After finishing dinner, Qian Tai helped his wife bring the dried herbs into the house and sort them. The twin brothers washed the dishes, and the second brother went out to help their father gather vegetables for sale the next day. Even though they didn't have much, half a basket of each type of vegetable was better than nothing.

    Since her mother-in-law had already patched Qian San's torn clothes, Haitang didn't have to stay up late to do it herself. She washed her face and freshened up before going to the bedroom.

    Upon entering, she saw her husband already lying down. She nudged him to move over. "Husband, sleep on the inside. I have to wake up earlier than you to cook, so I won't disturb you."

    Qian Tai looked at his wife thoughtfully before reluctantly moving to the inner side of the bed.

    Seeing this, Haitang blew out the candle and lay down beside him. She was exhausted from working since early morning. Although not as tired as in her previous life’s hardships, she fell asleep shortly after her head hit the pillow.

    That night, Haitang had no idea how much effort Qian Tai had to exert to watch his wife sleep peacefully while he suffered, managing to fall asleep only an hour before dawn.

    Haitang woke up early again to make steamed buns and porridge, just like the previous day.

    By the time she was done, Qian Tai was ready to leave for the town, so the couple set off while the rest of the family was just waking up.

    Qian Tai pushed a cart carrying three baskets of vegetables from their garden, a large basket of mint, and three small baskets filled with termite mushrooms, stevia, and wild vegetables.

    The walk from the village to the town took about the same time as burning an incense stick. However, they had to pass through a checkpoint, which caused a slight delay, but they soon entered the town. They hurried to sell their vegetables to a teahouse or a restaurant first, hoping one would buy everything so they wouldn’t have to set up a stall themselves.

    Since the quantity of vegetables they brought varied and wasn’t much, they had no regular customers and had to ask each teahouse and restaurant one by one. Coming out early gave them a better chance of selling everything. Indeed, they quickly sold all the vegetables and termite mushrooms.

    Even so, the two hundred epaes they earned weren't much, as everyone was growing vegetables to sell these days.

    At this point, only the mint and stevia were left on the cart. Naturally, they headed to a pharmacy or clinic, an area Haitang was more familiar with than her husband.

    “Husband, let’s sell at that shop over there. Though it’s not very big, most of the customers are villagers. The herbs we’ve gathered aren’t valuable, so the larger shops that cater to wealthier clients won’t be interested,” Haitang suggested.

    Qian Tai didn’t object. He quickly pushed the cart towards the pharmacy Haitang had pointed out.

    "Are you here to buy or sell?" asked the person in the shop.

    "To sell," Haitang replied.

    "In that case, wait a moment. I’ll go get the owner," the man said and went to the back of the shop, returning with an elderly man.

    "What do you have to sell?" asked the elderly man, who was the shop owner, as soon as he arrived.

    "We have mint leaves and stevia," Haitang replied.

    "Have they been dried?"

    "They've been sun-dried for one day."

    "Good. Mint leaves are five epaes per catty, and stevia is ten epaes per catty," the owner said after inspecting the goods and offering a price.

    "Agreed. We'll sell everything," Haitang quickly agreed, as the prices offered were standard.

    "Alright, I'll have the worker weigh them," the old man instructed his worker to weigh the herbs.

    "Twenty catties of mint and five catties of stevia. That’s a total of 150 epaes. Count and make sure it’s correct."

    Haitang took the money and counted it. After confirming it was correct, she thanked the owner and led her husband out of the shop.

    "Husband, we need to buy fabric to make clothes and kitchen supplies for the house," Haitang told Qian Tai as he pushed the cart.

    "You lead the way, and I'll follow with the cart."

    Haitang led him to a fabric shop not far from the pharmacy. She was fortunate to arrive at the right time because the shop had a sale on fabric. Although the discounted fabric was old and had no patterns, it was still in good condition despite some flaws. The reduced prices allowed Haitang to buy three bolts of fabric.

    Originally, the three bolts would have cost 300 epaes, but now they only cost 100 epaes.

    This would allow her to make two sets of clothes for each of the four brothers and one set each for her parents-in-law.

    Next, they went to a grocery shop. However, as if fate was playing a trick on her, the person she least wanted to see was standing outside the shop arguing with the vendor.

    It was her grandmother, Old Madam Suan.

    Pretending not to see her, Haitang walked in and bought two catties each of wheat and flour, priced at 30 epaes per catty for the wheat and 20 epaes per catty for the flour. She also bought some salt, oil, and sugar, spending a total of 150 epaes.

