"Mother, why can't you understand?" Chen Meilan's voice trembled, yet she stood firm, "The money has already been spent on supplies, on your grandchildren's school canteen fees. I truly have nothing left to give you."
Opposite her, Wang Chunhua's face darkened, her eyes sharp as a hawk's. Beside her stood Sun Guifeng, arms crossed, her lips curled in disdain. The two women pressed forward, trying to force their way inside.
"Nothing left?" Wang Chunhua sneered coldly. "You think we are blind? Your children are now eat well, yet when it comes to your elders, suddenly your pockets are empty? You raise wolves but forget your roots!"
At that moment, Li Shuying, Li Jianmin, and Li Jianguo stepped into the courtyard.
What they saw made their expressions harden instantly.
Chen Meilan stood at the doorway, back straight despite her frailty, refusing to yield even a single step. Wang Chunhua and Sun Guifeng loomed before her, their postures aggressive, their voices sharp enough to cut.
But what caught Li Shuying's attention… was not them.
It was the young man standing slightly to the side.
Zhao Xiaojun.
He stood there with his hands behind his back, his expression cold, his eyes carrying a faint trace of impatience.
For a moment, Li Shuying did not move.
Then—
Like a sudden crack of thunder in a clear sky...
Memories surged and her breath caught. In her previous life it was him.
She remembered that day with terrifying clarity when Counterintelligence forces stormed into their house along with Zhao Xiaojun, their presence was cold and terrifying.
They turned the house upside down—trunks overturned, bedding ripped apart, walls tapped, floors examined. Every corner was scrutinized as though they were digging for buried sin.
Chen Meilan had nearly collapsed on the spot, her face drained of blood when she heard the accusation that her husband was suspected of being a Japanese spy.
Li Jianhua had stepped forward, his voice trembling yet resolute, trying desperately to reason with the officers, "There must be a mistake… my father is a soldier—he has served for years, how could he—"
But before he could finish...
Zhao Xiaojun had spoken with an air of righteous certainty of how he found Li Guoqiang's behaviour always suspicious.
Every sentence was deliberate.
Li Shuying could still remember the faint curve at the corner of his lips, barely visible, as if he were watching a carefully staged play unfold exactly as planned.
At first, the officers had found nothing.
Hope had flickered in their hearts.
But Zhao Xiaojun did not let it survive.
"Have you checked the firewood shed? I have seen uncle Guoqiang always lingering around it whenever he was home" he had added, almost as if it had just occurred to him.
The officers believed it and went to search it and when they returned…
They carried with them evidence.
Ancient Japanese calligraphy scrolls and letters written in Japanese. Objects that no ordinary rural household should possess. Which concluded Li Guoqiang aa a spy, a traitor.
At that time, Li Shuying had been too shattered to think properly and she had believed the evidences. Believed that her father had hidden those things.
But now atanding here in this life, facing Zhao Xiaojun once again, her mind cleared like a storm-washed sky.
The firewood shead had only been filled recently, after the communal canteens were disbanded. Before that, it had been nearly empty. And during that entire period her father had never returned home after Mid-Autumn Festival, not even during the New Year.
So how could those things have appeared there? The answer rose, cold and undeniable. Someone had planted them.
And Zhao Xiaojun was the one who had guided the blade.
But that was not all.
After her father's execution when their family had already fallen into despair it was Zhao Xiaojun and Zhao Hongmei who had approached Li Jianhua with honeyed words.
"With your talent," they had said, "why waste your life in this small place? In the capital, opportunities are everywhere. You can find work… build a future."
At that time, Li Jianhua had been desperate.
Desperate to support the family.
Desperate to escape the shadow cast over them.
He had gone.
And never returned.
And still, Zhao Xiaojun had not stopped.
He had gone further.
He reported their family to the People's Commune Revolutionary Committee with righteous words and feigned concern, he had stirred the hearts of the villagers.
"A family of a traitor cannot remain among us," he had argued. "If we allow them to stay, how can our brigade be selected as an 'Advanced Collective'? How can we earn the honor of a Red Flag Production Brigade?"
The villagers, already burdened by hardship, turned their resentment upon the weakest target. Their home was surrounded that same evening and villagers shouted...
"Leave the village!"
"You will drag us all down!"
They had been pushed to the edge, like leaves in a storm, with nowhere to root themselves.
If not for Brigade Leader Liu's intervention they would have been driven out completely.
Even then, the price was cruel. They had been forced to publish a statement in the county newspaper to sever all ties with Li Guoqiang. To publicly deny their own father. Only then were they allowed to remain. Even then… they lived under shadows.
