Chapter 203 Where is Grandma Jiang? My grandma has passed away...

After saying goodbye to Grandma Jiang, Jiang Manzhi drove An Fusheng to the high-speed rail station and gave him a cloth bag before leaving.

An Fusheng: "What is this?"

Jiang Manzhi: "My grandma gave it to you."

"Why did Grandma give me a gift?" An Fusheng took the bag and prepared to open it.

Jiang Manzhi stopped him, "Sigh, your train has already started queuing to enter the station. Go back and check later. My grandma packs things with more layers than an onion. By the time you open it, the train will have already left."

“I can’t accept it if it’s something valuable,” An Fusheng said.

"No, no, my grandma doesn't have any valuables. Besides, she's notoriously stingy in our village. She's only become a little more senile in the last couple of years, but old habits die hard. She only ate the few meals you cooked for her. The value of the gift she gave you as a thank you couldn't possibly exceed the value of those meals. Hurry up, hurry up, everyone's gone. If you don't leave now, you'll have to come back with me. There's only one bus a day." Jiang Man knew.

"Alright."

The bag was so tangled and it didn't look like it could be opened anytime soon, so An Fusheng had no choice but to stuff it into his backpack. "Thank you for me, Grandma. I'm leaving now."

"Alright, have a safe trip."

...

An Fusheng had planned to dismantle the device after boarding the train, but as soon as he got on, he felt like he had taken sleeping pills. His eyelids were so heavy that he leaned against the window and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was almost at his destination. Perhaps he had caught a chill from sleeping on the train for too long, because his head was still foggy when he woke up. When he got off the train at the station, he walked a few steps with his heavy head, and his vision started to blur. An Fusheng could only slow down and try not to shake his head. However, he almost fell down several times on his way from the platform to the exit.

An Fusheng managed to get to the exit of the station, then took a taxi back to the welfare home. When he got home, he didn't even have the strength to wash his face, let alone take a shower. He struggled back to his room and fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

During his deep sleep, An Fusheng had a very long dream, from the time he could remember, to his mother leaving, to his grandmother taking him to see doctors everywhere, and then to his arrival in this world. The timeline of everything that happened during this time was clear, but the events within the timeline were very chaotic. For example, even though he had clearly arrived here, his grandmother took him to a sorceress to ask for divine intervention.

For example, when the old pear tree in front of their house was in full bloom, he and his older sister sat under the tree chatting. They talked about how Wen Xingrui, at six years old, was still wearing a Peter Pan collar smock. The smock had buttons at the back, and Wen Xingrui didn't know how to take it off. When he got hot, he would take off his pants. He often looked like he was in Harbin on top and Hawaii on the bottom. When Lou's mother saw this, she would beat him, saying that he didn't use his mouth and was being a hooligan at such a young age.

For example, on his coming-of-age ceremony, his mother tied the flower ribbon that his maternal grandmother had made for him when he was born around his neck. His father patted him on the shoulder and said, "From today onwards, my son is a man who stands tall and upright. In the future, you must have your own opinions when you encounter problems and have backbone when you face difficulties. Even if you go far away, don't lose the Miao spirit within you..."

In a daze, just as An Fusheng was about to be swallowed by his chaotic memories, a cool sensation came from his forehead, followed by a distant voice: "Why is your fever so high? Get him to the hospital quickly."

The images in the dream vanished quickly, and fear welled up in An Fusheng's heart. A fever? He couldn't have a fever; a fever would turn him into an idiot.

An Fusheng tried desperately to open his eyes, but he couldn't.

After an unknown amount of time, chaotic sounds entered his mind from afar. An Fusheng felt himself being carried on someone's back. Although he was limp and unable to move, he could feel that the back was broad, warm, and strong. Was it his father? Everyone said that only his father's back was broad.

“Father…why did you leave me and Mother? I’ve been a good boy…I’ve learned to cook…please don’t abandon me…you don’t want me…Mother doesn’t want me either…nobody wants me…I have no home anymore…”

An Fusheng rested his head on Shen Yuqiu's shoulder and murmured unconsciously.

