This was the filter of a loving mother.
And a very thick filter at that.
Shen Yueliang smiled.
Seeing her daughter smile made Lin Qinfen happy as well.
The mother and daughter chatted warmly when someone called out from outside, “Auntie!”
“That sounds like Chen Zhao.”
Lin Qinfen was quite familiar with his voice. They had just been talking about him, and now he had come over. Though she couldn’t guess why, she didn’t want to neglect him.
“Mom will go see what he wants.”
Shen Yueliang nodded.
Sitting by the window, she thought for a moment before lifting the curtain and peeking into the courtyard.
Chen Zhao was standing there.
He was tall too—probably not quite six feet, but close. Unlike Shen Xiangbei and other soldiers, he was the lean scholarly type. Wearing a white shirt and black trousers, he looked clean and refined, carrying the elegance of an educated man.
Soon, Lin Qinfen went out to greet him.
The two stood face-to-face and exchanged a few words.
Shen Yueliang was just about to lower the curtain when Lin Qinfen suddenly glanced toward her window.
Although she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she could see the expression on her mother’s face.
There was sympathy, surprise, and something unpleasant.
She immediately guessed what it was and quietly let the curtain fall.
Sure enough, before long, Lin Qinfen returned.
Unlike the excitement she had shown earlier, her eyes were now red and brimming with tears she was desperately holding back.
When she saw her daughter quietly sitting at the sewing machine making clothes, the tears she had been suppressing instantly spilled over.
Her daughter…
Why did she have to suffer so much?
“Mom.”
Shen Yueliang tried to comfort her.
“Don’t be like this.”
Lin Qinfen fought back her tears and turned away to wipe them.
“What did Chen Zhao say?” Shen Yueliang asked.
Lin Qinfen choked back a sob.
“He apologized to me. He said all of this was his mother’s idea. He has always regarded you as a younger sister and never had those kinds of feelings. He also said that if we ever encounter difficulties in the future, we can still go to him for help…”
Her prediction had come true.
Shen Yueliang suspected she might be the unluckiest transmigrator in history.
Not having a cheat ability was one thing.
Apparently, her romantic luck had also been completely extinguished during the transmigration.
She had arrived only to have her engagement broken off.
Then when she tried considering another prospect, he immediately handed her a “little sister” card.
Fortunately, she was fine with it.
Men weren’t a necessity anyway.
Worst case, she’d sleep hugging stacks of money in the future.
“It’s all Mom’s fault…”
The one truly heartbroken was Lin Qinfen.
Looking at her clever and capable daughter, she could no longer hold back her tears and covered her face before running back to her own room.
Inside that room, she kept a photograph of her late husband, Shen Sihai.
The old black-and-white photograph had been hidden beneath her pillow for years. Its edges had faded and blurred from being handled so often, but the man in the picture still looked as handsome as he had in his youth.
Holding the photograph tightly against her chest, Lin Qinfen cried uncontrollably.
She couldn’t understand it.
If she had to suffer, so be it.
She had never harmed anyone in her life and had never harbored ill intentions.
Why was heaven so unfair?
Why treat her children this way?
Her son had been forced into marrying He Erhong.
Her daughter had been rejected and had her engagements broken off time and time again.
Neither child had any luck in love.
If misfortune had to strike someone, why couldn’t it strike her instead?
Shen Yueliang stood outside her mother’s door.
Listening to the heart-wrenching sobs inside, she turned and went to the kitchen to make a cup of lightly salted water.
Only after the crying quieted down did she push the door open.
“Mom, don’t be sad. Aren’t I doing just fine?”
Lin Qinfen hurriedly wiped away her tears and hid the photograph back under her pillow.
“Yueliang, it’s because Mom is useless. I couldn’t find you a good husband’s family, and I can’t even stand up for you.”
“No, Mom. You’re wonderful.”
In this era, for a woman to raise two children alone and simply survive had already required every ounce of her strength.
Shen Yueliang was a woman too.
If she were in Lin Qinfen’s position, she wasn’t sure she could have done any better.
“If nobody wants me, then forget them. I’ll work hard and earn money. Once I save enough, I’ll recruit a live-in son-in-law for the Shen family. He has to be young, handsome, and strong. Then we’ll have a bunch of chubby grandsons for you to look after, and you’ll be smiling every day.”
Lin Qinfen still had tears on her face.
Hearing that, she was completely stunned.
“Can that even work?”
The key point was that she found the idea strangely appealing.
Seeing her mother’s attention diverted, Shen Yueliang continued,
“Why wouldn’t it work? As long as we have money, anything works. When I find a husband in the future, he’ll go east if I tell him east and never dare go west. If I tell him to kneel, he won’t dare stand. If he dares treat you badly, I’ll kick him out immediately!”
Her daughter’s face was lively and expressive as she spoke.
Lin Qinfen’s tears hadn’t even dried yet, but she burst out laughing.
Seeing her smile again, Shen Yueliang finally relaxed.
As for earning money, she wasn’t just saying it to cheer her mother up.
She meant it.
She already didn’t have a man.
She definitely couldn’t afford not to have money too.
So early the next morning, Shen Yueliang set off for the county town.
She still needed to pursue Tao Yuanyuan’s business connection.
And now that she had money, she could finally buy a bicycle first.
Having a bicycle would make getting around much more convenient.
Ring-ring!
Speak of the devil.
A bicycle bell sounded from behind her.
Chen Zhao rode past her, then stopped ahead of her.
Supporting himself with one foot on the ground, both hands on the handlebars, he turned back.
“Shen Yueliang, get on. I’m heading into town anyway, so I’ll give you a ride.”
Because his family circumstances were good and he himself was capable, anyone meeting Chen Zhao could tell that he wasn’t quite as refined as he appeared on the surface.
There was pride in his eyes.
A youthful confidence.
Even a hint of superiority in the way he spoke.
It wasn’t obvious, but it was definitely there.
She didn’t know whether he treated everyone that way.
But she could clearly feel it.
“No thanks.”
She hadn’t intended to have much contact with Chen Zhao anyway.
Now that she had noticed his arrogance, she was even less interested.
Chen Zhao raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
“Really? Your brother asked me to look after you and Auntie.”
“Mm. Really.”
Shen Yueliang stepped around him and continued walking forward.
The morning was still young.
The girl’s figure was slender and graceful.
Even her loose clothing couldn’t hide her attractive curves.
A slim waist.
Just her back view alone was beautiful.
Chen Zhao admitted that Shen Yueliang was pretty.
She was capable and knew how to make money.
But so what?
His own conditions were excellent as well.
Marriage was a lifelong matter.
There was no reason he had to marry a girl whose engagement had already been broken off.
As though he were incapable of finding a wife and could only take what Luo Shengli had discarded.
Since Shen Yueliang refused his ride, Chen Zhao didn’t insist.
He simply mounted his bicycle and rode away.