Xu Ziyan took the two children back to the village, with large and small bags hanging from the bicycle handlebars. Someone who saw them asked the children on purpose, “What did you guys do today?”
Fang Bei shouted happily, “We went to the park! We even took photos! And ate ice cream and bought delicious snacks!”
The person who asked clicked their tongue in astonishment. Goodness, how much money must that have cost? They couldn’t help but ask, “Did something good happen? Why are you so happy?”
Xu Ziyan showed her the things she bought and said in a low voice, “Sister-in-law Lin, my grandma’s birthday is in a couple of days. I went to buy her gifts, and took the kids out to play along the way. Don’t tell anyone, okay? Otherwise, if my grandma finds out what I’m giving her ahead of time, it won’t be a surprise.”
Sister-in-law Lin nodded repeatedly, her eyes fixed on the gifts and reluctant to look away. Malt Cream, pastries, canned goods—these things were terribly expensive. Who said Xu Ziyan was unfilial and always angered Xu Grandmother? For the old lady’s birthday, Xu Ziyan was willing to spend so much on gifts. Was this called unfilial? How much more filial did she need to be?
Xu Ziyan took the children home. That evening, they ate braised chicken with mushrooms. Fang Mother’s elder was a cook, and she had inherited this skill. The dishes she made were especially delicious, and the whole family ate heartily. Even if there was occasionally a tiny pebble in the rice, it didn’t affect Xu Ziyan’s good mood. She felt like she was experiencing life at a farm stay—quite interesting.
‘This is delicious. My mother-in-law’s cooking skills are no worse than Auntie Chen’s from my previous life. I’m lucky! Otherwise, in this era lacking oil and salt, where people are reluctant to use seasonings, eating would probably be quite painful.’
Fang Mother, who was picking up food with her chopsticks, paused. What? Previous life? The Immortal Child had already been through one reincarnation cycle, and she retained her memories? How incredible!
001: 『Host, next door, Xu Xiuyun is crying and complaining to Song Dongbo.』
Xu Ziyan didn’t care. 『Song Dongbo just has a quick mind for business. He got rich by catching the trend of the times. That’s in commerce. What else can he do? Hit me? Forget about them. Xu Xiuyun will definitely twist black and white, play the weak and delicate card to win Song Dongbo’s pity. That’s how the two of them can be loving and affectionate.
Actually, I think she’s overdoing it. Song Dongbo wouldn’t have any issues with her anyway. He’s busy with business and just wanted to marry a wife who would treat his daughter well and take good care of the home. Xu Xiuyun has done all that. Everything else is unimportant. If he truly loved Xu Xiuyun, why didn’t he speak up when the Original Host and Xu Xiuyun had conflicts?』
001: 『That makes sense. This is a story about a truly kind and beautiful female lead living a happy life. Song Dongbo barely counts as the male lead—more of a background prop male lead. It seems he’s just average, but at least he won’t secretly harm you. That’s much better than the male lead from your previous life. By the way, Host, what about Fang Lihai? Will you become a real couple with him?』
Xu Ziyan subconsciously replied, 『That depends on whether he’s handsome. Hmm, he is quite handsome. And I’ve never dated a soldier before.』
This time, Fang Father also stopped moving. What? The Immortal Child wanted to become a real couple with his son???
The two children were growing more and more convinced that the Xu Ziyan before them was not the original mean stepmother. Today had been far too wonderful. They didn’t want her to change back at all, only hoping she would stay for a long, long time. So, gathering their courage, they each picked up a piece of chicken for her. “Second Aunt, eat!”
Xu Ziyan snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. “Good kids, you eat too. From now on, just call me Mom, don’t call me Second Aunt.”
The children’s eyes lit up. “R-Really? Can we?”
“Of course. From now on, you’re my sons. Remember, don’t let anyone bully you outside. If anyone bullies you, tell me, and I’ll stand up for you.”
“Okay!”
