How could this be possible?

How could this possibly be happening!

Great-grandmother had passed away decades ago, so how could she suddenly appear in broad daylight right before him?

Could it be that Great-grandmother had some unfulfilled wish and had come back to the living world to resolve it?

Yes, that must be it.

Otherwise, why would she appear in broad daylight?

In an instant, a flash of insight hit Song Wenjie, and he beamed with excitement, revealing his white teeth:

“Great-grandmother! Do you have any unfulfilled wishes? If there’s something you need, please come to Grandpa in a dream and tell him. We brothers will make sure it’s done properly. Look, it’s such a bother for you to come here in person in broad daylight. It’s really not worth it! You’re a spirit, and spirits that stay too long in the living world will dissipate! You should hurry back.”

What? Dissipate?

Song Wenjie’s words, which seemed to suggest that she would dissipate if she stayed too long, almost made the old lady floating in mid-air, wielding a big stick, faint again from anger.

“You unfilial grandson! Watch me not beat you to death!”

The fierce-looking old lady swung her big stick and started beating the bewildered Song Wenjie, who screamed and ran around:

“No, wait. Why are you hitting me, Great-grandmother?”

Completely confused, Song Wenjie, dodging the stick, looked very wronged.

“I’m beating you, you brat!”

The old lady, with eyes blazing, pounced on Song Wenjie like a tiger descending a mountain, giving him another round of thrashing. At this crucial moment, Song Wanyue snapped back to reality and ran over with little steps, smiling sweetly with dimples:

“Great-grandmother, please calm down. Wanyue wants to give you a candy.”

In her small, white hand was a Big White Rabbit milk candy.

This was a candy that old Mrs. Chen Juhua had specially bought for her precious granddaughter from the county supply and marketing cooperative at the beginning of the school term.

Song Wanyue had always loved sweets.

She could skip meals but never miss her candy.

The old lady, whose anger was quickly dissipating, looked down at her sweetly smiling great-granddaughter and her heart melted. She conjured up a handful of milk candies and gave them to the little girl:

“Good girl, Wanyue. Great-grandmother doesn’t like sweet things. You be good and eat the candy. Great-grandmother is busy and still needs to teach this ungrateful grandson a lesson!”

The poor, dirt-eating girl thought: Great-grandmother, you are such a generous spirit~

The old lady lovingly patted her great-granddaughter’s head, then squinted her eyes at the trembling Song Wenjie:

“Come out here and take your beating, you brat!”

Song Wenjie peeked out from behind Song Wenxuan, tears and snot running down his face:

“Great-grandmother, you can’t be this biased just because I’m a bit foolish~ Waaa~”

The biased old lady: …..

The helpless Song Wenxuan & Song Wanyue: …..

Honestly, they didn’t want to admit that this fool was their brother.

The atmosphere turned cold for a moment. Even the old lady, now elevated to the status of a land deity, didn’t expect her great-grandson to be such a blockhead.

“Great-grandmother, Wenjie doesn’t know that our Song family is born with the ability to see spirits. He is ignorant, and ignorance should be forgiven. Please don’t hold it against him.”

After a moment of silence, Song Wenxuan spoke softly, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Song Wanyue was taken aback. What did her older brother mean by that?

Song Wenjie laughed foolishly:

“Right, big brother is right. Great-grandmother, I’m foolish, so don’t hold it against me.”

After saying that, Song Wenjie even chuckled foolishly a couple of times.

The Song family ancestor: ……

This kid really is a fool.

~

The beating that poor, foolish Song Wenjie received finally came to an end thanks to the mercy of the Song family ancestor.

The Song family ancestor had initially come to visit her beloved great-grandchildren during a quiet moment at the local land temple. But now, after being out for quite some time, she realized it was getting late. She quickly handed a large, oily paper-wrapped roast goose to her three great-grandchildren, gave a few parting words, and hurried back to the land temple.

This left the three Song siblings standing there, stunned.

Wait, no. What on earth was going on?

