TCFSRMR |Chapter 3

Shiying had already walked a long way, and she could still hear Gu Xiaohu’s crying coming from behind her. Looking back, the uneven silhouettes of the three brothers, tall and short, were still standing at the village entrance.

Shiying’s eyes were also a little hot, but she still turned around and left. Yet she did not go toward the river slope pointed out by 001. Instead, she made a turn and walked toward an isolated cattle shed below the slope.

This was where an old man and a young one lived, people whom even the honest villagers avoided as if they would rather keep far away from them, those two cow ghosts and snake gods.

Only others were wary of them, while Shiying was not afraid. It was not because she knew history was about to undergo a huge change and deliberately came over to curry favor, but because Grandfather Wen, who lived in the cattle shed, had saved her life.

When she first crossed over, Shiying had woken up in the cattle shed.

Before that, the original body had been washing clothes for a family by the stream when she lost her footing and fell into the water. She floated all the way here and was finally rescued by Grandfather Wen. Only no one else knew that at that time, the original body had already completely left, replaced by the crossed-over Shiying, and she also came with a bound system, 001.

After that, Shiying would come over here from time to time.

Although compared with the interstellar era, the system’s functions were greatly reduced, for this era it was still quite powerful as an environment-related system. It could detect where in the nearby mountains there was a gathering place for wild chickens, where there was a wild rabbit that had gone dazed and really crashed into a tree and passed out, and it could even occasionally create an illusion, making several fat, tender big fish leap out of the water…

Shiying would happily bring the picked-up bird eggs, the stunned rabbit, or the big fish to the grass shed. Grandfather Wen had participated in the Long March back then and was an expert at dealing with wild game, so the three of them would gather together and happily have a big meal.

Grandfather Wen had been ill for the past few days, and Shiying was also very worried. Luckily, with the system around, she and Wen Lan went into the mountains together and picked several kinds of excellent medicinal herbs, and only then had Grandfather Wen been a bit more energetic these past two days.

When Shiying went over, Grandfather Wen was not at home. Only Wen Lan was there, head down and chopping pigweed. Hearing the sound and seeing that it was Shiying, the somewhat cold look in Wen Lan’s eyes immediately filled with some warmth. He beckoned to her:

“Yingying.”

When Shiying was with Grandfather Wen and Wen Lan, she always used her real name.

“Brother Wen Lan…” Shiying answered softly, then quickened her steps. “How is Grandpa? Why isn’t he home?”

Wen Lan’s expression immediately darkened a little.

“Grandpa went to work.”

Seeing that Shiying was still carrying a bag in her hand, he hurriedly took it over. When he saw that inside was a small half-bag of white flour, he was clearly startled.

“White flour, where did this come from?”

This looked like it was at least over thirty jin. How had Shiying, with such a small body, carried it here?

This bit of white flour was of course the system’s doing. As for the wheat from which the flour was extracted, it had been collected by Shiying earlier.

According to Shiying’s original idea, she had wanted to leave a bit more for Grandfather Wen and the others if possible. But first, the system’s abilities were limited; second, Wen Lan and his grandfather had a special identity. If too much white flour suddenly appeared, it might bring disaster.

The system had also said before that because the wheat in the private plot had used interstellar cultivation liquid, even though it did not meet interstellar standards, its nutrition was much richer than ordinary wheat. Grandfather Wen had already taken medicine earlier. With this white flour to nourish him for a period of time, it was still possible for him to recover his health.

“It was ground from the wheat we planted.” Knowing that Wen Lan was a very smart person, Shiying did not dare to lie completely. “When Grandpa comes back, let him eat it to nourish his body.”

Wen Lan naturally also knew that the wheat in Niu Erzhu’s private plot grew very well, and he was even more clear that the private plot was entirely managed by Shiying, a little child.

Unable to bear seeing Shiying work too hard, Wen Lan would secretly go over at night to help pull weeds, and would even, when no one was around, carry water to irrigate the field with Shiying.

Although the wheat in the field grew well and he also had a share of the credit, Wen Lan was not planning to take it. He picked up the bag from the ground and slung it onto his back.

“No. I’ll send it back for you.”

In his own mind, Wen Lan wanted to leave the white flour for Grandpa to nourish his body, but he also knew Grandpa definitely would not agree. Even he absolutely could not tolerate Shiying getting beaten because of this.

This looked like over thirty jin. Niu Erzhu and Qiu Guihua would definitely notice.

