After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Ah Mei?

How long has it been since she heard someone call her that?

In a daze, she couldn't even remember it herself.

A sudden disaster, a group of complete strangers, destroyed her home and buried her name in the dust of time.

The madam of Mingyue Tower in Qinghua Lane, Jiangzhou City, said that the character "Mei" (梅) sounds bad and is unlucky for customers.

With heavy makeup and a forced smile plastered on his face, he grinned at her, looking at her battered and barely clothed body. With a wave of his hand, he decided to give her a new name.

"Let's call her Xiangyun!"

So her name, engraved on a black bamboo plaque, was hung in front of her house, keeping her there for years, until last winter...

She doesn't like the name.

Zhang He's voice is very gentle, and she speaks softly when calling people's names.

But that one word, "Ah Mei," was like a sharp blade, seemingly trying to pry open the rusty memories that Mei Xiangyun had kept sealed away for nearly ten years.

They hissed softly, about to surge out and tear her apart, but were suppressed by Mei Xiangyun.

For her, it was the root of tragedy and pain. Struggling in the darkness day after day, she had long since learned to avoid it and not to think about it too much.

Time and forgetting are her best medicine.

She responded with a long silence.

The crackling of the embers in the stove jolted her awake and brought the Xu family members, who were lost in their own thoughts, back to reality.

A calm smile appeared on her face, but the sadness in her eyes sank into her heart. Mei Xiangyun smiled faintly, "It was my oversight, sister-in-law. My name is Xiangyun, you can just call me Ayun."

The Xu family members in the courtyard, including the naive Xu An, could easily sense Mei Xiangyun's rapidly declining mood in those short few minutes.

Zhang He pursed her lips, as if something was stuck in her throat, and after a long while, she covered her mouth and smiled slightly.

"It's nothing, I just called you that without asking, please don't mind, sister."

Despite her doubts, she still accepted the suggestion Mei Xiangyun made, and at the same time, she took Mei Xiangyun's hand amicably and apologized for her abruptness.

She added, "Xiangyun is also a good name. Speaking of which, our Zhuzhu used to be called Yunyun, but unfortunately, the child didn't like it and cried for a long time..."

Zhang He was unaware of the origin and meaning of the name. Seeing Mingming's words of praise, she noticed that the smile in Mei Xiangyun's eyes faded slightly.

She could probably guess some of it.

Xu Zhuzhu, who was suddenly called out, was stunned.

It happened only three years ago, and she couldn't even remember it clearly. So it really happened?

She had never heard her mother mention this before, and assumed it was something her father had come up with on his own, and that her mother had no idea about it.

Upon hearing Zhang He's words, Mei Xiangyun turned her gaze to Xu Zhuzhu and chuckled softly, adding a touch of brightness to her beautiful face.

The smile was genuine; it was the truth.

"Zhuzhu's name is also very nice, meaning 'precious pearl in the palm of one's hand,' which shows how much her older brother and sister-in-law love her."

Xu Zhuzhu sat on the stool, kicking her legs, listening to Mei Xiangyun speak in a somewhat literary style, just like her father, guessing that she had probably read some books.

Speaking of Xu Zhuzhu, Zhang He smiled helplessly, "She's very resilient. These days she's been getting up later and later. I just hope she's not a lazy pig!"

Her tone carried the doting affection a mother has for her child.

Xu Zhuzhu blushed slightly upon hearing this, but she still grinned foolishly and dealt with it.

Mei Xiangyun pinched Xu Zhuzhu's chubby cheeks, "Sister-in-law, look how adorable my little sister is."

Xu Zhuzhu smiled even more brightly.

Xu Wenjie, who was standing to the side, did not speak or deliberately stare at Mei Xiangyun.

However, Mei Xiangyun was very perceptive. She could immediately sense Xu Wenjie's slightest glance and even managed to avoid eye contact with him by chance.

As they talked, she seemed to be on guard, keeping her head down and her eyelids lowered, making it impossible to discern her true feelings in her smile.

Seeing her parents' series of unusual behaviors, Xu Zhuzhu became even more certain that they were hiding something from her and her brother.

Zhang He didn't want to steer the conversation too far off track.

Judging from the fact that there were too many people in the courtyard, Mei Xiangyun was unwilling to talk about her own affairs, so she urged Xu Wenjie to go out, "Husband, go and fetch two buckets of water. I just saw that the water in the buckets is almost empty."

Xu Wenjie understood, so he didn't say much and just did as his wife wanted. Women are always easier to talk to each other.

Zhang He then used the excuse of needing to apply medicine to Mei Xiangyun to pull her into the house.

Xu Zhuzhu wanted to go with them, but her mother stopped her, saying, "You ate a lot just now. Take a walk in the yard with your brother to help with digestion and avoid bloating."

Xu Zhuzhu pouted, trying to sneak away, but her mother had already closed the door.

Out of curiosity, she pulled her brother to a corner to eavesdrop.

Influenced by his father, Xu An not only disliked bad people, but also felt it was very impolite to eavesdrop on his mother's conversation.

He whispered in Xu Zhuzhu's ear, standing upright, "Zhuzhu, Father said, 'Don't listen to what is improper.'"

Seeing Xu An's sincere gaze, Xu Zhuzhu blushed.

She put one hand in her pocket, awkwardly touched her plump chin, and chuckled.

He grabbed a broom from the corner of the wall and said, "I wasn't eavesdropping; I was just helping my mother clean the yard."

That's a good excuse.

Unfortunately, the bamboo broom her father made was half again as tall as her and also heavier. She could lift it, but she couldn't swing it.

She swung the shovel twice with great effort, and it hit the shovel leaning against the wall. As the shovel fell, it knocked over the wooden bucket that her mother was leaning against the wall.

From the corner of the wall, this "unintentional" accident caused a series of "clanging" noises.

In the quiet courtyard at this time, it sounded particularly loud.

After all, she had raised the children for three years. Zhang He knew exactly what Xu Zhuzhu was thinking. Without even thinking, she knew that the “tragedy” must have been caused by the children trying to find out things that they shouldn’t know.

As Xu Zhuzhu scratched the back of her head, wondering how to find an excuse to reply to her mother, Zhang He's soft chuckle reached her ears through the wall.

Xu Zhuzhu gave an awkward smile, then looked to her brother for help with tears in her eyes.

"Brother, please help me, I'll treat you to candy."

During this time, she had developed a deep grudge against her mother because of her sneaking to the garbage station at night. Now her mother was looking for an excuse to punish her, and she didn't want to run into her mother's trap because of this.

Xu An knew that Xu Zhuzhu wanted to shift the blame onto him. The little boy glanced at Xu Zhuzhu and only agreed after she pleaded with him.

"All right!"

Of course, he wasn't greedy, and it wasn't for the candy.

Naturally, he didn't easily take the blame, but instead chose to explain to Zhang He on behalf of Xu Zhuzhu.

"...My little sister wanted to help Mother sweep the yard, but she didn't hold the broom properly and knocked over something. Mother, don't worry, Zhuzhu is fine. I've already picked the things up."

Zhang He's mind wasn't on her child to begin with, so her voice finally subsided.

Eavesdropping was obviously out of the question.

As soon as Xu Zhuzhu got close to the wall, her mother seemed to have automatically locked onto her location and spotted her in less than two seconds. It's no wonder that her mother's ears were so sharp that she could often see through Xu Zhuzhu's little tricks at night.

Xu Zhuzhu felt both emotional and extremely depressed.

She wanted to hear...