The beloved but ungrateful girl is reborn: This time she has truly changed.

There were some odds and ends in the drawer: needles and thread, thimbles, safety pins, a bunch of hair ties, and a small tin box.

Opening the tin box revealed several tens of yuan in small change, along with some grain and cloth coupons.

She didn't touch any of these things—it's too early to alert them.

I turned to look at the bed.

The floral bed sheet was laid out smoothly, and the pillow was a silk pillow embroidered with twin lotus flowers, which looked very soft.

Qi Weiwei walked over and touched the pillow; it didn't feel right.

She unwrapped the pillowcase, revealing a buckwheat hull pillowcase inside.

I reached in and felt around, and sure enough, I found something hard inside the buckwheat hull.

He pulled it out; it was a handkerchief pouch.

Open it, and you'll find a roll of paper money, tied with a rubber band.

I counted them; four hundred yuan.

There was also a stack of receipts, more complete than Sun Xidi's, and even a few rare "overseas remittance certificates"—these could be used to buy imported goods at foreign exchange shops, and ordinary people simply couldn't get their hands on them.

Qi Weiwei carefully put away the money and tickets.

After thinking for a moment, I put the pillow back in its original position, put on the pillowcase, laid out the pillow towel, and put it back in its original place.

She walked up to the two large boxes.

First, open that new red lacquered box.

It was filled to the brim with clothes, for all four seasons.

Wool coats, polyester shirts, corduroy pants, floral dresses... many of the clothes have very novel designs.

Qi Weiwei picked up a maroon wool coat and looked at it.

The material is thick and the workmanship is exquisite, with a band of fox fur trim around the neckline.

This kind of coat costs seventy or eighty yuan in department stores, and you need industrial coupons to buy it.

She flipped through the clothes again and found that Tang Tiantian not only had a lot of clothes, but many of them had only been worn once or twice.

And what about herself?

Qi Weiwei looked down at the navy blue cotton-padded jacket she was wearing.

This was made before my wedding. I've worn it for six years; the cuffs are worn white, and there are patches on the elbows.

The sweater inside was knitted and sent by my third sister, Qi Jiajia. I've worn it for almost seven or eight years, and the yarn is all pilling.

The only thing she had was a pair of little leather shoes, which her third sister had sent back. Because the shoes were the wrong size, Tang Tiantian wore them for a few days, which caused several blisters on her feet, before she returned them to her.

The brand new shoes were returned with the toes of both shoes worn through.

Qi Weiwei thought she was just careless, but now she realizes it was clearly intentional.

Tang Aijun used to say, "Tian Tian had a tough childhood and never wore nice clothes. Now she finally has something she likes and wants to wear nice clothes. It's a pity you're not good at making clothes. As her older brother and sister-in-law, all we can do is give her money and let her make them herself."

So, most of the family's spare money and cloth coupons were given to Tang Tiantian to make clothes.

Tang Aijun also had to set aside a portion of his salary to "make Tang Tiantian happy."

She lost ten pounds after having two children, and her old clothes were all loose and baggy, but she never had a new one made.

Qi Weiwei suppressed the bitterness in her heart and continued searching.

At the very bottom of the box, she found a small package wrapped in a silk scarf.

Inside, there were several men's underwear pieces—brand new, neatly folded.

Her movements froze.

When I unfolded them, I found two pairs of underwear, made of white cotton, with a small "army" embroidered on the waistband.

Tang Aijun's underwear?!

Qi Weiwei felt a churning in her stomach and almost vomited.

Who the hell embroidered this?!

She threw the things back to the bottom of the box as if she had been burned, and vigorously wiped her hands.

Although Tang Tiantian is married and her husband Wang Dong is in the military, she refuses to go with him.

There wasn't even a single thing belonging to her husband in her house, not even a photograph.

Apart from……

Qi Weiwei's gaze fell on the small metal box in the desk drawer. She went back, reopened it, and rummaged through it, finding a stack of remittance slips at the bottom.

They were all sent by Wang Dong from the army.

Thirty yuan a month, without fail.

It seems that the four hundred dollars she swindled came from these remittance slips.

Tang Tiantian used all of her salary, plus what she "borrowed" from Qi Weiwei, to dress herself up and please Tang Aijun.

