Back to the 1980s: Becoming the Villain's Lucky Wife

Although they had all moved out, the courtyard house was large. Shen Yi had brought people in to professionally clean and manage it. He had even renovated the entire place using methods similar to those for running a bed and breakfast.

And with so many people, the courtyard house was the perfect place for a get-together.

Du Liya was in the kitchen, busy learning from Su Yun. She loved to cook, but unfortunately, she had no talent for it.

She was in awe of how thinly Su Yun could slice potatoes.

”You’re just incredible! With knife skills as divine as yours, you could easily go abroad, open a restaurant, and be the head chef.”

Su Yun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”How could that be? This is just basic skill. You’re the amazing one, being able to make such beautiful clothes. Oh, that reminds me, I still haven’t brought myself to wear that dress you specially made for me.”

”Why not? Clothes are made to be worn.”

The two of them stood there trading compliments, creating a harmonious atmosphere. In truth, Su Yun had been a little worried before. Du Liya had studied abroad, after all. As mothers of the married couple, would they even be able to find common ground?

But after spending more time with her, she realized Du Liya was very genuine. To use a term from her hometown, she was ”down-to-earth.” She didn’t beat around the bush when speaking or doing things, and Su Yun actually loved interacting with people like that.

Most importantly, from the very beginning, Du Liya had never looked down on them for being poor or acted high and mighty, refusing to engage with them.

Even back when their families weren’t connected by marriage, when they were just neighbors living next to Mr. Du, Du Liya had never shown any sign of looking down on them.

Under the covered walkway, Mr. Du sat in a rattan chair, rocking slowly. A soft cushion was laid out on the ground beside him, where two little tots were playing with toys.

Little Gu Duo was instructing Xiao Sun Yu, who was a few months her junior. ”Little brother, this is how you do it. You’re wrong! How can you be so silly? I just don’t know what to do with you. Come on, let your big sister give you a kiss, and then I’ll teach you.”

Xiao Sun Yu already adored this pretty, doll-like older girl. He leaned over and gave her little cheek a big SMOOCH. Little Gu Duo giggled and then started showing Xiao Sun Yu how to stack the building blocks.

Xiao Cheng was about to graduate from elementary school. Just like Xiao Shi, he had been skipping grades all through school.

His schooling had been a bit delayed before, after all. Plus, he was influenced by Xiao Shi; he felt that wasting time instead of studying was a complete waste of life.

He nudged Xiao Shi, who was sitting beside him listening to an English cassette. ”Sis, you think it’s okay for them to be playing like that?”

Xiao Shi took off her headphones and stretched. ”What’s the problem?” she said, exasperated. ”They’re playing just fine, aren’t they?”

Xiao Cheng looked at his silly little brother getting teased in all sorts of ways. ’Something just feels wrong here,’ he thought.

Meanwhile, Qin Na and Old Mrs. Qin were inside a room, periodically craning their necks to watch the two children play outside.

The two of them were sewing a bright red quilt embroidered with mandarin ducks.

Although the young couple had been together for a long time, they were only now considered officially married since they had just formally registered.

According to the customs from their hometown, they had to hand-sew a quilt to give to the newlyweds.

When Old Mrs. Qin first came to North City, she had brought with her all of her old-fashioned ideas and the anxiety of being in a new place. All of that had since vanished.

The year before last, Qin Zhonghui had taken the old woman for a full physical examination. Moreover, in recent years, Qin Jiao had also started having her grandmother drink Spiritual Spring Water.

The old woman’s health had been severely depleted in the past, but thankfully, she had a good constitution. She had also kept active over the years. The check-up revealed no serious issues; she just needed to recuperate slowly.