Chapter 9 Was she reborn?
Today's four dishes and one soup, with the addition of scallions, ginger, and garlic for flavor, tasted even better than yesterday's.
Grandpa and Grandma Sheng lacked the vocabulary to describe how delicious the dishes were; they could only keep saying how good they were and urging their granddaughter and grandson-in-law to eat more.
The four dishes and soup, along with a full bowl of mixed grain rice, were all eaten up by the four of them. Even the leftover soup at the bottom of the plate was eaten by Grandpa Sheng with the half-eaten cornbread from breakfast.
It was a rare treat to eat so much meat and vegetables. Grandpa Sheng patted his full belly and sighed contentedly:
"It's wonderful to live like this, eating meat to your heart's content!"
Sheng An felt a pang of sadness; just a meal of meat was enough to make the old man so satisfied.
"Grandpa, please take good care of yourself. I'll buy meat for you and Grandma every day."
Sheng An solemnly assured his grandfather that he would prepare all the necessary equipment tomorrow and set up a stall to sell wontons on the street the day after tomorrow.
"Haha, An'an's filial piety is enough. Grandpa and Grandma are old and don't need to eat meat every day."
Grandpa Sheng thought his granddaughter was trying to cheer him up, so he glanced at his grandson-in-law subconsciously. He was relieved to see that he didn't look unhappy.
An'an is a filial child, but she's not very sensible. How could she complain to her grandson-in-law about buying meat for the two old folks every day?
The family of four chatted casually, and the atmosphere in the house was wonderful.
Just then, a cheerful voice came from outside the courtyard: "An'an, are you home?"
Upon hearing it, Sheng An immediately recognized the owner of the voice—
Zhang Zhaodi, the original owner's childhood friend, is the original owner's best friend.
Despite her name being Zhao Di, she is the darling of the Zhang family.
This is because before Zhang Zhaodi was born, there were five or six girls in her generation, but after she was born, there were five or six boys in her generation.
The Zhang family believed that she had brought a male heir to the family, ensuring the continuation of the family line, and that she was a lucky star for the family, so they doted on her exceptionally.
"It's Zhao Di! Come in, come in quickly, there are no outsiders in the house."
Grandma Sheng called out to Zhang Zhaodi in a loud voice, gesturing for her to come in and play.
Sheng An got up to greet her, and just as he reached the entrance of the main room, he saw a tall, handsome young woman in gray enter the courtyard.
Upon seeing her friend whom she hadn't seen for two days, Zhang Zhaodi rushed over, grabbed Sheng An's shoulder, and pulled her tightly toward herself.
"You heartless bastard, if I don't come to your house to see you, you won't come to visit me, will you?"
The two had a height and build difference, and Sheng An was being held by Zhang Zhaodi, looking like a little bird clinging to her.
Sheng An was momentarily overwhelmed by the other person's enthusiasm, and her body stiffened slightly.
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's not that I didn't want to come to you, it's that you couldn't wait to come to me first."
Zhang Zhaodi pretended to be angry and pinched Sheng An's face: "You've become quite capable, you've even learned to play tricks on me."
Sheng An hissed and slapped away her clamp-like hand: "It hurts so much."
Did this woman grow up eating weights? Her grip is so strong!
Zhang Zhaodi awkwardly withdrew her hand: "I've been like this since I was a child, you know that."
The two walked into the main room laughing and joking. When Zhang Zhaodi saw Xu Jinnian, she greeted him very familiarly: "Xu Tongsheng".
Xu Jinnian stood up, nodded slightly to Zhang Zhaodi, and pulled over a chair to place next to Grandma Sheng.
Seeing that her friend's scholar husband was so perceptive and didn't act superior, Zhang Zhaodi was genuinely happy for her friend and sat down without any hesitation.
Zhang Zhaodi always had so much to say to Sheng An. She glanced at the others, then leaned close to Sheng An's ear and whispered, "Did you beat Liu Huazhi this morning?"
Sheng An nodded: "He slapped me and kicked me."
Zhang Zhaodi clapped her hands excitedly: "Well done!"
His voice was so loud that the other three people all looked over, with Grandpa Sheng and Grandma Sheng looking at him questioningly.
Zhang Zhaodi coughed lightly, then pulled Sheng An and ran towards her room: "Grandpa Sheng, Grandma Sheng, I have something to say to An'an. I'll come back to talk to you two later."
Grandma Sheng waved her hand with a smile: "Go on, go on, don't mind us two old folks."
Arriving at the room where Sheng An lived before her marriage, the two sat down by the bed. Zhang Zhaodi cupped Sheng An's small face in her hands, her eyes sparkling as if she were looking at a rare treasure:
“Our little An’an has finally grown up and found a way to deal with scoundrels. I won’t have to worry about you getting taken advantage of every day anymore.”
Sheng An humbly replied, "It was just basic stuff. I feel like I didn't perform well enough. I hit that guy surnamed Liu too lightly."
Zhang Zhaodi ignored the unfamiliar term "basic operations," focusing all her attention on the last sentence:
"It was definitely too light. Only half of my face is swollen, and it's not symmetrical at all. It looks really awkward."
