be paying full price.

She wasn’t receiving any special discount.

The arrangement was simply for convenience and security.

So everyone readily agreed.

When Yun Xi heard about it, she was delighted.

It wasn’t that she worried about her safety. She simply found that her growing reputation attracted endless people trying to curry favor with her.

Living near familiar city government colleagues would be much more comfortable.

She intentionally waited until all the government employees had selected their apartments before choosing hers.

To her surprise, one of the remaining units was a spacious three-bedroom apartment with an excellent location.

Most employees had limited budgets and small families of three, so two-bedroom units were sufficient.

That was how Yun Xi managed to pick up such a good apartment.

Soon she purchased furniture and moved into her new home.

Many employees at the school and marketplace were people from Yangliu Village. When they heard she was moving, they naturally came to help.

Yun Xi applied for permission and invited both the villagers and her former city government colleagues to celebrate her housewarming at the government cafeteria.

Most of the villagers had never even entered an apartment building before.

A large three-bedroom apartment was beyond anything they had ever imagined.

Some of them still shared a heated brick bed with siblings.

Meanwhile, Yun Xi had an entire bedroom for herself, a separate study, and even a walk-in closet.

The living room and kitchen were spacious.

There was even a modern bathroom with a toilet.

Many of them had never seen a flush toilet before.

When they returned to Yangliu Village, the entire village erupted into discussion once again.

Dong Zhihong was complaining about insects in the fields and weeds that never seemed to disappear when he noticed how lively the village had become.

Jealous, he grumbled to Wang Huijuan,

“It must be something about that old woman again. She’s already forty-eight years old. Why does she keep stirring up trouble every single day? Isn’t she afraid she’ll wear herself out?”

Wang Huijuan rolled her eyes.

“All you do is curse her behind her back. Why don’t you say it to her face?

If you were really capable, you’d bring her back home. Then that marketplace and that school would belong to us.

You call yourself the eldest son, but you’re completely useless.”

Dong Zhihong glared.

“Say that again and I’ll beat you to death! You women are all the same. Long hair, short vision…”

“Bah!”

Wang Huijuan cut him off.

“Even the old lady said it. You’ve got short hair and short vision.

And don’t look down on women. If you make me angry enough, I’ll divorce you and go find work in the city myself.

Then we’ll see who lives better.

You won’t even have a hot meal to eat or clean clothes to wear.

Other than running your mouth, what can you actually do?”

She planted her hands on her hips and fired right back.

Unlike before, she was no longer afraid of him.

From a distance, Dong Zhijie saw the couple arguing.

He immediately assumed it had something to do with Yun Xi again.

He had heard she moved into a new home.

Those villagers were such shameless followers, he thought.

Was moving into a new house really worth all this excitement?

Why did they keep talking about it after returning to the village?

Exchanging a glance with Wang Xuefen, he pulled down his straw hat and slipped into the crowd to listen.

“You should’ve seen that mattress,” someone was saying excitedly.

“It was so thick. No mattress pad needed at all. So comfortable!

“All the quilts were stored neatly in closets. Only one blanket was left on the bed, covered with a beautiful zippered duvet cover.

“When it gets dirty, you just wash the cover. No need to pick out stitches and resew everything like we do.

“The bedroom was so neat and clean. Just looking at it made you feel comfortable.”

Another villager chimed in.

“And that sofa in the living room. They call it a fabric sofa.”

“Way more comfortable than those wooden couches everyone else has.”

“The coffee table was huge too.”

“There was an entire tea set on it.”

“Most of the pieces I didn’t even recognize. I only knew the teapot and teacups.”

“Principal Li brewed tea for all of us.”

“I only had a small cup, but wow, it tasted amazing.”

Someone else jumped in eagerly.

“Do you know what a walk-in closet is?”

“It’s an entire room dedicated just to clothes!”

“I couldn’t believe it.”

“There were rows of wardrobes packed full of clothing.”

“I don’t think I could wear that many clothes in an entire lifetime.”

“And every single outfit looked expensive.”

“There was even a full-length mirror in the middle of the room.”

“I’ve only ever seen large mirrors in big government buildings before.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone have such a huge mirror inside their own home.”

“So convenient.”

The speaker shook his head in disbelief.

“Principal Li has really made it. An entire room just for clothes. I couldn’t have imagined something like that before.”

“The bathroom was even better,” another person said.

“You don’t have to squat anymore. You just sit on the toilet.

“Then after you’re done, you press a button and everything flushes away. There’s also a sink with running water. You don’t even need to carry water to wash your face or hands.”

“And there’s a mirrored cabinet on the wall. You store toothbrushes and cosmetics inside, then close the door and use it as a mirror. Who came up with something so clever?”

Someone sighed dreamily.

“If I could live in a place like that, I’d be satisfied for the rest of my life.”

“You definitely can,” another replied immediately.

“Principal Li said so herself.

“She said that as long as we work hard, keep improving ourselves, and seize opportunities, one day we’ll all live in apartments like that.

Maybe even better ones.

Isn’t life improving year after year?”

“That’s right!”

“Principal Li never talks nonsense.

She sees further than anyone else and always predicts things correctly.

If she says the future will be better, then it definitely will be.

We all need to work harder.”

The village chief took the opportunity to encourage everyone.

“Principal Li’s school and marketplace always give priority to people from our village.

So everyone needs to work hard and do a good job.

Don’t throw away the opportunities in your hands.

Miss this chance and you may never get another one.

Treasure it and keep striving.”

The crowd immediately responded:

“Work hard!”

“Let’s all work hard together!”

Meanwhile, Dong Zhijie and Wang Xuefen returned home looking utterly miserable.

Both were filled with resentment.

After a long silence, Wang Xuefen finally spoke.

“You used to be the most promising child in your family.

And the reason you made the old lady angry wasn’t even that serious. You and I secretly ate good food without sharing it with her.

That’s not some unforgivable crime, is it?”

She paused before asking carefully:

“Can you really not win her back?

Maybe you should try.

Kneel down.

Cry.

Bow and admit your mistakes.

Tell her you truly know you were wrong.

Maybe she’d let us move over there and take care of her.

We could look after her meals, her daily life, everything…”

“Once we take care of everything at home, won’t she be able to focus on the school and marketplace in peace? If it works out, our daughter can go to school in the city too. We can have the old lady ask someone to look after her. Even if she doesn’t study well, maybe she can become the old lady’s personal apprentice. Later, she could even enter the city government as a driver.”

How could Dong Zhijie’s heart not waver?

Such a wonderful apartment. Today was the first time he had even heard of it, and he did not know whether he would ever have the chance to see one in this lifetime. Yet his mother lived in one alone and enjoyed life.

Now that Wang Xuefen put it this way, he was tempted.

The old lady was already forty-eight. At fifty, one knew the mandate of heaven. How many more years could she live? After so much time, shouldn’t her anger have faded?

Maybe he should try.

Dong Zhijie found his best clothes, cleaned himself up, and went to the city government family housing compound.

He paced outside, thinking about how to get Yun Xi to come out, when a car drove over. He hurriedly stepped to the roadside.

The car stopped at the gate, waiting for the guard to open it. He instinctively looked inside and discovered that the driver was actually Yun Xi.

“Mom?” Dong Zhijie’s eyes widened in shock. “This… this is your car?”

Yun Xi had not closed the window. Hearing the voice, she looked over. With one glance, she knew what Dong Zhijie had come for, so she said,

“It is my car. I earned it through my own ability.

Before, you relied on becoming a teacher and looked down on the whole family. I taught you that there is always someone better, that you shouldn’t be arrogant or complacent, that you shouldn’t look down on people because of their occupations, and that you especially shouldn’t treat your own family that way.

You thought I was just an ignorant farm woman and dismissed my words with contempt.

Now I also hope you can be self-reliant and strong. Don’t be a dodder flower. Use your real ability to earn money.

You’ve seen it. Opportunities are everywhere now. Go out more, look around more, and find the path that suits you. Don’t waste your thoughts on me. I will not acknowledge you again, and I will not give you anything. Don’t come again.”

Yun Xi rolled up the window and drove into the compound.

The gate closed in front of Dong Zhijie, as if separating him and Yun Xi into two different worlds, leaving him unable to touch her ever again.

He could not help taking two steps forward, watching the car gradually drive away.

The old gatekeeper called out,

“Hurry home. At my age, I still earn my own money. A young man with sound hands and feet should go work hard for himself.

Principal Li has already treated you well enough. She even spoke to you earnestly and told you so much. You need to take it to heart, understand?

All right, all right, hurry up and leave. Outsiders aren’t allowed to loiter at our gate. If you keep lingering here, I’ll call someone.”

Afraid of losing face, Dong Zhijie quickly ran away.

But he had not taken Yun Xi’s words to heart. Instead, he felt deeply humiliated.

Back then, he had looked down on all of them, and the person he had looked down on most was his shrewish mother, who only knew how to farm, work, and quarrel with others.

Now, it was that very mother who was living the best life, even reaching a height he could not climb to.

He felt as if his face had been peeled off and trampled. Walking down the street, he felt as though everyone was looking at him.

Many people in the city government knew him and knew he was Yun Xi’s son. Did other people know too?

Paranoid and suspicious, Dong Zhijie rushed home as quickly as possible. He collapsed dejectedly on the threshold, holding his head in both hands.

He did not dare go out onto the streets at all. He feared people pointing at him. How could someone like him go out, look around, and find opportunities to make money?

Humiliated into anger, he thought, Yun Xi knew so many paths and had helped so many people find work. Why couldn’t she directly tell him how to make money?

All she said was empty talk. Yet that gatekeeper actually thought Yun Xi was kind for telling him so much. Which sentence was actually useful?

Wang Xuefen grabbed him anxiously.

“How was it? Did you see the old lady? What did she say?”

Dong Zhijie pushed her away and said stiffly,

“It was useless. She said she won’t acknowledge us again, won’t give us anything, and told us to rely on our own abilities if we’re capable. She also said opportunities are everywhere outside.”

Wang Xuefen froze, then asked,

“What did you say? Did you kneel to her? Did you kowtow and admit your mistake? Did you cry and beg?”

“No! There were other people there. How could I do those things?” Dong Zhijie turned his head away impatiently.

Making him kowtow and admit fault was something he could never do in this lifetime.

Wang Xuefen grew furious.

“You didn’t do anything, so how could the old lady possibly forgive you? You finally went there once, and this was all you did? Is your brain flooded? Are you sick?

The greatest opportunity was placed right in front of you, and you were acting lofty for whom? Sulking for whom?”

Dong Zhijie shouted,

“She just won’t acknowledge me anymore. What can I do? Maybe even if I died in front of her, she wouldn’t frown!”

“How do you know it won’t work if you haven’t tried?”

“I just know it won’t work! It can’t work!”

The two had a fierce argument and were exhausted in both body and mind.

Once, they too had been a loving young couple. Together, they had secretly cooked extra food outside, quietly hidden private savings, dressed up their daughter, and looked forward to dividing from the family one day, building a big house, finding a chance to transfer to the city for work, becoming official teachers, moving their household registration there, and living better and better as a family.

Now, the affection between them had been worn away through argument after argument.

Perhaps the rift had appeared from the day Wang Xuefen’s family came demanding money. Later, the hardship and exhaustion of life caused them to blame each other, until no trace of their former love remained.

Wang Xuefen stared blankly for a while, then said,

“Let’s divorce.”

“What?” Dong Zhijie looked at her in disbelief.

Wang Xuefen said,

“When I married you, it was because you were a teacher, you gave a decent bride price, and you promised to help me become a scorekeeper so I wouldn’t have to farm. I wanted a good life.

Now you can’t give me anything, so don’t delay me anymore.

And the child. Can you bear to let her keep living like this? I’ll take her with me. My mother will help me care for her. Even if I remarry later, I won’t change her surname. You can see her whenever you want.”

Wang Xuefen said many things.

The more Dong Zhijie listened, the angrier he became. This clearly was not a sudden idea. She had wanted to divorce him for a long time. She had even thought about remarrying.

For the first time, he was so furious that he slapped Wang Xuefen.

Wang Xuefen jumped up and scratched his face bloody, then took the child and ran back to her maternal family.

Afterward, a large group of Wang family members came over, took away Wang Xuefen and the child’s luggage, beat Dong Zhijie, and forced him to go through the divorce.

Dong Zhijie refused to agree and ran to the Wang family to take his daughter away.

Who knew his daughter would hug her grandmother and frown.

“Dad, you have no vision and no ability. Don’t stop me from finding another path. My grandmother treats me very well. Here, I can eat meat more often. Do you insist that I follow you and live a bitter life?

Back then, didn’t you dislike Grandma for trapping you and delaying your chance to live well by not dividing the family sooner? Didn’t you also complain that eating anything good secretly was too troublesome?

I think so too. Usually, when I want to eat something good, Mom tells me not to tell you. Tsk, so annoying. So I don’t want to follow you. I want to follow Mom and Grandmother.”

Dong Zhijie looked toward Wang Xuefen.

Wang Xuefen dodged his gaze and turned her face away.

Only then did he realize that after life grew difficult and the family’s food worsened, his wife had secretly eaten good food with the child behind his back without letting him know.

He wanted to curse them, but he felt that the curse would include himself too, because back then, he had done the same thing to Yun Xi.

Yun Xi had once said that children learned by example. If they did not set a good example, their children would treat them the same way in the future.

Sure enough, she had been right.

Now he was experiencing what it felt like to be despised and deceived by his own child.

He even immediately wanted to curse, “Ingrate!”

Only now did he finally understand Yun Xi’s feelings.

After the divorce procedures were completed, Dong Zhijie returned to the empty, broken house and remembered his childhood.

Back then, his mother had raised the four of them alone. She always had endless work to do. He had known his mother worked hard.

When had he begun disliking her for arguing with others like a shrew?

When had he begun despising her for having no ability and failing to let him live a good life?

When had he begun disliking her for not being pretty or fashionable enough, so that he felt embarrassed at school to tell others what his mother was like?

Now, he and his wife could not even support one small household or raise one child properly.

Back then, his mother had raised four children all by herself.

Without experiencing it, one truly did not know how difficult it was, nor how little one was actually worth.

Unfortunately, now that he knew, it was already too late.

His mother would not give him another chance, nor would she acknowledge him again.

Back then, they had despised their mother so much.

With her actions, she had proven that she simply had never had the chance to study, never had the chance to work, and had only been dragged down by life. Given one opportunity, she could climb upward, and faster and higher than anyone else.

In contrast, now that their mother had told them to rely on their own abilities and stand on their own, they had accomplished nothing.

As for the so-called opportunities everywhere, he could not find them at all. He understood nothing and could not tell what counted as an opportunity.

Perhaps he should try everything.

After all, things were already like this. What if one attempt led him onto a very good path?

╰───♡───╯

Some people were waiting to see Yun Xi make a fool of herself. Some worried for her. But no one was optimistic about her decision. They all felt she was too restless. Giving up her job and pension was truly the worst possible choice.

Some even wondered whether she had tasted the benefits of being unconventional and had grown increasingly fond of standing out.

There was a great deal of discussion about Yun Xi resigning to do business. Many people went to her shop to watch the excitement, only to be attracted by her promotional benefits.

Buy two, get one free.

You normally couldn’t take advantage of such a bargain.

If everyone else bought and your family didn’t, wouldn’t you be losing out?

And so, during Yun Xi’s first three days of business, the shopful of goods sold out every single day.

Only on the fourth day did sales drop, but by then, she had a normal flow of customers.

The Village Chief stayed there for half a day and discovered that the customer traffic was actually about the same as the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. He was quite shocked.

