Cynthia Wu and Mark Hunter laughed together, coaxing their son Squirt, temporarily putting aside their business worries.
But when Cynthia Wu returned home, she found herself unable to sleep.
Looking at her son Squirt, sleeping soundly on the bed, Cynthia Wu's brows never relaxed.
She remembered when she was just a poor village girl; those bitter days felt like only yesterday. Now, surrounded by luxury, it all seemed like a dream.
Ever since she married Mark Hunter and started doing business with Lily Evans, Cynthia Wu's life had improved year after year. But the change came so fast that it felt unreal, and she feared that one day she'd wake up and it would all be gone, just a dream.
So when the spice shop's business faltered, Cynthia Wu kept quiet, but inside she was more anxious than Mark Hunter.
Watching Squirt grow up day by day, Cynthia Wu, as his mother, always wanted to give him a good home environment. But how could they manage without money?
After Mark Hunter finished washing up, he tiptoed in, gently carried Squirt to the child's own room next door, and when he returned, saw Cynthia Wu already lying down to sleep.
Mark Hunter blew out the lamp and lay down behind Cynthia Wu in the dark. He had just closed his eyes when he heard her sighing again and again.
"Honey, why aren't you asleep yet? Still worried about business?" Mark Hunter turned over and hugged Cynthia Wu from behind.
Cynthia Wu sighed and said, "Mark, what will we do if the spice business fails?"
Mark Hunter smiled, "It won't fail, Cynthia. You're just worrying too much. It's only been a few days, and we've lost a few orders, that's all. Look how worried you are."
"But this has never happened before." Cynthia Wu sighed. "There aren't many businesses more profitable than spice. If this fails, our income will drop a lot. I wonder what business we could do then."
Mark Hunter said, "Why worry when we're working with Lily Evans? Even if the spice business fails, Lily will give us another opportunity."
Cynthia Wu still worried, "Lily's businesses have already been divided among relatives. If the spice business fails, we could go back to the herbal medicine trade. It's not impossible, but I just can't accept it. It's easy to go from frugal to luxury, but hard to go back. After handling so much money, how can we go back to counting pennies?"
Mark Hunter felt helpless about Cynthia Wu's excessive worries and could only comfort her before going to sleep.
Cynthia Wu slept restlessly, dreaming she was back in her impoverished childhood, unable to eat or stay warm, with Squirt crying from hunger.
In her dream, Cynthia Wu desperately tried to cook meat for Squirt, but found only clay and tree bark in the pot. Squirt ate the clay, clutching his stomach and crying, and eventually died from eating it.
In the dream, Cynthia Wu held Squirt, crying her heart out, and woke up sobbing from the nightmare. She rushed to the next room and found her son well, dressed in soft silk, not starving.
Holding her sleeping son, Cynthia Wu vowed, "Son, I will never let you suffer as I did when I was a child."