After time travel, share a space with your modern family.

As night fell and the city lights came on, Ruan Mumu's family sat around the dining table, enjoying a sumptuous dinner. The food was especially delicious tonight, but their minds weren't on the food; instead, they were all talking about the farce that had unfolded at the Jin family's house during the day.

"That Jin Lin is a real scoundrel! He actually dared to gamble away Jin Hua's dowry money. And that old woman Wang, she's completely blind! Now she deserves to end up like this," Ruan Xiaojun said indignantly.

After hearing this, Ruan Mumu smiled slightly and comforted him, "Big brother, don't be angry! Actually, there's a good side to this. If it weren't for this incident, Jin Hua and her family of four would probably have had a hard time separating and living separately, right? Imagine having such an awful relative in the future, it's more disgusting than swallowing a fly. Just like that old witch on Ruan's side."

“Yes! You could say this is a blessing in disguise. Jin Hua’s father must have been forced into a corner to decide to separate the family and sever ties. Otherwise, why would he have separated the family so easily?” Chen Donghua chimed in.

Ruan Mumu sighed softly, thinking of Jin Hua's past, and said with emotion, "Sister Jin Hua must have suffered a lot and endured a lot of injustices over the years. If this hadn't happened today, how would we have known that she was having such a hard time? I remember that every time I saw her before, she always had a bright smile on her face, and she always said that she was doing very well. It turns out that was just a way for her to hide her true feelings."

"Oh, what a pitiful child!" Chen Donghua said with heartache, then looked at her son and asked, "Xiaojun, when Jinhua marries into our family, you must cherish her, understand?"

Ruan Xiaojun nodded vigorously.

"What are your thoughts on the future arrangements for Jin Hua's family?" Chen Donghua asked again.

"Mom, ask my sister! She's the one who earns most of the money in the family, and I've already spent quite a bit of it. How can I let the family spend more money on Jinhua and her family?" Ruan Xiaojun said, scratching his head sheepishly.

“Mother, since Sister Jinhua and her family have lost all their land and everything, why don’t we invite them to come and help us with the work? We can pay them wages, but I don’t know if they’d be willing to come and work for us. You see, we need to clear the mountain and cultivate the fields, and we only have a few people, so we don’t have enough manpower! If they’re willing to come, we can have them live with us or build them another house,” Ruan Mumu suggested.

“Great idea! This way, we can solve Jin Hua’s family’s livelihood problem and also increase our family’s labor force. However, we still need to ask Jin Hua’s opinion first to see if they are willing.” Chen Donghua nodded in agreement.

“Yes, Mother is right. I’ll ask Jinhua for her opinion again tomorrow,” Ruan Xiaojun replied. His face was filled with happiness and anticipation, as if he could already see a bright future ahead.

Then, turning to Ruan Mumu, he said gratefully, "Sister, on behalf of my future father-in-law and mother-in-law, thank you in advance."

He knew that without his sister's help, they might not be able to solve this problem.

“Brother, you’re being too polite. We’re all family, no need for thanks. Sister Jinhua will soon be my sister-in-law, so naturally we should help them out whenever we can,” Ruan Mumu said, waving her hand. She smiled, her eyes sparkling with warmth.

"Brother, why don't you hold the wedding banquet as soon as possible? That way, you can legitimately help their family," Ruan Xiaohai interjected.

“Yes, Xiaojun, we didn’t expect things to turn out this way. Since things are like this now, why don’t we get married as soon as possible? It would put their minds at ease. What do you think?” Chen Donghua agreed with her youngest son’s suggestion. Her gaze fell on her eldest son, hoping he could make a decision.

Ruan Xiaojun shook his head and said, "Mother, the house isn't even finished yet, and we don't even have a place to live. I don't want to make Jinhua suffer. I want to wait until our new house is built before I can marry her in a grand and glorious way."

“Mom, let’s listen to my older brother! I’ll talk to Uncle Jin and Aunt Jin later and see what they think,” Ruan Mumu said.

"Knock knock knock..." The knocking sound interrupted their discussion.

Ruan Mumu stood up to open the door. She was surprised to see who it was, but then greeted them warmly, "Uncle Jin, Aunt Jin, you're here! Come in quickly. Sister Jinhua, we were just talking about you! And here you are." Ruan Mumu whispered the last sentence in Jinhua's ear with a playful laugh.

The visitors were initially a little nervous, but upon seeing Ruan Mumu's warm invitation, they immediately relaxed and the family of four entered the house.

Upon hearing Ruan Mumu's words, Chen Donghua quickly walked to the front door and greeted them warmly, "In-laws, Jinhua, you've arrived!"

Ruan Xiaojun and Ruan Xiaohai also stood up to greet them.

"Xiaojun, your foot is injured, so don't stand up. Sit down quickly," Jin Erniu said hurriedly.

