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Guo Haiping made up her mind to save enough money for the down payment to buy a house since she graduated from university and stayed in Shanghai. But after looking around, none of the houses could satisfy her. So, Haiping lived in a rented small room with only more than ten square meters with her husband Su Chun for five years. The two went through their courtship, marriage, and the birth of their daughter Ranran in this small room. The sudden birth of the child had already made the couple busy, and with the help of Haiping's mother, the space became even more crowded. Haiping had no choice but to let her mother take Ranran back to their hometown while she immediately returned to work, continuing to save money for buying a house. After all, Ranran was her own flesh and blood, and Haiping's longing for Ranran grew day by day. To save money, she economized on food and clothing, even limiting the time of making long-distance calls and the number of trips back to her hometown, but the worries in her heart were beyond control. Guo Haiping endured nearly three years apart from Ranran, living frugally and struggling hard during these three years.

Finally, Guo Haiping couldn't wait any longer because Ranran was almost unrecognizable to her. In order to bring her daughter back, Haiping decided to buy a house immediately. However, times have changed, and the housing prices in Shanghai have been rising daily. Their savings were still far from the down payment. In addition to their savings, Haiping planned to ask both sets of parents for some money. Finally, they were short of 20,000 yuan, so she had to turn to her younger sister Guo Hai'ao. Hai'ao, who was seven years younger than Haiping, had always been close to her sister. Without hesitation, Hai'ao gave her all 8,000 yuan of her savings, and when it was still not enough, she asked her boyfriend Xiao Bei to take out the money they had saved for their wedding. Haiping selected a brand-new house and was just waiting for the money from Su Chun's family to pay the down payment. Su Chun was conflicted in his heart. On one hand, he felt that his family's financial situation was poor and it was difficult to save money, and asking his parents for more money would be disrespectful. On the other hand, his wife urged him repeatedly that paying the down payment would free them from their housing predicament. Ultimately, Su Chun did not ask his family for money. The usually honest and straightforward man chose to borrow money at high interest from his friends and hid the source of the money from Haiping. Su Chun never imagined that the money he borrowed out of desperation would bring such great changes to his family and the surrounding relatives. When Guo Haiping found out that 60,000 yuan of the down payment for the house was high-interest loan borrowed by her husband, she almost went crazy and wanted to divorce Su Chun. Since childhood, Haiping had always protected Hai'ao. Now, she was completely driven to the brink of collapse by the issue of the house payment. Hai'ao believed that this time she must step forward to support her sister and prevent her from falling apart. But Xiao Bei didn't think so. He refused to give more money to Haiping and said it was the price of her vanity. Xiao Bei couldn't understand how Hai'ao felt. From the moment her parents unexpectedly bore the burden of violating the family planning policy and brought her into this world, Guo Hai'ao was an extra life. It was because of her sister that she was allowed to live, and it was her sister who had carefully taken care of her for these twenty-five years. In short, this kind of affection made Hai'ao willing to die for her sister. Driven by urgency and anger, Hai'ao bit her teeth and went to Song Siming to borrow money. Actually, she had only met Song Siming a few times at social occasions, but as soon as Hai'ao asked, Song Siming readily agreed. For Song Siming, the 60,000 yuan that troubled the Guo sisters was not even worth considering. At this moment, his eyes were only on Guo Hai'ao, the little woman who had captivated his heart, though Hai'ao didn't know this. At that time, Hai'ao only knew that to help her sister out of trouble, she would do anything.

Although the high-interest loan money was paid back, the resentment in Haiping's heart did not subside, and Su Chun also realized his fault. They did not get divorced, but the couple fell into an unprecedented long-term cold war. The troubles in their relationship did not affect Haiping's enthusiasm for work. A foreign friend of Song Siming named Mark was looking for a home tutor to teach Chinese, and Haiping, wanting to quickly save money to repay the loan, took on this job despite her initial reluctance. Through Haiping's efforts, Mark's Chinese proficiency improved significantly, and her teaching ability was no longer questioned, which greatly encouraged Haiping. But before she had time to catch her breath, trouble came again. The house where Guo Haiping lived was forcibly demolished, and they had to find a place to move immediately. Song Siming gave Hai'ao an empty apartment for Haiping to temporarily stay in, which was also closer to Mark's house, making it convenient for her to go to class. Despite their heavy doubts, Haiping and Su Chun moved into this luxurious apartment that was richly decorated for them, and for a while, it seemed like all the troubles were gone. Haiping put all her energy into her new life, balancing work and part-time jobs without interruption. Meanwhile, Hai'ao began experiencing a kind of life she had never known before. After an unexpected night spent together with Song Siming, their interactions shifted from comfortable to awkward. In reality, Song Siming was like a huge invisible person firmly supporting her behind the scenes. Hai'ao felt the kind of support that Xiao Bei could never give her, and this steady yet romantic man was gradually conquering her heart.

