To make up for the debt owed to Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

She was genuinely terrified by the child's running away from home. You see, in her previous life, this kid would run away at the drop of a hat, and he would stay away for days. What if he got upset and ran away again?

Let him know that this is also his home, and that this home needs him, this little man. Wouldn't that give him a sense of responsibility and prevent him from wandering off again?

Zhiyuan tilted his head and thought for a while before saying, "If anyone bullies you, I'll beat them up for you."

Lin Qingping: ...

“Zhiyuan, hitting people is not the best way to solve problems. Besides, I’m not afraid of being bullied. I’m very capable.” Lin Qingping was quite worried about Zhiyuan’s tendency to resort to violence to solve problems. She would have to talk to him about this in the future.

"Then what are you afraid of?" Zhiyuan didn't understand either.

"Hmm... I'm afraid of many things..." Lin Qingping frowned as she thought, "For example, I'm afraid of the dark..."

Upon hearing this, Zhiyuan frowned, looking completely bewildered.

Lin Qingping: ...Keep making things up, "I'm also afraid of bugs. Can you help me remove the bugs when I pick vegetables in the future?"

Although Zhiyuan felt he couldn't quite understand what she was afraid of, he still nodded in agreement. These were all minor matters!

Lin Qingping smiled and reached out her hand to make a pinky promise with him, "You have to keep helping me! Always and always."

"Okay!" Zhiyuan hooked his little finger with hers without hesitation.

Lin Qingping then led him back to have dinner.

He really does love sweets; his eyes lit up when he saw pumpkin pancakes.

Lin Qingping said with a smile, "You did a good job on your homework today. We'll go to the county later, and when we get back tonight, I'll cook you something delicious."

Zhiyuan's eyes lit up again as he listened.

Kids will always love to eat...

Lin Qingping had two purposes for going to the county.

Firstly, I just bought study materials and supplies. Secondly, I want to see if there are any ways to make money so that I can start earning money earlier than in my previous life. I also want to see if I can meet the people I met in my previous life.

After the meal, she set off with Zhiyuan.

The first place we went to was a department store. To be honest, Zhiyuan's clothes were old and short, with two large patches on the bottom that were worn out and torn again.

When they entered the department store, Lin Qingping noticed that the child showed no surprise at anything in the city, as if it were commonplace...

Lin Qingping thought of his mother, whom he had never mentioned before. She had never appeared in either his past life or this one, and he had no idea what kind of person she was.

I bought Zhiyuan two sets of clothes and two pairs of shoes. After thinking about it, I went to the yarn counter and bought a few kilograms of yarn.

She's quite skilled at knitting, and with autumn approaching, it's the perfect time to knit a few sweaters for her family.

As she passed the women's clothing counter, she saw a nice red women's coat and immediately bought it for her younger sister.

And just like that, she was carrying a full load of things. By the time they finished buying school supplies and materials, Zhiyuan was carrying small items.

Lin Qingping felt a little regretful that there were really too few college entrance examination materials. Compared with the students who buried themselves in books and practice questions, the difference was too great.

She carried her bags and packages to her final destination—the state-owned sugar factory.

Someone very important to her lives here.

However, they came up empty-handed; the person was not there.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, communication is really inconvenient and untimely without a mobile phone.

Moreover, they were still strangers at that time...

Never mind, maybe we'll meet again someday.

She bought two bags of sugar and a few steamed buns for Zhiyuan to eat on the way back from the sugar factory's store.

It was almost dark when I got home. My mother-in-law was cooking, and my father-in-law had also come home from work.

Seeing that she had many bags and packages, neither of them said anything.

Lin Qingping washed her hands and went into the kitchen to help with the cooking.

Zhiyuan followed him in. The little guy bumped into Liu Fen and Lin Qingping every now and then in the small kitchen.

Liu Fen laughed, "What are you doing squeezing into this tiny place?"

Lin Qingping smiled. This child, putting everything else aside, has always been loyal to his word, a trait that has remained unchanged since childhood.

She handed him a bunch of vegetables. "Zhiyuan, would you like to help me pick these vegetables?"

Zhiyuan nodded and immediately took a small wooden basin to wash the vegetables.

Lin Qingping specially made double-skin milk pudding today.

I promised to do it for Zhiyuan.

Surprisingly, Zhiyuan, who loves desserts so much, only took one bite and then refused to eat any more.

"What's wrong? Is it not tasty?" Lin Qingping asked.

Zhiyuan shook his head, "Keep it, for tomorrow..."

"Eat it, it'll spoil tomorrow. If you like it, I'll make you another one tomorrow."

After hearing this, Zhiyuan finished eating in small bites.

After dinner, Lin Qingping brought out the things she had bought that day: five pounds of yarn, all in dark colors, and asked her parents-in-law to choose which color they liked.

Her in-laws were completely shocked; they looked at her as if she were a monster.

Lin Qingping coughed twice. This was reaping what she sowed; she was doomed...

"Chengzi told me to buy you some clothes since it's autumn. I think in our rural area, where we have to do farm work, it's better to make our own clothes. So I only bought two sets for Zhiyuan. In another month or two, the weather will get cooler, and I'll knit a sweater for each of you." The only good thing about her husband not being around is that she can blame him for everything.

This explanation, while technically an explanation, was clearly not convincing enough, but the in-laws didn't say anything more, only giving a casual nod.

"Alright, these two are for you two, and this color is for Zhiyuan." The remaining yarn can at least be used to knit one more piece...

She put all the yarn away, and since she had nothing to do that evening, she could start knitting.

The day passed by in a flurry of activity.

The next day, she still taught Zhiyuan two lessons, each lasting about 20 minutes. She assigned homework, cooked dinner, and of course, made double-skin milk pudding for Zhiyuan. Then, she packed her things and went back to her parents' home.

She came mainly for her younger sister; she went directly to the fields.

As expected, my younger sister was working in the field. Her small, thin body was bent over under the scorching sun, looking like a shrimp.

"Second Sister!" she called as she approached.

Her father saw her first, and his face fell as soon as he saw her. It seems that her mother had said a lot of bad things about her when she came back.

She didn't care how ugly her father's face was; she just pulled her younger sister aside and asked her, "How's the preparation of the school supplies I asked you to prepare coming along?"

The second sister kept her head down and didn't say a word.

Lin Qingping suddenly realized something, "The money is gone, right?"

The second sister lowered her head even further, her face flushed.

Lin Qingping was certain that her mother had taken the money.

"It's alright, it's my fault, I didn't think it through." She handed the bundle to her sister, "Inside here is a piece of clothing, some review materials and school supplies. Keep it and study hard."

She specially bought red clothes so that her mother wouldn't give them to her younger brother.

To everyone's surprise, the second sister, clutching her bundle, whispered, "Sister, maybe we should just forget about it..."