Seeing the money disappear from her hand, Wang Lihua breathed a sigh of relief.
The heavens wouldn’t drop free pies; it was more reassuring that the miraculous thing had demands rather than none at all.
Wang Lihua counted out five yuan from the 44 yuan and gave it to Su Dabao. “Dabao did very well today. This is a reward for our Dabao.”
Dabao shook her head, not wanting to take it. “Mom, you keep it. I don’t need money.”
But Wang Lihua was firm and stuffed the money into her hand. “Take it. Just because you don’t need it now doesn’t mean you won’t in the future. What if you want to buy some candy someday?”
Hearing the word “candy,” Su Erbao quickly opened the System Mall. She found a store with many positive reviews and bought a bag of assorted candies.
She scooped out more than twenty pieces and, spotting chocolate among them, remembered the piece of chocolate Shen Jinsong had given her, which was still in her pocket. She casually tossed it into the Storage Space.
Wang Lihua was still planning how to use the remaining 39 yuan. She took out five yuan and gave it to Su Erbao. “This is for our Erbao.”
Su Erbao took the money directly and placed it in the Storage Space, then called the two of them over to eat candy.
Wang Lihua put on a stern face and gathered the candies together. “You’ve already brushed your teeth. No eating, or your teeth will rot.”
Su Dabao stared longingly at the colorful candies and raised a hand timidly. “I’ll brush my teeth again after eating.”
Su Erbao nodded along. “I’ll brush again too, after eating.”
She actually had no particular interest in snacks like candy, which was why she’d forgotten to buy them earlier. But to keep her sister company, she raised her hand as well.
Looking at them, Wang Lihua couldn’t help but reach out and tap each of their foreheads. “Alright, but don’t eat too much. Brush your teeth right after.”
Before bed, Su Erbao habitually opened the System Mall.
Another cold spell was coming soon. The cotton-padded jackets and down coats in the mall were too modern in style to wear now, so she decided to buy fabric, loose down feathers, and cotton.
Making clothes by hand was too tiring; she should buy a sewing machine too.
They could buy two more sets of thick thermal underwear, and sweaters and woolen socks were also needed.
Some common cold medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs should be bought as well, since it was easy to catch a cold in cold weather.
After placing orders for all these miscellaneous items, Su Erbao finally felt drowsy. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, Su Erbao was awakened by Su Dabao’s excited voice.
“It’s snowing!”
Su Erbao’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up in bed, her hair standing on end.
The winter of her previous life had brought her too much suffering, so much so that for the forty years that followed, she had feared winter and feared snow.
Her mother had died on a heavy snow day, and she and her sister had been driven out of their home on another snowy day.
The day her sister died, it had also snowed heavily.
She raised her hand to touch her forehead and realized she had broken out in a cold sweat just from hearing those three words.
Taking out a tissue from the Storage Space to wipe the sweat from her face, Su Erbao quickly pulled on her cotton pants and padded jacket, put on her old cotton shoes, and left the room.
In the simple kitchen next door, Wang Lihua was cooking.
She brought water to a boil, cracked in five eggs, and added the small, thumb-sized glutinous rice balls she had prepared earlier.
This was something Su Erbao had suggested the night before, saying that eating this in the morning would nourish the body.
Wang Lihua felt much better today and had gotten up early to make breakfast for her two daughters.
Su Dabao was assisting nearby, though there wasn’t much to do. The small coal stove used honeycomb briquettes, so she didn’t need help tending the fire. Her job was simply to pass eggs or hand over bowls.
Seeing Su Erbao standing at the kitchen doorway, Su Dabao quickly walked over. “Little sister, why are you so quiet? Come in and warm up by the fire.”
Su Erbao was led into the kitchen by her warm hand, and only then did she begin to feel warmth returning to her body.
“Mom, sis, I’m a little scared,” Su Erbao said abruptly, looking at Wang Lihua and Su Dabao.
Wang Lihua thought she had had a nightmare. She set down the spatula, walked over, and gently stroked Su Erbao’s messy bedhead. “What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”
Su Erbao shook her head. She was just unsettled, remembering what she had witnessed before her death.
Although they had already sent the anonymous report letter ahead of time in this life, there was no guarantee that something wouldn’t go wrong in the process.
Su Dagui and Old Mrs. Su had long harbored intentions to get rid of the three of them. Severing ties wouldn’t necessarily make that mother and son abandon their schemes.
She was worried that Old Mrs. Su might act before the report letter took effect.
Wang Lihua crouched down to meet Su Erbao’s gaze, her eyes gentle. “Erbao, you can trust Mom and your sister.”
“We’re a family. Whatever happens, your sister and I can share the burden. You don’t have to carry everything alone.”
“In that life you went through alone, Mom failed to protect you and your sister. But this time, I won’t let anyone hurt you!”
Hearing Wang Lihua’s words, Su Dabao immediately knew that Su Erbao must be hiding something.
Su Dagui was useless—he treated his own daughter worse than that ungrateful Su Wen, and he completely ignored Su Erbao. After getting into the steel mill, he practically treated the three of them like air.
If it weren’t for the watchful eyes of so many villagers, Su Dabao suspected Su Dagui wouldn’t even have given them that meager living allowance.
It was because of all this that her personality had grown somewhat sharp, daring to chase Old Mrs. Su and Liu Xianghua with a knife.
Mainly, if she didn’t stand up to protect her mom and sister, they would be bullied to death.
She shook Su Erbao’s shoulder gently. “Just say whatever’s on your mind. Your sister will handle it. If anyone bullies you, I’ll go chop them down!”
Even though her sister claimed to have been reborn from the age of forty-five, whether she was forty-five or five, wasn’t she still her own dear sister?
Besides, Su Erbao was still just a little sprout—what could she do? As her older sister, she naturally had to charge ahead and shield her.
Hearing her mom and sister’s words, Su Erbao’s eyes involuntarily reddened.
She sniffled and decided to tell the truth.
This was her mom and sister, the people closest to her. What couldn’t she say?
“I’m worried they might come after us before the report letter yields results.”
“According to what Li Fengying said on the day we severed ties, Mom and Su Dagui don’t have a marriage certificate. Strictly speaking, they aren’t legally married. That means there’s no need for a divorce—they could just bring this up and drive Mom and us out of the house.”
“But they deliberately dragged things out until Mom died before kicking my sister and me out to fend for ourselves.”
“In the vision I saw before dying, Su Dagui was worried that the truth would come out, so he had Li Fengying and the main family deal with us.”
“Even though we’ve severed ties now, I suspect they will still come after us, and it will definitely be very soon.”
“In their eyes, our continued existence is like a ticking time bomb that could shatter their wealthy lives at any moment.”
Su Erbao voiced his concerns, looking at Wang Lihua and Su Dabao.