Even after everything had fallen apart, Li Jianguo and Li Jianmin had not even been able to find even a temporary work. Branded under the "black category," they were assigned the filthiest, most degrading labor in the village—work no one else wished to touch. And she herself… had been expelled from school, her future severed at the root—all thanks to Zhao Xiaojun and his sister Zhao Hongmei.
All of it...
traced back to the same person standing before her now.
Li Shuying's thoughts burned cold, like embers buried beneath ash.
But before she could dwell further, Sun Guifeng's shrill, mocking voice cut through the air.
"Just look at her, Mother—she won't even let us step into the kitchen!"
She shot a venomous glare at Chen Meilan and sneered,
"You say you have no money, yet you hoard supplies inside? If that's the case, why not let us take those instead? We'll sell them and use the money to buy study materials for Xiaojun. Isn't that a righteous cause?"
Chen Meilan did not move.
Her frail figure remained planted at the doorway, like a reed standing against a storm.
"The food in the kitchen," she said firmly, "is for my children when they return home hungry. I will not let you take a single grain."
Wang Chunhua's face twisted in fury.
"What did you say?" she barked. "You want to feed those little bastards than lend it for Li family future?"
Her voice rose, sharp and overbearing.
"I am not asking you to give it away—I am asking you to lend it! Can you not see the bigger picture? This is for Xiaojun's education. Once he enters university, it will bring honor to the entire Li family—glory to our ancestors! And yet you refuse to contribute?"
Sun Guifeng chimed in immediately, her tone dripping with self-importance.
"My Xiaojun is destined for greatness. Once he steps into the city and becomes a university student, he will repay every coin tenfold. So stop acting as though we are robbers and move aside."
Before Chen Meilan could respond, a sharp voice rang out from the doorway.
"Is this how one asks for a loan?"
Li Jianmin stepped forward, his expression blazing with anger.
"You are right, you actually look more like thieves breaking into someone's home. If the neighbors hear this and report it to Brigade Leader Liu, you'll be the ones in trouble. So leave now—and don't expect even a single copper coin from us!"
Sun Guifeng and Wang Chunhua both turned abruptly.
Only then did they notice the three siblings standing at the entrance.
Sun Guifeng's lips parted, ready to lash out as usual—but the words caught in her throat when her eyes landed on Li Shuying. Even Wang Chunhua's expression flickered slightly, a trace of unease surfacing as she recalled the sharp tongue and cunning mind of this once-quiet girl.
But today...
they had come prepared.
Wang Chunhua spat disdainfully at Li Jianmin's feet.
"What a foul-mouthed little wretch!" she snapped. "You dare threaten me? I am your elder! How dare you speak to me like this? You want to report me? Than go on, today I'm here to borrow money for a good purpose, even Brigade leader Liu won't be able to do anything, Afterall it concerns the prosperity of the entire village as well."
Her eyes gleamed with malice.
"But what do you think will happen if I tell the villagers that you have no respect for your grandmother? You'll be drowned in their spit—a child without filial piety is worse than a beast!"
Li Jianmin did not flinch.
Instead, he stepped forward, his gaze cold.
"You are not my grandmother," he said bluntly. "You are nothing more than a step-grandmother—with a vicious heart, an ugly face, and a foul tongue."
His words fell like stones.
"If you wish to spread rumors, go ahead. But do not soil our home. Leave."
For a heartbeat, the courtyard fell silent.
Then Sun Guifeng seized the moment, her voice rising like oil poured onto fire.
"Did you hear that, Mother?" she exclaimed. "First that little girl, and now this boy—both daring to talk back and insult you! This is clearly Chen Meilan's doing. She has taught them to be unfilial!"
Wang Chunhua's face darkened completely.
"Good. Very good," she said slowly, her voice trembling with suppressed fury. "Chen Meilan, your son has crossed the line today."
She stepped forward, her tone turning icy.
"If you do not hand over money—or everything in that kitchen—I will make sure the entire village knows what kind of son you have raised. Let everyone judge how you have taught your children to dishonor their elders!"
Chen Meilan's panicked.
Just as she was about to speak—
A calm voice cut in.
Zhao Xiaojun, who had been silent all this time, finally stepped forward.
"Aunt Meilan," he said evenly, his tone gentle on the surface, yet laced with calculation, "you should think this through carefully."
He clasped his hands behind his back, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Filial piety is no small matter. A record of disrespect toward elders… if noted, could follow Jianmin for life. It may affect his future prospects."
His words were soft—
but each one struck like a hidden blade.
A smirk flickered across his face.
Chen Meilan's last thread of composure snapped.
Tears welled in her eyes as she turned abruptly. In two hurried steps, she reached Li Jianmin.
Smack...!
The sound of the slap rang sharply through the courtyard.
"Who told you to speak out of turn?!" she cried, her voice breaking. "Can you not remain silent? Can you not see I am trying to salvage this situation?"