Chapter 025

Her mood lifted as she stepped into the courtyard, the fading evening light casting a warm glow around her. Carrying candies and chocolate, Meng Li walked past the stone troughs in the yard and made her way toward the north room.

As she reached the door, she saw Gu Huijuan and Cheng Chunliang sitting inside, having dinner.

Neither Gu Huijuan nor Cheng Chunliang said anything when they saw her, but Grandma Cheng asked, “Have you eaten?”

Meng Li entered the room, walked behind Gu Huijuan and Cheng Chunliang, took off her backpack, and hung it by the bed. She turned around and said to Grandma Cheng, “Not yet, I’m not too hungry. I’ll just have a bowl of porridge.”

Grandma Cheng stood up to get a bowl, but Gu Huijuan stopped her, saying, “Doesn’t she have hands?”

Meng Li didn’t want to trouble Grandma Cheng. She went to the kitchen herself, grabbed a white porcelain bowl, and scooped some porridge from the aluminum pot on the edge of the table.

Sitting down with her bowl of porridge, she took a sip to warm her stomach. Suddenly, she remembered something. She set down her chopsticks, reached into her pocket, and pulled out two pieces of candy. She held them out in front of Tang Yuan’er and said, “Here, for you.”

Tang Yuan’er’s eyes lit up when she saw the candy. What child didn’t love candy?

Moreover, in those times, candy wasn’t something one could have often.

As if afraid someone might snatch them away, Tang Yuan’er quickly grabbed the candies and smiled, saying, “Thank you, Brother.”

Meng Li wasn’t quite used to hearing the word “brother.” She froze for a moment, instinctively caught off guard. Usually, Tang Yuan’er called her by her name, “Meng Li,” without any formality. But their relationship had been better lately, and now, having received candy, the little girl was being sweet and trying to please her.

After a brief pause, Meng Li smiled and picked up her chopsticks to grab some pickled vegetables. “You’re welcome.”

But as soon as she said that, she suddenly heard Gu Huijuan nonchalantly remark, “I hope you didn’t put rat poison in it, did you?”

Her words made Tang Yuan’er freeze in place.

The little girl blinked, looking first at Gu Huijuan, then at Meng Li, and finally down at the candy in the palm of her hand.

Her good mood was completely shattered by that remark. Meng Li took a moment to calm herself, but couldn’t manage to regain her composure. She shifted her gaze to Gu Huijuan, her smile completely gone, and said, “Gu Huijuan, are you out of your mind?”

Hearing this, Gu Huijuan’s face darkened instantly. She slammed her chopsticks down and stood up, saying, “Meng Li, what did you say? Say it again!”

Meng Li also slammed her chopsticks down, standing up to face Gu Huijuan. “I said you’re crazy!”

Having been influenced by the memories and personality of her previous self, and after the incident at the police station that day, Meng Li’s temper had become more assertive. She didn’t often curse, but when she did, it no longer felt unnatural.

Gu Huijuan was so angry that her hands started shaking.

At that moment, Cheng Chunliang put down his chopsticks and spoke up, “How can you talk to your mother like that?”

Meng Li didn’t even glance at Cheng Chunliang. “This is between me and Gu Huijuan. Comrade Cheng Chunliang, please stay out of it. There’s a limit to how much you can protect someone. With Gu Huijuan’s character, does she deserve to be a mother? Does she deserve to be an elementary school teacher? I wonder if the principal knows about your behavior?”

Meng Li’s words immediately reminded Gu Huijuan of the argument they had earlier, where she threatened to report her to the police station and the revolutionary committee. Feeling slightly deflated, Gu Huijuan swallowed her anger, abandoned her meal, and turned away. Instead of sitting down to eat, she kicked the long bench aside and stormed into her own room.

Cheng Chunliang, who had been sitting quietly at the table, let out a sigh. Unable to continue eating himself, he also got up and followed her into the room. Closing the door behind him, he sat down beside Gu Huijuan and spoke in a low voice, “What are you doing? He was being kind, giving Tang Yuan’er some candy. Why provoke him like that? Anyone would feel upset hearing those words.”