“What’s going on? Don’t people trust the Supply and Marketing Cooperative more? They’re used to buying everything there. Why did they switch here?”

Yun Xi was moving an abacus and keeping accounts as she replied,

“Because too many people came during the first three days. After they bought the goods and took them home, they discovered that the rice was newly harvested this year, the eggs were the freshest and not a single one was rotten, the vegetables were tender and crisp, and the chickens, ducks, and geese were fat.

Not only was there nothing wrong with the goods, they were even better than those at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

On top of that, I don’t require coupons. They also heard that everything comes directly from the village, so psychologically, they’ll lean toward thinking that buying here is better and cheaper.”

The Village Chief did not understand things like psychology, but he did understand that the Supply and Marketing Cooperative’s goods really were ordinary.

Because they never worried about selling, and because people used to have no choice but to buy there, the salesclerks always wore long faces as if someone owed them money. Sometimes when people bought eggs, they discovered the eggs had already been sitting there for several days and were not very fresh. Sometimes the soy sauce had been left too long and even grew mold.

The goods in Yun Xi’s shop were all fresh.

So the key to increasing customer traffic was publicity. Everyone had to know that the goods here were good.

The opening three-day promotion was for publicity, and the effect had been excellent. Basically, the whole city now knew about Sister Li’s Small Shop.

When people passed by on their way to and from work, they bought things there. Business would only get better in the future.

The Village Chief was overjoyed.

Although the buy-two-get-one-free discount was very generous, the amount sold was high.

People in the countryside had no income besides farming. After production was contracted to households, whatever they grew belonged to their own families. Many households had extra grain and vegetables they could not finish eating. But after spending their entire lives in the village, they did not know how to sell goods outside.

They could only send them to the grain depot or the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where prices were pressed very low. The longer the goods sat at home, the worse they became, and the villagers grew anxious.

This time, through Yun Xi, so much had been sold at once.

It was equivalent to clearing out the villagers’ surplus goods in three days.

Even if the price was a little lower, there was still profit to be made. In the future, they could sell steadily at normal prices for a long time. No matter how one looked at it, this was a great thing.

So these past few days, the village had been full of joy. Everyone praised Yun Xi for being capable.

At first, she was capable on her own. Later, she cultivated a son who entered Qing University. Now she had come to benefit her fellow villagers.

There was not a single person in Yangliu Village who did not speak well of her.

When the Dong family saw this, they again felt Yun Xi was foolish.

If a person did business, shouldn’t the goal be to earn as much as possible?

Why help the villagers?

What did they have to do with her? Why give benefits to them?

She had even found two young men to help watch the shop.

What was she doing? Planning to take in two more godsons?

She had so many biological relatives at home and refused to use a single one of them, not giving them the slightest benefit. Yet she was frighteningly generous to outsiders.

They truly did not know how her brain worked.

However, no matter how angry the Dong family was, it was useless.

The Village Chief would not even accept grain or vegetables from their family.

When they went to argue, the Village Chief said Yun Xi had already severed ties with them and did not want any future connection.

Besides, they had personally declared that they would not support Yun Xi in old age or see her off in death. With such a relationship, could he accept their vegetables for Yun Xi to sell?

One or two months passed, and Yun Xi’s small shop grew increasingly prosperous.

Some people saw it and felt that doing business really might work.

Yun Xi had always been outstanding before. There was no reason she would suddenly lose her mind and choose the wrong path.

Most likely, she had gone to the provincial capital and the national capital, broadened her horizons, or heard some information from the Mayor. That was why she had resolutely quit her job to do business.

They had failed to keep up before when it came to driving and studying. Could they really fail to keep up with doing business too?

So the small group of people who blindly trusted Yun Xi began setting up stalls.

Some sold melon seeds and soda at the movie theater. Some sold popsicles on the street. Some went to the train station to sell tea eggs. There were people selling all kinds of things.

In any case, the number of street vendors suddenly increased.

There was also an old tailor who opened a tailoring shop, and an old carpenter who opened a furniture shop.

They were old and had seen more of the world. They knew that in the past, people could make a living through craftsmanship. Later, individual private business was not allowed, so they had stopped.

Now that Yun Xi had loudly opened a shop known throughout the whole city, and no one interfered with her, and she even had a proper business license, it must mean the government approved.

Yun Xi’s relationship with the Mayor was not ordinary, and she was as close as family with the entire city government staff.

With Yun Xi serving as an example, people who had originally wanted to wait and observe for a while became bold. They directly opened shops and, like Yun Xi, obtained business licenses.

The Mayor’s secretary happily showed the department report to the Mayor.

“Mayor, the first step in promoting economic development has stabilized. Sister Li has made another major contribution!”

The Mayor looked at the number of newly registered self-employed individuals and street vendors and could not help standing up in excitement.

“Sister Li’s influence is actually this great. It hasn’t been long, yet so many people have already followed her example.”

The secretary said,

“Sister Li truly is a talent. If she had stayed at the city government all along, she definitely could have done even more.”

Thinking of Yun Xi’s determined gaze the day she resigned, the Mayor smiled.

“Could a golden-scaled fish be a creature of the pond? It is already very good that Sister Li helped me with this. We can’t trouble her further.

Also, remember to greet the police station. Have them keep an eye on Sister Li’s shop and make sure no jealous person goes to bully her.”

The secretary nodded and kept the matter in mind.

There were indeed quite a few people secretly laughing at Yun Xi, thinking that although she said she had resigned, perhaps she had actually been dismissed for being too high-profile before.

These were all jealous people who could not stand seeing others do well.

But now that Yun Xi had opened a shop selling vegetables, to be honest, it did sound inferior to being a city government employee. It was hard to guarantee that no one would act impulsively and go cause trouble. Giving a warning in advance was safer.

Only after truly trying to set up stalls and open shops did everyone realize that doing business really made money.

When business was good, one could earn ten or twenty yuan in a single day. That was far more than what a worker earned.

Although not everyone’s personality was suited for business, this still gave many people a new livelihood.

As more people set up stalls, Dong Zhiyong’s business became harder.

Previously, he had sold New Year goods, and since everyone was willing to buy them during New Year, business had indeed been good. Later, when he sold odds and ends on a small scale, it had still been decent. After all, there were few stalls, and rare things were valuable.

But now stalls were springing up like bamboo shoots after rain. Among them, he no longer stood out, and his income shrank sharply.

After another day of waking before dawn and working until dark without earning much money, he angrily packed up his stall and rushed to Yun Xi’s shop.

“Are you deliberately targeting me? I set up a stall to do business, and you opened a shop and led everyone else to do business too. Now that I’m about to be squeezed out, are you happy?”

Yun Xi was organizing goods and preparing to close. She glanced at him and said lightly,

“You’re still running a stall? I forgot about that ages ago. That was so long ago. Who would pay attention?”

Dong Zhiyong felt even more uncomfortable.

What did she mean?

Did she not care about him at all?

She had even forgotten he was running a stall?

He laughed in anger.

“Being your son is really eight lifetimes of bloody bad luck. I can’t get the slightest benefit from you, and everywhere I turn, you’re forcing me down a dead-end road.”

Yun Xi thought, yes, yes, yes. I deliberately went into business to squeeze you out. I also deliberately led the whole village to prosperity, leaving only you ingrates behind.

What would be the point of merely watching her live well?

Only by watching her lift everyone around her into better lives while leaving them behind would they feel pain.

All of this could clearly have belonged to them too. But because they were unfilial, it was gone!

Of course, she would not say this out loud.

If she did, it would have the opposite effect.

She only said,

“What an interesting thing to say. I do my small business, and now there are other shops and stalls in the city too. Many are doing very well. Why are you the only one being forced down a dead-end road?

Do you mean you’re worse than them?

The moment they appeared, you stopped being capable?”

As Yun Xi spoke, she even looked surprised, as if she had not expected Dong Zhiyong to be this useless, unable to handle even such a small matter.

Dong Zhiyong’s face flushed red, and his neck thickened with rage. He raised his foot and kicked over a sack of rice.

“I’ll let you open a shop! Let you open one! I…”

“What are you doing? Stop!”

From the police station diagonally across the street, two public security officers rushed over and pinned Dong Zhiyong to the ground.

Dong Zhiyong was instantly stunned and said in fear,

“Public security comrades, she’s my mother. This is a family matter, a family matter!”

The two officers looked toward Yun Xi.

Yun Xi frowned and said,

“I severed ties with him long ago. He came over, cursed me, and damaged my goods. If you hadn’t arrived in time, who knows what else he would have done.”

The public security officers heard this and immediately escorted Dong Zhiyong into the station.

Dong Zhiyong was so frightened that his soul nearly left his body. He kept looking back in terror and shouting,

“Mom! Mom, don’t let them arrest me, Mom!”

Yun Xi closed the shop, went over to give her statement, and then left. She did not see Dong Zhiyong again at all.

Dong Zhiyong, meanwhile, was interrogated for an entire night. He was so tired he could barely stay upright, but he was not allowed to sleep. He had to repeatedly explain exactly what he had gone to the shop to do.

In the end, Dong Zhiyong could not withstand it anymore and shamefully admitted that he had only gone there to vent his emotions and had not intended to do anything else.

He had thought he was suited for business and had been doing very well. He had never expected that once Yun Xi opened her shop, she would earn more than he had in several months and even lead so many others to start businesses too. He simply could not compare to them.

He was both jealous and angry. He kept feeling that if Yun Xi were still like before, then that shop would now be under his management. Such a thriving shop might even have become his inheritance in the future.

But now he had nothing, and he felt miserable, so he wanted to go cause trouble for Yun Xi.

The public security officers interrogating him found it ridiculous.

No wonder Yun Xi refused to acknowledge this son. With a son like this, losing one would be no loss.

Dong Zhiyong had damaged someone else’s property, so he was fined compensation according to the value of the goods. Added to the nutrition fee for the fright Yun Xi suffered, he had to pay fifty yuan in total.

He was also detained for three days.

Dong Zhiyong did not dare say a word. He obediently stayed detained for three days. The moment he was released, he gave Yun Xi the fifty yuan and slunk back to the village.

When the villagers learned that he had been taken into the station, and that it was because he had gone looking for trouble with Yun Xi, they despised him greatly. In the village, he practically became a rat crossing the street.

Dong Zhiyong held a breath of resentment in his chest. He wanted to make a huge profit and earn his face back.

It just so happened that every household would eat many eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival, so he went to the neighboring county to buy a large batch of eggs. There was a chicken farm there, and bulk eggs were relatively cheap. There was profit to be made. He planned to rely on eggs to turn things around during this Dragon Boat Festival.

Who knew that he had no experience?

When he hired a vehicle to transport the eggs back, the vehicle stalled halfway. Between repairing the vehicle, starting it again, and braking, some of the eggs broke.

By the time he finally got them to the warehouse he had rented, he was so exhausted that he lay down and fell asleep.

The next day, when he wanted to organize the eggs, he discovered that the egg liquid from the broken eggs had affected the eggs beside them. Some of the eggs were no longer fresh.

As Dong Zhiyong sorted the eggs, his heart ached.

He had not even started selling yet, and he had already lost money. Could he still earn anything?

When the Dragon Boat Festival approached, he went out to sell eggs and discovered that many people on the street were selling eggs. Even the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and Yun Xi’s small shop had increased their egg supply.

People had too many choices, so they compared goods and picked carefully.

Although Dong Zhiyong’s eggs did sell, sales were very average.

Seeing this, Yun Xi directly launched a promotion. For old customers who had bought from her before, eggs were twenty percent off. New customers who bought ten eggs got one free, bought twenty and got three free, bought thirty and got four free, and so on. Different people could pool together to buy.

Once people could pool orders, it became worthwhile.

They had to buy eggs somewhere anyway. The eggs in Yun Xi’s shop had always been especially fresh, delivered daily from the village. Three or five people could buy several dozen together and receive several free eggs. How good a deal was that?

Besides, there were far too many people who had bought from her before.

When someone came over and said which day they had shopped there, Yun Xi could check the account book and give them the twenty percent discount if it matched. Most of the time, she did not even need to check the account book. Her memory was good, and she recognized all her old customers.

Everyone bought happily.

As for Yun Xi, she cleared out all her eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival.

A couple of other sellers also copied Yun Xi’s promotion and hurriedly sold their eggs.

Dong Zhiyong sneered at them, thinking they were fools.

The reason to sell eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival was that the price went up and profit was high. Weren’t they stupid to lower the price?

Because he stubbornly held his price, he did not sell many eggs.

He thought it did not matter. Eggs were eaten daily. Sooner or later, they would all sell.

But after the Dragon Boat Festival passed, his eggs stopped selling.

As he shouted on the street selling eggs, a passerby laughed and said,

“Everyone stocked up several jin of eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival and hasn’t finished eating them yet. Who’s buying eggs now?”

His heart jolted. He had not considered this before.

He hurriedly tried to lower the price, only to discover that the market price had already dropped quite a bit.

Some of his eggs had even gone rotten.

In the end, by selling some and giving some away, he finally sold all the eggs. When he calculated the money, not only had he failed to earn anything, he had lost money.

Hiring the vehicle, repairing the vehicle, renting the warehouse, and the spoiled eggs had consumed quite a bit of money.

After all that work, he had earned nothing. Meanwhile, he heard that Yun Xi’s shop had made quite a lot.

When he passed Yun Xi’s shop and saw customers constantly coming and going inside, Yun Xi smiling warmly as she served them, completely different from the cold face she showed him, someone rode over on a bicycle.

He recognized the person as one of Yun Xi’s former coworkers from the city government.

The person placed down a large package and smiled.

“Sister Li, your son sent you another package. Hurry and open it so we can see what it is too.”

Yun Xi laughed.

“They’re all just everyday things. It’s not anything rare. What’s there to be curious about?”

Although she said that, she still opened the package.

Inside were clothes and shoes popular in the capital, books, and some pretty ornaments.

The coworker clicked their tongue.

“Xiao Zhang really is willing to spend money. Two months ago, he sent you little leather shoes and leather gloves. Now he’s sent you summer clothes. He’s thousands of li away, but he still keeps thinking of you. Truly filial. You’re blessed!”

Yun Xi smiled.

“I am blessed. This son of mine is good in every way…”

Dong Zhiyong could not keep listening.

He could not bear those words.

His mother was no longer his mother. She had become someone else’s mother.

This time, he had wanted to make a huge profit, but he had failed. If Yun Xi saw him, who knew how she would mock him?

He had failed to turn things around, and he no longer wanted to stay here.

He went to the train station to buy a ticket and decided to go find his wife.

Dong Zhiyong left soon after.

His funds were tight now, so he bought a standing ticket. The entire journey was crowded and cramped. By the time he got off the train, he looked very sloppy and smelled of various odors.

He did not notice. He only thought about how he was about to see his wife, his only family member. He felt extremely excited and wondered whether his wife had missed him.

Following the university address, he found the place. Seeing the university students coming and going inside, he instinctively felt shorter than them and even bent his back a little.

Only when the gatekeeper saw him and asked what he was doing did he state his wife’s name.

Unexpectedly, before the gatekeeper could help him find her, he already saw her in the crowd.

Beside his wife was a man in a white shirt. The two of them were holding books, laughing and talking as they walked very close together. They were practically about to hold hands.

Dong Zhiyong instantly flew into a rage. He rushed over and punched the man in the face.

Then he pointed at his wife’s nose and cursed,

“I worked so hard setting up stalls to earn money for you to spend, and you’re here finding yourself a lover?”

His wife was shocked. Seeing the surrounding students look over, she only felt utterly humiliated.

