Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Quarrels, Breakups, and Loving Yourself

“Second, you’re the one who beat your mother up like this. You’re the one who should apologize!” Xu Mingshan naturally chose to defend the authority of the parents.

“That’s right, Mom is your elder after all. She was just giving you a few words of advice—why make such a big deal out of it? And besides, you even hurt Mom like this, that’s really out of line! You should apologize to her, and you need to pay for her medical treatment too.” Lin Xiaomeng chimed in, speaking from a place of comfort, siding with the mother-in-law.

She was simply looking for an excuse to go against Gu Qinghuan.

Liu Guifang hadn’t expected her eldest daughter-in-law to speak up for her at such a crucial moment. She looked at her approvingly and nodded vigorously.

Exactly! Medical expenses, nutritional supplements—she’s not letting go of a single cent!

Gu Qinghuan didn’t expect Lin Xiaomeng to stand up for Liu Guifang at this moment, and with such sickly sweet, hypocritical words at that.

Fine, then don’t blame her for not holding back.

“Lin Xiaomeng, don’t think just because you’re ugly I won’t curse you out. So I’m supposed to swallow my grievances just to make you all happy?

Maybe I’ll come to your house tomorrow and take your grain—don’t you dare hide it! It’s easy to talk when you’re not the one suffering.

Your Dacheng is a bastard, and if I wanted to kill him, you’d better not get mad—I’m your elder!

You’re so noble, so understanding, so filial to your parents—so why didn’t you hand over that wild ginseng you dug up last time?”

Instantly, all eyes turned to Lin Xiaomeng.

Her face changed colors like a palette, a mix of anger and panic, too flustered to even argue back.

How did Gu Qinghuan know about the wild ginseng?

Did she follow her? Or did she get caught when she sold it?

Either way, this sudden accusation caught her completely off guard, leaving her in a panic.

“What wild ginseng?”

“Wild what?”

Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang both looked at Lin Xiaomeng.

Liu Guifang even scrambled up from the ground, her eyes shining like searchlights as she stared at Lin Xiaomeng.

“Oh? Such a noble and filial person, found wild ginseng, sold it for three hundred yuan, and didn’t hand it over to her in-laws? That’s not right!” Gu Qinghuan said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

She knew from the book’s plot that Lin Xiaomeng had sold the wild ginseng for three hundred yuan.

Judging by her reaction, she was right on target.

Since things had already come to a head, she didn’t care about offending her anymore. You’re the reborn heroine, but I’m the transmigrator—let’s see who’s afraid of whom!

Under the suspicious stares of her in-laws, Lin Xiaomeng gritted her teeth and insisted, “What wild ginseng, what three hundred yuan? I don’t know what you’re talking about! Mind your own business and stop making false accusations!”

Gu Qinghuan replied confidently, “I’m not making anything up. Just ask at the county hospital and you’ll know.”

Now Lin Xiaomeng was sure she’d been caught.

But so what? She just wouldn’t admit it.

“I didn’t do it. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gu Qinghuan didn’t care whether she admitted it or not. As long as she planted a seed of suspicion in Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang’s hearts, making things difficult for Lin Xiaomeng, that was enough.

Xu Huaian was also disappointed. He used to respect this sister-in-law a lot. Before he left the army, whenever he got something good, he’d always buy some for his nephew and send it home.

He thought he’d done enough, but some people are just endlessly greedy, thinking others’ efforts are only natural.

Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang were still suspicious, but for now, they decided to set it aside and deal with the second son’s issue first.

“Second, no matter what, you need to apologize properly to your mother. She raised you, and it wasn’t easy. You also need to take her to the county hospital for a check-up—don’t let her suffer any lasting harm,” Xu Mingshan said.

“You raised me, but I joined the army when I was barely a teenager. I earned at least several thousand yuan, plus my discharge pay, and gave it all to you. I’ve already repaid you for raising me, so don’t try to use that to guilt-trip me. I’m not buying it!

Right now, I’m broke—don’t have a cent to my name. If you want money, I don’t have it. If you want my life, come and take it. I’ll see it through to the end.”

Xu Huaian would never have said these things before, but now that he’d let go of his burdens, he found he actually liked this feeling of going a little crazy.

A dead pig isn’t afraid of boiling water—let’s see what you can do to me.

Xu Mingshan hadn’t expected Xu Huaian to talk back like this. The son who used to obey him in everything, who was always respectful, had turned into someone completely unmanageable.

He was furious—he’d rather his son had stayed crazy.