Still fuming, Gu Huijuan snapped, “I just can’t stand the way he acts!”

Cheng Chunliang kept his tone gentle, “Isn’t he your own child?”

Gu Huijuan remained silent, her mind drifting back to the past.

In her eyes, this girl’s very existence was a mistake.

Back when Gu Huijuan was pregnant with Meng Li, her mother-in-law, Meng Li’s paternal grandmother, was bedridden with a serious illness. She had only one wish before she passed: to hold a grandson in her arms. “I won’t rest in peace until I see a grandson,” the elderly woman used to say.

As her belly grew larger, Gu Huijuan sought out various midwives and doctors.

They examined the shape of her belly and felt it carefully, all confidently concluding that she was carrying a boy.

To be honest, Gu Huijuan herself preferred having a son.

With that reassurance, she settled her mind and focused on taking care of her pregnancy, waiting eagerly for the little one to arrive.

However, when the time came to give birth, after three agonizing days and nights of labor at the hospital, the child was born—and it wasn’t a boy.

Gu Huijuan refused to believe it at first, but eventually, she had to accept the truth. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to like Meng Li.

To avoid upsetting the ailing Grandma Meng—who had made it clear she wouldn’t “close her eyes in peace” without seeing a grandson—Gu Huijuan and her husband, Meng Xucheng, decided to hide the baby’s gender. They figured it would only be for a short while, just until the grandmother passed away peacefully.

As it turned out, Meng Grandmother was remarkably resilient and managed to pull through. Perhaps it was the joy of “holding her eldest grandson” that gave her the strength.

After surviving that critical period, Grandma Meng lived on in frail health for another ten years or so.

During that time, Meng Li’s true gender remained a secret. By the time the grandmother fell ill again and passed away, Meng Li had already grown used to living as a boy, and both Gu Huijuan and Meng Xucheng had grown accustomed to treating her as one. After that, the matter of her gender was simply left unspoken, allowed to fade into the background and resolve itself naturally.

This “natural” approach continued until the turbulent years of political upheaval, when Meng Xucheng was implicated in a case over inappropriate remarks. Faced with the situation, Gu Huijuan decided to divorce him.

Unable to find anyone in the Meng family to take care of Meng Li, Gu Huijuan had no choice but to bring her daughter along when she remarried into the Cheng family. This circumstance only deepened her resentment toward Meng Li.

Day by day, her emotions piled up, and her initial dislike for Meng Li grew into outright loathing.

No matter how Meng Li behaved—whether she did well or poorly—Gu Huijuan couldn’t help but find her unbearable.

Perhaps unable to endure Gu Huijuan’s harsh treatment any longer, the girl began to rebel, throwing herself into a life of idleness and mischief.

At first, whenever Meng Li came home, she often had fresh injuries on her body. After some time, however, it seemed she managed to establish herself in that world, and eventually, she stopped coming home altogether.

Not having her around wasn’t such a bad thing—it meant one less person to share ration coupons with, one less mouth to feed.

But recently, Meng Li had unexpectedly stopped going out as often as she used to.

Thinking about all this, Gu Huijuan finally responded to Cheng Chunliang’s earlier question. “I just hate that child,” she said bluntly. “Even though I gave birth to him, I still hate him.”

Even if blood ties are unbreakable, they didn’t stop her from disliking Meng Li.

Cheng Chunliang let out a sigh. There wasn’t much he could do. After all, Meng Li wasn’t his child, but Gu Huijuan was his wife. Left with little choice, he said, “Juan’er, listen to me. Try to hold back, alright? Talk less about him, and argue less with him. If you keep fighting like this every day, won’t the neighbors just treat us as a joke?”

Gu Huijuan felt the anger still simmering inside her but managed to calm herself down and swallow it. She replied to Cheng Chunliang, “Fine, I’ll try.”