Shen Yuqiu paused in her hurried steps, carefully and forcefully lifting the person, who was taller than herself, onto her back, and said, "Fuzai, are you feeling unwell? Bear with it, we'll go to the hospital soon and you won't feel unwell anymore."

An Fusheng slept in the hospital for two days before slowly waking up. When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but white. It took him a long time to realize that he was in the hospital.

The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten. Lou Lan was sleeping by the hospital bed. An Fusheng moved slightly, and Lou Lan immediately woke up. Before she could even speak, she had already placed her hand on An Fusheng's forehead. "Thank goodness, thank goodness, the fever has finally broken."

"Aunt Lou." An Fusheng used some effort to get his voice working again after not using it for so long.

"Why!"

After touching her forehead and checking her neck and hands to confirm that the fever had subsided, Lou Lan continued, "Are you dizzy? Is there anything else that feels uncomfortable?"

An Fusheng gently shook his head. "No."

Lou Lan breathed a sigh of relief. "You really scared me to death! How could you suddenly have a fever without telling your mother? Is it because you're not used to the water and soil outside? Or did you catch a cold because you didn't bring enough clothes?"

An Fusheng didn't know either. The only possibility was that he caught a cold while sleeping in the car, but it was almost summer now, and his constitution didn't seem that bad. An Fusheng shook his head: "I don't know either."

Lou Lan touched her face tenderly, "You've lost so much weight from illness, are you hungry? I'll go buy you breakfast, there should be some breakfast shops open by now."

An Fusheng shook his head, "I'm not hungry, I don't want to eat anything."

Since he didn't want to eat, Lou Lan poured him a glass of warm water.

After drinking a glass of warm water, An Fusheng finally returned from his chaotic world. For some reason, he felt incredibly nostalgic. An Fusheng leaned against the pillow, trying hard to recall, but those memories seemed to vanish with each breath he took after waking up.

Seeing that An Fusheng looked listless, Lou Lan said, "Why don't you go back to sleep? Yueyue will bring breakfast when it's light."

"Okay." An Fusheng lay down. "Aunt Lou, could Yueyue bring me something?"

"What is that?"

"The backpack I brought back contained a small dark blue linen bag in the inner pocket."

"OK."

...

Knowing that An Fusheng had woken up, the whole family rushed to the hospital to see him, gathering around his bedside and asking:

"Big brother, are you feeling better?"

"Brother, are you still feeling unwell?"

"Big brother, is it because the injection hurt too much that you're crying?"

"You're sick, and we're all very worried about you."

...

After the visit, everyone had breakfast together before slowly dispersing to get back to their own business.

Lou Lan insisted on staying to accompany An Fusheng, and An Fusheng had no choice but to go along with her. In fact, An Fusheng was now able to move freely and was in good spirits, and could have been discharged from the hospital and gone home. However, the doctor said it was best to have a check-up to confirm the problem so that he could be discharged tomorrow. Lou Lan took the doctor's words to heart and insisted that An Fusheng continue to stay in the hospital.

Wen Xingrui stayed behind with Lou's mother. While Lou's mother was teaching Wen Xingrui to count, An Fusheng went to the bathroom and opened the cloth bag that Grandma Jiang had given him. When the cloth bag was peeled back layer by layer and a familiar anklet appeared in his sight, An Fusheng was shocked. It was his anklet!

After his mother left, An Fusheng had a fever and his health deteriorated afterward. His grandmother took him to see all the doctors in the county and city, but they all said he wasn't sick. However, An Fusheng was listless and didn't like to eat, and his little body grew thinner and thinner every day. One day, his grandmother took him to see a fortune teller. The fortune teller said that An Fusheng had lost his soul and spirit, so she put a silver ring on his left ankle. Miraculously, after the silver ring was put on, An Fusheng really started to eat, and his health improved day by day.

