Chapter 01 Chapter 1
"Look at her. Her face is pale and she looks like a little vixen. She's too old to be brought home."
"The younger one is better. He's darker, stronger, and more capable of working. After a few years of raising him and developing feelings for him, the child will be filial to him."
"The grace of raising a child is far greater than the grace of giving birth to one. A child is young and can't remember much. Take her home and raise her well. A little girl is easy to coax and will always be kind to her mother."
He Tingting woke up in a daze and heard someone whispering nearby.
She was terrified when she thought about it, and for a moment she thought she had fallen into the hands of human traffickers, so she didn't dare to open her eyes.
The other woman's voice was calm and she seemed to be the buyer.
"Yeah, the smaller ones are easier to tame. The bigger ones are already adults, so they're not suitable."
After she finished speaking, He Tingting heard footsteps coming from near to far.
This was followed by the creaking sound of an old door opening and closing.
The person seems to have gone out.
She opened her eyes and looked around carefully.
Seeing that there was no one around, she carefully climbed up from the kang.
The furnishings in the room were very shabby, and the walls were bare. There was no other furniture except a table and a cabinet.
The furniture in this room is not as good as the one in the low-income household where He Tingting visited during her childhood.
Lying beside her was a little girl who looked only a few years old. She was sleeping soundly and seemed unaware of the two people just now.
He Tingting felt a little dizzy and nervous, but her mind calmed down instead.
The memory of dying suddenly last night while staying up late editing a video came to mind.
She should be lying in the crematorium now. How could she suddenly appear in such a backward village?
Could it be that she wore it?
He Tingting walked to the door slowly and listened quietly to the sounds outside the house.
The two women who were talking just now had not gone far when a man's voice was heard in the yard.
"Have you decided which one you like?"
The man's voice sounded somewhat attentive, as he was negotiating terms with the calmer woman with short hair.
"Once you've made your choice, just as we agreed, I'll go home with you and all debts between us will be written off."
The short-haired girl pondered for a moment.
"Okay, then we'll take that little girl. What's her name?"
The man smiled and replied, "Lili, He Lili."
"I have another question. They are sisters. If I take the younger one away, will the older one agree?"
The man waved his hand nonchalantly.
"Don't worry. After their parents died, the eldest girl cried all day long and broke her body. She might die of illness in two years."
Seeing that the woman was worried, he said again.
"Both of them have lost their parents. If it weren't for me, their second uncle, protecting them over the past six months, they would have been bullied countless times by bad guys. Once you take the little girl away, I'll find someone to marry the older girl off to. It just so happens that Tieguai Li in the village doesn't have a wife. Don't worry, the older girl will never find her way home."
The more He Tingting listened, the more frightened she became.
She was very familiar with the name He Lili. Wasn't this the female villain in the novel she read before going to bed last night?
Is she traveling through a book?
The book only says that He Lili was adopted, but now it sounds like He Lili was sold by this second uncle.
He Tingting's brain worked rapidly and she sorted out the situation.
She roughly arrived at the scene where Uncle He sold the child.
The upper left corner suddenly flashed a few times. He Tingting glanced at it and her mind became clearer.
【Mission 1: Stop He Guan's plan.】
It would be difficult for her to stop this deal by herself, so she couldn't do it by force and had to use her wits.
He Tingting recalled the original plot and gradually formed an idea in her mind.
After a few minutes, the people in the yard had reached an agreement.
He's second uncle wanted Liu Jing to take the little girl away today. He opened the door while diligently introducing He Lili's personality.
He Guan was startled as soon as the door opened.
He Tingting was sitting at the table, her nose bleeding, her eyes staring straight at the door.
He Guan was already feeling guilty about selling out the two sisters, and was startled by He Tingting. His guilt turned into anger, and he started cursing at her first.
"What are you doing now! It's not enough that your parents are dead, you're also playing tricks at home!"
He Tingting didn't even blink. She turned her head with a stiff neck, faced him, and spoke word by word.
"Second Uncle, my dad is here and wants you to be punished. Why don't you kneel down?"
The hairs on He Guan's back suddenly stood up.
When my eldest brother was alive, he was often punished by family rules for gambling.
Hearing these two words, he had a conditioned reflex and his knees went weak.
But on second thought, the eldest girl had seen this several times when she was a child, so maybe she was just using this incident to scare people on purpose.