Furthermore, she bought this and that for the two bastards, becoming their beloved aunt who granted their every wish.

Qi Weiwei closed the tin box, took a few deep breaths, and calmed herself down.

She walked to another box—this must have been left by her grandmother as well.

This box is smaller than Sun Xidi's, but it is more exquisitely crafted, with a lotus scroll pattern carved on it.

Qi Weiwei touched it; this one didn't have any mechanisms.

The box wasn't locked.

Inside, there were clothes, but more miscellaneous items: photo albums, notebooks, some letters, and a few small boxes.

Qi Weiwei flipped through the photo album.

Most of the photos inside are solo shots of Tang Tiantian, dressed in various beautiful clothes, in parks, in front of movie theaters, and in Tiananmen Square.

She smiled brightly in the photo, her eyes revealing a sense of pride.

There are also a few photos of her and Tang Aijun together.

The two stood very close, Tang Aijun's hand seemingly casually resting on Tang Tiantian's shoulder, his eyes gentle.

In one of the photos, Tang Tiantian's head is slightly resting on Tang Aijun's shoulder, a posture that has crossed the line between cousins.

Qi Weiwei's fingers traced across the photograph, her nails leaving faint scratches on Tang Aijun's handsome face.

She continued searching.

At the very bottom of the box, there was a letter tucked inside a notebook.

The kraft paper envelope had no stamp, no address, only three words written on it: "To Tian Tian".

The handwriting is Tang Aijun's.

Qi Weiwei's hands were trembling slightly.

She took out the letter and unfolded it.

"Sweetie, my love:"

The first four words pierced my eyes like needles.

She forced herself to continue reading.

"Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. Several days have passed since we parted, and my longing for you is like a surging tide. I wish I could fly to your side immediately and hold you in my arms..."

The entire page was filled with cheesy love quotes. Qi Weiwei skimmed through it, reading quickly until the last paragraph:

"As for Qi Weiwei, don't worry, you're the only one in my heart."

Last time you asked me if I still slept with her, I solemnly assure you:

I haven't touched her since I learned that she was pregnant again.

And never again.

She was nothing more than a burden sent by the Qi family, a responsibility I had no choice but to shoulder.

We must all endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens.

When the time is right, I will definitely divorce her and marry you.

Heaven and earth can bear witness to my heart.

Although you cannot recognize Yaozong now, his presence before you can still offer some comfort.

Pregnancy is a time of great physical exertion, so avoid overexertion.

"Leave all the heavy work to Qi."

At the end of the letter was a line of smaller print: "This letter should be burned immediately after reading; do not keep it."

The inscription reads: "Yours truly, Jun. Winter of 1971."

In the winter of 1971—just as she was about to give birth to her second child.

Qi Weiwei's vision went black, and she had to hold onto the box to steady herself.

In her past life, marital relations were like an extraordinary reward to Qi Weiwei.

She would only be so perfunctory once, if she had done something that particularly pleased Tang Aijun.

Needless to say, during his pregnancy, after giving birth to his second child, Tang Aijun said that he had health problems and would no longer be able to have sex.

She believed him and felt sorry for him, so she inquired everywhere about folk remedies to help him recover.

She even treated him better and was more lenient with Tang Tiantian because of her guilt.

So... so he had already promised Tang Tiantian that he would never touch her again!

And the child she was pregnant with...

Qi Weiwei suddenly remembered that Tang Tiantian's two pregnancies were around the same time as hers, but both times the babies were stillborn.

Because of this, she felt especially sorry for and tolerant of her sister-in-law.

Looking back now, it wasn't a stillbirth at all; it was just to make it easier to switch babies!

Her daughter was given away, and Tang Tiantian's son was given to her to raise. The story was that Tang Tiantian had lost two children, while Qi Weiwei had given birth to two sons!

Some neighbors even said that she was unlucky and would bring misfortune to Tang Tiantian.

What a cunning calculation!

Qi Weiwei clutched the letter tightly in her hand, the paper crumpled into a ball.

She wished she could rush out right now, throw the letter in Tang Aijun's face, and tear his hypocritical face apart!

But she can't yet.