“You unfilial son! Everything I taught you, you’ve thrown to the dogs. No respect for your elders, no willingness to listen. From now on, don’t call me Dad! I don’t have a son like you.”

“Perfect! If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to be your son either. It’s been too hard.”

With that one sentence, Xu Huaian summed up all the bitterness he’d endured along the way.

Unfortunately, only Gu Qinghuan understood the pain in his heart. She silently held his arm, giving him strength.

Every child is born longing for their parents’ love. But not every parent loves their child.

Their whole lives, they long for their parents’ approval and recognition, longing to be loved.

Xu Huaian was like that. So was she.

In this moment, she truly felt Xu Huaian’s sadness.

Years ago, she too had tried desperately to do better, to win her parents’ attention and affection.

She thought if she just tried a little harder, she’d be noticed. But reality hit her hard.

Her parents each had their own beloved treasure—but it wasn’t her.

Some people don’t need to do anything; just by standing there, they’re the apple of their parents’ eye.

But she was just a pitiful clown, trying to attract attention.

That’s why she feared marriage, and despised those selfish, irresponsible parents.

If you can’t give your child a stable, happy home, then don’t bring them into this world. It’s too cruel.

Xu Mingshan didn’t understand his son’s disappointment. He only knew he’d been talked back to, and slammed the table, standing up in a rage. “Fine! You said it. I want to see what you are without me.

Let’s go!” The last sentence was directed at Liu Guifang.

Lin Xiaomeng hurried after them.

In the end, no one got what they wanted. It was a lose-lose situation.

After they left, Gu Qinghuan quickly pushed Xu Huaian into the house.

“Hurry and change your clothes. You’ll catch a cold if you stay in those wet ones.”

Xu Huaian obediently went inside to change.

Through the door, he suddenly said, “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. We might face a lot of difficulties in the future. Are you scared?”

“What are you talking about! No matter how hard it gets, could it be worse than before? Now you’re slowly getting better, our family is together and happy—what could be better than this?”

Gu Qinghuan truly felt things were much better now.

When she first transmigrated here, that was real hell. She survived that—what’s this compared to that?

A bright smile appeared on Xu Huaian’s face.

She really was different.

Gu Qinghuan looked up at the sky.

“If no one loves you, remember to love yourself.”

For the Xu Huaian of today, and the Gu Qinghuan of the past."

"Chapter 56: Homemade Traditional Soap

Once everyone had finally left, Zhong Zijun came out and saw the mess in the courtyard. Heart aching, she picked up the grain sacks scattered on the ground.

The wild vegetables and potato-egg pancakes were now inedible, all trampled and ruined.

Such good food, wasted.

With her injured hand, Zhong Zijun couldn’t do much, so Dabao and Beibei obediently helped clean up the mess.

Although they’d lost some food today, that old witch had also gotten a good beating. She probably wouldn’t dare cause trouble again, so Gu Qinghuan was in a pretty good mood.

The only downside was that the wound on her shoulder had split open again. Gu Qinghuan secretly applied some healing ointment when no one was looking.

It was getting late, but they still needed breakfast. Gu Qinghuan took out some eggs and flour and made a few more batches of egg pancakes. With the vegetable soup left in the pot, the whole family ate until they were full.

After the meal, Xu Huaian acted as if nothing had happened and went back outside to dig and plant vegetables.

Dabao and Beibei followed him around like little shadows.

Zhong Zijun gathered up the family’s dirty clothes from the past couple of days, getting ready to do laundry.

Normally, villagers would go down to the big river to wash clothes, but she couldn’t leave the house.

Luckily, there was a well at home, so she could manage.

When Gu Qinghuan first arrived, she’d secretly used the washing machine in the villa for her clothes, back when Xu Huaian was still unconscious and Zhong Zijun hadn’t moved in yet.

Now, she couldn’t be lazy anymore.

“Mom, let me do it. How can you wash clothes with your hand like that?” Gu Qinghuan rolled up her sleeves, ready to wash.

Zhong Zijun didn’t insist, giving Gu Qinghuan the main spot and helping out from the side.

She fetched a broken wooden shovel, scooped up a heap of wood ash, and dumped it into the big wooden basin.

Gu Qinghuan soaked the clothes in the ash water. After a while, they’d be ready to be scrubbed clean.

Life in the countryside was really tough in these times. The better-off families used soap pods to wash clothes; the poorer ones had only wood ash, or just beat the clothes with a stick to get the dust off.

Using real soap to wash clothes was out of the question—no one’s clothes were that precious.