    This meant that after selling their goods, the couple had 100 epaes left, while the money given by her mother-in-law had not yet been touched.

    "Wife, we still have some money left, right? If possible, I’d like to buy some tonic for Mother," Qian Tai said, almost pleading with his wife.

    Of course, Haitang didn’t object to this. She walked back to the same pharmacy.

    Typically, her mother-in-law didn’t need medicinal treatments, just blood-nourishing tonics. Her mother-in-law had low blood levels, making her prone to illness. Without proper nutrition, she lacked energy, and during illnesses, doctors could only treat her symptoms. Therefore, most of the money they earned went to doctors' fees and these tonics.

    A pack of blood-nourishing herbs cost twenty epaes.

    You might wonder why Haitang, who knew about herbs, couldn’t prepare it herself. It’s because, even if she knew which herbs to use, precise measuring was crucial.

    Since Haitang couldn’t measure the herbs accurately, she couldn’t prepare the medicine herself.

    Haitang bought only one pack of herbs, as she spent thirty epaes on meat—one catty cost thirty epaes. She also spent another five epaes to buy bones to make broth.

    Once they had everything they needed, the couple hurried back to their village.

    The journey from Santao Village to the town took only the time to burn an incense stick. Along the way, they passed several villagers heading to town, but no one greeted the couple. Everyone pretended not to see the couple pushing their old cart back to the village, but greeted each other warmly.

    If this wasn’t called looking down on her family, then what was?

    But the couple didn’t care. Let others look down on them; they valued themselves enough.

    Haitang's past life was wasted chasing praise and envious glances from others.

    In the end, what kind of life did she live? How miserably did she die? How many people knew? The flattery she craved didn’t save her from any of the terrible things she experienced. So now, she wouldn’t value those empty things anymore.

    Soon, the couple returned home. Qian Zhou, working in the vegetable patch, hurried to help carry things inside and asked his son to put away the cart.

    "What did you buy so much of?" Zhushi, who was embroidering to sell the pieces, asked.

    Earlier, she had been too ill to embroider for her sons to sell. Now feeling much better, she resumed her work, even though each piece only brought in five epaes.

    "Mother, I bought a lot of fabric. It’s enough to make new clothes for the whole family. Today, I will sew clothes for the four brothers, and after that, I will make a new set for you and Father," Haitang said.

    "I don’t need new clothes. Just make them for the boys. Actually, let me help," Zhushi said, getting up to inspect the fabric.

    "Mother, I didn’t use the money you gave me. Please take it back. The money from selling vegetables and herbs today was enough to buy everything, so I didn’t need to use yours. Here’s the remaining money,"

    Haitang said, handing all the money back to her mother-in-law. It was customary for daughters-in-law to do this, but Haitang had never done it because she had never earned money before.

    Zhushi didn’t say much, simply taking the money. If Haitang had wanted to keep it, she wouldn’t have returned it. So, there was no need to refuse.

    Then, the two women worked together, cutting and sewing the fabric while Haitang told her mother-in-law about the prices of various items in the town.

    The two women chatted and sewed, enjoying each other's company.

    When it was time for dinner, Haitang made a large pot of pork bone soup with one radish. She simmered the soup until the meat was tender, added a little salt, and included half a jin of coarsely chopped pork formed into meatballs.

    Besides the soup, there was also a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and the highlight of the meal was the pot of steamed rice.

    Given the poor health of her three brothers-in-law and parents-in-law, nourishing food was necessary.

    While the meal was still being prepared, Qian Sao, her husband's second brother, came in to brew medicine for their mother as instructed by his elder brother. Meanwhile, the elder brother and the twin brothers were helping their father turn the soil on the other side of the house to plant more vegetables.

    "Second Brother, could you keep an eye on the rice? I need to run an errand. Go ahead and eat without waiting for me," Haitang said, scooping some soup into a small pot and covering it.

    "Where are you going?" he asked.

    "I'm going to visit Grandpa," she replied.

    Upon hearing his sister-in-law’s response, the second son of the family said nothing more.

    If someone wants to visit their relatives, who would dare stop them?

    Since Qian Sao didn’t respond but moved to stand in front of the stove where the rice was cooking, Haitang knew he had agreed to watch the pot for her.

    "Where are you going?"

    Haitang had just stepped out of the house when she heard a voice calling from afar. Recognizing it as her husband's voice, she turned to see him standing not far away.

    "I'm going to visit Grandpa," Haitang called back.