Cheng Chunliang patted her shoulder twice and said, “Let’s just live peacefully.”

Gu Huijuan nodded again. “Okay.”

Finally, Cheng Chunliang let out a small sigh of relief. Looking at her, he asked, “Are you still eating?”

Gu Huijuan shook her head. “No, I’m full on anger.”

Cheng Chunliang chuckled. “Try to get less angry in the future. They say the more you get upset, the more bad-tempered the baby will be when it’s born.”

Gu Huijuan instinctively glanced down at her belly, which was already noticeably big—her due date wasn’t far off.

She couldn’t help but wonder to herself, Will this one be a boy?

While Cheng Chunliang was in the room at the east end helping Gu Huijuan calm down, the middle room fell silent. Only Tang Yuan’er cautiously broke the silence, asking Grandma Cheng in a small voice, “Grandma, is there really rat poison in this sweet candy?”

Grandma Cheng glanced at Tang Yuan’er and said, “Don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense. Eat it without worry.”

Reassured, Tang Yuan’er nodded quickly. “Oh, okay.”

After finishing the meal, Grandma Cheng stood up to clear the table and called out to Meng Li, “Come help Grandma clean up.”

Meng Li didn’t say anything but quietly helped Grandma Cheng gather the bowls and dishes to take to the kitchen.

Once they were in the kitchen and away from the others, Grandma Cheng finally spoke seriously to Meng Li.

As she placed the dishes into a large enamel basin and poured water into it, she began washing and said, “Child, no matter what, she’s still your mother. And now that she’s pregnant, you should try to give way to her.”

Meng Li stood to the side, silent, her face tense.

Grandma Cheng washed a bowl, set it down, and continued, “It’s just her mouth. Let her say a few words—it’s not like it’ll hurt you.”

Meng Li glanced at Grandma Cheng and finally spoke, “Why should I let her? Haven’t I endured enough from her already? What kind of mother acts like that? If I did something wrong and she called me out on it, I wouldn’t say a word. But do you know what she says to me?”

Grandma Cheng sighed and repeated softly, “No matter what, she’s still your mother.”

Meng Li drew a sharp breath. “Grandma, please don’t get involved. This is between me and her.”

Grandma Cheng knew she couldn’t really interfere. She was only trying to comfort Meng Li.

After all, Meng Li wasn’t her own child—what authority did she have to intervene?

The relationship between mother and daughter was already completely broken. No outsider could say or do anything to fix it.

Improving the relationship between Meng Li and her mother seemed as impossible as reaching the heavens.

At first, Meng Li wasn’t used to quarreling, but by now, she had grown accustomed to it. She couldn’t keep enduring everything silently forever.

That night, after washing up, the household settled into quiet. All three rooms were completely still.

Meng Li lay on the bed in the middle room, her eyes open and blinking in the cold night as she lost herself in thought.

Her mind drifted from her life before she transmigrated to the life after. She thought about the memories of the body’s original owner and then her own memories.

Her thoughts lingered on moments of small warmth, but they also revisited countless unpleasant ones.

As she continued thinking, an unexpected thought surfaced—she wondered if Ji Chen had managed to get out in the end.

That day, Ji Chen had indeed been dragged into trouble because of her. And yet, he had acted rather chivalrously. While they were in the police station, he hadn’t embarrassed her—instead, he had even helped her.

Technically, Ji Chen could have easily told the police that she’d been hanging around Wangfujing.

After all, her reputation as “Third Master Meng” still lingered, and it wouldn’t have been a false accusation.

Thinking of this, Meng Li couldn’t help but wonder if, after getting out and being reprimanded, Ji Chen would go around sharing what happened at the station.

But now, she had become indifferent to the idea. Whether he talked or not didn’t matter to her anymore. At most, it would be embarrassing—so what?

Her life was already like this. How much worse could it possibly get?

With that thought, Meng Li closed her eyes, turned over to find a comfortable position, and let herself drift off to sleep.

…

After a restful sleep, Meng Li woke up the next morning, and all the bad and good moods from the previous day seemed to have faded away.