The bar of scented soap Gu Qinghuan had taken out before was treated like a treasure by the family, only used sparingly for bathing or washing hair.

It might sound surprising, but that’s really how it was in those days. Being able to use store-bought soap to bathe was a real luxury.

Families who could afford it might buy a five-cent pig pancreas soap for bathing.

Pig pancreas soap was made from pig pancreas. It worked, but it really stank.

Thinking of this, Gu Qinghuan suddenly had an idea—she could make her own handmade soap!

As long as she had the right ingredients, it was actually quite simple. She’d even done a video on traditional soap-making before, and still remembered the recipe.

But first, she had to finish the laundry.

Both mother and daughter were injured, so it took them nearly two hours to wash and hang up the big basin of clothes.

Of course, everyone washed their own underwear, except for the two kids—the adults handled theirs together.

Since breakfast had been late, lunch was simple: each person got a bowl of noodles with lard.

A spoonful of lard in the bowl, plus soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings—it turned out surprisingly delicious.

They even finished all the soup.

As usual, Xu Huaian did the dishes after the meal. He’d spent the whole morning digging out four plots of land and was tired, so he took a break.

Gu Qinghuan and Zhong Zijun started researching how to make traditional soap.

Pig pancreas soap would have been easier, but Gu Qinghuan really couldn’t stand the smell, and finding pig pancreas was a hassle, so she gave up on that idea.

Zhong Zijun was very interested in Gu Qinghuan’s suggestion. The recipe was worth a try—if it worked, they’d have their own soap for laundry and bathing.

The basic formula for traditional soap is simple: various fats or oils combined with an alkaline substance, which triggers saponification.

Gu Qinghuan adapted the recipe to use materials they could easily get: clam shells, wood ash, lard, bamboo tubes, and some fragrance.

Dabao listened intently. So the soap sold in stores could actually be made at home?

Mom wasn’t lying—educated people really could do anything!

Next, they started gathering the ingredients. They already had wood ash and lard at home.

For fragrance, the osmanthus blossoms from the tree in the yard would be perfect. Zhong Zijun had already dried some a few days ago—plenty for their needs.

Now they just needed clam shells and bamboo tubes for shaping the soap.

Dabao volunteered to go to the riverbank and collect clam shells—there were plenty by the water.

Beibei quickly chimed in, saying she wanted to help too.

Xu Huaian was also interested in their project and said he’d take care of the bamboo tubes.

Gu Qinghuan happily agreed, just reminding the kids to be careful and not go too close to the river.

Everyone got to work on their tasks.

Gu Qinghuan was in charge of burning the wood ash and filtering out the lye water with a cloth.

Zhong Zijun prepared the lard. Yesterday’s batch had solidified, so today she had to melt it down to use.

Dabao and Beibei soon returned with a basket full of clam shells.

Gu Qinghuan washed them clean, baked them in the stove until they were crisp, then crushed them into powder.

She poured the shell powder into the lye water, stirred it well, filtered it again, and let it settle.

Once the mixture had settled, she poured the lye water into the melted lard, added some salt for hardness, and mixed in the dried osmanthus flowers for fragrance. She stirred it all in one direction until it thickened into a sticky paste.

The final step was to use the bamboo tubes Xu Huaian had brought back.

She poured the thick paste into the bamboo tubes to let it set.

Gu Qinghuan made five large bamboo tubes’ worth of soap. They’d let it sit for three days, then unmold and cut it into thick slices for use.

If they let it age for a month, the results would be even better.

The whole family looked at the fruits of their afternoon’s labor and couldn’t help but smile.

“When the soap is ready, we can use it for laundry, bathing, washing our hair, and washing our hands,” Gu Qinghuan said.

Dabao hesitated a little, then asked, “Mom, when the soap is done, can I give a piece to Erdan? Just a small piece.”

“Why only Erdan? Is he your best friend?”

Gu Qinghuan wasn’t stingy about the soap, just curious. This wasn’t the first time she’d heard the name Erdan.

Dabao hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell the truth.

“When we went to the river to collect clam shells this afternoon, we ran into Dacheng. We didn’t bother him, but when he saw us picking shells, he started cursing at us, calling us jinxes and bastards, and saying we were so poor we even ate shells.

I got mad and fought with him. The others with him started picking on my sister and almost pushed her into the river. Luckily, Erdan came over to help, so my sister didn’t fall in.

Dad says we should repay kindness, so I want to give him a piece of soap.

Is that okay?”"

"Chapter 57: Confrontation at the Door