At this moment, Ye Qiu was still completely unaware that there was another person in this world who had also been reborn and held a deep obsession for her.
Because the Ye Family had an additional child, Ye Qiu, Ye Yuejin became increasingly busy and traveled constantly, leaving the fields to his wife, Jiang Xiuqing, while he worked in the provincial capital or other provinces, often going away for several months at a time.
With so many mouths to feed at home, and the child being one they had picked up, Han Mei’e couldn’t afford to rest either. Besides looking after the two children, she raised two pigs and over twenty chickens and ducks. No one knows how she managed it, as others often faced accidents with their chickens and ducks, with only seven or eight out of ten surviving; yet, her animals were all lively, and even laid eggs faster and more abundantly than others.
Many in the village envied them, but no matter how they sought advice, they couldn’t match her success, leading them to say her family had good feng shui.
According to Han Mei’e, it wasn’t about feng shui. If their family’s feng shui was good, they wouldn’t have been so poor before. The chickens and ducks they raised before were not as spirited as they are now. Ever since Ye Qiu entered their household, everything began to develop positively. Could it be that the one they picked up was actually a Little Fortune Star?
Actually, it wasn’t only Han Mei’e who thought this way; even Jiang Xiuqing felt that Ye Qiu brought fortune. Even the rice fields she cared for grew better than others. It was the same land, same seeds, same fertilizers; it wasn’t like this before. What else could it be if not Ye Qiu?
Thus, the superstitious mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were more willing to treat Ye Qiu well.
It wasn’t about some abstract fortune; it was simply that Ye Qiu occasionally added some Spiritual Spring Water to the chicken feed. Once, when Han Mei’e couldn’t take Ye Qiu, Jiang Xiuqing took her to the fields, so the rice paddies also got the Spiritual Spring Water. How could the crops not grow well?
Because there were so many eggs, and the family couldn’t consume them all, taking them to the city for sale was too far and not cost-effective. The family decided to hatch the leftover eggs, planning to sell them once the scale of farming grew larger.
Indeed, because the Ye Family had many eggs and of good quality, very few failed to hatch. So in less than a year, their chicken and duck farms reached a considerable scale.
By this time, every household raised some chickens and ducks, but such large-scale farming was very rare. Initially, the Ye Family worried about sales; unexpectedly, Ye Yuejin brought back a boss from the provincial capital who, after tasting their chicken and duck meat and eggs, signed a contract with the Ye Family, offering a purchase price one or two yuan higher than others.
The first time they sold goods, they made nearly eight thousand yuan, exhilarated but feeling a sense of urgency to expand their business. Ye Yuejin even resigned from his job in the provincial capital, and the family continued to lease the village’s hillside and two ponds specifically for raising chickens and ducks.
"Guoguo, Guoguo." Already a bit over one year old, Ye Qiu trotted on her tiny legs patrolling her hillside, pointing at a wild apple tree and calling out.
"Qiu’er, be good. This apple isn’t tasty. I’ll get you something nice to eat," Jiang Xiuqing said, hugging Ye Qiu and giving her a kiss, then had a sudden flash of inspiration. Oh, their hillside was so large; just raising chickens and ducks might be somewhat unprofitable. Should she plant some fruit trees? They could serve as additional income.
As she thought more about it, she felt this method was good. She gave Ye Qiu’s rosy cheeks a firm kiss, laughing heartily, "Truly our Little Fortune Star! Mom will plant lots of apples for you later."
After returning home, Jiang Xiuqing proposed this idea and immediately gained the support of her husband, Ye Yuejin, and her mother-in-law, Han Mei’e. The plan was set, and the next day Ye Yuejin began hiring villagers to clear the land, personally selecting apple trees known locally for their thin skin and crisp sweetness.
With Ye Qiu’s secret help, the Ye Family’s days were increasingly prosperous. Meanwhile, the Shen Family in C Province was still dealing with a crisis in their family business. Li Wen Yin was about to cry her eyes out over her lost daughter, but with the outside world being so vast, where could she search? No one was available to help her.
On the other side, Song Tianji was clamoring to study in F Province, but being only a six-year-old child, how could the adults allow him? No matter how much he missed Ye Qiu, no matter how heavy-hearted he was, he could only restrain himself for now.
When Ye Qiu was three and a half years old, she carried a little backpack and followed her brother Ye Chao to kindergarten. Meanwhile, a delicate and lovely girl was taken from the orphanage to replace the Eldest Lady of the Shen Family.
Song Tianji looked at Shen Jingshu with somewhat conflicted emotions. In the past life, she was the one he loved deeply, never letting go for a lifetime. Even in this life, a small part of him stirred, but it was for her that he betrayed another woman. In this life, he wouldn’t meddle in her and Shen Jing’an’s matters anymore; he would devote all his heart to his Ye Qiu.
"This is your brother Tianji. Don’t be afraid; he’s also your fiancé!" Shen Mingcheng said warmly, holding Shen Jingshu’s hand.
Song Tianji felt a bit ironic; knowing she wasn’t his biological daughter, why have someone else pretend? Even if they didn’t have time to find her before, now why assume without searching that they won’t find her?
With a serious little face, he said firmly, "Uncle Shen, my mom says that it’s a joke among adults, not to be taken seriously. What if I or Jingshu later find someone we like?"
But to the adults, his serious expression seemed adorable, and Shen Mingcheng wasn’t bothered. "So early you know about liking someone? Look at how cute Jingshu is. Don’t you like her?"
"I like my sister," Shen Jing’an promptly spoke, standing strongly in front of Shen Jingshu and smiling with a dote at her.
At this moment, Song Tianji wanted to tell him, "That’s not your real sister."
But then he felt disheartened; after all, even when Ye Qiu moved into the Shen Family, Shen Jing’an didn’t treat her real sister as well as he treated Shen Jingshu.
Not only him but he himself was the same, always thinking Shen Jingshu was the one suffering, feeling she’d be bewildered due to a big psychological gap.
Little did one know that the one who truly suffered, the one truly bewildered was another girl.
Clearly, she was the true Eldest Lady of the Shen Family, but besides Aunt Li, no one in the house genuinely accepted her.
She had just come from the countryside into the city, facing such a strange environment, surely feeling alarmed. But they naturally presumed her appearance had robbed Shen Jingshu of everything.
How laughable! Wasn’t it Shen Jingshu who took everything from her?
But the worst was him, so deceitful to make Shen Jingshu feel at ease, for her happiness he resorted to deceiving her feelings, causing her heart eventually to turn cold.