“What nonsense are you saying? It’s not like that at all. He was only explaining problems to me. Hurry up and leave. This isn’t a place you should come.”

Dong Zhiyong flung her off.

“If I shouldn’t come, then who should? You two adulterers? In the past, you would have been paraded through the streets with placards and big-character posters!”

“Enough! You’re completely unreasonable. I never had any intention of finding a lover! I have nothing in common with you. If I hadn’t been forced by circumstances, how could I have married you? I want a divorce!”

Dong Zhiyong froze.

He had never imagined his wife would dare bring up divorce.

She was a woman. Was she not afraid that people would point fingers at her after a divorce?

The surrounding students were now already pointing at him.

“Why is he so sloppy?”

“Exactly. And so crude. They’re husband and wife? They don’t match at all.”

“I know this female classmate. She really didn’t find a lover. Is this a misunderstanding?”

“No matter what happened, a forced melon is not sweet. This marriage is probably definitely ending.”

Dong Zhiyong felt as though he had stumbled into another world, one where he did not belong at all.

He had thought he treated his wife well. He had thought that as long as he earned more money for her to spend, she would not run away like the other educated youths.

He had thought he was tall, handsome, sweet-tongued, and good at business, and that his wife would truly like him.

He had never expected that his wife had never looked up to him at all.

Dong Zhiyong sneered.

“We’re legally married. You want a divorce? Dream on! A loose woman like you can just wait to be spat on by everyone.”

He left without looking back, found a place to stay, and began writing big-character posters. He wrote many of them, then snuck to the school at night and pasted them everywhere. He stuck them on walls, the main gate, and even the ground. He also posted them on utility poles and shop entrances around the city.

Just like that, his wife became famous.

Whether people had seen her or not, everyone knew that a female student at that university had gotten married, enjoyed her husband’s money, and then found a lover at school.

The school immediately advised his wife to withdraw.

His wife trembled with fury, beat Dong Zhiyong fiercely, then disappeared.

There was no way she would continue living with him.

The school also explained things to Dong Zhiyong. The two classmates were not close at all, and it was not what he thought. They hoped he would stop spreading rumors everywhere.

Dong Zhiyong did not believe them. He only believed what he had seen.

He never expected that the male student he had punched came from a local powerful family. After being hit and losing so much face, of course that man wanted revenge.

Dong Zhiyong felt proud and satisfied, thinking he had gotten his revenge. After drinking some liquor, he was walking back to the guesthouse when several people dragged him into an alley and beat him viciously, breaking his leg.

Dong Zhiyong spent all his money treating his leg in the hospital, but he was still left with lasting damage and became lame. He could not find his wife either. With nowhere to take revenge, he returned to his hometown dejectedly.

Now that he was lame, running around to do business was no longer convenient. He could only farm in the village.

Dong Zhizhi came over to mock him.

“How did you laugh at me back then? You called me stupid and said I couldn’t keep my man. What about you now? Didn’t your wife run away too?

“You coveted her looks and never stopped to think. She was so pretty and had such high standards, so why did she choose you? Wasn’t it because you were easy to control?

“And you were like an idiot, sending her all your money and treating her like a treasure. In the end, she spent it all on someone else!”

Dong Zhiyong had nowhere to vent his anger. Hearing this, he said,

“The pot shouldn’t call the kettle black. How are you any better?”

Dong Zhizhi said,

“My man never planned to leave at first. I just lost my head for a moment and hid his admission notice. His heart went cold, so he left. We have a child and we registered our marriage. Sooner or later, he’ll come back.”

Dong Zhiyong sneered.

“Keep fooling yourself. He didn’t even care that you were about to give birth. He left without a second thought. Come back? Like hell.

The old woman was right. You brought this on yourself. You’re going to walk the road she walked and become a widow raising a child alone. And you still have the nerve to laugh at me? You’ve got plenty of suffering ahead.”

Dong Zhizhi snapped,

“If I brought it on myself, then so did you! Didn’t you sweet-talk the old woman out of her money? Your wife sweet-talked you out of your money too! Didn’t you abandon the old woman? Your wife abandoned you too!”

The siblings had a huge argument and parted unhappily.

Only they themselves knew the bitterness in their hearts.

When Dong Zhizhi heard that Dong Zhiyong’s wife had been expelled, she became ruthless too. She wrote several letters in a row to her man’s school and the local education committee, reporting that he had abandoned his wife and daughter.

Not long afterward, news really came.

Her man called the Village Chief and had Dong Zhizhi summoned over. Crying, he cursed her, saying he would never see her again for the rest of his life.

It turned out that this eldest man among the educated youths had endured so many years in the village. He had married only because there had been no hope of returning to the city, and he had originally planned to live properly. He had also been very tolerant of Dong Zhizhi’s temper.

But then the college entrance examination was restored, and he even passed. Suddenly, he had endless hope. He had thought that after finishing school and finding work in the city, he would bring his wife and child over.

But no matter what he said, Dong Zhizhi refused to believe him and even hid his admission notice.

After enduring so many years, returning to the city had become his obsession. He could no longer bear even one minute or one second in the countryside, so he stole the notice and ran off to school.

He had not contacted home. He had resentment, but also guilt. His feelings were too complicated, so he could only study every day and try not to think about anything.

But the report letters Dong Zhizhi wrote painted him as utterly wicked. She said that while he had been an educated youth in the countryside, he had stolen chickens and dogs, had terrible character, and had abandoned his wife and child.

When the school questioned him about the situation, they also learned that she had written to the education committee and newspapers to report him. The matter grew serious, and he was advised to withdraw.

Such a rare opportunity to attend university had been destroyed because of Dong Zhizhi.

He never wanted to see Dong Zhizhi again. He did not even ask whether the child she had given birth to was a son or a daughter. After hanging up, he completely cut off contact.

The sea of people was vast. Where could Dong Zhizhi go to find him?

Only now did Dong Zhizhi regret it. She cried right there in the Village Chief’s house.

Before, she had said her man would come back, but in her heart, she had not truly believed he would. She had hated him deeply. After arguing with Dong Zhiyong, her anger had surged, and she wrote those report letters.

She had never expected that her man had originally planned to come back during summer vacation to see the child and have a proper talk with her.

Now, because of what she had done, he could no longer be a university student, and he had completely broken with her.

This time, he had truly abandoned his wife and daughter.

The Village Chief sighed after learning what the siblings had done.

University students.

What tremendous honor.

What a rare opportunity.

And those two had ruined everything.

But he could not say much either, because those two educated youths really did look like they might run away. It was hard to say whether they had second thoughts or not. It was simply a muddled mess.

When the villagers found out, they were also full of sighs and did not know what to say.

In any case, no one sympathized with the Dong siblings.

Back then, their conditions had been decent, and people had introduced marriage prospects to them. They had looked down on those options and chosen two educated youths themselves.

One had chosen someone beautiful and good at housework. The other had chosen someone who knew how to care for people and farm.

From the very beginning, it had been mutual selection and a union of interests. What feelings were there to talk about now?

It was impossible to clearly say who had wronged whom.

In the end, each side scattered after one clean break.

Just like how they had treated their own mother, it was not worthy of sympathy.

The Dong siblings became increasingly discouraged.

The eldest and second brothers kept watching for opportunities in the city, trying one thing after another, but nothing worked out. In the end, they could only stay home and farm the few mu of land they had been allotted.

The problem was that they never attended the village farming experience meetings. As a result, they were worse at farming than everyone else.

Nobody thought much of them anymore.

A year later, Yun Xi had accumulated enough capital to expand.

She turned her small shop into a full marketplace.

She took over an entire area and built a large covered structure. Inside, it was divided into dozens of stalls, which she rented out to vendors. Villagers from Yangliu Village were given priority.

Several young men and women from the village had already gained experience working with her. When they heard about such a good opportunity, they immediately paid to rent stalls.

From then on, they could sell goods and earn money for themselves.

The street vendors in the city also rushed to rent stalls in Yun Xi’s marketplace. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. They believed the city government would definitely support Sister Li’s marketplace. Moving inside and renting a stall could only benefit them.

When Sister Li’s Marketplace officially opened, Yun Xi deliberately set off strings of firecrackers to make it festive.

As before, she offered promotions during the first three days.

Large crowds came just to see something new.

After that, people no longer had to worry about wind or rain.

Inside the marketplace, they could browse carefully, compare products, and have their purchases packed up neatly.

There were even vendors selling umbrellas and raincoats.

No matter the weather, shopping was convenient.

Yun Xi also hired several young men from the village to patrol the marketplace and maintain order. Some of her former coworkers helped with deliveries.

If customers bought too much to carry home, deliveries could be arranged.

Even elderly people buying sacks of rice found it convenient.

The marketplace greatly concentrated customer traffic.

From then on, whenever people wanted to buy something, their first thought was the marketplace.

It had everything, and they could compare prices among different vendors.

As a result, business flourished.

From resigning her government job to opening a marketplace, Yun Xi had already become a ten-thousand-yuan household.

People were stunned.

Once again, Yun Xi became the first person to blaze a new trail.

Through her own success, she proved that quitting a stable job to do business could lead to tremendous wealth.

The villagers were delighted.

As rural residents, finding work in the city was extremely difficult.

Even when they managed to find jobs, they were usually temporary positions with no guarantee of becoming permanent. Apprentices earned little despite working hard.

Yun Xi, however, had directly created jobs for them.

Technically, they were just selling goods at stalls, but the work was stable.

Working with Yun Xi made everyone feel secure.

The villagers who were good at sales all joined.

Those with strong physiques helped patrol the marketplace.

Those who were careful and meticulous handled cleaning and maintenance.

Many people found work there.

The remaining villagers who were unsuited to those jobs sighed regretfully.

“None of those positions really fit me. It’d be nice if there were some other kind of work.”

Just as people started thinking that, Yun Xi opened a vocational school in the city.

This project was also specially approved by the mayor.

At the time, the mayor had tried to persuade her to think carefully.

“A school is different from doing business,” he said.

“You’ll have teachers, students, parents behind those students. Then you’ll have to think about employment after graduation, tuition levels, and countless other complications.”

Yun Xi simply smiled.

“Let’s try it. If it doesn’t work, we’ll deal with it then.

“I want to teach people how to drive. In the future, they can become drivers for different organizations or buy vehicles and transport goods themselves. At least it’s a useful skill.

“We also have carpenters, masons, and tailors in our village. Let them teach at the school. Once students learn those skills, they’ll always have a way to make a living.

“And there are other trades too. Cooking, vehicle repair. Why can’t people earn money through those?”

The city actually had no such vocational school.

The mayor only needed to imagine its potential benefits to understand its value.

So he approved it and cleared every obstacle in its path.

The school was established.

During the year Yun Xi spent running her small shop, her network had expanded enormously.

She had already identified skilled instructors and sincerely invited them to teach.

Some were drivers she had known before.

Others were retired chefs.

Some were highly skilled craftsmen who were poor at business and had never had opportunities to prosper.

The specialties were diverse.

The school offered many different courses.

The villagers became excited.

If they weren’t suited for one kind of work, they could learn a trade.

Surely there would be at least one skill they could master.

Everyone knew one thing:

Following Yun Xi never led people wrong.

The Dong family wanted to enroll too.

Yun Xi refused to accept them.

They said bitterly,

“She really thinks everything she touches will succeed? Opening a school? Does she even have that kind of ability?”

This time, however, they did not dare spread their criticisms too loudly.

They had been proven wrong too many times already.

Besides, even if the school failed, Yun Xi still had her thriving marketplace.

That alone was enough to support her comfortably for life.

By now, Yun Xi was widely recognized as one of the city’s wealthy people.

The Dong family wanted to mock her, but they could no longer find anything to say.

In truth, they no longer wanted to mock her at all.

What they really wanted was for Yun Xi to forgive them and give them a chance to make money alongside her.

With such a huge business empire, were they really going to receive none of it?

Who did Yun Xi plan to leave it to?

Xiao Zhang?

They had only just begun pondering those questions when they heard another piece of news.

Yun Xi had donated a large sum of money to the orphanage.

Not only that, she announced that she would cover the educational expenses of all the orphans there.

She would fund their schooling.

There were so many children in the orphanage.

So she wasn’t planning to adopt another child.

Instead, she intended to support every child in the orphanage.

Why was it that anyone could receive her help except her own biological children?

For the first time, the Dong siblings truly felt pain.

There were simply too many benefits they could no longer touch.

Everything was going to someone else.

How could that not hurt?

╰───♡───╯

That day, Yun Xi and Xiao Zhang went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy some things. They were preparing to leave early for Beijing so they could get settled and adjust to the environment before school started.

After finishing their shopping and getting back on their bicycles, they spotted Dong Zhiyong running a street stall not far away.

When Dong Zhiyong saw Yun Xi, he grinned broadly.

“Old lady! Long time no see, old lady!”

Yun Xi rode over and got off her bicycle.

“So you’ve started a small business?”

Dong Zhiyong nodded smugly.

“What do you think? Didn’t expect this, did you? I’ve only been at it for two days and I’ve already made back my costs. I’m actually making money now. Who would’ve thought you could earn this much just setting up a roadside stall?”

He glanced sideways at Xiao Zhang.

“I’m not like that new son of yours who knows how to study and got into Qing University. I know how to make money. That’s real ability.”

With a snort, he continued,

“He’s already in his twenties, earning a salary, and he’s still going to school? By the time he graduates, he’ll be nearly thirty, right? What, his salary’s going to double or something? Even if it doubles, how much could that be?”

“Unlike me. I’m making big money in my early twenties. By the time I’m thirty, I might even be driving my own car.”

“Old lady, don’t you like cars? When’s your new son going to get you one?”

Then he noticed the bicycles loaded front and back with purchases.

Jealousy flashed through his eyes.

“I think he’s just after your money. It can’t be easy for an old woman to save up her retirement money, but you’re spending it all on this new son of yours. Tsk, tsk. What are you going to do when you’re old?”

Yun Xi looked over his stall.

There were eggs, popsicles, Spring Festival couplets, peanuts, melon seeds, candy.

With the New Year approaching, of course those things sold well.

But the assortment was far too random.

It was obvious he had no real plan and was simply selling whatever happened to be profitable.

Yet why did vegetable vendors stick to vegetables, and steamed-bun sellers stick to buns?

Because storage requirements, customer groups, and supply chains were all different.

Constantly switching merchandise made it impossible to build repeat customers. It also disrupted daily operations. One careless mistake and inventory could spoil.

This wasn’t the kind of business that could last.

Yun Xi sneered.

“My son is the provincial top scorer and got into Qing University. The bonuses from the province and city alone equal ten years of my salary. Why would he care about my little bit of money?”

“My son is extremely filial. The moment he received the bonus money, he gave all of it to me.”

The bonus was actually common knowledge by now.

But Dong Zhiyong had been busy buying and selling merchandise recently and hadn’t heard.

He remembered that Yun Xi earned thirty yuan a month.

Ten years meant thirty-six hundred yuan.

For the last two days he’d been working from dawn to dusk, hauling goods back and forth between the village and city, so exhausted he felt like he was falling apart. He’d earned thirty yuan and had been feeling quite proud, thinking he’d matched Yun Xi’s monthly salary.

Now Xiao Zhang had earned thirty-six hundred yuan from a single exam?

And given it all to Yun Xi?

Was he insane?

That much money was more than many families would earn in a lifetime.

Seeing him speechless, Yun Xi continued,

“I told you long ago that you’re too impatient. Progress comes from being steady and grounded. You never listened. One day you’re stealing money, the next you’re cutting corners.”

“Now you’ve finally found a legitimate line of work with this stall. You should focus on doing it properly.”

“But the moment you make a little money, you start bragging to the heavens and rushing over to mock me.”

