Chapter 5

"My name is Xiang Wan."

Who wants to know what your name is, you city person?

But Chen Yan has always been a quiet person; he prefers to speak his mind rather than say it aloud.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Xiang Wan turned to him and asked, "Kid, do you know anyone from Li Family Village?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan glanced at her, his eyes unreadable: "I am from Lijia Village."

"You're from Lijia Village?" This time, she was the one who was surprised.

"What's wrong?"

"……nothing."

Xiang Wan insisted on going to Chen Yan's house, not because she really wanted her to pay for the snow boots, but simply to resolve a question in her mind.

In her previous life, she mistakenly believed that this little devil was offering help in her time of need because of her pair of cotton shoes, and decided to sponsor her.

However, after she took Xiang Wan to Lijia Village, she disappeared.

Before leaving, she forgot to ask her name, only knowing that she was from Lijia Village.

Xiang Wan came to the village again later. The village chief gathered all the children in Lijia Village, but they couldn't find her anywhere.

She came several more times, but still couldn't find her.

As a result, Zhou Chengze's mother, the crown prince, found her and insisted that the person who lent her the cotton shoes that day was her daughter Zhou Xinyi, who was Xiang Wan's sister-in-law in her previous life.

When Xiang Wan saw Zhou Xinyi, she immediately thought that Zhou's mother was talking nonsense, as this was clearly not the same person.

But Zhou's mother also brought the same pair of cotton shoes with her; they were the same shoes from that day.

Since she couldn't find the girl she remembered, Xiang Wan really thought that she had been frightened that day and therefore remembered it wrong.

She proposed to take Zhou Xinyi to study in Beiyi City, but Zhou's mother refused because her daughter was too young. She hoped that Xiang Wan could take her son, Zhou Chengze, away instead.

Xiang Wan agreed, and after taking Zhou Chengze away, she worried that she might have forgotten the girl who had actually given her the cotton shoes, so she simply sponsored all the children in Lijia Village.

Upon meeting Chen Yan in this life, she knew she hadn't misremembered; it was Zhou Chengze, the crown prince's mother, who was lying.

But what she didn't understand was why she hadn't shown up even after searching for so long.

Xiang Wan initially thought that perhaps she wasn't from Lijia Village, but now she can confirm that she is.

Then why did she never see her again in her previous life?

Moreover, many years after her previous life, she received news about the children in Lijia Village, and even learned that a big shot had emerged from there, a rising business tycoon second only to the Xiang family.

Even Xiang's father took notice of him and asked Xiang Wan about his situation. However, because their fields of expertise did not overlap, she did not pay much attention to the nouveau riche, but the nouveau riche seemed to look somewhat familiar.

"..."

Xiang Wan pondered for a while, then looked back at Chen Yan, and seeing the pink cotton-padded jacket she was wearing, she felt like she had really been kicked in the head by a donkey.

Such a cute little girl, she almost associated her with a man, even though the up-and-coming business tycoon was indeed very handsome.

Lijia Village is located in a very remote area, and the mountain road is extremely rugged. Chen Yan walks this road every day, so it is no problem for him. However, for Xiang Wan, who doesn't get much exercise, her heels are already a bit blistered.

"Kid, how much longer until we get to your house?"

Chen Yan glanced at her indifferently: "We're almost at the village."

After walking for so long, they were only almost at the village. Xiang Wan complained inwardly, feeling that the plot holes in this world were too obvious. In such a bustling city, there was such an impoverished little mountain village; it was practically a modern-day version of The Peach Blossom Spring.

They walked for about fifteen more minutes, and finally they were almost there. Xiang Wan saw the smoke rising from the chimneys in the sky, and knew they were really close.

With over a hundred people, it's quite a large village. Yet, Lijia Village doesn't even have a proper signpost. There's just a big rock with the three characters "Lijia Village" written on it, and the characters are crooked and messy.

In her previous life, Xiang Wan thought it was outrageous, and seeing it with her own eyes again, she still found it incredibly unbelievable.

Although Xiang Wan was raised in a wealthy family, she was not a spoiled person. She had taken equestrian and archery lessons and had also worked her way up in the fields.

But after walking for so long, her knees were scraped up from the fall, and she slowed down considerably. Looking at Chen Yan walking fast ahead, Xiang Wan couldn't help but say, "Kid, slow down."

"..."

Although Chen Yan was a little disgusted by the city girl's spoiled nature, he stopped to wait for her after hearing her words. When he saw her scraped knee, he felt a little guilty and glanced at the green-haired man beside him without making a sound.

The accusation in his eyes was clear: 'Look what you've done.'

Perhaps sensing its little master's gaze, the wicked, fat goose tried to defend itself: "Quack—quack—quack—quack!"

'Shut up. '

'……'

*

The two had just entered the village when they were spotted by the farm women washing clothes by the river.

Although washing machines have become common throughout the country, the villagers of Lijia Village still retain the tradition of washing clothes by hand. Even in the cold winter, as long as the river water is not frozen, they will gather in twos and threes to wash clothes by the river.

Several aunts and uncles wearing bright red cotton-padded jackets stopped washing their clothes in the basin when they saw them, and stared at them with undisguised eyes.

Chen Yan was most familiar with that kind of look; it was the look of older aunts and uncles when they were gossiping, and they would occasionally crack a few dirty jokes. As soon as he blushed and walked away, they would burst into laughter as if they had won a battle.