Sheng An: "..."
Is this obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Not bad, not bad. I can tell from their eyes that they are genuine people.
Zhang Zhaodi, this so-called friend—no, this close friend—Sheng An is determined to befriend.
The two of them huddled together, passionately complaining about Liu Huazhi, and discussing how to teach her a lesson the next time she was being sarcastic.
The discussion yielded no results, and Sheng An, thinking that Liu Huazhi might be acting strangely, nudged his friend with his elbow: "Has Liu Huazhi been behaving strangely these past few days?"
Zhang Zhaodi nodded vigorously: "There really is!"
Sheng An's spirits lifted: "Tell me about it."
Zhang Zhaodi: "Yesterday, a woman came to the Liu family and said that Liu Huazhi had tricked her son out of her ancestral silver bracelet. She demanded that Liu Huazhi return it to her. Liu Huazhi denied it, and the two got into a fight."
During the fight, Liu Huazhi was no match for the woman. She was pushed to the ground and hit her head, immediately losing consciousness.
"After Liu Huazhi woke up, she cried and screamed in the yard, saying that God had opened his eyes and given her a chance to start over. The villagers all said she was possessed by an evil spirit..."
At this point, Zhang Zhaodi scratched her head: "Her mother was about to find a shaman, but then she suddenly got better. It's really strange."
After listening, Sheng An closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
Based on Zhi's strange behavior yesterday and her performance this morning, she is most likely reborn.
If you can time travel yourself, it's not impossible for another person to be reborn.
With a brain the size of a walnut kernel, even if Liu Huazhi were reborn, it would be unlikely that she would cause any great trouble.
What Sheng An cared about were the things Liu Huazhi had said that morning—
She was divorced and became a discarded woman.
One child and two lives lost, both met with a terrible end.
Seeing that Sheng An looked unwell, Zhang Zhaodi asked worriedly, "Are you alright? Were you frightened?"
Sheng An shook his head and made up a casual excuse: "I ate too much at noon, and my stomach is a little upset."
Zhang Zhaodi believed her and covered her mouth with a grin: "Then you have to hold it in and don't throw up, otherwise it'll be such a waste."
As he spoke, he gently massaged Sheng An's lower abdomen with his other hand to relieve her discomfort.
Looking at the earnest-looking girl, Sheng An felt a warm current well up in her heart.
In her previous life, she lived for over twenty years and had few close friends.
Unexpectedly, on her third day here, she gained a true friend like Zhang Zhaodi.
This was the original owner's good fortune, and it was also her good fortune.
Zhang Zhaodi stayed at the Sheng family's house for a long time, making wontons with Sheng An. In the end, she left with a plate of raw wontons that Sheng An had packed for her.
The Zhang family had more labor and more land, so their standard of living was much better than the Sheng family's. Zhang Zhaodi always shared good food with Sheng An.
Even if there's only one piece of braised pork, she'll definitely share half with Sheng An.
The Sheng family's dinner was wontons. After eating the first wonton, Grandpa and Grandma Sheng remained silent for a long time.
After finishing a whole bowl of wontons, Grandma Sheng said to Sheng An with lingering relish, "I think it's something I can do: sell wontons at a stall."
"Yes, with my granddaughter's skills, she can definitely make it!"
Grandpa Sheng was full of confidence, and his words and smiles were full of recognition and encouragement for his granddaughter.
So what if city people are picky? He didn't believe anyone would dislike the wontons his granddaughter made.
Sheng An smiled and accepted the elders' encouragement: "With your words, I have even more confidence in this business."
It was still early, but the couple didn't dare linger.
Although Xu Xiaogu's eldest son would go to the Xu family during the day to help take care of Xu Chenglin, neither of them could truly feel at ease knowing he was away from home all day.
Grandpa and Grandma Sheng were reluctant to part with the eggs, but they didn't show it on their faces. They simply stuffed a basket of eggs that they had saved up at home into Sheng An's hands and said, "Take these home and eat them. Don't be reluctant to part with them."
Sheng An refused to accept the eggs, saying, "We have chickens at home; you can keep the eggs for yourselves."
Grandma Sheng pretended to be angry: "If you don't accept it, Grandma will personally deliver it to you tomorrow morning."
Sheng'an had no choice but to accept only half, explaining that it was too hot to finish eating it all and that too much would spoil easily.
Finally, the couple left with half a basket of eggs.
Before he even left the village, Sheng An saw Liu Huazhi standing under the ancient locust tree, staring at him with a venomous look on her face.
Tsk tsk, such deep resentment, no wonder he was able to be reborn.
However, it wouldn't be nice if that resentment were directed at oneself.
After searching my memory, I realized there was no deep-seated hatred between the two. So where did this woman's resentment come from?
Sheng An was completely baffled. When he passed by Liu Huazhi, he didn't even glance at her and walked straight past.
Liu Huazhi stared menacingly at the couple's retreating figures, a sinister smile spreading across her face.
"Sheng An, let's see how long you can be so smug!"
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