Chapter 38

Ever since Li Hehua began selling breakfast and dry snacks, her food stall had become even more popular. From morning until afternoon closing time, the place bustled with activity, and she had gained a growing number of regular customers.

Seeing that breakfast was doing well, Li Hehua decided to expand the menu by adding drinks like soy milk, porridge, and spicy glutinous soup. These paired perfectly with steamed buns, mantou, and meat-stuffed flatbreads.

She specifically purchased three large lidded wooden barrels, thoroughly scrubbing them inside and out with clean water, then scalding them twice with boiling water to disinfect. Once cleaned, they were used to hold the soy milk, porridge, and soup.

Porridge and spicy glutinous soup were simple enough to make with a household pot, but soy milk required a stone mill. There was a household in the alley that had one, and borrowing it once or twice was fine—but not every day. So, Li Hehua bought her own stone mill and set it up in her courtyard. Every morning, the first thing she did upon waking was grind soybeans, working up a sweat so much that she often needed a bath before heading out to the stall.

Stone mills of this era were made entirely of stone and very heavy. Grinding with them was physically demanding; those without enough strength couldn’t even budge it, and even the strong would end up drenched in sweat after a while.

The first time Li Hehua used it, her arms were sore for days. But she gritted her teeth and stuck with it. After a few days, she got used to the motion and even discovered an unexpected benefit—grinding soy milk was great for weight loss. After several consecutive days, she was surprised to find her new clothes hanging loosely again. She was slimming down faster than ever, and by her estimation, she now weighed no more than 130 or 140 jin.

Li Hehua couldn’t resist touching her face, then pulled out a mirror to check. The fat on her cheeks had significantly diminished. What had once been a face full of flesh now looked merely rounded, making her facial features appear more defined and delicate. With the original owner’s naturally fair skin, her face now didn’t look bad at all—at the very least, it wasn’t ugly anymore.

Thinking back to how unattractive the original owner had been when she first arrived, and comparing it to now, Li Hehua felt a sense of pride. This is progress! Her heart swelled with satisfaction, and suddenly, all the hard work felt worthwhile.

“Boss, what are you smiling so happily about?” a breakfast customer asked—though the voice was all too familiar…

Li Hehua looked up and saw Gu Dafeng standing in front of her. The smile on her lips froze. “Oh, it’s nothing. What would you like to order?”

Gu Dafeng didn’t seem to mind her awkwardness. Smiling as usual, he ordered two steamed buns and a meat flatbread, then helped himself to a seat at a back table to eat.

Li Hehua tugged the corner of her mouth into a polite smile.

Gu Dafeng had been coming to her stall for breakfast—and sometimes lunch—for the past five days. At first, she’d treated him as any regular customer and even welcomed him warmly. But word couldn’t stay hidden for long. Through Cao Simei, she eventually found out who he was, and things became awkward.

She had asked Cao Simei about it, who said she’d made things clear to Gu Dafeng and that he understood Li Hehua’s stance. Still, for some reason, he continued to come and buy her food. Maybe he truly just liked the taste.

Li Hehua didn’t understand his persistence but decided to treat him as a regular customer—even a bit more coldly than others, hoping he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. They would just maintain a simple vendor-customer relationship.

Watching from afar, Cao Simei grew anxious. She pulled Gu Dafeng aside and whispered, “Dafeng, what are you doing? Didn’t I already explain everything to you?”

Gu Dafeng lowered his head and was silent for a moment before looking up and speaking honestly. “Elder Sister, I know where she stands, don’t worry—I won’t bother her. I just thought it over… She’s really a good woman. If I could marry someone like her, I’d be lucky. She might not want to get married now, but that doesn’t mean she won’t change her mind someday. So I figured, since I’m not in a rush to settle down, why not come by more often, get familiar? That way, if she does change her mind, maybe I’ll have a chance.”

He had been upset when he first heard that Li Hehua didn’t want to meet any suitors, to the point he left immediately. Back home, he tried to comfort himself, but it didn’t help. He kept thinking about her—about her smiling warmly as she served food, about how delicious her cooking was, about how impressive it was for a woman to run such a large, orderly stall on her own.

She was unlike any village woman he’d ever met. Unique. Attractively so. Even though she wasn’t conventionally beautiful and was still a bit plump, she didn’t feel unattractive. On the contrary, he wanted to get closer to her.

If I could marry someone like her, life would be truly satisfying.