“Let me tell you something. If you and your siblings become so poor you can’t afford food, don’t come looking for me. And if you become rich enough to be dripping in wealth, I still won’t come looking for you.”

“If you keep being this impulsive, sooner or later you’re going to take a hard fall. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. People need to keep their feet on the ground and think carefully about what they’re doing.”

“Anyway, keep selling. We need to go buy tickets to Beijing.”

Xiao Zhang had wanted to say something the entire time.

But Yun Xi had already dismantled every argument before he got the chance.

In the end, he only left one sentence:

“I’ll take care of my mother myself. An outsider who doesn’t even call his own mother ‘Mom’ doesn’t need to worry about her.”

Then he rode away with Yun Xi.

Dong Zhiyong, a man known for his sharp tongue, was nearly driven unconscious with rage.

He cursed loudly, threw a few items around, and snorted.

“We’ll see who’s laughing in the end. One day I’ll be a big boss. All you people know how to do is read books. You don’t know a damn thing. This is the age of businessmen!”

Of course, Yun Xi hadn’t warned him out of kindness.

She had deliberately pointed out his weaknesses.

With Dong Zhiyong’s personality, there was no way he would accept criticism. He would stubbornly do the opposite.

Which meant he would stumble even sooner.

Forget “parting peacefully and living separate lives.”

Yun Xi had accepted a mission when she came here. She had no intention of letting them have an easy life.

Fortunately, they weren’t particularly difficult opponents. An occasional blow to their pride was more than enough.

Most of her energy was devoted to exploring this era instead.

Yun Xi took leave from work and personally accompanied Xiao Zhang to Beijing for university.

In truth, Xiao Zhang had already visited Beijing for training before. He wasn’t scared, nor would he have trouble settling in.

The real reason he wanted Yun Xi to come was because he wanted to take her sightseeing in the capital.

Back home, being able to brag about visiting Beijing could last for more than a decade.

The benefits Yun Xi had brought him were impossible for outsiders to understand.

She had changed the course of his entire life.

It was almost as if he had been given a second life.

He wanted to repay her.

Long before departure, he had arranged for sleeper tickets.

After boarding the train, he fetched hot water for her, made her bed, and took care of everything.

An elderly man in the neighboring berth praised him.

“Little sister, your son is truly filial. He’s prepared everything for you.”

Yun Xi looked immensely proud.

“The thing that makes me happiest is having this son. He’s smart, sensible, and filial…”

As Xiao Zhang listened to Yun Xi chatting with others and praising him over and over again, the corners of his mouth couldn’t stop lifting.

His mood soared.

He’d never realized how much he enjoyed being praised.

Fortunately, he hadn’t slacked off in his studies and had achieved excellent results.

He had brought honor to his godmother.

His godmother had suffered so much in the past.

From now on, he would earn all the respect and pride she deserved.

When she first boarded the train, Yun Xi found everything fascinating.

Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. She had never seen a machine powered by coal and fire that could move so many people.

People could sit, lie down, and even eat in a dining car.

Watching the scenery roll by outside while traveling was wonderful.

But after an entire day of rattling along the tracks, she started feeling dazed.

When would technology become as advanced as it was in the original host’s memories?

In those memories, the journey from home to Beijing took only a few hours, and the ride was smooth.

Now it took two days and two nights of constant clattering.

Her bones felt like they were coming apart.

There weren’t even commercial flights available to ordinary people.

Even if you had money, you couldn’t simply buy a plane ticket.

Thinking about it, Yun Xi decided that until technology improved, she’d rather stay in one place and avoid long-distance travel.

She truly couldn’t endure this kind of journey.

When they finally arrived in Beijing, Yun Xi stepped off the train feeling as though the ground beneath her feet was soft and spongy, like walking on cotton.

Xiao Zhang said,

“You’ll be fine after resting for half a day. The train ride was exhausting anyway.

“Let’s find a guesthouse near Qianmen, get settled in, lie down, and get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll start sightseeing.

“When I came here before, I stayed in the training dormitory. Some locals recommended a guesthouse nearby. It’s in a great location, close to a lot of famous attractions and good food.

“We’ll spend a few days exploring, and then it’ll be time for me to report to school.”

Yun Xi nodded.

“You can make all the arrangements. I’ll follow your lead.”

Their provincial capital was more prosperous than their city.

But Beijing was even more prosperous than the provincial capital.

There were many more bicycles and automobiles.

People dressed much more fashionably too.

Compared to everyone else, Yun Xi and Xiao Zhang looked a little rustic.

So after getting some rest, Xiao Zhang immediately took Yun Xi shopping for clothes.

Yun Xi bought plenty for him as well, outfits for every season so he would have things to wear at university.

They watched the flag-raising ceremony, toured the Forbidden City, and visited the zoo.

The moment Yun Xi saw the animals, she burst out laughing.

“They’re so tiny!”

The animals she had known before were magical beasts capable of cultivation, each one larger than the last.

Compared to those creatures, these zoo animals seemed almost miniature.

Only the pandas impressed her.

To her surprise, this era still allowed visitors to take photographs with pandas.

Both she and Xiao Zhang posed beside one.

They also took photos near the tiger enclosure.

Many nearby visitors looked nervous.

Seeing Yun Xi, who appeared to be a pretty woman in her thirties, they were astonished.

“Comrade, aren’t you afraid?” they asked.

Yun Xi smiled and said, “What’s there to be afraid of? Doesn’t the zoo have everything arranged already? If you ask me, they should probably keep the animals enclosed and let them roam freely inside their own areas. But the zoo must have its own reasons for doing things this way. Besides, I’m strong. I’m not afraid.”

While Yun Xi was posing for a photograph beside a tiger, the tiger, which had been lying down, suddenly decided it wanted to sit up.

The moment it moved, people gasped in alarm and stepped back in fear. Even the keeper hurried toward them.

Yun Xi immediately wrapped one arm around the tiger’s head and pressed it back down.

Then she called to the photographer, “It’s getting impatient. Hurry up and take the picture!”

The photographer quickly snapped the photo.

Yun Xi stepped away at once.

Sure enough, the tiger refused to cooperate anymore. It stood up and paced around a few times before the keeper led it away.

Everyone marveled at how brave Yun Xi was.

Even Xiao Zhang had been startled.

He repeatedly warned her not to take such risks in the future. If she got hurt, it would be a serious problem.

Yun Xi casually brushed it off.

As a demonic cultivator, she loved adventure.

Besides, this was nothing.

She intended to try much more exciting things in the future.

The mother and son spent several carefree days sightseeing together.

Money flowed out like water, but neither of them minded.

Both knew how to earn money.

They had taken enough photographs to fill an entire album.

They had also bought countless souvenirs.

Xiao Zhang simply mailed most of Yun Xi’s purchases home so she wouldn’t have to carry so much luggage onto the train.

During those days, Yun Xi was also observing Beijing closely.

Large cities always developed faster than smaller ones.

And this was the nation’s capital, closest to the center of political power.

Many new policies appeared here first.

She noticed that there were all kinds of private businesses operating everywhere.

Every imaginable trade seemed to exist.

And many of them were earning impressive incomes.

Seeing how closely she was observing all this, Xiao Zhang asked curiously,

“Mom, are you thinking about doing business in Beijing?”

Yun Xi nodded.

“I have considered it. But first I want to go back home and start a business there.”

Xiao Zhang didn’t understand.

“Why not just start here directly?”

Yun Xi couldn’t exactly explain that she still intended to deal with those ungrateful children.

Instead she said,

“The Mayor has helped me a great deal. He’s taken good care of me. Now that opportunities are appearing, I want to go back and help him in return.

“Maybe in a few years I’ll come here.”

“You focus on your studies. During vacations, don’t rush home. Stay here and learn useful things. Broaden your horizons.”

“And remember, live your own life well. Don’t get mixed up in unnecessary trouble, and don’t let anyone fool you.”

Xiao Zhang smiled.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I know what I’m doing.”

Yun Xi stayed through the New Year with Xiao Zhang before returning home.

Back when Xiao Zhang had become the provincial top scorer, the Zhang family had caused trouble.

They accused him of being unfilial.

They accused Yun Xi of stealing the fruits of their labor.

They insisted that Xiao Zhang was a talent their family had raised.

At the time, Xiao Zhang had listed every injustice they had done to him since childhood.

How they falsely accused him.

How they let him go hungry.

How they punished him unfairly.

How they tried to stop him from continuing his education.

Then he handed them five hundred yuan and formally severed ties.

The family refused to accept it.

Somehow, Xiao Zhang found people who began harassing them.

Every night there would be knocking and scratching on their walls.

One night a dead rat would appear.

The next night someone would splash chicken blood around.

The family was frightened into complete submission.

Yun Xi didn’t want Xiao Zhang returning home because she didn’t want him tangled up with them again.

She herself had unfinished business.

But Xiao Zhang was an outstanding young man.

He was intelligent and talented.

In this era, he should shine brilliantly and contribute to the country.

He shouldn’t waste his time dealing with petty family problems.

The moment Yun Xi returned, her coworkers crowded around her photo album.

They listened eagerly as she described Beijing.

What it looked like.

What attractions it had.

What people there were like.

As they looked at the photographs, they imagined each scene vividly.

Many were deeply envious that Yun Xi had been able to visit the capital.

When they saw how many things she’d bought, they praised Xiao Zhang endlessly for being such a filial son and congratulated Yun Xi for raising such a good child.

Word soon spread through the village that Yun Xi had returned.

Villagers arrived carrying gifts and New Year’s greetings.

Many of the students who had gotten into university came as well, along with their families.

The room became packed.

Everyone gathered around the photo album while Yun Xi told the Beijing stories all over again.

When they returned to the village, they excitedly retold everything they had heard.

And most of all, they praised Yun Xi’s adopted son.

The Dong family hated hearing it.

They were Yun Xi’s biological children.

Yet now everyone only talked about Xiao Zhang.

In another few years, would people start thinking Xiao Zhang was actually Yun Xi’s real son?

What kind of situation was this?

But that wasn’t even the biggest blow they received.

The two educated youths who had married into the Dong family were about to leave for university.

Then, suddenly, neither of their admission letters could be found.

The entire household exploded into chaos.

The Dong siblings refused to hand them over.

They had heard about an educated youth in a neighboring village who had never officially registered his marriage.

Once he got into university, he simply left and disappeared.

Nobody knew where he had gone.

The Dong family feared their educated youths would do the same.

So they tried to stop them from leaving altogether.

Fortunately, Dong Zhiyong’s wife was good with words.

She spent days coaxing him.

She praised his business skills.

She told him how much money he would make in the future.

She painted a bright future for them together.

Eventually, Dong Zhiyong softened and personally saw her off at the train station.

Since train tickets were expensive and traveling cost money, he didn’t accompany her.

Instead, he devoted all his energy to running his market stall.

Dong Zhizhi was heavily pregnant and didn’t dare take the risk.

Then one day, while she was sleeping, her husband secretly found his admission letter and ran away.

Furious, Dong Zhizhi chased after him in the middle of the night.

During the chase, she fell.

The fall triggered difficult labor.

The entire village was shocked.

They rushed her to the city hospital.

After examining her, the doctor said,

“We’ll do everything we can to save both mother and child. But her condition is very serious.”

“The family should prepare themselves.”

The Dong family exchanged uneasy glances.

None of them had expected the situation to be this severe.

When it came time to pay the medical bills, everyone started pushing responsibility onto someone else.

Nobody wanted to pay.

Finally they looked at the Village Chief.

“Chief, we’ve all split into separate households now. Why don’t you pay for it first? She’ll definitely repay you after she finishes her confinement period. She has money.”

The Village Chief wasn’t convinced she actually had money.

The educated youth had run off with the admission letter.

Who knew whether he’d also taken all their savings?

Still, he couldn’t just watch a villager suffer.

So he paid the deposit himself.

At the same time, he became even more convinced that the Dong siblings were cold-hearted people.

No wonder Yun Xi refused to acknowledge them anymore.

As the eldest son, Dong Zhihong insisted that Yun Xi had to be informed.

“She’s her biological daughter. Her life is in danger. We have to tell her.”

He added,

“When another villager had a difficult labor, Yun Xi rushed over and helped arrange everything.

If her own daughter is in trouble and she doesn’t even show up, what will people think?”

Once he put it that way, even the Village Chief couldn’t object.

Not long afterward, Yun Xi arrived on her bicycle.

The Dong family stubbornly refused to greet her.

The Village Chief stepped forward and explained the situation instead.

Behind his back, the Dong family secretly called him a bootlicker.

Yun Xi ignored them completely.

After asking about the educated youth’s situation, she sat down with the Village Chief and began discussing the village vocational training classes.

The Village Chief smiled.

“Everyone’s doing quite well.

Compared to the literacy classes, people are even more enthusiastic about the skills classes.

One apprentice can already handle basic carpentry work. He’s careful and hardworking. I think he’ll become quite skilled.”

Yun Xi was genuinely happy for the young people.

She praised them warmly.

A cheerful smile remained on her face.

Unable to resist, Wang Huijuan muttered under her breath,

“Her own daughter is in there having a difficult labor, and the old lady doesn’t seem worried at all.”

Yun Xi glanced at her.

Wang Huijuan immediately turned away.

She had been beaten and scolded by Yun Xi before.

She genuinely didn’t dare provoke her anymore.

Her comment had simply slipped out because she couldn’t control her tongue.

Yun Xi smiled faintly.

“For all those years when I had headaches, fevers, or even broke bones, I never saw her worry about me.

“So why should I worry about her?”

“Then why did you come?” Dong Zhiyong snapped.

“To watch the show?”

Yun Xi actually nodded.

“Exactly.

You people provide so many entertaining spectacles.

When I stay in the village, I have to travel far to see them.

Since this one is happening right here in the city and I don’t have anything else to do, I came to watch.”

The Dong siblings nearly choked on their anger.

Just as they were about to explode, a nurse approached with a frown.

“What are you doing? No loud talking in the hospital.”

Like many villagers, they instinctively felt inferior around city professionals.

The moment the nurse spoke, they immediately fell silent.

Yun Xi shook her head.

They were all bullies who only knew how to throw their weight around at home.

They had only ever dared to mistreat the original owner.

Seeing Yun Xi’s reaction made them even angrier.

Dong Zhihong finally left, leaving Wang Huijuan behind to keep watch.

The second and third brothers followed him out.

Wang Huijuan couldn’t help muttering again.

“Old lady, aren’t you going to do something?

Look at your son. He dumps everything on me.”

Yun Xi laughed.

“Isn’t that perfectly normal?

“They bully the weak and fear the strong.

They bully the weak and fear the strong.

They used to bully me.

Now that you’re the eldest daughter-in-law, you’ve become the new target.”

Wang Huijuan thought bitterly that everyone kept talking about what a wonderful mother-in-law Yun Xi was.

Wonderful?

This woman spoke like a knife.

Every sentence stabbed.

After a long wait, the doctor finally emerged.

Looking relieved, he announced,

“Both mother and daughter are safe.

However, the mother’s body has been badly weakened.

She’ll need a long period of recovery and must avoid overexertion.

The family needs to take good care of her.”

Yun Xi nodded.

“Thank you for your hard work, Doctor.

She doesn’t have any family willing to take care of her.

I’ll explain all the precautions to her later.”

The doctor paused, but after thinking it over, realized this was the family’s private matter and did not ask further. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Soon, the nurse wheeled Dong Zhizhi out and sent her to the ward.

Dong Zhizhi was awake. The moment she saw Yun Xi, she burst into tears.