His name, "Fusheng," was engraved on the silver ring, which also contained some totems. The fortune teller said that the totems were unique and bound to one's destiny, and that one should be careful not to damage them, otherwise it would affect one's fate.

An Fusheng carefully traced the familiar totem inside the silver ring, when he suddenly noticed that one of the small patterns was missing half. When did it become missing? Although he used to be a bit silly and didn't understand many things, he had always been very obedient. The fortune teller told him to protect the silver ring, so he had always been careful to protect it and never bumped or knocked it. How could the pattern be missing?

No, wait! An Fusheng fell before he time-traveled here!

Just before he transmigrated, while searching for mushrooms, he encountered his third grandmother's ewe giving birth to a lamb on a rock at the edge of a cliff. When An Fusheng crawled out from under the rock, the ewe had just licked the lamb clean. The lamb struggled to stand up, but lost its balance and veered off the cliff. Without thinking, An Fusheng reached out and caught it, but the soil beneath his feet collapsed, and he rolled down the cliff with the lamb in his arms. During the fall, An Fusheng clearly felt the silver ring on his ankle being bumped several times.

So, is it really because the totem in the silver ring was damaged, causing a change in his fate, that he came here? But how did he end up at Grandma Jiang's place?

When An Fusheng looked up and saw himself in the mirror, he was terrified. The person in the mirror was...himself? An Fusheng touched his left earlobe. There was a slight protrusion in the smooth flesh. That was the ear piercing that his grandmother had personally pierced for him on the Lantern Festival when he was twelve years old.

Why? Why me?

On his first day after transmigrating, he saw a completely different person at Grandma Ao's house.

For the past few years, An Fusheng has avoided looking at his 'self' in the mirror. When did it become his own? Didn't Lou's mother and the others notice?

An Fusheng carefully observed himself in the mirror, repeatedly comparing him with the unfamiliar face in his memory. It seemed very similar, yet it also seemed completely different. Didn't Lou's mother and the others really notice?

An Fusheng remained in a daze in the bathroom for a long time until Lou Lan, seeing that he hadn't come out for a while, feared something had happened to him and knocked on the door from the outside. Only then did An Fusheng open the bathroom door.

"Are you alright? Why did you stay in the bathroom for so long?" Lou Lan asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Aunt Lou." An Fusheng shook his head, quickly walked to the bedside, picked up his phone, and dialed Jiang Manzhi's number.

After several attempts, the call was finally answered. Before Jiang Manzhi could speak, An Fusheng asked anxiously, "Where is Grandma Jiang?"

Jiang Manzhi was silent for a moment, then said, "My grandmother has passed away..."

"Dead?" An Fusheng asked in disbelief.

Jiang Manzhi: "Yes, she passed away yesterday. She passed away peacefully in her sleep."

"Gone? How could she suddenly leave? She was perfectly fine before I left," An Fusheng said.

Jiang Manzhi: "Actually, after Grandma's mental state deteriorated, we all thought she didn't have much time left. We didn't expect her to last for three more years. During those three years, she was just mentally unstable and confused. She didn't experience any physical pain. Now that she's gone in this way, it can be considered a peaceful death."

An Fusheng remained silent for a long time. In the background, there was a mixture of voices and the sound of gongs and drums. After a long time, An Fusheng asked, "Did Grandma Jiang leave any words before she left?"

Jiang Manzhi: "No, she must have passed away in her sleep. After you left, she would grumble for a while every time we ate, saying that our cooking was not good and she couldn't eat it, saying that your cooking was very good and that we were not as good as you. The night before she passed away, she grumbled similar things at dinner, but despite her grumbling, she still ate a bowl of rice. After dinner, my father soaked her feet and then sent her to bed. When my father came back from his busy work that night, he went to see her. She was fine at that time. The next morning, my mother went to her room to wake her up for breakfast and found that she had already passed away."

"I understand," An Fusheng said. "Please accept my condolences."

...