He couldn’t explain why, but the next day, he came to the stall again. And again the day after that. He planned to keep coming—never to bother her, just to slowly become familiar. One day, if she changed her mind, maybe he’d have a shot. And by then, with Cao Dajie putting in a good word, it just might work out.

Besides, he wasn’t desperate to marry anyone else. If he was going to marry, it had to be someone he genuinely liked—and he was willing to wait.

Cao Simei didn’t know what to say. Technically, he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He wasn’t pestering Li Hehua—just buying food. And honestly… his attitude was rather likable.

She sighed, unable to say more. In her heart, she began to hope that Li Hehua would someday change her mind.

As mealtime approached, Li Hehua began clearing away the breakfast items to make room for lunch preparations.

She moved the steamers and other equipment onto the small cart and then turned to retrieve the barrels of soy milk and porridge. Just as she turned around, someone beat her to it—Zhang Tieshan, who hadn’t been seen in several days.

Li Hehua blinked in surprise before greeting him naturally, “Zhang Tieshan, here to sell game today?” She had noticed the wild animals placed on the ground nearby.

Zhang Tieshan stared at her intently, without blinking.

Feeling puzzled, Li Hehua asked, “Zhang Tieshan, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t say much—just gave a low “Mm” and walked around her, effortlessly lifting the three wooden barrels onto the cart. Without needing her help, he quickly and efficiently moved everything into place.

Li Hehua couldn’t help but feel a little helpless. Why does he always end up helping me every time he comes by? Now I don’t even have anything left to do.

After he finished, Zhang Tieshan didn’t leave. He went straight to a table and sat down.

Li Hehua figured he probably wanted to see Shulin. He hadn’t visited in days—he must be missing his son. So she cooked him a large portion of rice with toppings and served it to him. “Here, have some lunch first. When school ends, we can go pick up Shulin together.”

Zhang Tieshan nodded and lowered his head to eat.

Meanwhile, Li Hehua turned back to preparing food for the other customers.

By noon, more and more people had arrived, and the stall was bustling again. Li Hehua was so busy she barely had time to catch her breath. Dahe was also rushing around, his feet barely touching the ground. Even with both of them working hard, customers were still waiting for seats.

Dahe had to serve food, collect money, and clean tables all at once. His speed couldn’t keep up with how fast Li Hehua was turning out dishes.

When Zhang Tieshan finished the last bite of his meal, he wiped his mouth, took his bowl to the basin, rolled up his sleeves, and without a word, started helping—picking up ready-to-serve food and delivering it to customers.

Li Hehua froze. He’s helping again?! She really felt embarrassed. Every time he came, he ended up being a free laborer. Maybe I should hire someone else soon… but it’s hard to find someone suitable in a short time.

Finally, the rush died down. Li Hehua wiped the sweat from her forehead and sighed in relief. When she looked over, she saw that Zhang Tieshan had also broken into a sweat. She quickly brought him a bowl of mung bean soup.

“Thanks for your help. I’m really sorry—every time you come by, you end up working. I’m planning to hire someone soon, so you won’t need to help next time.”

Zhang Tieshan paused mid-drink, looked at her, and said calmly, “No need to hire anyone.”

“Huh?” Li Hehua blinked in confusion.

He lowered his voice slightly. “I’ll help you from now on. You don’t need to hire anyone.”

Li Hehua quickly shook her hands. “No, no, how could I let you do that?”

But Zhang Tieshan was firm. “I’ll help.” When he saw she was about to object again, he added, “I’m coming here anyway—to sell game and to see Shulin. I’d just be idle otherwise. If you really feel bad, just give me breakfast and lunch as pay.”

Li Hehua still felt uneasy. How could those meals count as wages? More importantly, they didn’t have any kind of relationship. Having him work for her didn’t seem appropriate.

“Zhang Tieshan, you really shouldn’t—”

“It’s settled,” Zhang Tieshan interrupted, his tone firm and resolute. He downed the rest of the mung bean soup in one gulp, set down the bowl, and began clearing the tables before she could say anything more.

Li Hehua bit her lip. *Is he just the kind of guy who loves helping people? But… that doesn’t seem right. He used to treat me pretty badly…*

Zhang Tieshan knew Li Hehua was probably confused by his behavior—but he didn’t know how to explain it himself.

When he heard she was considering meeting other men, he had been unreasonably upset and left immediately. At first, he thought it was because she still had his former wife’s body. They had been husband and wife, after all—even if her soul had changed, the body was still the same. It felt wrong somehow to see her meeting someone else.