The more He Guan thought about it, the more he doubted it. "There are no ghosts in this world!"
He was so angry that he rushed to He Tingting and wanted to attack her.
He Tingting's eyelids twitched, and she suddenly bent down to avoid it and coughed a few times.
She held a rag in her palm, covered her mouth with it and coughed, then threw it at He Guan's face.
He Guan had his face covered with a dirty rag, and the sour smell of rotting kitchen scraps made him even more furious.
"You damn girl, I'm going to beat you to death today!"
When He Tingting heard this, she was not as scared as before, and she did not hide at all. Instead, she untied the rope around her waist that served as a belt and stood up.
"He Guan, why don't you kneel down!"
This abnormal behavior really made He Guan pause, and then he became even more angry and embarrassed.
"How dare you play tricks!"
He Tingting spoke very quickly, her eyes rolled back, and she foamed at the mouth, scolding loudly like chanting.
"I regret it. When you were thirteen, you secretly went to the gambling den with your third uncle and asked me to keep it a secret from my parents. I agreed. I never thought that this decision would ruin your life and turn you into a beast. It's a misfortune for our family! A misfortune for our family!"
Being called a beast, He Guan's face flushed red, but he did not yell or fight like before. Instead, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Only his eldest brother knew that he secretly went gambling with his third uncle when he was thirteen.
This matter should have been taken to the grave by the eldest brother. How could a little girl like He Tingting know about it?
Could it be that there really is a ghost possessing him?
A chill came from behind, and He Guan was skeptical, but he didn't dare to act rashly.
"You silly girl, where did you hear this? If you dare to play tricks again, I will let the whole village know that you are a lunatic."
These days, rumors are enough to ruin a person.
He Tingting couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth downwards.
"I will tell your wife about the ugly things you did with Shufen in a dream tonight. Guanzi, don't think that I can't take care of you just because I'm dead. I can't hit you, but your wife is still here."
If the previous words only made He Guan half-believing and half-doubting, this sentence really scared He Guan.
Shufen, the woman who accompanied Liu Jing to choose a child today, is his mistress.
The two had been having an affair for some time and had never told anyone.
Who else could know this except ghosts!
"Big, big brother, is it really you? I didn't mean it. I'll leave right away. Tingting and Lili will be well taken care of at home. I won't send them away. I won't send them away."
The more He Guan thought about it, the more frightened he became. He no longer had the fierceness he had just now.
He ran away without caring about what he had promised Liu Jing.
Liu Jing stood at the door and watched almost the entire process.
"You spineless bastard, you're scared away."
She cursed softly, feeling uncertain.
She didn't even know that Shufen was having an affair with He Guan.
Now this child can actually tell it in one sentence. Was it an accidental discovery, or was he really possessed by a ghost?
Liu Jing was calmer than He Guan and was not scared away directly.
She glanced at Shufen, who was also frightened and kept saying, "Weird," and avoided her eyes guiltily.
"This family is too weird. Let's talk about the child another day. I'll call you after the situation here is handled."
Liu Jing nodded. After knowing that the two had an affair, she no longer felt as close to Shufen as before.
"Okay, then let's ask the master to take a look first. If there really is a ghost, it will be considered that we did a good deed and saved the child."
Liu Jing spoke in a high-sounding manner, but her eyes kept drifting towards He Lili.
If there is no ghost, she must take the little girl from the He family away!
Before leaving, Liu Jing caught a glimpse of the rag that He Guan threw away.
The red bloodstains on it have dried, and two large crooked words can be seen.
"Upper body."
Liu Jing read it out softly, feeling a chill down her spine.
If she really couldn't give birth to her own child, she would never want a child from such a weird family.
She frowned, followed Shufen, and quickly left the He family courtyard.
He Tingting stopped her crazy acting only after everyone had left.
She wiped the toothpaste bubbles from the corners of her mouth, and also wiped the pig blood under her nose, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
I have managed to get through this stage for now.
The room suddenly became quiet, and the almost inaudible sobbing sound reached He Tingting's ears.
She was stunned for a moment and turned her head.
The little girl on the kang was still lying there, and if you looked closely you could see that her shoulders were trembling slightly.
The child is crying.
Realizing this, He Tingting felt a little overwhelmed.