“Mom! Mom! I was so scared. Just now, I felt so cold, so cold. I thought I was going to die in there. Why is giving birth so terrifying? I feel so weak now. Did I damage my body? Can I still recover, Mom?”

Yun Xi said calmly, “Back then, when I said it wasn’t easy giving birth to you after a difficult labor, you said, ‘What woman doesn’t give birth? Aren’t you fine?’ Today, I’ll return those words to you.”

Dong Zhizhi froze. “Mom?”

Yun Xi shook her head. “Don’t call me Mom. Think about how you’ve treated me all these years. Have you ever respected me in your heart?

“You blamed me for jinxing my husband, causing you to be born without a father. You blamed me for having a difficult labor, saying whenever you got sick that I hadn’t given birth to you properly. You disliked me for being a farming woman, unlike your classmates’ mothers who were bright and polished. You disliked me for being stingy, for saving every bit of food and clothing instead of buying you pretty hair ties.

I truly never expected that now your man has run away, you’ve had a difficult labor, and in the future you’ll have to farm and raise your child by yourself. I believe your life should be better than mine was, right? After all, you only have one child to raise. Back then, I had four.”

Dong Zhizhi cried in disbelief. “I’ve run into such a huge disaster, and you’re standing here making sarcastic remarks?”

Yun Xi recalled, “Back then, my husband died, I had a difficult labor, and my husband’s family drove me out. Your grandmother cursed me for jinxing my husband, refused to give me grain, and cursed me whenever she saw me outside. I still had to work during confinement to feed all of you.

Sarcastic remarks? Do you know what kind of words I heard back then?

You even disliked me for being fierce. If I had been a little gentler, you might have died in infancy.”

Yun Xi smiled.

“One time, you angered me until I cried, and you said self-righteously that you were young and naturally couldn’t understand my suffering. Now that’s perfect. You’ve experienced nearly everything I experienced. In the future, you’ll be able to understand my suffering.

All right. I’ve seen what I came to see. I’m leaving. Good luck.”

Yun Xi turned and left without the slightest hesitation, stunning even the Village Chief.

Dong Zhizhi cried, “Mom! Mom!”

But no matter how she called, Yun Xi did not stop.

The Village Chief sighed. “Enough. You just gave birth. Rest properly. If you knew today would come, why act that way back then? That was your mother. She worked herself half to death raising you. If you treated her that way, how could her heart not turn cold?”

“But she still can’t treat me like this. What kind of mother acts like that?” Dong Zhizhi pulled the blanket over herself and sobbed.

The Village Chief shook his head.

Fine. He should leave too.

The Dong family really was not the kind of family that would improve after encountering a little hardship. Even now, she still resented Yun Xi. She had not changed at all.

But this was also the first time he had learned that Dong Zhizhi had said those words to Yun Xi. What a rotten thing to do. He still remembered how Yun Xi had nearly died from that difficult labor back then.

All he could say was that Yun Xi and these children had no fate. Not one of them remembered gratitude.

Wang Huijuan’s head ached from Dong Zhizhi’s crying. She said impatiently, “Hurry up and feed the baby. You’re a mother now. Do you still think you’re a young maiden? Whatever you do, you have to think about the child. In a bit, the child will be starving.

And where do you keep your money? I’ll go get some and buy formula, brown sugar, and other things first. Did you prepare diapers at home?

It’s not spring yet, and it’s still cold. Did you make a swaddling blanket for the baby? Later, you’ll need fish soup to help your milk come in. Did you prepare the coupons? Oh, right, do you know how to feed the baby formula? After feeding, you have to hold the baby upright and pat her back to burp her…”

Wang Huijuan rambled on and on.

Dong Zhizhi felt lost and frightened.

So becoming a mother required worrying about so many things?

She knew nothing.

Before this, her husband had handled everything. Hadn’t she married him precisely because he was careful and considerate?

But how could she have expected him to run away just like that?

She was still heavily pregnant, yet he had left without caring at all, completely ignoring whether she and the child lived or died.

Thinking this, Dong Zhizhi began crying again.

Wang Huijuan cursed, “You woke the child up. Can you stop crying? If the child doesn’t sleep enough, she won’t grow properly…”

Dong Zhizhi was instantly filled with sorrow.

“The child, the child. All you talk about is the child. Am I not a person? I nearly died giving birth, I was abandoned by my man, and just now my own mother came to laugh at me. Can’t I be sad for a while? What’s wrong with crying a little?”

Wang Huijuan laughed from anger.

“Why are you acting fierce with me? Didn’t you bring all this on yourself? If you had been a caring daughter, would your mother refuse to care about you? If you hadn’t hidden your husband’s admission letter, would he have run away secretly?

If you ask me, you’d better accept reality sooner. The family has already been divided. I shouldn’t even be here taking care of you. You’re on your own now, and you still have to take care of your daughter.

You’re sad? Do you have time to be sad? What you need to think about now is how to raise your daughter.

Fine, fine. I can’t be bothered with you. Figure it out yourself.”

Wang Huijuan left too.

There were two other families in the ward who had watched the whole scene. Seeing Dong Zhizhi still crying, they could not feel any sympathy for her.

They had heard it all just now. She had once said those awful words to her own mother, but now that the same thing had happened to her, she felt unbearably wronged.

She had also hidden her husband’s admission letter and tried to stop him from going to university. Now that the man had run away, it was hard to say whose fault was greater.

The one sister-in-law who had been willing to stay and take care of her had also been angered away.

What kind of person was this?

Dong Zhizhi only felt that the whole world was making things difficult for her.

Unfortunately, no one empathized with her sadness. She could only bear it alone.

Dong Zhiyong watched the farce in his sister’s family and became even more anxious about his wife. Every few days, he called, sent telegrams, and wrote letters. He bought more goods to sell from his stall and made money.

At this time, not many people were willing to set up stalls. Most were still watching from the sidelines. He was one of the first to eat crab, and he really did earn quite a bit. In just three months, he saved one thousand yuan.

Dong Zhihong and Dong Zhijie grew envious and started thinking about selling something too. But neither of them was as eloquent as Dong Zhiyong. They did not earn much money and nearly delayed the farming at home, so they had no choice but to give up the business path and think about what other opportunities there might be.

That day, the city government held another meeting to discuss economic development. The Mayor was somewhat worried. Beijing had already shown a clear attitude, but because the previous years had been so strict, ordinary people still did not dare act. They feared that one day they might again be labeled speculators and profiteers. So the matter was very difficult to advance in the city.

Yun Xi went to the Mayor and offered her resignation.

“Mayor, I’ve always liked trying new things. Now the times have changed, and there are more opportunities for development. I want to try doing business.”

The Mayor was startled.

“Sister Li, you… You’re doing so well at our unit. I was even planning to promote you in another couple of years. Besides, in a few years, you’ll be able to retire and receive a pension. If you really want to try, you can do it after retirement when you have nothing else to do.”

Yun Xi smiled.

“Positions in the unit are precious. Back then, you arranged me here because you were taking care of me. I don’t lack food or clothing, so I shouldn’t compete with young people for a place.

“Besides, in another couple of years, university students will graduate. Wouldn’t it be better for our unit to recruit more university students?

As for me, after experiencing so many things, my greatest realization is to enjoy life in time and not wait.

In the past, I kept thinking I would wait until the children grew up, wait until they got married. After waiting and waiting, I nearly forgot myself.

At my age, if I want to try something, I should do it early and not drag things out!”

“Sister Li, I truly admire you.”

The Mayor agreed, then asked, “After leaving the unit, what do you want to do?”

“I want to apply to become self-employed and sell agricultural products. If business doesn’t go well, I’ll sell them cheaply to everyone, so the goods won’t go to waste. If business does go well, then I’ll be helping the villagers and also setting an example for everyone, encouraging them to do business.”

The Mayor understood.

Yun Xi was far too famous across the surrounding villages. She was a very special existence. Her role as a leading example had been extraordinary before. Even the fact that their village had produced eighteen university students had been driven by her influence. Many working employees had also begun reading, studying, and pursuing their dreams because of her.

Now the city hoped the people would voluntarily start doing small businesses, but for the moment, it was difficult to push forward. The Mayor had already prepared himself to wait until good news came from several major cities before the local people would follow.

He had not expected Yun Xi to be willing to use her influence to become a pioneer. This moved the Mayor greatly.

He already understood. Yun Xi did not have to do this. She wanted to make this thing succeed in order to repay him.

A person who valued loyalty and gratitude this much was worth maintaining ties with for a lifetime.

The Mayor immediately agreed and personally called the relevant departments to help Yun Xi handle the procedures and documents.

When her coworkers learned that Yun Xi was resigning, they were shocked.

Among all of them, Yun Xi was one of the best. If there was ever a chance for promotion, it would definitely go to her. Even if she only stayed a few more years, she could last until retirement and receive a pension.

Why was she quitting?

What a loss!

Yun Xi explained her plan to everyone again.

They still could not understand.

Selling agricultural products?

Wasn’t that just selling vegetables?

How much money could that make?

It could not compare to her monthly salary of thirty yuan.

But since Yun Xi had already made up her mind and the Mayor had agreed, no matter how regretful everyone felt, there was nothing they could do. They all said that once her vegetable shop opened, they would go buy things to support her business.

Yun Xi cheerfully told them the opening date and said that in the future, whenever they bought things from her, they would all receive a twenty percent discount.

No one had expected that even the opening date had already been set, or that she had even thought of something like a discount. They laughed and said she was a little too impatient.

Unexpectedly, Yun Xi had already prepared everything. The shop opened remarkably quickly.

She had money in hand, so she bought a storefront. After greeting the Village Chief, the store was soon filled with goods.

There were all kinds of grains, seasonal vegetables, chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, and live chickens, ducks, and geese kept in cages.

The chickens, ducks, and geese were placed outside by the door. Inside the shop, everything was very clean, sorted and arranged neatly.

Through connections introduced by coworkers, Yun Xi also stocked seasonings like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar on the shelves.

And just like that, “Sister Li’s Small Shop” opened for business.

Yun Xi became the first self-employed individual in the city to receive a business license.

She bought a loudspeaker and stood outside shouting,

“Come take a look! Come see! Grain, oil, seasonings, eggs, vegetables, and lively chickens, ducks, and geese! Discounted prices, no coupons needed! Grand opening special! Buy two, get one free! Buy two, get one free!”

The words “no coupons needed” and “buy two, get one free” attracted everyone on the street.

Soon, everyone who heard the commotion gathered around. Some even recognized Yun Xi.

“Hey, aren’t you Teacher Li from the city government? What are you doing here?”

Yun Xi smiled.

“That’s me. Isn’t the country vigorously developing the economy now? I’m actively responding to the country’s call and doing a small business.

Everything in this shop is useful for daily meals. Buying more won’t be a loss. For the first three days after opening, it’s buy two, get one free. Don’t miss it.”

“What? You don’t want your job anymore? You’re selling… vegetables?”

People could not understand.

She had been a formal employee at the city government. It was said that she even held two positions and gave impressive lectures. And now she had quit?

“What does vigorously developing the economy mean? When was this call made?”

Yun Xi said,

“If you read more newspapers and listen to the radio more often, you’ll know. Didn’t I go to the capital? Shops like this are already quite common there. We don’t have them here yet.

“Whenever people want to buy things, they have to go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Some stalls exist, but they aren’t fixed.

So I thought I’d open a shop to make things convenient for everyone. Everyone, come support me. With prices like this and no coupons needed, what are you waiting for?”

“That’s true. I was just planning to buy a chicken. No coupons needed is great. Weigh one for me.

“Wait, buy two, get one free? If I buy two, do I get three chickens?”

“That’s right!”

Yun Xi beamed and immediately let her pick three chickens.

When others saw this, they thought that if they bought late, there would be nothing good left to choose. They quickly crowded forward to see what they should buy.

Aside from leafy vegetables, everything else could be stored. Buying more and stocking up would be fine.

Yun Xi collected money until her hands were tired. On the first day of opening, she sold more than half of her stock.

Just as she was preparing to close, Sister Qin and a large group of coworkers suddenly arrived.

Sister Qin said,

“Congratulations, congratulations! Old Li, your business is booming! We originally wanted to come liven things up for you, but there were so many people here, we didn’t want to add to the chaos. We only came after the crowd left to support you. You won’t blame us, will you?”

Yun Xi smiled.

“What are you saying? As long as you came, I’m happier than anyone. Come, come. See what you need. Buy two, get one free, and I’ll also give you a twenty percent discount. This is our internal city government price. I don’t give it to anyone else.”

Everyone was delighted.

Although Yun Xi no longer worked there, she still treated them as brothers, sisters, and family. It made them feel especially close to her.

They felt the same. Since Yun Xi’s little shop had opened, no matter what, they had to come support her.

Everyone bought another round of goods, directly clearing out the rest of the shop.

Sister Qin worried,

“Is this all right? Will you have anything to sell tomorrow?”

Yun Xi wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. The village supplies my goods. Whenever I call, they deliver. They’re very reliable.”

Now everyone felt relieved.

They knew Yangliu Village. Every time the Village Chief and villagers came to the city, they visited Yun Xi. They treated Yun Xi very well and admired her greatly.

Yun Xi opening this shop also meant she intended to look after them.

Everyone felt even more that Yun Xi valued loyalty and affection, and they were even more willing to maintain ties with her. After returning home, they all told their families to promote the shop at their own units and schools.

Just as Yun Xi closed the shop, the Village Chief arrived with two young men.

They were somewhat uneasy. Yun Xi had proposed that the village supply goods while she sold them. They had been worried the goods would not sell.

After all, for so many years, everyone had bought things at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Would people really come to a newly opened shop?

They had even discussed it beforehand. If the goods did not sell, the other items were still manageable, but vegetables spoiled most easily. They would take them back and eat them themselves, so Yun Xi would not lose money.

Who knew that the moment they entered the store, they would be frightened.

“What happened? Was this place looted?”

Yun Xi rolled her eyes.

“The police station is diagonally across from me. Who would dare rob this place?”

After asking, the Village Chief also realized he had sounded foolish.

But the store being sold out was simply too shocking!

Yun Xi explained,

“I started with a promotional event, so the prices were very low. Everyone was willing to buy more and stock up. Later, it won’t sell this fast.

But although I earned less these few days, I spread the shop’s name. Once everyone knows they can buy grain, oil, meat, and vegetables here without coupons, they’ll definitely be willing to come. Business won’t be bad.

The key is that your deliveries have to keep up. We can’t have customers coming to buy things only to find the shop empty, right?”

The Village Chief nodded repeatedly and pointed to the two young men behind him.

“I arranged for these two to bring people to deliver goods. Usually, they can also come help you run errands. If your shop lacks anything, have them hurry back to the village to get it.

Our village may not have much else, but we have plenty of grain, vegetables, chickens, ducks, and the like.”

“Good. In the future, when we grow bigger and stronger and have more stalls, we’ll recruit young men and women from the village to sell goods too. It’ll let them come out and gain experience.”

The Village Chief was instantly delighted.

Now he did not doubt at all that Yun Xi could grow bigger and stronger.

When he thought of the young people in the village having a path forward, he was happier than anyone.

Having someone as incredible as Yun Xi emerge from their village truly was the village’s good fortune.

He really ought to properly thank the Dong family.

If they had not been blind and unfilial ingrates, Yun Xi would not have been provoked into becoming so formidable, and their entire village would not have benefited.

Now he wished he could enshrine Yun Xi.

When the Dong family heard that Yun Xi had quit her job and gone off to sell vegetables, every one of them was furious.

Dong Zhihong kicked over a stool.

