Cheng Ruyi calculated the time and it seemed that Liu'er's eldest nephew's wife's due date was in the next few days.
Sure enough, Yang Liuer sat up, took a plate of candied fruit, and said while eating, "Hmm, Little Ruru, you guessed right. Yang Feng's wife gave birth to a son the other day, so I've finally become a great-aunt!"
Yang Feng's wife, Xiao Hu, was a relative of his grandmother Hu's family. After learning that Xiao Hu was pregnant, the Hu family carefully selected several strong piglets and fed them well. When Xiao Hu was about to give birth, they went through many hardships, crossing mountains and valleys, to deliver the fat and healthy pigs to the county town. After all, this was the second child born from the marriage between the Yang and Hu families, which was very meaningful to both families.
"It must have been very difficult to transport these pigs here, and they just gave one to you like that. Our Liu'er truly deserves to be Uncle Yang and Aunt Hu's eternal treasure!" Cheng Ruyi teased her best friend and then snatched back the plate of candied fruit that only had two pieces left.
Normally, Yang Liuer would have retorted or teased her, but unexpectedly, this time she remained silent and quietly walked to her daughter's side to help her tidy up her messy clothes.
After a long silence, she finally let out a soft sigh, "Actually... when I was very, very young, I was often left alone at home to watch the house. My parents weren't exactly unloving, but they certainly didn't spoil me..."
"Huh? How come I've never heard you mention this before?" Cheng Ruyi put down the candied fruit in her hand and asked curiously, "What happened after that?"
Yang Liuer looked up at Cheng Ruyi, then suddenly looked around exaggeratedly, even putting her index finger to her lips to signal Cheng Ruyi to be quiet. After doing this, she winked mischievously and said in a light yet mysterious tone, "Shh! You have to keep this a secret for me, okay?"
Yang Zhong and his wife, Hu, had two sons and a daughter. Yang Liuer, the daughter sandwiched in the middle, had an older brother who was sensible and reliable and would inherit the pork shop in the future, and a younger brother who was smart and clever and whose parents had high hopes for his education. She had always been a nobody.
Fortunately, she was optimistic by nature and didn't care too much about these subtle differences. She just hoped that her parents could take her out for a stroll occasionally, because she preferred the bustling streets with lots of people to the high walls around the courtyard.
The turning point came when she was seven years old.
One day, Yang Zhong took his eleven-year-old son Yang Song to the butcher shop as usual, while Hu Shi took her five-year-old son Yang Bai to the private school for his introductory lessons. As always, only Yang Liuer was left at home to look after the house.
Young Yang Liuer is not only very sensible but also a little helper with housework. After cleaning the house in the morning, she suddenly had the urge to cook a pot of braised pork for lunch. However, just as the pork was cooked, someone knocked on the door.
The Yang family had lived here for decades, surrounded by familiar neighbors, and had never heard of any bad people. Naturally, little Yang Liuer opened the door without any suspicion.
Outside the door was a Taoist priest who looked rather disheveled. He said he smelled braised pork and asked if he could have some. Seeing how miserable he was, Xiao Yangliu gave him the whole pot of pork and even kindly gave him a large bowl of rice.
The Taoist priest seemed to have been starving for a long time, wolfing down all the food very quickly. After finishing, he laughed and said, "Little girl, I will repay you." Then he disappeared instantly.
Little Willow was very puzzled. Afterwards, she thought she had just had a strange dream, and she didn't take the matter to heart.
Unexpectedly, a few days later, the neighbors began to spread rumors that a Taoist priest had come to the alley entrance, claiming to be a "half-immortal" who was incredibly accurate in his fortune telling. He even predicted that their alley was very fortunate, as if it were blessed by a deity!
Upon hearing this, Madam Hu brought her daughter and son to join in the fun. When the "half-immortal" saw Yang Liuer, he was so amazed that he knelt and bowed, saying that she was a jade maiden descended from the side of Guanyin Bodhisattva, which startled the onlookers.
He then instructed Madam Hu to take good care of Yang Liuer, saying that she would surely be blessed in the future. Then he performed a feat of flying away in an instant, stunning everyone present.
After this incident, Yang Liuer became famous overnight, and her life was completely changed from then on.
"Actually, I recognized him afterward. The so-called 'half-immortal' was the down-on-his-luck Taoist priest who ate my braised pork. But I was young at the time and naively thought he was really a god. After this incident, not only did my parents treat me like a treasure, but my older brother, younger brother, and all the neighbors treated me very well. I felt like I was soaking in a honey pot and was very happy every day. Naturally, I didn't investigate further."
Yang Liuer picked up her sleepy little daughter and gently patted her to sleep, her expression becoming incredibly tender. "It wasn't until I grew up and got married that I slowly came to understand this matter. If I could meet that Taoist priest again, I would like to personally cook a big pot of braised pork to thank him in person!"
When Cheng Ruyi first heard the phrase "a down-on-his-luck fortune teller," she found it rather strange. But after hearing the whole story and recalling Master Lingjue's words, she was now 80% certain that the fortune teller Yang Liuer had met in her childhood was none other than the young Xuanzhen Daoist.
Therefore, if Yang Liuer hadn't met Xuanzhen Daoist, she would have remained confined at home, unable to go out freely, unable to unleash her true nature to fight for justice, and even less likely to have met the original owner of this body and become her close friend...