Wen Lan had seen with his own eyes how hard Qiu Guihua hit Shiying when she beat her.

If not for his special identity, and worrying that rushing out like that would implicate Shiying, Wen Lan would have definitely fought with that couple.

Even so, Wen Lan, who had always been mature beyond his years, still could not help digging a trap on the road that Niu Erzhu and Qiu Guihua had to pass. After those two fell in, he stepped on two more kicks of stinky dog shit…

Of course, Shiying did not know about these things, and Wen Lan was not planning to tell her. As for the nutrition Grandpa needed, he could go catch fish and loaches in the river at night to supplement Grandpa.

Only what Wen Lan did not know was that, in Shiying’s previous life, Grandfather Wen also had not received timely treatment with medicinal herbs. Wen Lan had been anxious to catch fish to nourish his dying grandfather, only to be swept away by the floodwaters on a stormy night…

Grandfather Wen was already extremely weak. After hearing that his grandson was gone, the blow was too great, and in just a few days he had actually passed away and left this mortal world…

Wen Lan was twelve this year. Although he was a little thin, he was quite strong. Shiying, caught off guard, was dragged by him for several steps. When she came back to her senses, she reached out and hugged a tree beside her.

“No… I’m leaving. I’m going to find my real dad and mom…”

“Real dad and mom?” Wen Lan was obviously startled. After all, he was not like Gu Weihong, a country kid who was somewhat muddleheaded. Wen Lan quickly realized something was wrong. “What real dad and mom? Who told you that?”

Wen Lan’s first reaction was that the Niu Erzhu couple had bad intentions, and who knew what they had said to coax Shiying.

“It’s true.” Seeing Wen Lan’s suspicion, Shiying quickly explained to him, “I heard them talking. I know my real dad and mom are from Shilipu, and I also remember that my real dad seems to be called Shi Guoan…”

The name “Shi Guoan” was not something Shiying made up at random. Rather, ever since the day she crossed over here, Shiying had been guessing it.

In her own life, Shi Guoan was not only the richest man in Zhongxia, but also the country’s foremost great philanthropist.

The orphanage where Shiying stayed had been donated to by Shi Guoan. In order to make the children remember Shi Guoan’s kindness, the dean let all the children in the orphanage take the surname “Shi.”

Every time on Children’s Day, or on days like Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival, the Shi Foundation would also send all kinds of gifts and snacks, and Shiying was lucky enough to receive a fluffy pink plush rabbit.

Later, when she heard the dean say that these gifts and snacks were all personally prepared by Shi Guoan, for example that fluffy pink rabbit had once been his daughter’s favorite.

When listening to her dean-mom ramble on about these things, Shiying was still very envious of Shi Guoan’s “daughter,” thinking that with such a good father, how happy that Miss Shi must be.

But after growing up and reading Shi Guoan’s personal biography, she only then learned that she actually shared a name with Shi Guoan’s daughter, and the two of them even had identical cherry blossom-shaped birthmarks in the same spot.

And that little older girl whom she had once envied so much had not grown up at all. Instead, she had tragically died at a young age.

And the departure of that little girl had undoubtedly almost taken away all the warmth Shi Guoan had in this world.

After his daughter’s death, his mentally dazed wife also unfortunately drowned to death. His only son had autism and struggled throughout his life in pain and despair.

The daughter Shi Guoan had treated like the apple of his eye came into this world, made one turn, and then disappeared just like the brief blooming and fading of a flower. Yet she left behind for that old man, who had warmed who knew how many children’s hearts in this world, a pain he would never escape for the rest of his life.

Shiying first saw Shi Guoan in the last stage of that kind old man’s life. At that time, Shiying was a senior executive at the Shi Group. She had followed the boss to the hospital to deliver flowers to the chairman.

After hearing Shiying’s name, the chairman, who had been in a dazed stupor, actually opened his eyes, and then signaled for Shiying to come forward. But his gaze stayed fixed on Shiying’s wrist for a very long time.

At that time it was summer. On Shiying’s fair wrist, was that not a clearly visible beautiful cherry blossom?

At the end, Shi Guoan was clearly somewhat muddled. He would from time to time pull Shiying’s hand and plead in a sorrowful voice for her to call him “Dad.” In his final moment, he also left while holding her hand. Even now, Shiying still remembered the muddy tear that slid down from the corner of Shi Guoan’s eye when he closed his eyes, and that soft call of “Yingying”…

That night, Shiying stayed by Shi Guoan’s side and was busy for a long time. When she returned to her own place, however, the tears would not stop no matter what she did.