Before she traveled through time, she was an only child and had no experience getting along with siblings or coaxing a child.
Faced with this situation, He Tingting really had no idea what to do for a while.
She sat on the edge of the kang and touched the little girl's head.
He Lili, who was trying to hold back her tears, suddenly broke down and threw herself into her arms, crying loudly.
"Why, why is Second Uncle so mean!"
It seems she heard what just happened.
He Tingting patted her back gently and said, "Don't be afraid, you won't be sold. I'm here for you."
He Lili cried even louder.
He Tingting wiped her tears and waited for her voice to gradually become lower before speaking.
"I'll go cook a bowl of noodles. After we eat, we two sisters will start living a good life from today."
He Lili hummed softly, seeming to be still emotional.
He Tingting gave her a quiet space and went to the kitchen separated by a wall to prepare food.
She was a food blogger in her previous life, and the things she was most familiar with were the various ingredients and utensils in the kitchen.
Returning to the familiar area, He Tingting's tense mind relaxed a little.
The He family didn't have much money, and she only found half a bag of noodles in the kitchen. She shook it in her hand and found it weighed about two pounds.
He Tingting scooped out about half a pound of noodles, added a little salt, and kneaded the noodles with cold water.
Wait for the dough to be kneaded and let it rest in a bowl.
He Tingting took a deep breath and looked at the upper left corner that she had been ignoring.
A virtual blind box machine is quietly standing there.
There is a small backpack under the blind box machine, which can temporarily store the items she draws.
I opened the backpack and found half a bowl of leftover pig blood inside.
This is what He Tingting used to treat her nosebleed just now.
In addition, there is a piece of premium pork belly and several disposable seasoning packets.
These were all taken out of the beginner's gift pack when she eavesdropped on the conversation behind the door.
He Tingting accepted the fact that she had a golden finger when she traveled through the book.
But the blind box machine seems to be full of food.
If they want their second uncle to stop causing trouble for them, they need to find another way.
He Tingting was pondering, but her work was done neatly.
The dough was very obedient in her hands. After rolling it a few times with the rolling pin, it became a large sheet of dough.
Sprinkle dry flour on the dough, fold it and cut it into small strips. This is the simplest way to make hand-rolled noodles at home.
She took out the pork belly and cut it into a few thin slices, then took some wilted cabbage from the cool corner of the kitchen.
Cut the cabbage in half, take half, and cut the cabbage stems and leaves into shreds.
There was not much oil at home, so He Tingting only used a little bit of oil to lubricate the pan, then put the pork belly in and forced the oil out of the fat.
Wait until the meat turns brown and shrinks a bit, then add the chopped scallions and fry until fragrant.
One spoonful of soy sauce, one spoonful of vinegar, and half a spoonful of salt.
This is the classic recipe for Yangchun noodles.
He Tingting added meat to give the dish a meaty aroma, and added an extra spoonful of Sichuan pepper powder.
After the aroma is fried out, add a ladle of water.
When the water boils, add noodles and cabbage stalks.
Fresh hand-rolled noodles cook quickly. After waiting for three or four minutes, He Tingting threw the cabbage leaves in, covered it and simmered it for dozens of seconds.
The noodles cooked in this way will have a very strong vegetable aroma.
He Lili could smell the fragrance as soon as the noodles were put into the pot.
She wiped her tears, poked her head out of the room and looked towards the kitchen.
"Sister, what did you do? It smells so good."
In fact, He Lili did not spend much time with her sister. He Tingting spent most of her time going to school in the city with her working father.
She stayed in the village to live with her mother.
The two sisters only get together during festivals.
It was only after her parents died that she really started living with her sister.
He Tingting fell ill again, and He Lili was responsible for cooking during this period.
This is the first time I have actually tasted He Tingting’s food.
He Lili sat down with great anticipation, staring at the big iron pot.
Her wide-eyed look made He Tingting laugh. "Don't worry, it will be done soon."
When you lift the lid of the pot, the aroma of the food hits you.
"Wow!"
He Lili couldn't help but exclaimed and took the bowl handed to her by He Tingting.
"It smells so good, sis."
Her stomach growled in response.
He Lili's mind suddenly went blank. She didn't bother to be polite to He Tingting and started eating without saying anything.
The noodles smell delicious and taste even better.