The two children answered loudly, their faces full of excitement. Having lost their parents at a young age, and then toiling and being scolded daily under the Original Host, the other kids outside didn’t want to play with them and mocked them as unwanted orphans. They had experienced the life of dependence and the fickleness of the world early on. They had felt wronged about being under the Original Host’s care yet only being allowed to call her Second Aunt and Second Uncle. Now they could finally call someone Mom and Dad. They weren’t orphans anymore and would never be mocked again. Their new mom even said she would stand up for them.
Xu Ziyan gave each of them a chicken drumstick and smiled. “Eat up, eat more, grow strong. Then if someone bullies me, you can stand up for me too.”
The two nodded hurriedly. They would definitely work hard to grow up and become useful people.
After the meal, Xu Ziyan hesitated. 『001, should I do the dishes? I was a young lady from a wealthy family for decades in my previous life and never washed a single bowl. I’m afraid I’ll break them. But in this era, it seems daughters-in-law are supposed to take the initiative to do these things. Would it be bad if I didn’t do it? But I don’t really want to.』
Fang Father and Fang Mother quickly started clearing the table. Meeting Xu Ziyan’s gaze, Fang Mother smiled. “You must be tired today. Go rest. I can handle these little things.”
Fang Father nodded. “You young people have your own affairs. Don’t worry about the housework. Weren’t you saying you wanted to find a way to earn money? Spend your time thinking properly about that.”
Fang Nan also sensibly swept the floor clean. Xu Ziyan then stretched contentedly, moved around the courtyard to aid digestion, and when it grew dark and she was about to go back inside to sleep, she noticed a candle lit in the neighboring house. Peering through the window, she saw Xu Xiuyun sewing clothes by candlelight. It was probably the gift for Xu Grandmother’s birthday.
Xu Ziyan suddenly laughed. She realized there was a very interesting point about The Plot of this world. On the surface, Xu Xiuyun was kind, good at everything, and ended up happy, while the Original Host, the Control Group, was malicious, despicable, and met a tragic end.
But Xu Xiuyun had been taken advantage of since childhood, took the blame for the Original Host, couldn’t argue when things happened and had to swallow it, and was so sensible she proactively helped with household chores. Her fiancé died, giving her a faint reputation of being a husband-killer. She married and became a stepmother, and for the sake of her reputation, took meticulous care of her stepdaughter. Even when the stepdaughter was mischievous, she had to educate her softly and gently, never getting angry or losing her temper.
Her husband was always out pondering business, so she took on all the household chores and even farm work. Every time something happened, she returned good for evil, spending money and effort to be nice to others, as if she had no temper. She studied diligently from dawn to dusk to get into university, got pregnant and had a child during her studies—which was terribly inconvenient—then graduated and became a housewife, continuing to care for her own child and her rebellious teenage stepdaughter, worrying about all the trivial, nitpicky household matters.
When her husband was busy with business, socializing and coming home drunk, she also had to carefully tend to her husband, who was dead drunk. Her whole life was spent in this busy, exhausting way. Then, because her husband got rich, she became the successful, envied female lead who had turned her life around. But in reality, she had been suffering the whole time and never lived for herself.
And the Original Host? Since childhood, she let herself run wild, did whatever she wanted, snatched food if she wanted to eat, took money from her grandma when she had none, ran away when beaten and framed her cousin, shirked work by acting shamelessly, and grew up easily. After marrying into her husband’s family, she ignored the two stepsons, didn’t lift a finger for any work. Her husband didn’t come home but sent money every month, and her mother-in-law’s cooking was delicious. Although her reputation was bad, she lived a life of ease and pleasure the whole time.
Later, when the Original Host ran away, it was also to go live the life she wanted. She failed in the end, but the entire process was according to her own wishes. Her various improper methods were, of course, wrong, but she completely lived for herself, never suffering losses or feeling wronged.
If Xu Ziyan had to choose, she certainly didn’t want a life like Xu Xiuyun’s. It looked good on the surface, especially enviable, but in reality, all the bitterness in life had to be swallowed oneself.