"Uncle Jin, Aunt Jin, actually my foot is fine. It's a long story..." Ruan Xiaojun said in a low voice, and then told the two elders in detail about how he had pretended to be injured.

"Oh, it's good that you're alright. We were worried for most of the day, and we were still concerned, so we decided to come and check on you." Yang Fang finally felt relieved to hear that you weren't injured.

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry I didn't explain the situation to you before. Xiaojun said not to let anyone else know about this, so I..." Jinhua said apologetically, knowing that her parents must be very worried about Ruan Xiaojun.

"Silly child, what's there to apologize for? If it were us, we wouldn't want to talk about this either! What happened at home today must have frightened you too, right?" Yang Fang gently comforted her daughter, knowing that Jin Hua must also be feeling anxious because of what happened at home today.

“Mother, I’ve had enough of that kind of home. This is better now. We can live our own lives from now on. Even if we have nothing, as long as I can be with my family, I’m not afraid.” Jinhua had a look of relief on her face.

"Yang Fang, what exactly happened at your home today? We only heard some things from the villagers, and we don't know the specifics. I was thinking of going over tonight to see if you needed any help, but you came over before I even left the house," Chen Donghua asked with concern, her eyes full of care.

“My dear in-laws, alas, this is a misfortune for our Jin family! We have such a spendthrift son. It’s all because my mother spoiled him. We never expected things to turn out this way. It’s our Jinhua… alas, my mother took Jinhua’s dowry money and let that spendthrift son squander it all…” Jin Erniu recounted the whole story for his wife, looking utterly dejected as if all his strength had been drained away.

"Uncle Jin, the money is gone, but to put it bluntly, the fact that you've made up your mind to sever this relationship is the best start. Good days are yet to come!" Ruan Mumu comforted him.

“Yes! With your old lady treating Jinhua like that, she’ll only demand more and more in the future. What will your Jin Guang do then? Your eldest brother has five sons. Won’t they squeeze you dry?” Chen Donghua chimed in from the side.

“With that old lady’s favoritism, my Jin Guang probably won’t even be able to get a wife. These past years have really been tough on the two children. Their other siblings haven’t done much work; it’s mostly Jin Hua and Jin Guang who have done the work…” Yang Fang wiped away her tears.

"Yang Fang, don't overthink it. Since you're here today, I'd like to ask you two what your plans are for the future," Chen Donghua asked, seizing the opportunity.

“In-laws, we haven’t thought about it yet. Right now, we have nothing… Starting tomorrow, my husband and I will go to town to find work. With our own two hands, we’re sure we can make a living,” Yang Fang said firmly.

Chen Donghua looked at Ruan Mumu, signaling her to come out and say something.

Ruan Mumu received a look from her mother and quickly cleared her throat, saying, "Uh... Uncle Jin, Aunt Jin, if you don't mind, we have quite a few jobs available here. We're planning to hire people anyway, so if you'd like to come, I'd be very happy to have you."

Upon hearing Ruan Mumu's words, Jin Erniu and Yang Fang looked at Ruan Mumu with surprise and asked, "Really?"

Ruan Mumu nodded and said with a smile, "I thought of you first, but I was afraid you would mind. Since you just mentioned this, I thought I'd ask for your thoughts."

"Mumu, thank you so much for today. If it weren't for you helping us find a place to stay, we would be sleeping outside right now," Jinhua said, holding Ruan Mumu's hand.

"Sister-in-law, why are you being so polite?" Ruan Mumu said to Jin Hua with a smile.

Ruan Mumu's address of "sister-in-law" made Jin Hua blush, but it also made everyone burst into laughter.

"Sister, aren't you still unmarried? Why is Sister Mumu calling you sister-in-law?" Jin Guang asked, puzzled.

Jin Guang's words made everyone laugh again.

"Oh dear! I'm not talking to you anymore." Jin Hua lowered her head shyly, too embarrassed to speak further.

"Jin Guang! After our new house is built, my older brother can marry your sister! Then my older brother will be your brother-in-law!" Ruan Xiaohai said, patting Jin Guang's head.

Jin Guang said happily, "That's great! Now my sister won't have to work so hard with her brother-in-law helping her with chores."

Ruan Xiaojun looked at Jin Guang and said, "Yes, from now on I will help your sister with the work, so she won't have to work so hard."

"So, Uncle Jin and Aunt Jin, what do you think? You don't need to feel pressured. We're about to become a family, so you don't need to feel embarrassed." Ruan Mumu looked at Jin Erniu and his wife again.

“We do,” the couple replied in unison.

"That's good! Let's work together to make our lives better from now on, and let's not think about the past anymore. From now on, let's treat each other like family, okay?" Ruan Mumu asked everyone solemnly.

"Okay!" everyone responded loudly.