She grabbed her schoolbag and hurried to catch the early bus, arriving at school well ahead of time.

During the morning reading session, Ji Chen still hadn’t shown up. Meng Li couldn’t help but wonder if he was still stuck at the police station or if this was just his usual lateness.

She couldn’t shake the worry, and for the whole reading session, she found herself distracted, her thoughts elsewhere.

It wasn’t until the bell rang for the end of the session and she saw Ji Chen walking into the classroom with his bag in hand, just like usual, that she finally exhaled in relief.

Seeing him, she figured he must have just been lectured a bit and let go.

However, while that worry was gone, another soon took its place.

Thinking about her behavior the day before, she couldn’t help but wonder—did Ji Chen take the chance to laugh at her misfortune? Would he find it amusing?

She couldn’t help but wonder—had he gone around telling everyone about it?

Had he shared her embarrassing moment from yesterday when she had cried in the police station, spreading it all over the city?

But when the bell rang and class began, Ji Chen didn’t speak to her, and he didn’t bring up anything about her being scared and crying yesterday.

Once the bell rang, the teacher entered and started the lesson, and Ji Chen simply laid his head down on his desk, falling asleep.

He slept through two whole periods, and when he finally woke up, it was as if he had forgotten all about what happened the day before.

Meng Li watched his behavior with uncertainty, feeling a mix of frustration and confusion.

Her frustration grew during the next class, and she just couldn’t take it anymore. Taking her workbook, she scribbled something on it, took a deep breath, and slid it over to Ji Chen.

On the page, it read: “Did you tell anyone about what happened yesterday?”

Ji Chen had spent the morning at school, sleeping through two classes and zoning out during the rest of the time.

Since he had gotten out of the police station yesterday, his mind had been occupied with one thought—What on earth had happened to Meng Li? He used to be this tough, rebellious kid, always rough around the edges. Now, he seemed so fragile, so sensitive.

Even Zheng Hang and the others had noticed that she had become softer. That meant something had definitely changed.

But why? Why had he changed so much?

Before he could come to any conclusions, a notebook landed in front of him.

His gaze shifted to the notebook, and he saw Meng Li’s question written on it.

After reading the words, Ji Chen turned to look at Meng Li, studying her carefully. Then, without saying a word, he reached into her metal pencil case, took out a pen, and wrote three words: “No, not yet.”

When the notebook was returned to her, Meng Li looked at the three extra words and couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Though she had prepared herself for the embarrassment, it was, of course, best if she didn’t have to face it.

Gripping her pen, Meng Li quickly added an explanation below: “I wasn’t in a good state yesterday. Sorry for the embarrassment, and thank you.”

Ji Chen smirked, writing back: “You’re being too polite. I didn’t say anything, did I?”

Meng Li: “???”

Ji Chen: “If you make me happy, I won’t say anything. If you upset me, I’ll have to speak up.”

Two cheeky troublemakers, going back and forth. Meng Li looked at Ji Chen and, despite herself, managed a forced smile.

Ji Chen smiled as if to say—”Got you, little rascal.”

Meng Li turned her gaze away and quickly wrote: “So, what would make you happy?”

When Ji Chen saw what Meng Li had written, it was just a simple question, but for some reason, he suddenly felt an odd tension, as if the words carried hidden meaning. His mind flashed with a few impure thoughts—visions that made him shudder.

The moment those thoughts flashed by, he felt a wave of discomfort in his chest. Ji Chen quickly shook his head, muttering an expletive under his breath. At the same time, he quickly scribbled: “Stay away from me…”

But he didn’t finish writing. The pen tip halted.

After a brief moment, he scratched out the words he had written and instead wrote: “Still haven’t figured it out.”

The notebook snapped shut in front of him. Meng Li lowered her eyes and glanced at it. She saw that the earlier scribbles had been crossed out in black ink, obscuring the words, and at the end, there were the four words: “Still haven’t figured it out.”

Meng Li: “……”