After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

“Alas, our countryside is not like your city, and besides, our family has become increasingly poor these years. A trip here would cost a lot of money, how could we bear to spend it!” My aunt’s face immediately turned gloomy.

"It's not as difficult as you make it out to be. Your family wasn't any worse off than ours back then!"

"Alas, sister-in-law, you have no idea. My good-for-nothing husband has developed a gambling addiction. He's squandered all our money and land on gambling. How are we supposed to survive?"

Once this was brought up, the aunt immediately started talking non-stop about her husband, while also emphasizing how difficult her life was these days.

After talking for almost half an hour, the aunt finally changed the subject and revealed her true intentions.

"Sigh, I don't have an older brother to support me, that's why he bullies me like this. If my cousin knew what kind of life I'm living, he would never let me suffer like this!"

"Alas, that's right, he left us so young, leaving us a widow and her children behind!" the old lady sighed, but didn't follow the train of thought.

My aunt choked for a moment, but still wouldn't give up, she said, "That's right. It hasn't been easy for my sister-in-law to raise Nian Ge'er all these years on her own, so I didn't dare tell you, for fear of causing you any more trouble."

My aunt, as if she knew this and was very understanding, continued speaking before the old lady could even reply.

"Now you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Your family business is growing, and your daughter-in-law is capable. Unlike me, my son and daughter-in-law are both useless, and we were on the verge of not being able to make ends meet!"

After saying that, he lowered his head to wipe away his tears, but out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the old lady's reaction.

Having said all that, it was clear that the other party had come prepared, and the old lady could no longer pretend to be confused, but she couldn't easily give in either.

"Take it slow, life goes on little by little. Every family has its own problems, and everyone has their share of troubles! You only see how good things are for us, but you don't know how tough things are for us too!"

The old lady sighed and gave a brief account of Zhu Gui's situation.

Finally, he sighed, "Luckily, God has eyes and didn't let those villains succeed, otherwise we don't know how difficult things would have been for us in the future!"

"Yes, thank goodness God has eyes, haha!" My aunt smiled awkwardly for a while, but it looked somewhat forced.

Since the words had already been spoken, it wasn't good to offend them too much. The old lady continued, "Now that we're a bit more settled, it would have been better if we hadn't known before. Now that we do, we're close relatives, so we have to help out. But the family is preparing for Nian-ge's imperial examination, so we'll have to make some arrangements. We can only do our best!"

Just when everyone thought they were going to return empty-handed, things took an unexpected turn for the better. A smile immediately appeared on her aunt's face: "Yes, yes, it's important that Nian-ge'er's affairs are handled well. If Nian-ge'er becomes successful in the future, how could we, as his true relatives, not be happy for him!"

Seeing that her goal was about to be achieved, her aunt's smile became even more pronounced, and she looked much kinder.

"You've come all this way, so please have lunch at the manor today and let the younger generation get to know you!"

Seeing that it was getting late, the old lady instructed the servants to prepare the meal.

"That will really trouble you, sister-in-law!" My aunt said, but her face was full of smiles.

Upon hearing this, Fu Gui'er stopped eating the half-eaten pastry in his hand and quickly asked, "What are we having for lunch?"

"What would you like to eat? I'll have the kitchen make it for you," the old lady agreed.

"Then I want to eat braised pork, sweet and sour pork, four-happiness meatballs, braised pork knuckle..." Fugui excitedly recited the names of the dishes, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth from time to time.