Sophia noticed the gaze, examining her from head to toe, not missing a single detail. She looked down at herself—patched-up old clothes, worn-out cloth shoes. Then, she glanced at Meilani, who was dressed in a fashionable dress made of Diqiang cloth, white socks, and shiny little leather shoes. She looked so polished.

Pretending not to notice the scrutinizing gaze, Sophia spoke up, “You can sit for now. The room’s a mess, full of clutter. You’ll have to wait until my husband gets back to make space for you.”

With that, she turned and entered the house, grabbing a thermos to pour a cup of water for her guest.

Meilani awkwardly nodded and sat on the bench in the yard, forcing a smile at Sophia. In her mind, she was already planning how to get her notice to return to the city for work as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to stay in this dreadful place for another day, especially not in a house with a thug of a man.

She needed to be careful and make sure this family’s troublemaker didn’t take advantage of her.

Sophia had originally planned to just make a quick meal for herself at noon, but now that a new educated youth had arrived, she had no choice but to roll up her sleeves and start preparing the meal.

Meilani, thinking she would be living here, couldn’t just freeload. She washed her hands and stepped into the kitchen to offer help.

“Sis, why don’t I cook the pot?” she suggested.

But when she stepped into the kitchen, she froze. The shabby kitchen was surprisingly clean and tidy, and there was even a large piece of meat hanging from the ceiling beam. Who said this family couldn’t afford a proper meal? They had meat, and a big piece at that!

Sophia was kneading dough when she heard Meilani’s offer. She looked up and said, “You don’t need to help. If you’re not doing anything, you can watch the child in the yard.”

Meilani nodded and left the kitchen, heading for the child’s little bed.

Looking at the child, who was as fair as a porcelain doll, she couldn’t help but feel affection for him. He was cute, but too thin. She bent down and playfully interacted with him, but then her mind wandered. The young mother, about the same age as herself, was so fair and beautiful—how could she have married so young and had a child already?

With her looks, she could’ve married someone better. Why did she end up with such a useless man, a thug, no less?

Was she forced into it by that scoundrel? Was there no other choice but to marry him?

Thinking about this made Meilani shudder, and a chill ran down her spine. The more she thought about it, the more she feared staying in this house. She considered going to see the village head, Blake, and asking him to assign her to another family. She wouldn’t mind if the family was poorer, as long as the man was decent.

Meanwhile, Sophia was busy in the kitchen, unaware of the drama playing out in Meilani’s mind. Soon, a bowl of steaming noodles was ready. Sophia walked out with the bowl, calling, “Miss, come have a bowl of noodles.”

Meilani snapped out of her thoughts, staring at the noodles in the bowl, floating with oil droplets. She was momentarily stunned.

She quickly said, “Sis, just call me Meilani from now on.”

Sophia nodded without saying much more. In truth, she wasn’t thrilled about having another person in the house. The place was already cramped, and there was no privacy. She was already thinking that when Jackson came back, she’d have to ask him to talk to Blake about the situation.

Around 4 p.m., the rumbling of a tractor could be heard approaching the village. Following Jackson’s directions, it stopped right in front of their house.

Sophia, peeling corn in the yard, heard the noise and quickly set down what she was doing. She stood up and walked to the door, just in time to see Jackson nimbly jump off the tractor. She was puzzled, wondering why he had come back on that noisy old tractor.

Before she could ask, the tractor driver shouted, “Hey, buddy, with all this stuff, are you sure your house has room for it?”

As he spoke, he walked around the tractor to the back, struggling to move the fridge bit by bit.

Jackson quickly ran over and hoisted the fridge off the tractor, grinning at the driver and saying, “Plenty of space now.”

Sophia, standing off to the side, was frozen in shock. She stared at the heap of items being unloaded and asked in a daze, “Did you buy all this?”

All these things, plus a fridge—how much did all this cost? How many tickets did he use?

Jackson saw the shocked expression on her fair, beautiful face and walked up to her, gently touching her cheek. He understood; she was worried about the money.

But to him, it was nothing. He wasn’t concerned with such small amounts. His goal was for Sophia to enjoy life with him, eating well, dressing well, never having to suffer again. Everything he had enjoyed in his past life, he wanted her to have.

And the fridge, it was really necessary. With it, there would be more space.

Jackson leaned in close to Sophia’s ear and whispered, “I’ll explain later. For now, step aside, let me unload everything.”

Sophia, like a puppet, moved aside, watching as item after item was unloaded, piling up like a small mountain.

Inside, her heart was filled with regret. If she had known this was coming, she would’ve taken the child and gone into the city with Jackson. How much money would this all cost? How many tickets did he use?

How could he be so reckless with money? A fridge? Where did he get the money and the tickets for that?

In most households, no one could afford a fridge—just the electricity bill would be a fortune! What a waste!

At this moment, Meilani, standing in the corner with the baby in her arms, stared fixedly at the young man who was tall, broad-shouldered, and long-legged.

So, this was the village thug? The lazy man the villagers talked about?

She had expected him to be ugly and crude, but to her surprise, he was actually a handsome young man with deep-set features and a striking appearance.

She’d rarely seen such a handsome man in her life.

Her heart raced wildly in her chest, her pulse quickening uncontrollably.

Now Meilani understood—this must be the reason why Sophia, a woman as beautiful as a flower, had married into such a poor family so young.

This man, with his thick brows and big eyes, was so handsome!

He looked even better than the movie stars…

Once the unloading was finished, Jackson took out five bucks from his pocket and handed them to the tractor driver.

The driver took the money with a smile and waved before driving off.

Jackson then went back to carrying things into the yard. Sophia offered to help, but he wouldn’t let her, telling her to sit and rest. He didn’t even notice there was an unfamiliar woman in the house.

Hearing the commotion, Camden rushed over. When he saw all the things piled up in front of his brother’s door, he was stunned.

Where did this lazy guy get all this money to buy so many things?

With the state of his family, there was nothing left to sell. Had he sold the kid?

The thought made Camden hurry his steps. When he reached the door, he saw his niece in the arms of the female educated youth, and only then did he feel reassured.