"Do you remember what that Taoist priest looked like?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Liuer tilted her head and thought for a long time before finally shaking her head, "I don't remember..."
It's not her fault; if you really think about it, it was over twenty years ago, and that Xuanzhen Daoist might have even been in disguise, so it's not very reliable.
"Actually, Uncle Yang and the others have always doted on you. The Taoist priest's words were just icing on the cake, so you don't need to take them too seriously." Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but comfort Yang Liuer, recalling the fleeting look of sadness on her face earlier. "Besides, the Taoist priest helped you because you are kind-hearted, and good deeds are rewarded. Moreover, the reason I became friends with you is because you are helpful, righteous, and courageous. You are sincere in your dealings with others, so naturally you deserve everyone's affection!"
“Little Ruru…” Yang Liuer’s eyes were filled with tears. She was deeply moved by her best friend’s words. Even the little knot in her heart was instantly untied. She became visibly clear-headed, and her depression seemed to be swept away.
Yang Liuer and her friends spent most of the day at the Cheng family's house, constantly pulling Cheng Ruyi along and insisting that she accompany them no matter what they did. Cheng Ruyi assumed that her best friend hadn't resolved her inner conflict, so she gladly went along with her.
If Sun Wenhui hadn't come to pick her up in person that evening, Yang Liuer probably would have wanted to stay here for a few more days.
After seeing her husband carry their daughter into the car, Yang Liuer held her best friend's hands and said with a relieved expression, "Seeing you so energetic and even comforting me, I guess you've let go of the past yourself. That puts my mind at ease."
"What?" Cheng Ruyi was completely confused by these words. Wasn't Yang Liuer looking for her to comfort her because she was unhappy? Why was she suddenly talking like this now?
Seeing that Cheng Ruyi seemed genuinely puzzled, Yang Liuer smiled even more broadly. As she jumped onto the mule cart, she turned back and waved, "It's alright, I'm going back now. Little Ruru, remember to come visit me often!"
Seeing this, Sun Wenhui couldn't help but carefully support his wife from the side. After confirming that she was safe, he smiled and said goodbye to Cheng Ruyi: "Liu'er is right. If you have time, you are welcome to come and visit anytime."
"Yes, I will. Take care on your journey."
After seeing them off, Cheng Ruyi looked at the already dark sky and sighed!
Sigh... Looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow to test our merit points.
But today wasn't entirely fruitless; at least she learned that Yang Liuer had encountered that Taoist priest when she was a child, which led to an "indirect connection"—truly a wondrous thing!
When Cheng Ruyi returned to the inner courtyard, she happened to run into Xu Cui, who was returning from the breeding farm.
"Liu'er is going home already? Why didn't you stay a few more days?"
"Brother Sun came over personally to apologize and make amends, and she's already gotten over all her anger. What's she still doing here? Sigh... I'm just a tool in their bickering and flirting." Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but tease, recalling what she had just witnessed.
However, Xu Cui became even more confused after hearing this: "Did they have another fight? I thought Liu'er came here specifically to comfort and console you~~"
"Consuade me? Why? What's wrong with me?" Cheng Ruyi was puzzled. Why were they all saying this?
Upon hearing this, Xu Cui stared at Cheng Ruyi strangely for a long while before speaking: "Tomorrow is A-Yun's death anniversary, you...you haven't forgotten, have you?"
Cheng Ruyi: "..."
She really forgot...
So that's how it is! That explains why Liu'er was acting strangely today. It turns out she was worried that Liu'er might be in a bad mood lately, so she came to keep her company!
At this moment, Cheng Ruyi finally remembered that Yang Liuer would indeed come to see her at this time of year every year to keep her company during her low spirits.
Because of the child abduction incident that happened around this time last year during the Lantern Festival, she had finally managed to resolve the matter, but then she was injured and bedridden for many days. Although Yang Liuer had visited her then, she hadn't mentioned Shen Yun, so she assumed that Yang Liuer had simply come to visit her while she was sick...
"Hehe, of course I haven't forgotten," Cheng Ruyi replied somewhat guiltily. "So, during the time I was injured last year, it was the anniversary of A-Yun's death..."
Xu Cui glanced at Cheng Ruyi with dissatisfaction, "Of course we held a private memorial service. Back then, you were so badly injured that no one dared to mention it in front of you, for fear of upsetting you and affecting your recovery."
"Hehe, thank you for your hard work. Don't worry, I've been through so many life-or-death situations in the past two years. I've long seen through these kinds of things. The dead are gone, and the most important thing for us is to cherish the people in front of us and live our lives well."
After hearing Cheng Ruyi's words, Xu Cui thought about it carefully. A lot had indeed happened in the past two years, so such a change was normal, and actually a good thing. "Yes, it's good that you think that way~~"
After walking a few steps, Cheng Ruyi suddenly remembered that if Yang Liuer hadn't dragged her to the bookstore to buy some newly published romance novels, they wouldn't have encountered Shen Yun, whose purse had been stolen, in front of the Sun family's bookstore, which would have changed the fate of the four of them.
Fate is truly wondrous!
Huh? Something seemed to have flashed by just now, and she felt like she'd overlooked something. She tried hard to recall, but unfortunately, she still couldn't find a clue...
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