Haiping's Chinese lessons for Mark were going smoothly, and Mark recommended her to a Japanese housewife who was looking for a tutor for her son. The considerable income from the two part-time jobs filled a large gap in their repayment expenses, but it also meant that Haiping's rest time was entirely occupied. Under pressure, Haiping accepted the job and prepared the teaching content very carefully. The relationship between Haiping and Su Chun slowly improved, and Su Chun secretly earned an extra income by helping others with drafting drawings. These good things happening one after another made Haiping feel that they might turn their luck around. After all, there are no perfect solutions, and Haiping's superior soon became extremely dissatisfied with her always making excuses to avoid overtime work, using hurtful words and tactics to urge her resignation. Hai'ao couldn't bear seeing her sister being wronged, so she complained to Song Siming. Song slightly pulled some strings and issued a bunch of sick leave notes for Guo Haiping, and the unit leader immediately agreed to give her every cent of her due salary and bonus. With her grievances resolved, Haiping voluntarily resigned, thus completely freeing herself from the constraints of regular working hours and fully dedicating herself to her Chinese tutoring business. Song Siming magically solved all kinds of problems for Hai'ao, and Haiping tried to persuade her but discovered that her sister had unknowingly become dependent on this inappropriate emotion.

Xiao Bei was devastated upon discovering that he had been living in deception by Hai'ao. Under double blows, Hai'ao woke up like from a dream, looking at Xiao Bei who was emaciated and tears streaming down his face, she was in agony. Fortunately, Xiao Bei forgave Hai'ao, and Hai'ao immediately cut off contact with Song Siming and returned to Xiao Bei's side.

The misfortunes of the two sisters didn't stop there. Haiping found out that the Japanese housewife adopted a strict authoritarian educational method towards her son Zhengxiong. Due to her fondness for Zhengxiong, Haiping argued with the Japanese housewife, losing half of her income in the process. After learning about this, Mark found an opportunity to ease the strained relationship between the two, and the Japanese housewife apologized to Haiping. Zhengxiong's Chinese lessons resumed. Through the joint efforts of teacher and student, Zhengxiong became another successful teaching example after Mark, and these successes were inseparable from Haiping's detailed preparation and painstaking exploration of suitable teaching methods. Haiping and her two students became good friends, and she truly fell in love with this job.

However, Haiping had to look for a house again. Since Hai'ao and Song Siming had separated, Haiping encouraged Hai'ao to bravely face it anew, and naturally, she could no longer live in the apartment provided by Song Siming. Hai'ao also worked hard to mend the cracked feelings between her and Xiao Bei, and they planned to move to a new place and get married. After moving into their new homes respectively, Haiping took on another student, and Hai'ao decisively rejected Song Siming's attempt to win her back once again. Life seemed to start anew, but when Haiping learned that her husband was suspected of leaking commercial secrets and had been handed over to the public security bureau by the security department, she realized that it was just a beautiful illusion before the end. Having experienced so much hardship, Guo Haiping helplessly cried. Xiao Bei contacted his lawyer friend for help, but the situation was not optimistic. During Su Chun's absence, Haiping was distracted, and it was only thanks to Mark's constant companionship that she could face everything strongly. After roughly understanding the situation, Mark found his good friend Song Siming. Song Siming, who was still full of love for Hai'ao and unable to let go, immediately found the best lawyer and the strongest connections to resolve this matter. Under his operation, Su Chun quickly escaped from the imminent danger of being imprisoned. Thanks to Song Siming's help, Su Chun, upon returning to his workplace, became the object of flattery and favoritism by his superiors. Su Chun despised such a job and decided to abandon everything that shouldn't belong to him. After this unexpected incident, Haiping truly realized the preciousness of deep marital affection and deeply felt her inner dependence on her husband. She stopped complaining about Su Chun and supported his decision to resign and independently start his own business.

After Xiao Bei discovered the messages Song Siming had sent to Hai'ao in the past, he suddenly erupted, leading to their complete breakup. The disoriented Hai'ao was once again moved by Song's tender affections. At this point, Hai'ao no longer felt guilty about betraying Xiao Bei. She moved into the apartment that Haiping used to live in and became Song Siming's mistress outright. Just as Song Siming was ready to fully embark on his grand career plan, his seemingly meticulous plan exposed flaws and ultimately failed. Knowing his days were numbered, Song Siming left Hai'ao a large sum of money, but what Hai'ao needed was no longer that. She truly fell in love with Song Siming and was also pregnant with his child. Song's wife forced Hai'ao to hand over the money Song left her, and in a fit of rage, kicked Hai'ao, causing her to lose the child she shared with Song Siming. Song Siming also died tragically in a car accident while rushing back to find Hai'ao. In an instant, Hai'ao lost everything and faced the cruel reality alone, her body and mind scarred. All the losses in the past could not be compensated, and Hai'ao regretted it immensely.

After the turmoil subsided, Haiping welcomed her daughter back to their new home and, with MARK's spiritual support and financial assistance, opened the "Haiping Chinese School." Haiping, who was now content, understood most clearly that all this was hard-earned. The two sisters living in Shanghai made different choices when facing life's twists and turns. Hai'ao let helpless appeals turn into dependence, eventually plunging herself into a passive and weak quagmire; Haiping seized opportunities without giving up, relying on her persistence and hard work to achieve success. In fact, life only needs a positive attitude. Pursue what you want, and life will not be far from it. What you can display externally is the prosperity others see. Only that piece is the weight under the prosperity. That is something outsiders cannot feel.