Wēn Wǎn was reborn into a world much better than the apocalypse.
However, people here weren't very friendly. They called her stupid, bullied her, and even forced the victim to apologize...
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The centenarian goes to the statue of the goddess every day without fail to gaze at it quietly.
Originally, this was a remote mountain, but decades ago a county magistrate and his advisor vigorously developed it, and it was transformed into a temple for worship, with a goddess statue in the very center.
If Fang Ruo and Chu Yun were present, they would recognize this as the place where Wen Wan underwent her tribulation. They had initially joked that some scumbag was making wild oaths about being struck by lightning, only to later discover it was their own sister undergoing her tribulation.
"Mom, this old man sits alone on that stone bench every day. He looks so pitiful. Doesn't he have any relatives?" A little girl asked her mother timidly from a distance.
"Yes, Mother, doesn't he have any relatives? He's so old, and he has nothing to do all day long. He has no family to keep him company. Is he just sitting there all alone waiting to die? What if he really dies?" Another boy, who looked younger but spoke without thinking, muttered quietly, but the woman next to him still heard him.
"Don't talk nonsense." The woman, referred to as the mother, sternly scolded the little boy: "He is a great hero of our Weiwei County. Now we can eat our fill, dress warmly, read and write, and even have snacks to eat. It's all thanks to Master Wen."
After stepping down as county magistrate, Wen Ze became a teacher.
"When you get a little older, your mother will send you to school, where the teacher will tell you about the deeds of Master Wen."
"Furthermore, Master Wen not only has countless students, but also a large family of children. He just wants to come here to enjoy some peace and quiet. It is said that this beautiful and unparalleled goddess statue was sculpted based on Master Wen's sister. Isn't Master Wen's sister very beautiful? It was Master Wen's sister who saved Weiwei County back then. She is also an extremely powerful cultivator. She is the person my mother admires the most."
Upon hearing this, the two children looked up and carefully examined the goddess statue, nodding in approval of its appearance.
After disciplining the children, the woman apologized to Master Wen with a look of remorse. Feeling that this was not enough, she turned back to scold the two children: "Didn't your mother tell you that you must be polite to your elders and not talk nonsense? So I'm punishing you to copy the book ten times tonight, and you're not allowed to eat any snacks."
"Oh? It's alright, it's alright. I'm already so old, what's wrong with the children saying a few words?" Wen Ze, who is now over a hundred years old, said to the woman slowly and deliberately. Worried that the woman would really punish the children, he slowly took out two candies from his pocket and beckoned to the two children with a kind face: "Come here, Grandpa will give you some candy."
"Grandpa, we're sorry." The two little boys apologized to the old man in unison, then sweetly thanked him after receiving the candy, saying, "Thank you, Grandpa."
Wen Ze was overjoyed: "What a good child."
When Wen Wan came down the mountain to Weiwei County again, she heard that there was a statue of a goddess on the mountain, so she came here specially. What she saw was this scene, and she burst into tears instantly.
Wen Ze seemed to sense something and looked up from afar. Even though they hadn't seen each other for a hundred years, he could still recognize her at a glance—it was her sister!
His trembling body was so excited that he wanted to get up and go forward to acknowledge her, but the next second Wen Wan quickly flashed in front of him and fed him a pill to calm him down.
"Sister... Sister." Tears welled up in her eyes, and the old woman's lips trembled as she called out to the young woman in front of her. Her originally cloudy eyes became even brighter.
After leaving the cultivation world, Wen Wan did not disguise herself; her face was exactly the same as the one on the goddess statue.
Seeing her frail and elderly brother, Wen Wan felt utterly ashamed of herself for arriving so late. She had thought all her family members were gone, but she never expected that her brother, Wen Ze, would still remember her and wait for her. With tears in her eyes, Wen Wan said, "I'm so sorry, so sorry for making you wait so long."
It turns out that even if some relatives spend only a short time together, the bond of kinship is unbreakable.
The woman who had been there saw this scene, and then saw the gentle appearance. Gazing at the statue of the goddess, her eyes also reddened: "Child, he is not waiting for time to pass and life to pass, but waiting for his loved ones to return."
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After their reunion, Wenze lived for a few more years. She could concoct a bunch of elixirs and medicines, which would easily prolong the life of an ordinary person. However, Wenze's younger brother felt that he had lived long enough in this life and was fortunate enough to see his sister again in the end. Now that he was old and had difficulty moving around, he hoped to be reincarnated soon so that he could meet his sister again in the next life.