The cabbage stems are cooked until they are soft, and they have a unique sweet taste when eaten.
The cabbage leaves have a fresh fragrance and are soft but not mushy.
The meaty and oily aroma brought by the pork makes the soup base of the whole bowl of noodles thicker.
After just one bite, He Lili's eyes lit up.
Her mouth was busy, so she reached out and gave He Tingting a thumbs-up, "Sister, Haochi!"
She was young and didn't have any fancy words, so she just took a bite and praised it, "It's so delicious!"
"Be careful not to choke."
He Tingting smiled and picked a bowl of noodles for herself.
But she was not very focused on eating, and was even thinking about countermeasures while eating.
*
The He family made quite a noise, and the cursing even alarmed the neighbors next door.
Aunt Jia was worried after thinking about it, so she went to the village chief's house and asked him to take care of it.
"The He family at the east entrance of the village is making a fuss again. I heard their second son was swearing harshly. I'm afraid something might happen. How about you, Village Chief, go over there and take a look?"
The He family and the Jia family are old neighbors.
Those two little girls were raised by Aunt Jia.
Since their parents have passed away, she usually thinks about taking better care of them.
However, the second gambler of the He family was really difficult to deal with. Aunt Jia was alone at home and didn't dare to get involved easily. She could only come to the village chief's house to ask for help.
"Why are you making trouble again!"
Village Chief Jia tapped off a few cigarette ashes in annoyance and stood up.
"Let's go to the He family. There's a law recently that protects women and children. He Laoer better not cause me any trouble!"
Jiajia Village has a special geographical location, right next to the city.
The village chief has extensive connections and has heard that if the city plans to build a road in the next two years, it is very likely that the road will pass through their village.
If you think about it further ahead, it is not impossible that the house will be demolished in two years.
At such a critical moment, we must not let the city leaders down.
Thinking of this, the village chief walked quickly.
When they arrived at the He family's door, they did not hear any shouting or cursing, but instead smelled the fragrance of rice.
"Someone's cooking, it smells delicious."
The village chief muttered something and smacked his lips, his appetite suddenly aroused.
He has been busy this morning and hasn't eaten yet.
It was common knowledge that the He family was poor, and for a moment the two of them did not associate the smell of rice with the He family.
When he entered the door, Village Chief Jia was stunned to see the two sisters of the He family sitting on small stools with their bowls in hand and eating.
"Who is it?"
This attitude doesn't sound like someone who has just been bullied.
The village chief raised his eyebrows slightly.
He didn't think Aunt Jia would tell lies, and he also knew the character of the second son of the He family.
How could the He family still be so peaceful after that person came?
Aunt Jia didn't think too much about it. Seeing that the two girls were fine, she finally felt relieved.
"It's me. I brought the village chief to your house. He Er was so loud just now that I thought something had happened."
He Tingting was very impressed by this neighbor and instantly became much more enthusiastic.
"Thank you, Auntie and the village chief. My second uncle has taken his people away. Everything is fine now."
She walked out the door and quickly glanced at the village chief.
"Come in and sit down, have you eaten yet?"
The aroma of the He family's rice was so strong that Aunt Jia wanted to refuse it, but when she saw the noodles in the pot, her mouth started watering.
"That's not good. You two little kids are going to have a hard time."
"It's okay, Auntie," He Tingting interrupted, "I just made too much. It's hot, and the noodles don't keep well. If you hadn't come, I don't know what I would have done."
This was certainly a polite remark, but the village chief and Aunt Jia felt very comfortable hearing it and sat down as He Tingting said.
There wasn't much noodles left in the pot, so He Tingting served each of them a small bowl.
He Tingting had already picked out the meat for her younger sister to eat.
There is no meat in the bowl of noodles, but when you put it in your mouth, you can taste the rich aroma of animal oil.
Even people like Aunt Jia, who has been cooking for half her life, couldn't help but squint their eyes in admiration after taking a bite.
"Girl, your craftsmanship is pretty good!"
The village chief ate the whole bowl without saying a word.
After finishing the meal, he tasted it and breathed a sigh of relief, "It's really delicious, much better than those stalls in front of my son's school."
He Tingting's eyes lit up when she heard this.
The stall in front of the school sounds like a path she can take now.
"Village chief, do you think I can set up a stall in front of the school?"
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