    Hearing this, Qian Tai lowered his head slightly before turning to shout some instructions to his father.

    "Let's go," he said, walking over to take the pot of soup from his wife's hands.

    Haitang didn’t object, and they walked quietly together to visit her grandfather, Elder Tong.

    Elder Tong named Tong Yun, 64 years old this year, had been much stronger the previous year. However, due to the changes in his granddaughter, he felt like he had aged ten years.

    Haitang looked longingly at his back as he gathered herbs to keep them from getting dew-covered, feeling a deep sense of remorse.

    In her past life, she had been ungrateful, causing the one who had shown her the greatest kindness to pass away without a chance to repay him.

    Haitang didn't announce her presence out of politeness. She simply opened the low, open fence and stood beside him, helping him gather the herbs into a basket.

    Tong Yun glanced at the person who had come to help but said nothing, continuing to gather herbs.

    "Grandfather, Haitang and I brought some soup for you," Qian Tai finally broke the silence between the grandfather and granddaughter.

    “Husband, take Grandfather inside to rest. I’ll finish gathering the herbs here; it won’t take long,” Haitang instructed her husband.

    “Do you think this is your place? Who do you think I am to order me around?” Grandpa Tong glared at his granddaughter, clearly displeased.

    “This is my home, and you are my grandfather.”

    “This is my home. You’re married now, so your home is the Qian household,” Grandpa Tong said, his tone more serious and displeased. Haitang knew why he was upset.

    She quickly continued, “Grandfather, whatever home you have is my home too. My husband’s home is also my home. I’m greedy. Everything you and my husband have is mine. I’ve lived with you for so many years. Who dares to take your inheritance from us? I’d beat them with a stick!”

    Haitang spoke with her hands on her hips, looking serious.

    “You ungrateful granddaughter, I’m not dead yet, and you’re talking about inheritance?”

    “Fine, I won’t talk about it. As long as you don’t marry again, no one will take you away from me. Even if you do find a new wife, I won’t take your inheritance. But I will take you to live with me, leaving your new wife or new grandchild alone.”

    “You...you... Sigh... Qian Tai, look at your wife. What kind of woman dares to speak like this?” Grandpa Tong, unable to counter her, turned to complain to Qian Tai.

    But Qian Tai knew how delighted Grandpa Tong actually felt inside. The two of them always teased and bickered like this, but lately, Haitang’s changed behavior had worried Grandpa Tong.

    Especially when Grandpa Tong forced Haitang to marry Qian Tai, using her sense of duty to compel her, it strained their close relationship.

    “Because she’s unlike anyone else, you entrusted her to me, didn’t you?” Qian Tai said, holding the pot of soup in one hand and supporting Grandpa Tong with the other.

    “Sigh, I’ve made things difficult for you,” Grandpa Tong patted Qian Tai’s hand lightly.

    “Enough, Grandfather. What’s not good about me? I’m good from every angle, nothing but good,” Haitang declared loudly, hands on hips, glaring at her grandfather.

    “This is what’s not good. Who else praises themselves like you do?”

    “Why should I be like everyone else? Tong Haitang was raised by Grandpa Tong alone. If I’m good, it’s because you raised me well. If I’m not good, it’s your fault for not raising me well. So, am I a good granddaughter or not?” Haitang asked, hugging her grandfather’s arm affectionately.

    “I raised you with my own hands. How could you not be good?”

    When Grandpa Tong finished speaking, the two of them looked at each other and laughed.

    The happiness of past days filled their hearts once more.

    That evening, Haitang and Qian Tai stayed to have dinner with Grandpa Tong. The old man ate two full bowls of rice, his joy restored. It was their first meal together since Haitang had gotten married.

    Qian Tai volunteered to wash the dishes, knowing the grandfather and granddaughter would likely want some time alone to talk.

    “Grandfather, I’ve been wrong in the past. I didn’t understand your good intentions. I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” Haitang said, sitting on the floor, hugging her grandfather’s legs, and resting her head on his lap. The old man who had only ever given her kindness.

    “I was wrong to force you,” Grandpa Tong said, stroking the hair of the granddaughter who was once a small child.

    “No, Grandfather, you were right. My husband is very good to me. You judged him correctly.”

    “Hm?” Grandpa Tong asked, curious.

    “He is very good. My husband is really very good,” Haitang reaffirmed with conviction.

    “Ha ha ha, good, good. If he isn’t good, you can come tell me. I’ll go and hit him myself,” Grandpa Tong laughed.