Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

He would come to Zhao Lei's house every few days to try and get closer to him, but he was always turned away. He just kept going.

They deliver a few eggs today and a bunch of vegetables tomorrow. Even though the two families live several production brigades apart, I don't know where they get such enthusiasm.

Zhao Lei had long seen through their intentions and had privately instructed his three ex-wives that they should not get involved with Zhou Minghong's family, and that no matter what they said or did, they should pretend not to see it.

Of course, the three ex-wives weren't stupid. They clearly saw that the wolf in sheep's clothing was up to no good, so none of them paid any attention to them.

Jiang Xinyue was genuinely angry that Li Xiuying had come alone today and had set her sights on the three children.

When Jiang Xinyue asked her, Li Xiuying quickly put the candy away and took two steps forward with a smile.

"Niece-in-law, your aunt just wanted to come and see the children since she hasn't seen them in so long..."

Jiang Xinyue stood in the courtyard gate, her face cold, and said, "The children are fine, you don't need to worry about them, you can go back."

Li Xiuying's smile became increasingly unnatural, as if she wanted to say something more.

Qin Yuchan, who was inside the courtyard, also heard the commotion and came out.

She recognized the person at a glance, and without saying a word, she took two steps forward, shielding Jiang Xinyue and the children behind her.

"Li Xiuying, what are you doing here again? We have nothing to say to you."

Li Xiuying thought to herself, "This Zhao Lei family is really stubborn."

She's been so eager to come over and build a relationship these past few days, even a stone would melt by now, right?

However, Li Xiuying thought again, Zhao Lei's nickname is Sanshi, which really means three stinky stones that can't be warmed up.

But Li Xiuying really had no other choice.

The marriage between her eldest son, Zhou Shijie, and Xiaolian has been stalled for a long time. The girl's family has already given them a deadline. If they can't come up with something soon, the marriage will fall through.

Li Xiuying was afraid that her husband, Zhou Minghong, would be kicked out by Zhao Lei if he came over, so she decided to shamelessly come again and try to appeal to his emotions.

But before he could even make a move, Qin Yuchan blocked him outside the door.

Li Xiuying was furious.

She came here today with the mindset of going all out!

Ignoring the strange looks from the women around them, he stepped forward, grabbed Qin Yuchan's hands, and pleaded with a sob in his voice.

"Yu Chan, my dear niece-in-law, your aunt is really in trouble, please help our family!"

Qin Yuchan shook off her hand and snorted coldly, "Hmph, stop pretending to be kind to me. When I first married Zhao Lei, you two bullied me a lot. Now you know to come begging to me?"

Li Xiuying quickly wiped her eyes: "Oh, Yuchan, Auntie was wrong, Auntie was confused before! But no matter what, we are family. After Sister Guilan passed away, Leizi only has his maternal uncle as his blood relative."

"Our family has now realized its mistakes and wants to cherish this family bond. After all, blood is thicker than water, don't you think?"

Although Qin Yuchan has a fiery temper, she is, after all, a teacher who educates and nurtures students, and she is reasonable.

She's not afraid of people ignoring her reasoning; she's afraid of people trying to reason with her.

She thought about it for a moment and realized that what Li Xiuying said made sense.

Zhao Lei's family really doesn't have many immediate relatives left, except for his maternal uncle from Sanhe Township.

When a family lives together, there will always be times when they make mistakes, but in the end, they will still cherish their family ties.

Qin Yuchan didn't want to push things too far. What if Zhao Lei changed his mind one day and still wanted to maintain contact with his maternal uncle? It wouldn't be good to make the relationship too strained.

She softened her tone slightly: "So what exactly do you want by coming over to fawn over me time and time again? Let me make this clear from the start, I don't handle money in my family."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuying was overjoyed, realizing that her sincere feelings had indeed moved the other party.

She quickly explained the situation at home in detail.

It turns out that the eldest son, Zhou Shijie, is twenty-five years old this year, which is considered an old unmarried youth in the countryside.

His family finally managed to find him a girlfriend named Xiaolian through a matchmaker. The two got along very well, but the girl's family thought his family was too poor and insisted on a dowry of 100 yuan plus a bicycle and a sewing machine.

Li Xiuying and Zhou Minghong managed to scrape together 100 yuan for the betrothal gift, but they simply couldn't afford to buy a 28-inch steelyard and a sewing machine.

Seeing that her son's wedding was about to fall through, she had no choice but to come and ask Zhao Lei's family for help.

After hearing what she said, Qin Yuchan scoffed, "No matter how much you talk, it's still about borrowing money, isn't it? I don't manage the money in this family."

As she spoke, her gaze fell on Jiang Xinyue.

Li Xiuying immediately understood and turned to run towards Jiang Xinyue.

He grabbed her hand, his eyes brimming with tears, and said, "Niece-in-law, your aunt really had no other choice. How could she possibly swallow her pride like this?"

Jiang Xinyue's expression was calm and unmoved.

Although she didn't suffer much hardship from her uncle and aunt when she married Zhao Lei, she has seen it all over the years and realized that Zhou Minghong's family is hopeless.

She waved her hand dismissively: "Hehe, although I'm in charge of the family accounts, we're really broke right now. If you had come to borrow money before we started repairing the house, we probably could have managed to scrape together some."

"But you also know that these red brick houses aren't cheap. Look at the red bricks, the sand and gravel, the workers, and the daily food—aren't all of these a huge expense?"

As she spoke, she pointed to the materials piled up in the yard and added, "Besides, there are three children in the family, and school starts in September soon. Peipei also needs to go to school, so where would we get any spare money?"

Li Xiuying immediately panicked and said, "Niece-in-law, how about this? I won't lend you money! I just want to borrow that old bicycle from you to make a good impression at home. As long as your cousin Jiewa can get married, I'll personally deliver the bicycle back to you, and I won't shortchange you even on a single wire!"

Jiang Xinyue hesitated for a moment when she heard that she wanted to borrow the car.

A 28-inch lever isn't much money; lending it out for a few days won't result in any loss.

But what if the other party refuses to return the car after I lend it out?

As she was pondering how to refuse, Qin Yuchan chimed in.

"Borrow the car? You wish! That car was bought by my son Sanshi, it cost several hundred yuan. You think you can just lend it out like that? What if it gets damaged or lost? Who's going to take responsibility?"

Li Xiuying quickly waved her hands: "No, no, Yu Chan, don't worry, I'll definitely keep it safe for you! I'll only use it for a few days, just a few days! I'll send it back as soon as Jiewa's marriage is arranged!"

Before Qin Yuchan could say anything more, Zhao Lei arrived from the construction site.

He was carrying bricks and building a wall when he saw Li Xiuying coming again from afar, and he felt a surge of annoyance.

Zhao Lei put down the shovel he was holding, walked over, glanced at Li Xiuying, and asked in a cold tone, "What are you doing here?"

When Li Xiuying saw Zhao Lei coming over, she quickly turned to him and pleaded, "Lei Zi, your aunt just wants to borrow your old bicycle for a few days..."