“I told you she has long hair and short insight. She doesn’t even want such a good job! If she didn’t want it, she could have given it to me. She really is stupid enough. Selling vegetables? I want to see what kind of miracle she can sell out of vegetables.”

Wang Huijuan snorted.

“The old woman just does whatever idea pops into her head. Before, she looked down on us. What about now? She’s just a vegetable seller. What’s there to be proud of? Let’s see how she curses us in the future.”

Dong Zhijie was so angry he paced back and forth at home, unable to eat or sleep.

“What was she thinking? If she didn’t want to work anymore, she could have given the job to me. She could have sold the job too. But she just resigned? Just quit? Is she sick?”

Wang Xuefen had already begun looking down on him somewhat. She said with disdain,

“You weren’t filial before, and you still expected the old woman to think of you? If you have the energy, fix the roof. The rainy season is coming soon, and it’s going to leak.”

The couple who had once been loving and secretly cooked extra meals outside began arguing after only a few words.

As for Dong Zhiyong, he happily drank a bottle of liquor.

Only a few months ago, Yun Xi had mocked him, saying his stall business would not work. Now Yun Xi herself was selling goods.

Could Yun Xi be more glib and persuasive than him?

He would wait to see Yun Xi stumble and lose everything.

╰───♡───╯

Yun Xi was very curious about the knowledge of this era, so she studied together with Xiao Zhang.

Xiao Zhang admired his godmother’s thirst for knowledge from the bottom of his heart, so he was not impatient at all when Yun Xi asked him about elementary school material. He slowly explained it to her according to the books. When they ran into something he could not explain clearly, the two of them went to Sister Qin’s house to ask.

Sister Qin was puzzled.

“Old Li, why are you learning this stuff? You don’t usually need it.”

Yun Xi said casually,

“Don’t I like borrowing books from the library? Sometimes I feel like I can’t understand what’s written inside. I figured it must be because I never went to school! My eldest at home used to laugh at me for being uneducated. Now that I have such good conditions, I might as well study properly.”

The moment Sister Qin heard this, she felt terribly sympathetic. In private, she cursed the Dong family again and told her husband that he absolutely had to explain things well to Yun Xi.

Just like that, Yun Xi quickly studied elementary school knowledge. After finishing elementary material, she studied middle school material. The textbooks of this era were simple. Only when she reached high school did they begin to have some difficulty.

Xiao Zhang also followed along and reviewed all the textbooks with her.

He had been clever since childhood and had been quite good at school. When he graduated from middle school, he had even gotten full marks.

But he had not known what continuing to study could do. All he saw around him was that people who finished school became teachers and did not earn much. His family had also been unwilling to pay his tuition, so he simply went to work as a laborer, then learned how to drive.

Now his salary was already forty yuan. Who knew how many people envied him? No one thought his low level of education was a problem at all.

However, studying everything again this time, with a solid foundation, truly made him feel enriched inside and gave substance to his words.

He also agreed with Yun Xi’s words. Whether useful or not, whatever one could learn became nourishment for oneself.

In the past, he had no conditions, so forget it. Now that he had the conditions, he had to nourish himself properly.

Before, he had always felt resentment toward his parents and family. Late at night, when everything was quiet, he would feel very upset and could not understand why he was the most promising among the brothers, yet his parents had always ignored him the most and favored his slippery, lazy brothers.

After hearing Yun Xi say these things, he let it go.

He no longer blamed heaven or earth. He released himself, cherished himself, and used his energy to nourish himself and make himself happy. Life became much happier that way.

He finally understood why Yun Xi could let go of her children and live her own life happily.

When someone asked Xiao Zhang whether he had felt family warmth after recognizing her as his godmother, Xiao Zhang would answer,

“Family warmth is only the most basic part. The greatest thing I gained from following my godmother is learning to cherish my own life properly.”

Xiao Zhang indeed seemed to smile more and look more energetic.

This silenced those who had originally thought the Dong children had been spoiled rotten by Yun Xi’s teaching.

Yun Xi clearly knew how to teach children very well. It was those ingrates who had been born with bad natures.

Just as Xiao Zhang was a good bamboo shoot growing from rotten bamboo, Yun Xi was good bamboo that had produced rotten shoots!

When the village chief came to the city for a meeting and heard about this, he even brought a bag of walnuts for Yun Xi to nourish her brain.

Because of policy changes, the brigade had now changed back into a village. Their village was called Yangliu Village, and he was still the village chief.

Every time he came to the city government for a meeting, the village chief came to see Yun Xi. First, because they were fellow villagers and it felt close. Second, because the more people interacted, the more affection and connections would develop.

The village chief sighed to Yun Xi.

“If not for seeing you develop so well, who would have thought someone in their forties could still begin learning characters and studying?

The more I think about it, the more I feel your talent was wasted. If you had been supported through school when you were young, who knows how much you might have achieved.”

Yun Xi waved her hand.

“Everything depends on the right timing, place, and people.

If I had really been made to study when I was young, I might not necessarily have liked studying.

It’s also because I’ve experienced so much and understood many things that I can now shut out outside distractions and calm down to study.

So there’s nothing to regret. Things are very good now. Other people even say I’ve become younger. Let’s not treat ourselves as old people.”

The village chief looked at her closely.

Wasn’t that true?

Yun Xi had been in the city for a year now, and she looked at least ten years younger overall. Now, if someone said she was in her thirties, people would believe it.

The village chief was actually about the same age as Yun Xi. Before, Yun Xi had called his wife sister-in-law. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Later, after Yun Xi became successful, they had begun calling her Sister Li.

But looking at her now, he really could not bring himself to call her “sister.”

The village chief touched his own aged face.

“Outsiders would think we’re from two different generations. You’re right. You’re doing very well now. You’ve made it through. Everyone in the village envies you.”

“What’s there to envy me for? If they want to change, they should start changing today.”

Yun Xi handed him a box of vanishing cream.

“Take this back and use it with sister-in-law every day. This thing isn’t expensive. You can buy it by smoking a few fewer cigarettes. If the two of you take good care of yourselves and look younger, you’ll be happy when you look in the mirror too, won’t you?

If anyone in the village envies me, tell them to read more.

Reading brings wisdom, and reading can also help people find work.

If our village all becomes cultured people, will we still have to worry about poor development in the future?”

Yun Xi lowered her voice and said,

“Let me tell you, contracting production to households is a good beginning. If our country wants to develop, there will definitely be movements in all kinds of areas.

Although we can’t guess exactly what they’ll be, opportunities are always left to those who are prepared.

Study culture, train your body, and ask around for information. When there’s any movement, we’ll be able to seize the opportunity and develop vigorously.

Think about it. If factories in the city expand and recruit people, won’t they choose the good ones?

By then, sharpening the spear right before battle will be too late. If you wait around for everything, even the daylilies will have gone cold!”

The village chief listened in a daze, but he felt that Yun Xi’s words made a great deal of sense. He could not help nodding.

“You’re right. It seems that reading more and learning more really is useful. Even your way of thinking is different now.

It’s also because you’ve seen more at the city government that you can think of these things.

All right. When I go back, I’ll urge everyone to be diligent and strive forward. If our village develops well in the future, everyone will have to thank you.”

Yun Xi laughed.

“What’s there to thank me for? I’m only moving my mouth.

If things develop well, thank yourselves more. Eat something better and wear something better.

What do people work hard their whole lives for? Isn’t it just food, clothing, housing, and transportation?”

“Right!”

The village chief laughed.

“You’ve truly gained great understanding now. Comrade Li, you are my role model. I have to learn properly from you, raise my awareness, and do a good job building the village!”

After Yun Xi sent the village chief away, Sister Qin beside her said,

“You really are kind-hearted. You were born with a warm heart. You’ve been away for so long, yet you still think about the village people so much.”

Yun Xi smiled and said,

“They think about me too. Look, who comes to the city without bringing me something?

Let’s not talk about whether it’s valuable or not. It’s all goodwill from fellow villagers.

I should show some goodwill too.

In any case, learning more is never wrong. If you understand more, even watching television in the future will be more interesting.”

Sister Qin burst out laughing.

“They’re in the countryside. Where would they watch television?”

Yun Xi slowly fanned herself with a fan and smiled.

“Ten or twenty years ago, we couldn’t listen to radios or ride bicycles either. Now how many workers have them at home?

Then who can say what things will be like in another ten years?

Maybe once everyone’s lives improve, every household will have a television.

One should still have dreams, shouldn’t they?”

She was sitting by the window. Sunlight streamed in from outside, and together with her smile, she seemed full of vitality.

As Sister Qin stared absentmindedly at her, she suddenly remembered the first time they had gone to the supply and marketing cooperative together.

Back then, Yun Xi had complained that the things she was carrying were heavy and said, “It would be nice if I knew how to drive.”

What had she replied then?

She had laughed and said Yun Xi really dared to dream. Even the mayor didn’t have a private car.

Yet Yun Xi had actually learned to drive.

Yun Xi still didn’t own a car now, but she worked part-time as a delivery driver and got to drive regularly. It wasn’t much different from having a vehicle of her own.

Was it because she carried dreams like this that she was so full of hope and vitality?

Something deeply rooted inside Sister Qin seemed to crack apart. A seed called “dreams” took root and began to sprout within her.

She was about the same age as Yun Xi. Her children were grown and no longer needed her constant care.

Perhaps she, too, could think about what dreams she had and work toward making them come true.

Yun Xi was something of an unconventional person in her surroundings, but she was successful in every aspect, and her influence was tremendous.

Not only were people close to her, like Sister Qin and Xiao Zhang, affected by her, but after hearing her words, the village chief immediately called a village-wide meeting upon returning home.

“Ever since the land was divided at the beginning of the year, everyone has thrown all their energy into farming.

“Farming is important, but studying is important too!

“Comrade Li Yunxi came from our village. The more successful she becomes in the future, the more often our village will be mentioned.

“We can’t let people think our village has nothing besides Comrade Li Yunxi, can we?”

“That’s right!”

“Village Chief, what should we do?”

“If you’re telling all of us to study, I can’t learn that stuff!”

“Yeah, I can’t even read!”

The village chief pressed his hands downward and waited for everyone to quiet down before smiling.

“When I went to the city for meetings this time, I consulted Comrade Li Yunxi. She gave us some suggestions, and I think they make a lot of sense. Everyone, listen carefully.”

He then repeated Yun Xi’s advice, emphasizing that no matter how difficult life was, everyone should make sure their children received an education and at least mastered basic knowledge.

As for the adults, the educated youths would organize literacy classes to teach everyone common characters and simple arithmetic. The village would pay the educated youths for teaching.

Anyone in the village who possessed a skill and was willing to teach others would also be paid by the village.

Even for farming, everyone would hold monthly meetings to discuss cultivation techniques, and anyone who contributed effective methods would receive a cash reward from the village.

The moment everyone heard this, heated discussions broke out.

Many people responded enthusiastically, shouting that they wanted to learn from Yun Xi.

But quite a few people found it troublesome. They didn’t want to attend literacy classes or participate in experience-sharing meetings.

The village chief replied,

“This is a matter of progress for the whole village.

“But if someone doesn’t want to participate, that’s fine too.

“When everyone else improves, just don’t complain about it afterward.

“The opportunity is being offered equally to every one of you.

“You’re being given free education and still don’t want it?

“If you miss this chance, it won’t come again.

“In a few years, once everyone has learned enough, these programs might be canceled.”

The moment they heard that, those who had been unwilling immediately changed their minds.

Why object to something that was essentially free?

The village chief wasn’t forcing anyone. If they weren’t feeling well someday, they could skip it. Normally, they could just go and join in.

Otherwise, if everyone else went and they didn’t, wouldn’t they be the ones losing out?

And so Yangliu Village enthusiastically established literacy classes and vocational skills classes.

The educated youths had finally found a job that paid wages. They worked incredibly hard.

They searched for textbooks, prepared lessons, and designed teaching plans, putting in tremendous effort to help the villagers learn as much as possible.

There were also three instructors for the skills classes.

They were older men whose health no longer allowed them to farm. Their families worked the fields while they earned wages through teaching.

One was skilled in carpentry.

One excelled at house construction.

The third was talented at making clothes and shoes.

None of them were true master craftsmen with family-secret techniques, but within the village they were among the best in their respective fields.

Being able to earn money from their skills made them very happy.

Many young men and women in their teens and twenties were eager to learn.

Even if they couldn’t earn money from it, learning how to make things for their families would still be useful.

And since it was free, why not learn?

The village chief was truly investing heavily in this effort.

After hearing Yun Xi’s words, he became convinced that as the country developed, cities and villages would each have their own paths of growth.

That meant villages would also become competitors with one another.

If Yangliu Village wanted better resources, it would need to stand out.

There wasn’t much else they could do for now, so they might as well cultivate their people properly.

What if another talent like Yun Xi emerged?

Wouldn’t their village become famous throughout the city?

Yun Xi had already provided a successful example.

They absolutely couldn’t waste such a good opportunity.

They had to use it to build Yangliu Village’s reputation.

The village leadership team strongly supported him.

Several of them were ambitious themselves and always had books in hand.

Whether they truly learned much or not, at least their attitude was excellent.

Even the doctor at the village clinic felt a sense of urgency.

Whenever there were no patients, he read medical books and studied diagnoses and prescriptions.

Suddenly, the entire village developed a spirit of positivity and self-improvement.

Every day seemed full of energy and laughter.

The only exception was the Dong family.

After learning that these suggestions had come from Yun Xi, they dismissed them with contempt.

They refused to attend literacy classes.

They didn’t participate in experience-sharing meetings.

Learning skills seemed too tiring, so they wouldn’t do that either.

While working in the fields, they even gossiped:

“What’s the use of literacy?

“Our old lady just got lucky and happened to save the mayor’s family. Otherwise, would she have had this kind of fortune?

“If we’re talking about education, wasn’t Second Brother a teacher before? Doesn’t he have more learning than the old lady?

“And now he’s farming too, isn’t he?

“What opportunities? Dream on.”

“Farming all day is tiring enough already, and now we’re supposed to learn trades?

“If those trades were really useful, why are the instructors still stuck in our village?

“Why haven’t they gotten rich?

“They’re only teaching because they want the little bit of salary the village chief is offering.

“If those skills were really that great, why aren’t their own children learning them?”

“The old lady rambled on about a bunch of nonsense, and the village chief took it seriously.

“I think the village chief is just giving her face because she’s doing well now. He’s sucking up to her.”

In the entire Dong family, only the two educated youths who had married into the family were willing to learn.

As outsiders, they lacked a sense of security.

They wanted more skills and more options for the future.

They also understood the importance of seizing opportunities.

So even after having major arguments with the family, they still went to attend the classes.

They also encouraged Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi to find ways to improve their relationship with Yun Xi.

But the siblings had been scolded so badly before that they refused no matter what.

The two educated youths could only regret it in private.

Such an impressive elder, yet they couldn’t gain any benefit from the connection.

Several months passed.

Everyone learned quite well.

The characters they recognized were enough for reading newspapers and books.

Their speech had become more refined and civilized than before.

The atmosphere and appearance of the entire village changed dramatically.

The children followed the example of the adults.

More of them became interested in studying.

Those attending high school worked harder than students from other villages.

Their classmates mocked them.

“There isn’t even a college entrance exam now.”

“After high school you’ll just find work somewhere.”

“Most of the kids from your village will probably end up coming back to farm anyway.”

“So why are you working so hard?”

The moment they heard that, they replied:

“You know Grandma Li Yunxi, right? She’s from our village! She became so amazing because she loves learning. She never had the chance to go to school and taught herself everything. We have the opportunity to attend school now, so of course we should study hard.

“That’s called learning as long as you live. Besides, there’s not much else to do at school anyway. Wasting time is worse than studying.”

