Shen Luhua eventually regained her senses. “What? Oh, okay! Sure…” she stammered. After waiting more than a decade, she was beyond happy to hear Sheng Ning finally call her Mom for the first time.

 The smile remained on her face, even after she turned the corner and made her way to their family’s vegetable plot.

 “An’an, pinch me. Am I dreaming?” she asked.

 “Mom!” Sheng An exclaimed in exasperation. “Is that all you care about? You’re this happy just because she called you Mom? I call you that everyday, but you’re never this ecstatic when I say it.”

 “That was the first time Ningning ever called me Mom!” Shen Luhua said happily.

 “You’re really biased, Mom.”

 “Nonsense!” Shen Luhua pulled a face and firmly reprimanded her daughter. “Ningning had a really hard life growing up. Can you imagine having to hear people call you a vixen your whole life? Could you have endured that?”

 “I would have ripped the mouth off of any person who called me that.” Of course she wouldn’t have been able to endure it. Only that idiot Sheng Ning could enjoy spending time with someone like Qin Cuifen.

 Qin Cuifen was the person Sheng An hated most in the world. She’d never met a more repulsive person than her.

 “If you had done that, the insults would’ve only gotten worse. Entering the troupe was Ningning’s only way out. Otherwise, her whole life would’ve been destroyed.” It was a huge misfortune for Sheng Ning that her biological mother had been so unconscionable.

 “Hasn’t my life been ruined too by having to marry the second fool?” Sheng An was filled with resentment. If not for her mother, she never would’ve agreed to it, even if her life had depended on it.

 But what really made her angry was the timing of Sheng Ning’s return. She very well knew that she was about to marry soon. Did she come home just to get a good laugh at her expense?

 “Regardless, Mom. I’ll never ever forgive Shen Ning,” Sheng An chillingly declared. She left her mother behind and ran off to search for Xiaohong in the mayor’s house.

 Sheng Ning sized up the home from her memories. The mottled walls and the wallpaper, which was yellow with age, were all still there, and the huge square table in the middle of the house was the same one her father had made with his own hands.

 The connecting room on the left was shared by her parents, and the one on the right was the one she shared with her sister. The house was small, so she and An’an had to share a bed. Each night, they would place a marker in the middle to divide their territory.

 Recalling how immature she was in the past, Sheng Ning’s face reddened with embarrassment, and she suddenly felt the urge to punish herself with a hard slap.

 She had made up her mind upon coming home that she wasn’t going to allow her sister to marry into the mayor’s family.

 As Sheng Ning stood in the central room, lost in thought, Sheng Third returned from the pigsty behind the house. When he came inside and saw his dear eldest daughter standing there, he jumped back in shock and almost dropped the tobacco pipe in his hand onto the floor.

 “Ningning, what are you doing back here?” Sheng Third was an old comrade, and had retired after sustaining a leg injury that left him with a limp. He had a rough idea how the troupe worked and knew that the members wouldn’t be allowed any vacation at this point in time.

 Unless something happened.

 “Father…” she began. The tears that Sheng Ning just wiped away began to stream down her face again. She stood there in a daze, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

 “Why are you crying?” Sheng Third asked helplessly. “Are you having a hard time at the General Union? Were you bullied?”

 He had always been timid and honest to a fault. Even when on the losing end of the stick, he wasn’t one to speak up. He was very conscientious and upright in his work and in the way he carried himself. Using under the table methods to help Sheng Ning gain entry into the troupe was the most shameful decision he had ever made in his life.

He still wasn’t aware of the fact that Sheng An was about to marry the second fool.

 In truth, the mayor’s household seemed like a good option. They were the most honored family in the area and had considerable influence. Although their foolish son didn’t have any intelligence to speak of, he didn’t have a bad reputation.

 They were all villagers, after all. As long as there was enough to eat, there wasn’t much else to complain about.

 But Sheng An’s match had stirred many villagers’ envy. However, Sheng Ning knew that the marriage would be a living hell. It was a trap.

 Second Fool had an unpredictable personality and was violent and abusive.