He hated hearing such nonsense, so he simply turned his head away and pretended not to see it. Then, thinking of something, he glanced at Xiang Wan beside him, only to find that the young lady from the city didn't avoid their gazes at all, but instead stared straight back at them.

Even her back was straight; from the first moment he saw her, she had always stood ramrod straight, as if nothing in the world could make her bend over.

Chen Yan was somewhat surprised by her composure, as if she wasn't the one who had been so frightened by the green hair in the woods that she had fallen into cow dung.

He stood next to her and straightened his back, just like her, without even realizing his own change.

Across the river, several children were playing soccer. When they saw the two of them, they stopped playing and gathered together to talk about her.

"Who is that woman next to Chen Yan?"

"She looks like a fairy from the city, even prettier than Zhou Xinyi and Xiaohua from our village."

"She looks like a rich young lady from TV, so elegant."

…

They were speaking in their local dialect, which Xiang Wan couldn't understand, but Chen Yan, who was standing next to her, could hear clearly.

He glanced at Xiang Wan, who was a head taller than him, and the scene of his first meeting with her on the mountain involuntarily came to mind.

Despite it being the dead of winter, she was only wearing a dress. Although Chen Yan didn't know what material it was made of, he could tell it was quite expensive.

Wearing white tights and a warm orange skirt, she looked as beautiful as a butterfly in the gray mountains, much like Chen Yan was astonished when he first saw a color television.

It was as if he had seen a movie star step out of a color television. He was so captivated by her beauty the moment he saw her that he only belatedly tried to stop Green Hair when he approached her.

Chen Yan had met many people from the city, but none of them were as glamorous as Xiang Wan, like a fairy. It seemed that, just as the children said, she was a noble young lady from the city, from a completely different world than them.

Thinking of something, Chen Yan looked down at the cotton shoes on his feet and sighed, realizing that there were such warm cotton shoes in the world.

He noticed when she threw the shoes away. When he saw that she didn't want them anymore, his first thought was whether he could pick them up and take them back. His mother-in-law wasn't in good health, and if she wore them, she wouldn't have to worry about them in the coming winters.

Chen Yan was still in a daze when he heard faint laughter coming from not far away. He looked up and saw that it was Li Yaozu and the boys from the village.

Li Yaozu hated him the most, and he would surely be ridiculed again. Although Chen Yan also disliked them, he was very tolerant and dared not show it on his face.

Who made Li Yaozu the village chief's son?

Although Chen Yan had never attended school, he knew in his heart that he was just an orphan raised by his grandmother and could not even be considered a proper resident of Lijia Village.

If he and his mother-in-law wanted to live a less stressful life, he had better hold back, even though he really hated people like Li Yaozu.

Therefore, every time Li Yaozu led the way in mocking him, Chen Yan would pretend not to hear it, even though the fire in his heart was burning.

The things they said to mock him were nothing special.

This time, it was exactly as he expected.

"Hey, you little girl over there, wait a minute."

"Whose little girl is this?"

"You don't know her?"

"The doll that the old lady who collects scraps at the end of the village picked up."

…

Whether it was to deliberately attract the attention of the girl next to Chen Yan or not, their mocking voices were louder than usual, making Chen Yan feel like he was being pricked by thorns.

He didn't understand why, even though he always took the initiative to avoid them, they would never let him go.

Is it because he is thin and small, and prettier than the girls in the village?

Chen Yan knew he was good-looking, and the aunties in the village would often praise him, saying he was handsome. But every time he heard such praise, although he didn't show it on his face, he would sneer in his heart.

If he could, he wouldn't want such a flashy face at all.

The laughter of Li Yaozu and his friends grew louder not far away, but Chen Yan kept his head down and didn't look at anyone, lost in thought.

He remained silent, while Xiang Wan, standing beside him, gazed thoughtfully in the direction of the group of little kids.

Although they were speaking a local dialect, she still managed to catch the word "girl".

She glanced down at Chen Yan, who remained silent, and then at the few little boys playing with balls and laughing. She assumed they were bullying Chen Yan because of their numbers.

She frowned, a protective instinct she had never felt before stirring within her. Xiang Wan propped herself up on her knees and looked directly at the 'little girl' in front of her.

"Little sister, did they bully you?"

"..."

Chen Yan looked up at her without speaking. Seeing his silence, Xiang Wan repeated, "Little sister, are they bullying you?"

'Aren't you bullying me too?' But Chen Yan only answered her in his heart. He clenched and unclenched his small fists, but in the end, he didn't say a word and hurried forward.

When he passed by Li Yaozu and his group, he didn't even glance at them. His mother-in-law had said that only naughty children would mock him for being thin and weak, making him look like a girl.

The thought of his mother-in-law waiting for him at home eased Chen Yan's mood considerably.

Seeing that Chen Yan was unwilling to talk, Xiang Wan assumed that it was just a shy girl going through puberty, so she didn't press him further and followed behind, preparing to go to the little devil's house to find out what was going on.

They were walking along the riverbank when they noticed several peasant women arguing fiercely across the river. They were pulling each other's hair and refusing to let go, spitting everywhere.

Xiang Wan was never particularly interested in such lively scenes, but one sentence from their tantrum instantly caught her attention.

"...You damn old hag, explain yourself! Who did you say was Yaozu's father's first love? My child's father dated Li Taohua?"

...

Plum blossoms?

Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow, thinking she had misheard. She happened to recognize the name they were talking about, and was even somewhat familiar with it.

Li Taohua—her future mother-in-law in her previous life, who was also Zhou Chengze's crown prince mother.