Song Wanyue and Song Wenjie, completely confused, looked in unison at the calm Song Wenxuan.

Song Wenxuan raised an eyebrow at his bewildered siblings, casually tossed the large roast goose into his backpack, and smirked slightly:

“This matter…”

Hmm, what about it? What about it?!

The naive siblings looked on expectantly.

“It’s a long story~”

Song Wenxuan’s smile deepened as he began walking home.

The naive siblings: …..

Song Wenxuan, you two-faced rascal!

~

The naive siblings were so furious at their two-faced older brother that they turned red with anger.

Without turning around, Song Wenxuan knew exactly what his brother and sister’s angry faces looked like, feeling a bit helpless inside.

In the Song family, some members were born with the ability to see spirits. Every head of the family knew this, and Song Wenxuan, being the eldest grandson, had learned about it at thirteen when he first saw their deceased great-grandmother. His grandparents and father had explained it to him then.

As for their great-grandmother, she had done many good deeds during her lifetime, accumulating virtue and kindness. After she and her husband passed away, they both ascended and became local land deities.

As a land deity with incense offerings, the great-grandmother still couldn’t let go of her descendants in the living world. She would often come to check on the children and bring them treats.

This was a common practice among local deities, and higher gods typically turned a blind eye.

Thus, Song Wenxuan frequently saw his great-grandmother. However, to explain this to the naive siblings, Song Wenxuan preferred to wait until they got home and let their grandparents and father tell them the whole story.

Along the way, the two-faced older brother and the two angry siblings made their way back to Dahu Village, walking and stopping intermittently.

When the three siblings returned to Dahe Village, they were greeted by Chen Juhua, who had been eagerly waiting at the village entrance. Her face lit up with joy upon seeing her precious grandchildren from afar:

“Sweetie, Grandma’s here.”

Seeing her grandmother, Song Wanyue ran towards her like a happy little bird:

“Grandma~ I missed you!”

Her soft, sweet voice, filled with dependence, made Chen Juhua beam with joy.

“Oh my, my dear sweetie, Grandma missed you too! Look at your little face, you’ve gotten thinner. Let’s go home. We made lamb soup and cabbage and pork dumplings today, all good stuff.”

“Yes, thank you, Grandma. Your dumplings are so delicious, I can eat a big bowl of them.”

Song Wanyue hugged Chen Juhua’s arm, speaking sweetly.

“Good, good. It’s good that you can eat well. Being able to eat is a blessing. Our Wanyue is a blessed girl.”

Chen Juhua’s heart was warmed by her sweet granddaughter’s words, even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smiling:

“Alright, let’s go home and eat. Now then. Wenxuan, Wenjie, you two dawdlers, stop standing around and get home to eat. Otherwise, if there’s no food left later, don’t cry. You’re already ugly, and crying will make you even uglier. Unlike our pretty Wanyue.”

After saying this, Chen Juhua happily led her precious granddaughter home, without even a glance at her two eldest grandsons.

Song Wenxuan & Song Wenjie: ………

The Song family’s courtyard was only a few hundred meters from the village entrance. Rural people walked briskly, so before long, Chen Juhua had brought her three grandchildren to the old Song family’s door.

It was already dark by then, and the Song family’s main room was lit by a kerosene lamp. The fragrance of food filled the room, and the family sat around the table, waiting for the return of Chen Juhua and the grandchildren to start the meal.

Song Xiangdong’s wife, Zhao Xiuying, had been longing for her three children to return home. Hearing the commotion in the yard, she looked up and saw them, her beautiful face lighting up with joy:

“Mother, did you bring the children back?”

“Yes, they’re back. Earlier, Xiangdong sent word that the coal mine is working overtime tonight, so he and Xiangguo won’t be coming home for dinner. Let’s not wait for them and start eating. What do you think, old man?”

Chen Juhua said with a smile.

“The kids are hungry, let’s eat.”

Old Song took a puff of his pipe, coughed, and replied.