Some people thought they were putting on an act. Others said all that studying was useless and called them foolish.

But with Yun Xi as an example, they all felt that at the very least they had to master their textbook knowledge the way she had. They had heard that Yun Xi could now tell stories in Russian. They were at an age when their minds were sharp and learning came easily. Surely they couldn’t lose to a grandmother, could they?

So they threw themselves into their studies with all their might.

One day, Yun Xi happened to be giving a lecture to teachers at their high school. During a break, several children from Yangliu Village ran over and listened through the window.

As they watched her, their eyes sparkled like stars.

It was the gaze of pure admiration.

“Grandma Li looks so young. We should call her Auntie Li instead!”

“Grandma Li wears a wristwatch and little leather shoes. She looks so energetic. I want to be like Grandma Li someday!”

“I wish Grandma Li taught our classes. Look how well she speaks.”

“That’s impossible. Grandma Li teaches teachers. Look how attentively all those teachers are listening.”

Yun Xi was the most remarkable example of someone changing their destiny within dozens of nearby villages. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Everyone wanted to learn from her experiences, so naturally they listened with great attention.

When the lecture ended, one of the teachers noticed the children and smiled at Yun Xi.

“Teacher Li, these kids are all from Yangliu Village. They’ve admired you for a long time. They’re incredibly hardworking students and always say they want to learn from you. See? They even came to listen to your lecture.”

Yun Xi looked over.

The children immediately blushed with embarrassment.

In truth, she had only been living in the city for a year and a half and still remembered them.

Smiling, she said,

“Lili, Chunxia, Xiaodong, Liqiang, Daxin, you’ve all grown so tall! Your teacher is praising you, so it sounds like you’ve been doing very well. Grandma Li is proud of you!”

The children had never expected Yun Xi to remember them, much less call each of them by name.

They immediately became excited.

Surrounding her, they asked about life in the city and eagerly shared stories about their studies and amusing happenings in the village.

Yun Xi chatted with them for a long time.

Then she asked,

“What dreams do you have?”

Influenced by both Yun Xi and their parents, they had already spent time thinking about that question.

Lili said,

“I want to work at the city government like Grandma Li.”

Xiaodong said,

“I want to learn to drive. I heard that both Grandma Li and your adopted son are amazing drivers. I want to be that capable too!”

Chunxia said shyly,

“I like making clothes. I ranked first in the village skills class. Someday I’d like to make clothes for people in the city. I guess that means working in a garment factory or textile factory.”

Each child had different aspirations.

Yun Xi was pleasantly surprised.

She had never expected the village chief’s efforts to encourage learning to have worked so well.

Seeing her surprise, the children quickly explained that everyone worked so hard because she had set such a good example.

In the past, everyone had been ordinary people living similar lives.

Then suddenly someone worked hard, struggled forward, and achieved so much.

That made others feel that they, too, could change their lives through effort.

Because of that, Yun Xi occupied a very special place in Yangliu Village.

She constantly inspired everyone.

Hearing this, Yun Xi felt genuinely touched.

After all, she didn’t think she had done very much.

She had simply lived her own life well and occasionally offered suggestions.

She had never gone out of her way to help them.

In the beginning, she had only offered advice because she knew the Dong family would automatically oppose anything she said. When successful people emerged from the village, the Dongs would inevitably become jealous and regretful.

Her original goal had simply been to get back at the Dong family.

Yet the villagers had always remembered her kindness and treated her as a role model.

For the first time, she felt that perhaps she could do more for them.

Yun Xi made more than a dozen extra copies of the workbooks and practice exams she usually prepared for Xiao Zhang.

She gave them to the children.

“Work through these carefully,” she said. “And share them with everyone back in the village.”

The college entrance examination would soon be reinstated.

She hoped this small contribution might help some ambitious young people.

The materials Yun Xi provided were treated almost like treasures in Yangliu Village.

Everyone cherished them.

Even elderly men and women who had never attended the literacy classes came over to touch them and look at them, as though simply seeing them broadened their horizons.

The students valued them even more.

They carefully copied every question into notebooks.

If they didn’t understand something, they asked teachers at school or educated youths in the village.

Of course, asking educated youths for tutoring required bringing a few eggs or other small gifts.

As a result, the educated youths were extremely enthusiastic about helping.

Indirectly, they ended up reviewing and strengthening their own knowledge as well.

In October, just after the autumn harvest was completed, Yangliu Village received earth-shattering news.

The national college entrance examination had been restored.

Lili and the others, who had recently graduated from high school, could hardly believe it.

“What?”

“The college entrance examination is back?”

“Does that mean… we can go to university?”

The village chief laughed.

“Yes! You can!”

“This time the requirements have been relaxed. As long as you’re under thirty years old, it doesn’t matter whether you’re married or unmarried, whether you’re a student or not. You can register.”

“You don’t need a recommendation.”

“You don’t need anyone’s approval.”

“If you want to take the exam, you can take it.”

The educated youths in the village instantly exploded with excitement.

Some even burst into tears.

They had come from the cities to the countryside.

Only they knew how hard it was to spend every day facing the dirt fields.

They had long believed they would be trapped there forever.

The only thing that had given them hope was Yun Xi’s encouragement.

They had thought that if they learned more skills, perhaps someday they could find work in the city.

Even temporary work would have been enough.

Yet now, so suddenly, the college entrance examination had returned.

They could register too.

They had already relearned so much of their old knowledge.

Could they actually get into university now and leave with pride?

The two educated youths who had married into the families of Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi were ecstatic.

The Dong siblings themselves, however, were stunned.

They had forgotten nearly everything they had once learned.

When the village held collective study sessions, they had sneered and refused to participate.

And now the college entrance examination had returned?

Had they just missed a golden opportunity?

Thinking of how Yun Xi had urged everyone to study, Dong Zhiyong erupted in anger.

“She remembered to remind outsiders, but not her own sons! Is something wrong with her brain?”

The villagers immediately became furious.

“Say one more word of nonsense and I’ll smack you with my shoe!”

“The village chief already said everyone had the same opportunity. If you didn’t study, whose fault is that?”

“You were the ones running around saying studying was useless and learning trades was useless.”

“You even influenced my nephew and kept him from studying properly.”

“You ruined his future!”

The more the man spoke, the angrier he became.

He actually took off his shoe and started hitting Dong Zhiyong in the face with it.

Dong Zhiyong didn’t dare fight back against an elder. If the old man fell, he could end up blamed for it.

He endured several hits before others finally stepped in to separate them.

After that, he didn’t dare say another word.

The rest of the Dong family remained silent as well.

Back inside their home, each of them became increasingly depressed.

Dong Zhijie finally said,

“At least I used to be a teacher. I still know more than most people.

From now on, I’ll focus entirely on studying.

If I work hard enough, maybe I can still get into university.”

Wang Xuefen believed in him completely.

“Leave all the work to me. You don’t need to worry about anything else.

“Get into a good university and show all of them what you’re capable of.

Let’s see who dares laugh at us then.”

Dong Zhihong and his wife weren’t capable students themselves, so they focused entirely on pushing their son.

“The college entrance exam is back. You have to become a university student and bring honor to your parents.”

Their son, however, wasn’t interested.

Impatiently, he replied,

“Why don’t you study yourselves?”

“If the old lady can do it, why can’t you?”

“Didn’t they say anyone under thirty can take the exam?”

“You two should hurry up and take it yourselves.”

“Stop bothering me.”

The couple was furious.

“How dare you talk to your parents like that? Say one more thing like that and see if I don’t beat you?”

Their son sneered.

“Go ahead and hit me. When you’re old, I’ll throw you out. If you’re not afraid of having nobody to take care of you or arrange your funeral, then try it.”

The two of them trembled with rage.

But they truly were afraid their son might refuse to support them in old age, so neither of them actually dared to strike him.

Wang Huijuan cried as she cursed him for being unfilial.

Dong Zhihong, however, stared blankly at his son and suddenly saw a reflection of himself.

So this was how Yun Xi had felt every time he mocked her?

Yun Xi learned the news as well.

Xiao Zhang came running over, panting so hard he could barely catch his breath. Bracing himself against the office doorway, he shouted excitedly,

“Mom! The college entrance examination has been restored! Mom, I can take the exam! I can become a university student!”

Yun Xi slapped the table and laughed.

“This is wonderful news! When you become a university student, Mom will personally see you off. Oh, and we’ll have to hold a banquet too. We’ll invite all our brothers and sisters at the municipal government office and celebrate properly!”

Sister Qin and the others all crowded around to congratulate Xiao Zhang.

His academic ability was genuinely outstanding.

The difficult problems he and Yun Xi discussed on a regular basis were completely beyond everyone else’s understanding.

Sister Qin’s husband had said more than once that the mother-and-son pair were truly gifted. They learned things at an astonishing pace.

Now that there was finally a chance to attend university, nobody doubted Xiao Zhang would succeed.

In fact, many believed that if anyone in the entire city could get into university, it would definitely be Xiao Zhang.

Sister Qin sighed regretfully.

“What a pity the age limit is thirty. If it were fifty instead, Sister Li could take the exam too. She might even become the city’s top scorer.”

Yun Xi burst out laughing.

“What would I do going to university at my age? By the time I graduated, I’d be fifty and ready to retire!

“Such a good opportunity should be left to young people. I’m not going to compete with them for it.”

Everyone thought about it and laughed along.

At the same time, they finally understood that Yun Xi truly studied for the sake of learning itself.

She had no ulterior motive.

She didn’t even feel regret about missing the chance to attend university.

Her outlook was genuinely broad and open-minded.

Of course, Yun Xi didn’t care about degrees or credentials.

She had only started studying because she was curious about the knowledge of this era.

Now she devoted herself entirely to helping Xiao Zhang prepare for the exam.

She invited the most knowledgeable teachers in every subject to answer his questions.

The mayor even ordered that any employees applying for the college entrance examination be granted leave so they could focus on studying.

Their positions would remain waiting for them.

If they failed, they could simply return to work.

If they succeeded and graduated from university, they could still come back afterward.

University graduates were desperately needed talents.

If they returned to work at the municipal government office, the city would gain even more capable people.

Regardless of everyone’s reactions, the examination arrived on schedule.

Standing outside the examination hall, Xiao Zhang found himself unusually nervous.

Yun Xi smiled.

“Believe in yourself. You can do it.

And besides, what university we attend isn’t the measure of our lives.

I never had the chance to take the exam, yet my life is still fulfilling.

You study hard, work diligently, and conduct yourself with integrity. I’m proud of you. This exam is nothing more than a small test in your life.”

“Relax.”

Xiao Zhang immediately felt much lighter.

A smile spread across his face.

“Mom, thank you.Don’t worry. I’ll do my best and leave no regrets.”

He understood exactly what Yun Xi meant.

There was no need to obsess over a perfect outcome.

As long as he gave everything he had and left no regrets behind, that was enough.

With the most relaxed mindset possible, he walked into the examination hall.

Members of the Dong family had also come to take the exam.

Whether they stood a chance or not, they had all registered.

They didn’t approach Yun Xi, but they overheard her conversation with Xiao Zhang.

Watching how close the two of them were filled them with resentment and bitterness.

They were her biological children.

Why was she so good to an outsider?

At the same time, they found it absurd.

The college entrance examination was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity capable of changing a person’s destiny.

How could Yun Xi call it merely a small test in life?

Surely Xiao Zhang wasn’t actually that capable, and Yun Xi was simply trying to save face.

If he failed, she could always say that experiencing the process mattered more than the result.

What a convenient excuse.

The other examinees from Yangliu Village slowly calmed their nerves.

Led by Lili, they came over to greet Yun Xi.

Yun Xi smiled and encouraged them.

“Don’t be afraid. Just do your best. For questions you know, make absolutely sure you answer them correctly. For questions you don’t know, think carefully and patiently. You’ve studied all this material before. If you stay calm, you’ll remember far more than you think. Simply having this opportunity already makes you luckier than many people. And even if this path isn’t right for you, the country will continue introducing new policies. Look, people aren’t being arrested for setting up street stalls anymore. There will be many more opportunities for development in the future. So don’t be afraid.”

Everyone was surprised.

From what she was saying, it sounded as though ordinary people might one day be able to start with a street stall and eventually build their own business.

But the people of Yangliu Village had always trusted Yun Xi.

Whatever she said, they believed.

There wasn’t time to discuss it further, but knowing there would be other opportunities beyond the college entrance examination greatly eased their anxiety.

Especially the educated youths.

They had placed far too much importance on the exam.

Now that they had relaxed, they would likely perform much better.

During the examination period, the entire city became noticeably quieter.

People instinctively lowered their voices, afraid of disturbing the examinees.

Even public security improved.

At last, the examination ended.

After a long, agonizing wait, admission notices finally began arriving.

One day, a postal worker came running while shouting excitedly:

“Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang!”

“You got into Qing University!”

“You’re the provincial top scorer!”

The entire municipal government office exploded with excitement.

Qing University was one of the finest universities in the country, among the most prestigious institutions in China.

Not only had Xiao Zhang been admitted, he had outperformed every student in the province and become the provincial champion.

It was a tremendous honor for the entire city.

The moment Xiao Zhang received his admission notice, the grown man burst into tears.

He threw his arms around Yun Xi.

“Mom!”

“If you hadn’t pushed me to study, I would have forgotten everything in those textbooks.”

“I never could have gotten into university.”

“This admission letter belongs to you, Mom!”

Yun Xi laughed.

“Good boy.”

“I knew you were smart.”

“Look at that. One serious review session and you scored this well.”

“You’ll accomplish even greater things in the future. Now stop crying before people laugh at you.”

Xiao Zhang wiped his eyes and grinned.

“Crying in front of Mom isn’t embarrassing.”

The coworkers laughed.

“That’s right. Not embarrassing at all.”

“Meeting Sister Li was Xiao Zhang’s good fortune. Even a thousand-li horse needs someone to recognize its talent before it can truly shine.”

“Good heavens, Xiao Zhang is incredible!”

“And Sister Li is incredible too!”

“I’m starting to want Sister Li as my mother too! Hahaha!”

“Sister Li really knows how to raise a child. Xiao Zhang is so capable. He’ll definitely be a devoted son to Sister Li in the future.”

“Remember all those times people tried introducing matches to Xiao Zhang? Sister Li’s standards were unbelievably high and rejected every one of them. Now that he’s gotten into Qing University, won’t he have to find a Qing University sweetheart? Oh my, Sister Li’s blessings are only going to grow from here!”

Yun Xi cheerfully accepted all the congratulations and praise. She handed out the candies and pastries she had prepared beforehand, urging everyone to take extra home so their families could enjoy some sweetness too.

Everyone was delighted.

It wasn’t just about eating a piece of candy.

This was the joyous occasion of someone being admitted to Qing University and becoming the provincial top scorer.

Their children absolutely had to share in that good fortune.

There were several other coworkers in the office who had also been admitted to universities. Although none had performed as brilliantly as Xiao Zhang, they had all been influenced by the studying atmosphere created by Yun Xi and Xiao Zhang. They had worked hard and gained admission to excellent universities as well.

Many of them even brought gifts to thank Yun Xi.

Their city wasn’t small. Every work unit had people who had gotten into university, and the total number was quite impressive.

Among the students, however, the highest achievers were Lili and her group.

For more than a year, they had studied with incredible diligence and completed countless practice problems.

The universities they entered were all nationally renowned institutions.

When those numbers were applied to a village, the results were astonishing.

Seven high school students from Yangliu Village had been admitted to prestigious universities.

Eleven educated youths had also been admitted.

Eighteen university students.