As an orphan, Shiying had never experienced a father’s love, but at the instant Shi Guoan tightly held her hand, she suddenly had a kind of realization, as if in some mysterious way, Shi Guoan ought to have been her father.

And because of that, at the very first moment she woke up in this body, Shiying had an instinct that she was very likely, eighty or ninety percent, transmigrated into Shi Guoan’s daughter.

It was just unfortunate that there was not a single family in the village with the surname Shi. What was even more fatal was that she did not know where Shi Guoan’s ancestral home was. And there was no internet at the time. Even though she had a bound system, there was no way to search for where Shi Guoan was from.

With no other choice, Shiying could only place her hopes on the Niu Erzhu couple. Yet those two were extraordinarily tight-lipped, and it was only today that they finally let slip the place name “Shilipu.”

No matter whether her guess was true or not, Shiying felt that she had to go to Shilipu and take a look. If it was not Shi Guoan, then so be it. If it was him, then Shiying hoped she could change Shi Guoan’s fate in this life.

Such a good person, who had brought light and hope to countless children and families, how could he have lived all alone like that and died so miserably in a hospital?

Shiying’s expression was too serious. Wen Lan found it hard not to believe her. But when he looked at the thin little girl in front of him, he still shook his head.

“That still won’t do. You’re so small. What if something happens on the road?”

“How about this, you stay here. I’ll go ask around about how to get to Shilipu, and when it gets dark I’ll go with you.”

Grandfather Wen had a hat on his head that bore□□□□. Not only Grandfather Wen, even Wen Lan had to remain under the supervision of the people all the time and could not run around everywhere.

If he wanted to send Shiying off, he could only choose night.

Just as the two were talking, they heard footsteps. It was Grandfather Wen, leaning on a cane, walking over together with a middle-aged man in his thirties.

Seeing Shiying, Grandfather Wen was obviously very happy.

“Cough, cough, Xiaoying is here…”

His grandson was also a good child, but that personality of his, who knew whom he had taken after. He never had a smile on his face all day long, and was even more like an old man than this old fellow himself.

But little Shiying was different. Every time she came over, she was smiling brightly. Grandfather Wen felt that seeing little Shiying’s smiling face was like his own heart, riddled with holes, had also received salvation.

To be able, in such circumstances, to see such an innocent smiling face with no concealment of attachment to an elder, it was hard not to feel a great deal of comfort in one’s old age.

“Grandfather Wen…” Shiying quickly ran over and supported the old man. Seeing how badly he was coughing, she even stood on tiptoe to help rub his back.

The middle-aged man beside them clearly looked a little surprised when he saw Shiying. Then, when he saw the way the two got along, he was even more shocked to the point that his eyes were almost falling out.

“Good child, Grandpa, cough cough, Grandpa is fine…” Grandfather Wen pulled Shiying’s little hand into his own, his eyes full of affection. Then he looked up and said to the middle-aged man, “I’m very well, you’ve seen it too. From now on, you don’t need to come see me anymore…”

“Old chief…” The middle-aged man’s expression was somewhat pained.

“Enough, say no more.” But the old man would not let him continue speaking. While supporting Shiying’s shoulder as they walked inside, he waved his hand. “Hurry and go… Remember, from now on, don’t come anymore.”

The middle-aged man looked even more distressed, but in the end he still stopped where he was.

Wen Lan had been looking this way all along. Seeing that the middle-aged man really turned around to leave, he still spoke up:

“Uncle Zhou, please wait…”

As he said that, he ran over.

“Uncle Zhou, can I ask you for a favor…”

“Go ahead.” That Uncle Zhou was clearly somewhat excited. He truly wanted very much to be able to help the old chief, but not only did he have to sneak around just to come see him, he had not helped with anything at all.

It was Grandfather Wen who frowned a little. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Wen Lan say:

“Could Uncle Zhou please help send Xiaoying home?”

“All right, Xiaolan, don’t worry.” Uncle Zhou hurriedly nodded. When he left while holding Shiying’s hand, he even saluted the old man. “Old chief, take care.”

“Go home, what home?” The old man clearly sensed that something was off. He wanted to ask, but Wen Lan did not answer him. Instead, he suddenly lifted his foot and chased after the shadows of Shiying and the other person running off. He kept running until he saw Shiying getting into a green jeep with the middle-aged man, and still would not stop…