Xu Ziyan shook her head and went back to her room to sleep. Drifting off, she thought, she must get rich. This hard kang bed was too uncomfortable. She was here to complete Missions, not to suffer. She had to get into the city!
Several nearby neighbors, moving about outside, had smelled the meat from the Fang family that evening. Combined with what Sister-in-law Lin, who had run into Xu Ziyan earlier, said, lots of little rumors began to spread in the village. Of course, not many people spread them, since Xu Ziyan had asked to keep the gift-buying for her grandma a secret. So they only told their close friends.
The matter of Fang Mother stewing meat for Xu Ziyan also spread. The more everyone thought about it, the more they felt Xu Ziyan must be getting along quite well with the Fang family. The fact that the two elders and the two children all seemed to like Xu Ziyan indicated she was a decent person, didn’t it? Wasn’t this more convincing than the rumors outside? At the same time, their suspicions of Xu Xiuyun greatly increased. They felt they should keep an eye on her, to see if she was truly good to her stepdaughter. If she was just putting on a show and treating the child badly behind the scenes, that wouldn’t do.
Just as everyone was quietly discussing this, Xu Grandmother’s birthday arrived. The Xu family started preparing early in the morning. The old lady’s sixtieth birthday had to be lively, with a richer spread of dishes. But they were all villagers, not too particular about these things, so they didn’t invite outsiders, just planned to gather the big family themselves.
The Xu family hadn’t divided the household yet, so only Xu Ziyan and Xu Xiuyun’s families needed to return. Xu Xiuyun went back early with Song Dongbo and her daughter. As soon as she entered the door and offered her birthday wishes, she ducked into the kitchen to help wash vegetables and cook. Her mother pushed her, telling her to come out and rest. “What married daughter comes back home and still works? Go keep your husband company.”
Xu Xiuyun smiled. “I feel bad for you and want you to work less. Let me do it. Dongbo is smoking and chatting with Grandpa and my dad.”
Her mother said quietly, “Your husband didn’t argue with you, did he? What really happened that day? How did you let Xu Ziyan scold you?”
Xu Xiuyun lowered her head, her eyes reddening. “Mom, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s all in the past anyway.”
“Alright, alright, we won’t talk about it.” Her mother said nothing more, but seeing her daughter like this, she felt she had suffered a great wrong. It must have been that Xu Ziyan bullying her again. That child had never been peaceful since she was little.
Speak of the devil. Xu Ziyan arrived with the two children, carrying large and small bags. On the way, many fellow villagers had ‘coincidentally’ run into her, just to see what gifts she was bringing. They were all shocked. She was truly willing to spend money. They also thought, Xu Grandmother was really blessed. So biased, yet this granddaughter was still so filial.
Xu Ziyan entered, presented the gifts to Xu Grandmother, and smiled. “Grandma, look. These are the birthday gifts Li Hai and I got for you.” She then looked down at the two children. “What were you supposed to say?”
Fang Nan said, “We wish Great-Grandma happiness as vast as the Eastern Sea!”
Fang Bei added, “And a life as long as the Southern Mountains.”
Xu Grandmother forced a smile. “Good, you’re all good children.” She painfully took out forty cents, giving twenty to each. What was the point of bringing the kids? She still had to give them money!
After giving the money, Xu Grandmother sent the children to play in the courtyard with her own grandchildren. Xu Father and Xu Mother looked at Xu Ziyan with worry. Xu Ziyan could tell at a glance that Xu Grandmother had cursed her out plenty at home these past two days. They had just met, and she already looked displeased.
Just then, Xu Xiuyun also came over and said with a smile, “Grandma, my birthday gift for you is a piece of clothing. I made it myself. It’s not as good as little sister’s gifts. Please don’t dislike it.”
Xu Grandmother took the clothes and immediately smiled. She put it on right then and said, “Good! This fits perfectly and looks nice too. You have a filial heart!”
Xu Ziyan said with a half-smile, “What does that mean? That I don’t have a filial heart?”