But they weren’t a couple anymore. He had been the one to divorce her. It made sense for her to remarry. And more importantly, she wasn’t the same Li Hehua anymore—not really. Technically, they had no ties at all.

He tried to reason with himself and decided to stay away. For days, he didn’t visit the stall or even go see Shulin.

He thought things would go back to normal—but he kept thinking about her, wondering whether she had successfully met a new suitor, whether she’d marry him, cook delicious meals for him, run the food stall together, maybe even have a child and treat that child better than Shulin…

The more he imagined it, the more suffocated he felt. He couldn’t bear the thought of her doing all of that for someone else.

Eventually, he accepted the truth: he didn’t want her to cook for another man, didn’t want her running the stall with anyone else, and definitely didn’t want her raising another man’s children.

He wanted her—for himself. Not as the original Li Hehua, but as who she was now.

He didn’t know when these feelings began, but they were real. He accepted them. And now that he understood, he was ready to act. Zhang Tieshan had always been decisive—once he wanted something, he would go after it.

So today, he came back.

He knew she probably resented him. He’d treated her poorly before, and so had his mother and brother. Looking back, he realized she had changed on the very day he gave her the divorce letter. That must have been when the soul swap happened. But they hadn’t noticed, and instead, they continued taking out their frustrations on her.

His mother had excluded her from meals, misjudged her constantly. He himself had been cold, making her live in the woodshed for days. In the end, they forced her to leave.

Now, he regretted it deeply. He had been awful to her. She surely didn’t like him now. But that was okay—he would treat her well, double his efforts, and win her over again.

He wanted her to be his wife—not anyone else’s.

Zhang Tieshan finished loading the tables and chairs onto the cart, not letting Li Hehua lift a finger. Then he pushed the cart back to the courtyard and unloaded everything.

He handed her the wild game he’d brought. “Here. I caught these yesterday. I already cleaned and skinned them—just cook them directly.”

Li Hehua looked at the game and didn’t take it. He already helped me so much—how could I take his goods too? These are worth a lot at the restaurants.

“You should sell these to the restaurant. It’s wasteful to eat them ourselves. Besides, we’re not short on meat. I cook it every day—Shulin’s already putting on weight.”

Zhang Tieshan ignored her refusal and nudged the game toward her. “It’s for you and Shulin. I already sold the better ones to the restaurant. These are smaller and wouldn’t fetch much. Perfect for home use. If you don’t eat them, I won’t sell them either.”

Li Hehua frowned, still unwilling to accept. “Then take them home to your mother and brother.”

“They already have some,” Zhang Tieshan replied. “These are for you. Don’t argue.”

Seeing she still had no intention of accepting them, he took the game into the kitchen himself and left it there.

Li Hehua: “……” Seriously?

Oh well. He probably just didn’t want his son to go without nourishment, and she just happened to benefit. It wasn’t meant for her specifically. Refusing too harshly might seem petty.

With that thought, she said nothing else. She let Zhang Tieshan rest a bit while she went into the kitchen to prep ingredients for the next day. When it was nearly time for school to let out, she called for him, and the two set off to pick up Shulin together.

“Zhang Tieshan, let me tell you—Shulin can write a lot of characters now! Just a few days ago he was still working on ‘one, two, three,’ and now he’s writing all sorts of other words. He’s learning so fast! Master Gu said he has an incredible memory. Just one glance, and he remembers things perfectly—just like when he draws. He looked once and reproduced it nearly identically!”

Li Hehua couldn’t help but brag about Shulin’s intelligence.

Zhang Tieshan listened quietly, the corners of his lips curling upward.

Seeing that he seemed interested, she continued, “Shulin’s really a prodigy! No one at the school can match him. Though his favorite thing is still drawing—he can draw for hours without moving. And Master Gu said his lines are becoming more and more fluid. If he keeps this up, he could become a great artist someday!”

That really was what Master Gu had said. Li Hehua had been overjoyed when she heard it, feeling proud in a way she hadn’t in years. Only now did she understand why some parents could talk about their children all day and never tire of it—because now, she was the same.

She talked the entire way, and Zhang Tieshan never interrupted once—just listened quietly. It wasn’t until they reached the school gate that she realized she’d been talking nonstop while he hadn’t said a single word. *Was she always this chatty?*

Embarrassed, she glanced sideways at him and found him smiling faintly. He scratched his head and turned toward the school gates, focusing on waiting for Shulin.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhang Tieshan noticed her little glance and smile—and the curve of his own lips deepened.