Hearing this, the Song family’s eyes brightened. Finally, they could eat!

With the head of the family giving the green light, everyone cheerfully gathered around the table, eating meat, drinking soup, and enjoying the meal.

The three Song siblings put down their bags, washed their hands, and joined the family at the table.

The Song family’s dinner that night was remarkable: a large bowl of lamb soup, fragrant pork and cabbage dumplings, and everyone ate to their hearts’ content.

If only they could eat meat every day.

The Song family was satisfied with their meal, but someone wasn’t happy. Liu Hongmei, sitting at the table, looked at the huge bowl of dumplings in front of Song Wanyue and her full bowl of lamb soup, then at her son Wenhao’s pitifully few dumplings, and felt a surge of jealousy.

—

Why? Why? They’re all grandchildren of the Song family.

Why does Song Wanyue, this money-wasting girl, get to eat so well?

Ugh! Money-wasting girl!

Liu Hongmei felt so angry that her chest tightened. But in front of her parents-in-law and her husband, she didn’t dare say anything and just sulked quietly.

Actually, although Chen Juhua favored her little granddaughter, she never shortchanged the other grandchildren when it came to food.

Take this meal, for example. Chen Juhua distributed the food fairly among the grandchildren, one bowl each. Song Wenhao’s bowl had fewer dumplings because he ate quickly and had already finished his portion. 

Song Wanyue ate slowly, so when everyone else was nearly done, she had just started, leading to Liu Hongmei’s misunderstanding.

But Liu Hongmei had always had an issue with Song Wanyue. Even if Song Wanyue ate quickly, Liu Hongmei would still find something to complain about.

Liu Hongmei fumed through the meal while Song Wanyue ate happily. At school, meals were simple—cabbage and radish or cabbage and potatoes, with no variety. 

Finally, having a good meal, Song Wanyue ate heartily until her belly was full.

When people are full, they get sleepy.

After dinner, Song Wanyue walked around the yard a few times to digest. Feeling sleepy, she yawned.

Seeing her daughter tired, Zhao Xiuying prepared a basin of water and gently urged her to wash up. After washing up, the little girl, still yawning, climbed onto the kang bed and fell into a sweet sleep.

That night, Song Wanyue had a dream. She dreamed of her great-grandmother, who handed her a small bundle containing food and some medicine.

Her great-grandmother told her that this bundle was from Granny Ye from the same village. Granny Ye’s husband was sick and there were no doctors or medicine available.

Worried about her husband and her grandson still in the mortal world, Granny Ye could only ask Song Wanyue to deliver the package to the Ye family.

Feeling puzzled, Song Wanyue was about to ask why Granny Ye couldn’t deliver it herself when her great-grandmother suddenly disappeared.

Dreaming, Song Wanyue woke up.

The room was quiet. She stared at her messy hair and sat there in a daze.

“So it was just a dream,” she murmured, and was about to snuggle back into her soft bed when she noticed a gray bundle at the bedside. Song Wanyue was shocked.

~

That morning, something strange happened at the Ye household. A small bundle mysteriously appeared outside their shabby front door.

When Ye Chenchuan opened the door, he immediately noticed the small bundle placed neatly on the large green stone in front of the door.

Ye Chenchuan glanced at it indifferently and shut the door.

By afternoon, when Ye Chenchuan opened the door again, the bundle was still there, now with a small note attached. The note bore a line of clumsy handwriting.

“For Grandpa Ye.”

Ye Chenchuan continued to ignore the bundle.

As night fell, the bundle remained alone on the cold stone. Then, a small figure appeared sneakily outside the Ye family’s door.

The figure sighed at the bundle, frowning in frustration. Just as the figure picked up the bundle and turned to leave, a young man, hidden in the shadows, stepped out and cornered the figure.

“Speak, what are your intentions?”

In the chilly night breeze, a cold and indifferent voice sounded in Song Wanyue’s ear.

Song Wanyue: ???

This was the first time, since her transmigration, that someone had questioned her this way.

—