After seeing off her last relative and leaving behind a divine consciousness to protect the Wen family, Wen Wan also departed.
It's Qixi Festival again, and the drizzle is like a woven tapestry, casting a hazy, smoky gray veil over the entire imperial city.
Although it was a rainy day, it was the Qixi Festival, and the streets were bustling with people at night.
Wen Wan, holding a plain oil-paper umbrella, strolled leisurely on the bluestone slabs of the imperial city street. The rain was slightly cool, carrying the fresh scent of earth and grass.
Wenwan walked along the secluded path, stopped on the stone bridge, reached out to feel the breath of nature, and couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for her to wait for that person.
Fang Ruo once said that they would meet on the special day of the Qixi Festival.
She severed ties with the past and decided to live in this world like an ordinary person. After seeing Wen Ze off, she came to the imperial city alone. This was her twentieth year in the imperial city.
She rarely goes out, so she doesn't have to worry about being recognized for her youthful appearance. Every few years, she changes her residence, and no one remembers her.
For her, decades passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the willows at the bridgehead, another plain paper umbrella slowly appeared. The servant holding the umbrella didn't care that his shoulders were wet. Most of the umbrella was tilted to the side so that his young master wouldn't get a single drop of rain.
The two slowly walked up the steps, but before they had taken two steps, the young man under the umbrella began to cough violently.
Seeing this, the servant firmly held the umbrella in one hand and skillfully patted his back with the other, saying with concern, "Young master, your health is already poor. You have to go out in this rainy weather. When you get back, your master and mistress will nag you. They are very worried about you."
After his cough subsided, the man addressed as "Young Master" paused, his breathing still a little unsteady: "It's alright, the festival is lively, I just came out for a stroll."
The servant couldn't disobey his master, so he tightened his cloak and helped him continue upstairs.
The world is full of all sorts of people, and Wenwan didn't take this little incident to heart. She was about to leave when she saw two people walking towards her.
A familiar face appeared under the umbrella. The long, dark hair made the face appear even paler than paper. The corners of the eyes were red from the violent coughing, and even the fingertips that were tightly holding the cloak were pale.
"Zheng—"
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Besides the joy of a long-awaited reunion, Wen Wan also felt heartache.
The once brilliant and promising young man is now bedridden and as fragile as a broken object.
She closed her eyes without making a sound, concealing the emotions within them, and when she opened them again, it was as if nothing had happened.
She didn't intend to acknowledge him; it would be too abrupt. He was a reincarnated being who had drunk the Meng Po soup and must have already forgotten her.
Fortunately, the person was found. After finding out his identity, we can find a reason to treat him. Her boy should not be tormented by illness.
Wen Wan pretended nothing had happened and started to walk away. However, just as she was about to pass under his umbrella—
A gust of wind blew by, and his suppressed coughing rang out again. He seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by the violent coughing. Seeing that he was about to brush past the woman in front of him, in his haste, he did something unbecoming of his status and tightly grabbed the woman's clothes.
The servant standing nearby stared wide-eyed.
Although his young master has been bedridden for many years, he has always adhered to etiquette and has never done anything so outrageous.
Chu Yun didn't know what was wrong with him. The moment he saw this woman, a voice seemed to tell him to grab her. A sudden, inexplicable throbbing gripped his heart, followed by a deep-seated sense of familiarity.
He was certain he had never seen her before, but why...?
"Miss, please wait... I'm sorry..." Suppressing her discomfort, Chu Yun released her improperly placed hand and quickly bowed in apology.
The moment he raised his hand, Wenwan's steps faltered, and her heart skipped a beat.
She slowly turned around and met those familiar eyes that were watery from coughing. He slightly raised his hand to stop the servant from patting his back. His pale face showed a strange and confused look in his eyes as he looked at Wen Wan.
"Have we... met somewhere before?"
Wen Wan smiled sweetly at him, bowed like a young lady from a prestigious family to indicate that she did not mind his abruptness, and did not answer his question.
Raindrops pattered on the umbrella, and the plain-colored skirt swept across the wet flagstones, creating tiny ripples that also touched his heart.
He turned back and saw that figure gradually disappearing into the dense rain curtain. That smile settled in his heart, and it seemed that something he had once lost in his heart had been found again.
The wind hasn't stopped, and the rain hasn't stopped.