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Yuan Hongjun didn’t say much. He just smiled.

Rong Shiyu’s gaze briefly passed over the two, before she held out the plate to Bao Linjiang, “Here, you eat this portion.”

Bao Linjiang didn’t take it, instead offering his spoon to her, “You eat, have a bit more, there’s another one.”

Seeing Bao Linjiang refuse her plate, Rong Shiyu felt a bit disappointed initially, but the sight of the spoon in front of her brought joy, “Thank you.”

“Eat.”

The four of them finished the two taro pies.

Fan Yuru licked her lips with a hint of longing, stating fairly, “If the taro pie is sold in the capital, it will surely be in high demand again.”

Apple pie, egg tarts, bread, biscuits, and so on were all food that everyone fought to buy in the capital. Moreover, they could not be bought most of the time and were very in demand.

With limited manpower, the workshop could only produce so much each day.

However, now with the addition of the taro pie to their offerings, the workshop was looking to hire again. Chu Qingzhi planned to recruit eleven workers, with the extra one to be selected as a junior manager after some time.

Tian Village.

After parting with the Xu siblings, Tian Xiaqiu walked home alone, growing more apprehensive as she neared the village.

With small, cautious steps, she moved forward tremblingly…

As soon as she entered the village, familiar scolding reached her ears, “Where is that little wretch? Waiting for someone to fetch her? Better off dead outside! We are still waiting for her to collect pigweed and cook!”

Tian Xiaqiu reflexively shuddered, her fear and dread seemingly rooted deep within, rendering her pale.

Hearing the scolding, she ran home, quickly starting on her chores without a moment’s delay.

Upon her return, her aunt’s scolding intensified, audible throughout the village, yet no one intervened, leaving Tian Xiaqiu to drown in the verbal abuse and humiliation.

Tian Xiaqiu hurriedly completed her chores—collecting pigweed, feeding the chickens and ducks, and preparing meals for the family of eight or nine. Finally, her aunt, using the pretext of Tian Xiaqiu having eaten well at Chu Qingzhi’s house, denied her dinner.

Tian Xiaqiu didn’t dare resist, silently retreating to the cramped woodshed.

Taking a deep breath, she carefully wiped her hands on her clothes, then moved the small, battered table over and took out paper and pen, using the dim light to work on her homework.

Her aunt’s family had three children; the eldest became mentally disabled following a fever in childhood.

The second son, spoiled by his mother, was left with a limp after a fight, resulting in extreme self-consciousness and a volatile temper, making him difficult to approach

The youngest, barely over two years old, was mischievous and spoiled.

Yet, her aunt blamed all the family’s misfortunes on Tian Xiaqiu, accusing her of ruining their home’s feng shui, with a temperament akin to that of a street thug.

At this moment, Tian Xiaoqiu looked at the pen and paper on the broken table and smiled. Her smile was sweet and very beautiful.

The table held a sheet of paper filled with the day’s lesson content, from which she needed to complete her homework.

With great care and appreciation, she placed a new sheet of paper on the table, recalling the pen-holding technique taught by Ge Lihua. She picked up the brush and began to write slowly.

The homework was simple: write each of the day’s taught characters twenty times and copy the addition and subtraction within ten three times.

Being new to writing, it was inevitable that her characters were misshapen. Despite her caution, Tian Xiaqiu’s writing was still crooked, and she feared they might find her handwriting too ugly and reject her the next day when they checked the homework.

Just at that thought, a massive wave of psychological pressure surged over her, and the little girl who was smiling just a moment ago couldn’t help but burst into tears.

Her muffled cries echoed in the woodshed, starkly contrasting with the laughter and jovial conversation from the main house during mealtime.

After crying for a while, Tian Xiaqiu dried her tears and continued writing. No matter what, she had to finish her homework. If, if her cousin no longer wanted her, then, then she would deal with it then.

Thinking this, her heart trembled.

Suddenly, the door was knocked, “Xiaqiu, we’ve finished eating. Come and wash the dishes.”

“Okay,” Tian Xiaqiu responded and immediately ran out, knowing any delay would result in a beating.

After busily completing her chores, Tian Xiaqiu dragged her exhausted body back to the woodshed, only to break down the next second, crying heart – wrenchingly.

The paper on her small, broken table was all torn up, the brush tip was frayed as if it had been used as a broom and thrown to the ground, the inkstone was overturned, ink spilled everywhere, and even her small, torn bag for holding things was damaged…

This was all her hope, all her hope!

Hearing the cries, her aunt impatiently came over from the house, surprised by the scene in the woodshed.

Sending Tian Xiaqiu away was meant to prevent her from freeloading off their household, and as for studying, she didn’t believe a girl could achieve anything.

Now that things were destroyed, Tian Xiaqiu would surely not be allowed to go to class anymore. Not attending class meant she had to stay home and consume resources, which infuriated her aunt. She slapped Tian Xiaqiu on the head, “Why cry? It’s your fault for not taking care of your things. Whose fault is it?”

Tian Xiaqiu was knocked to the ground by the slap, her mouth bleeding. When she looked up, her mouth was full of blood.

She stared ahead, amidst her aunt’s curses, slowly crawled over, picked up the tom papers and broken pen and ink, stuffed them into her small, torn bag, and walked out crying.

She thought of death and headed straight for the river.

Tears blurred her vision, and Tian Xiaqiu stumbled over a stone, falling to the ground, her little arms scraped and bleeding. The pain momentarily immobilized her, tears dropping to the ground, “Dad, Mom…”

The little girl’s cries spread along the riverbank for a long time, with no one coming to see her.

Tian Xiaqiu stared at the river’s mirror-like surface, clutching her small bag as she walked into the water.

The river water submerged her feet, legs, thighs, chest, shoulders, head…

“Ahhh…” Tian Xiaqiu spluttered out of the water, the sensation of suffocation scaring her. She hurriedly walked towards the shore, terrified. Death, it turned out, was also so frightening!

She sat on the shore, dazedly looking around, suddenly thinking of Xu Songnian and Xu Wenlin she had just parted with…

The Xu Village.

Xu Songnian and Xu Wenlin were sitting at the dining table doing their homework, while Xiao Ye squatted at the doorway, looking up at the moon.

Li Qingyin lit four lamps for the children to do their homework, having heard that insufficient light could damage the eyes.

After lighting the lamps, she took out her needlework basket, sitting aside to make new clothes for the two children. Now that the household was more prosperous, she didn’t want the children to feel neglected, “How was your learning today?”

Xu Wenlin joyfully said, “I understood all the lessons taught by the two sisters.”

Xu Songnian added, “I understood too. At noon, our eldest sister-in-law also taught me some simple accounting, which I can now do.”