Eighteen university students from a single village!

And Yun Xi herself had come from Yangliu Village.

The adopted son she had raised had even become the provincial top scorer.

Yangliu Village became famous overnight.

Nearby villages even started calling it “Top Scorer Village.”

Everyone wanted to know why Yangliu Village’s results were so extraordinary.

When they learned that it had all begun with Yun Xi’s influence, they were stunned.

They admired Yun Xi for achieving so much after the age of forty.

They admired the village chief for investing so much effort into encouraging education.

And once the nationwide statistics were compiled, Yangliu Village was officially praised by higher authorities for its emphasis on cultivating talent.

The village was featured in newspapers across the country.

For the first time, Yun Xi’s name appeared in print and became known nationwide.

Many village chiefs envied Yangliu Village for producing someone as remarkable as Yun Xi.

Some even envied the mayor for recognizing her potential and promoting her, leading to all the good things that followed.

But the person everyone admired most was Yun Xi herself.

She had gone from a forty-five-year-old illiterate farm woman to where she stood today.

Her life proved that there were countless possibilities in life.

No obstacle was truly impossible to overcome.

No pain was impossible to let go of.

As long as a person refused to give up, they could always find a path of their own.

While everyone else was congratulating the university students and admiring Yun Xi, the homes of the Dong siblings became the quietest and most miserable places in the village.

Not a single one of the four siblings had passed.

They hadn’t merely failed. Their scores weren’t even close to the minimum admission line.

There was no way to blame it on carelessness or bad luck.

Naturally, they became the village’s biggest laughingstock.

Dong Zhihong snapped,

“Third Brother, Little Sister, you two studied the longest. Weren’t you always saying higher education had ruined your futures? So why couldn’t you pass now that they actually let you take the exam? What a joke.”

Dong Zhiyong exploded.

“Then why didn’t you pass if you’re so capable?

“And what about Second Brother? Didn’t he fail too?

“He’s always talking about being a teacher and how his talent was wasted. Bah! What talent? The village school was right to fire him. He’s good for nothing!”

The argument quickly turned into a physical fight.

By the time everyone was bruised and battered, Dong Zhihong declared that from now on they would cut off all contact and never associate with one another again.

Dong Zhizhi sneered.

“Fine. Let’s cut ties.”

“Who wants anything to do with you anyway?”

“Do you have a single quality worthy of being an eldest brother? My husband got into university. I’m going to enjoy a good life with him. I wasn’t planning to associate with you anymore anyway.”

Wang Huijuan let out a mocking laugh.

“He got into university, sure. But whether he’ll take you along for that good “life is another matter. You’re just a village girl. No education. No reputation.

“Do you really think a university student will still want you?”

“You’re pregnant too.”

“Be careful you don’t end up abandoned.”

Dong Zhizhi was startled.

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

She immediately ran home and hid her husband’s admission notice.

She wanted a better life, but what if she really was abandoned?

At that point, she’d rather stay in the village and farm.

Dong Zhiyong’s expression darkened as well.

His wife had also been admitted to university.

She had always refused to have children, insisting they wait a few years.

Could it be because she had been planning to leave all along?

Now that she was going to university, what if she no longer wanted him?

No.

He had to think this through carefully.

If she went, she would have to take him along.

After all, he had spent quite a bit of money on her.

The gathering broke up unhappily.

The restoration of the college entrance examination was a blessing for countless people.

For the Dong family, however, it felt like a storm cloud hanging over their heads.

They couldn’t help thinking of Yun Xi again.

If they hadn’t fallen out with her back then, would she have supervised their studies?

Would they have gotten into university too?

Unfortunately, there were no second chances.

They couldn’t even see Yun Xi anymore.

The last time they had seen her had been outside the examination hall.

And now the distance between them seemed greater than ever.

Suddenly, Dong Zhiyong remembered something.

Hadn’t Yun Xi said that the government was becoming more lenient about things like street vending?

He was good with words.

He could start a business selling things from a stall and make money himself.

╰───♡───╯

In truth, Yun Xi knew about the land division even earlier than they did. After all, she worked at the city government. Whenever there were movements in the city, government employees were the first to know. She had even met the brigade leader when he came for a meeting.

At the time, the brigade leader had been a little worried, afraid that Yun Xi would secretly come to him through connections and ask him to manipulate things behind the scenes to assign land to her.

After all, six mu of land could produce quite a harvest. Even if Yun Xi worked and could not farm it herself, she could still give it to her children and grandchildren, one mu each.

Even if Yun Xi did not give it to her children, renting it to educated youths who could not receive land would still provide a stable income. What a huge advantage that was. It was practically a pie falling from the sky. No one would be willing to miss it.

But Yun Xi did not mention it at all.

While the brigade leader felt relieved, he also felt a little sorry for her and said,

“If you had gone to the city for work without transferring your household registration, you would have been able to receive six mu of land this time.

Back in the old days, if one person could own six mu of land, they absolutely wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothing.

If a whole large family lived together, the land belonging to men, women, old, and young all added up would be quite substantial.

Who could have expected the policy to suddenly change?”

Yun Xi smiled and said,

“Each has its own benefits. Only by taking an urban household registration could I become a regular employee, get a salary increase, and enjoy benefits like free grain, oil, and meat coupons. That’s why I’ve been able to live so well these past six months. I haven’t lost out.

Besides, right now, I only have to feed myself, and one full stomach means the whole household isn’t hungry. My salary is more than enough.

The village has limited good, high-grade land. With one less person like me, more good land can be divided among everyone else. We’re all fellow villagers. If everyone lives a bit better, I’m happy too.”

The brigade leader lived in the village and had spent his whole life seeing people haggle over every detail and love taking advantage.

Life was difficult. Sometimes people could fight over a single scallion.

Hearing Yun Xi say such a thing so suddenly, he immediately felt admiration.

This way of thinking alone was not something ordinary people could have.

No wonder she could succeed.

She was open-minded!

So the regretful, devastated Yun Xi the Dong family imagined did not exist at all.

On the contrary, when they signed for their land, they let slip a few smug and mocking comments while chatting with the villagers, laughing at Yun Xi for making such a fuss only to miss out on the land. This made the brigade leader look down on them greatly.

The brigade leader snorted coldly, looked sideways at the Dong family, and said,

“Sister Li has real ability. When she went to the provincial capital for training, she placed first. During the broken bridge rescue, she earned merit too.

I heard her salary has already risen to thirty yuan a month, and her unit even rewarded her with a bicycle.

In the city, not only can she receive grain and oil, but when she gives lectures at various units, those units all have to host her and feed her good food. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. They even stuff canned goods and pastries into her hands until she can’t finish eating them.

You think she cares about these few mu of land?

Sister Li is an impressive person who walked out from our village. Don’t listen to their nonsense and start laughing at or envying Sister Li.

Sister Li said that as long as she can eat her fill and not go hungry, that’s enough. She won’t fight us for land, so everyone can receive a little more high-grade land.

She has always remembered us. Isn’t it a great thing for us to have an older sister at the city government?

Everyone, isn’t that right?”

“Right! The brigade leader is right. Just like last time when Old Liu’s daughter-in-law had a difficult labor. Wasn’t it Sister Li who helped arrange everything?

Sister Li remembers us fellow villagers. We can’t take pleasure in her misfortune.”

“Exactly. And they’re her biological children too. What kind of people don’t hope their own mother does well? No wonder Sister Li recognizes another son and not you. If it were me, I’d break your legs directly. How could I let you run your mouths?”

“When the harvest comes from my fields, I’ll send Sister Li a few bags of vegetables, so she can eat fresh vegetables from our land, with the taste of home!

Later, when my son and daughter study in the city, I can ask her to help keep an eye on them. If anything happens, we can also ask Sister Li for help, right?”

“Right, right, right. I’ll send some too. Let’s all send together. This is our goodwill. We’re not asking Sister Li to do anything. We just want her to eat comfortably in the city and feel close to home when eating the vegetables we grow!”

“Yes, exactly. When the time comes, we’ll all send things together.”

The Dong family simply could not understand.

Were they all sick in the head?

They actually wanted to go give things to Yun Xi?

Wasn’t she just driving and managing logistics at the city government?

What could she help them with?

They really were a bunch of people who had never seen the world. They even wanted to curry favor with an old woman like Yun Xi.

Fine, let them go.

Once they discovered Yun Xi could not give them any benefits, they would start cursing. Let’s see whether the brigade leader would still say Yun Xi was the pride of the village then.

Because of the land division, Yun Xi once again became the focus of discussion in the whole village.

Quite a few people felt that Yun Xi was open-minded.

In truth, the villagers had encountered many unfair things before. Even when they suffered losses, they could only accept it, with nowhere to seek justice, because the other side had connections and channels.

For example, Yun Xi was now with the city government, had saved the mayor’s family, and was so capable that she gave lectures everywhere. If she truly wanted this land, she could manipulate things behind the scenes and transfer her household registration back. Aside from the people handling it, how many people knew Yun Xi had an urban household registration?

There were many ways to operate such a matter.

They knew someone who had two household registrations, one in the city and one in the countryside. In any case, the records were kept on paper. Under normal circumstances, the two sides would not exchange information, and no one would know.

Then that person could enjoy both the city and countryside benefits.

Of course, doing such a thing required very strong connections. It was not something everyone could do.

This time, Yun Xi had not thought at all about using connections to get land or returning to take advantage. They felt that Yun Xi’s way of conducting herself was truly generous.

Compared to the Dong family’s gloating appearance, it made them feel even more that Yun Xi refused to acknowledge them because their character was too poor.

Originally, after the land division, some families had thought the Dong family’s conditions were decent and had considered introducing matches to Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi. Now all of them retreated.

Whether conditions were good was secondary.

Poor character definitely would not do.

So the Dong family returned to being isolated. When people ran into them on the road, no one even greeted them.

What could the Dong family do?

They could only fantasize about living better and better after receiving land and hope that Yun Xi would get into an accident while driving, be fired by her unit, become homeless, and return to beg them.

However, in the short term, they would not be seeing Yun Xi.

What faced them now was the hardship of farming.

In the past, when they earned work points through collective labor, they could still dawdle and slack off. Now the land belonged to their own household. If they did not work hard, they would suffer losses. Of course they had to work from dawn until dark.

In the past, many tricks for farmwork had been pointed out to them by Yun Xi. Now that they were without Yun Xi, they forgot this and that. They did this badly and that badly, becoming the subject of many village jokes.

This increasingly highlighted Yun Xi’s competence and their uselessness.

Several of them argued that their strengths did not lie in farming, but no one listened to that.

If a countryside person could not farm, then show some ability and go find work.

If you were useless at everything, then shut up and work properly.

The group was exhausted and miserable.

In just half a month, their appearances matured quite a bit. Even Dong Zhizhi’s face became rougher.

Then, when they thought of how they worked themselves to death yet ate so poorly, while Yun Xi had handed her godson one hundred yuan with a single move of her hand, their hearts grew even more unbalanced.

They also began muttering that Yun Xi’s division of the family had been unfair.

Back then, they had thought Yun Xi had spent all the money buying the job. Later, they learned that her job had come from saving people. So hadn’t Yun Xi embezzled the money herself?

And the fifty yuan Dong Zhiyong had given Yun Xi too. Since it had been stolen from the old accounts, after it was returned, it should have been divided equally among everyone.

There was also the family’s grain.

After Yun Xi left, they had never found all that grain in the house. They had been borrowing grain to eat for the past six months. Who knew how much Yun Xi had swallowed for herself?

However, no one believed these words at all.

Their family had already lost all credibility.

People simply listened to it as a joke and left it at that. The brigade leader even told them to stop spreading rumors. If they could not produce evidence, they should shut up.

Where would they find evidence?

They could only swallow this grievance in frustration.

Whenever their days were hard, they would think of Yun Xi.

It was as though Yun Xi could make their lives miserable without even returning home or showing her face.

Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi were considered not young in the village anymore. With their high standards and low ability, they had not been able to find partners. Fortunately, after the land division, there was finally an opportunity.

The educated youths did not belong to the village and could not receive land, so their lives were miserable.

The siblings had rooms to live in, each had six mu of land, and both had gone to school, giving them some common language with the educated youths.

Educated youths who could no longer endure bitter days came to meet them.

Not long after, Dong Zhiyong married a good-looking female educated youth. She was good at speaking and loved smiling.

Dong Zhizhi married the eldest among the educated youths, a steady man who knew how to care for others.

The siblings were both very satisfied and began living lively lives like this.

After spring arrived, the villagers sent Yun Xi some bean sprouts grown on the kang, scallions, and other things. In passing, they mentioned the marriages of her two children.

In their view, Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi were truly improper.

They had angered their old mother. Even if they had to cry and beg, they should have begged her to come back.

How could they make decisions on their own and get married?

What kind of thing was that?

Yun Xi was also surprised after hearing it.

This was something she truly had not known.

But after asking which two educated youths they had married, she smiled.

That female educated youth was indeed good-looking. She had only been there for two years, and several young men had already taken a fancy to her, but she had refused them all. Either she disliked that family for having too many people, or she disliked that family’s mother-in-law and sisters-in-law for being fierce.

Now she had suddenly married Dong Zhiyong. Yun Xi guessed she had valued the fact that the Dong family had already divided. She would not need to deal with sisters-in-law or a younger sister-in-law, and there was no mother-in-law above her. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. As for Dong Zhiyong, he had his own room, his own land, and some savings in hand. He looked decent and was sweet-tongued. If she could control him, it would be better than marrying anyone else in the village.

As for the eldest among the educated youths, he had been there for eight years and was ten years older than Dong Zhizhi!

He was indeed good at handling matters and was careful and good at taking care of people. But the reason he had not married all these years was that he had always been thinking about returning to the city.

Now, he probably felt there was no hope of returning to the city. Seeing the villagers all receive land, he decided to marry Dong Zhizhi, who had no family burden and was still fairly pretty.

Under the current policy, once they registered their marriage and transferred their household registrations in, they could receive land.

Of course, if such outsiders divorced and left, they would have to return the land to the village.

With land, they could live their days together with the Dong siblings.

To put it bluntly, there were benefits to be gained. What they valued was not the Dong siblings themselves.

Yun Xi smiled because she suddenly remembered that in another half a year or so, the college entrance examination would be restored.

The Dong siblings had each found an educated youth, and both were educated youths whose hearts were restless and always flying outward.

When the time came, who knew what kind of trouble would break out?

They still wanted to see her become a joke.

They should first see whether they themselves would become jokes!

During her day off, Yun Xi wanted to go to the waste station to look for some old books to read, so she called Xiao Zhang along.

When she saw textbooks, she bought them all for Xiao Zhang.

“No matter what you do, learning knowledge is the most useful.

Pick all this knowledge back up. In the future, if there’s an even better opportunity for advanced training, maybe you’ll be chosen.

Look farther ahead. We’re not only competing with the people around us. We also have to compete with people from the provincial capital.

Learning more is never wrong.

Sister Qin’s husband is a high school teacher. Later, I’ll say hello. If there’s anything you don’t understand, go ask him. Bring two bottles of canned food and be sweet with your words, got it?”

“Got it!”

Xiao Zhang had no real interest in textbook knowledge, but he did not resist it either.

What he liked was how Yun Xi arranged and worried over things for him. It was as though he had finally received a long-overdue motherly love.

So he listened especially well, hugging the books and answering cheerfully.

Yun Xi was also quite happy.

Her godson was rather considerate.

Wasn’t this where the comparison came in?

When the college entrance examination was restored, she would let everyone see how promising the child she carefully cultivated could be.

Then they could look at those ingrates and see how they were nothing without her!

╰───♡───╯