Chapter 12

Liu Shufen felt that fate had been kind to her, granting her a second chance at life and returning her to the age of nineteen.

Of course, she wished she could have been reborn even earlier. That way, she could have offered herself to Qin Zhengye and prevented him from marrying the sickly Xu Jiaojiao.

Fortunately, even with Qin Zhengye’s marriage to Xu Jiaojiao, all was not lost. As long as Liu Shufen remained unmarried and avoided her parents’ plan to marry her off to an ugly, poor, and abusive husband, she still had a chance.

As for Xu Jiaojiao, Liu Shufen wasn’t worried. She just needed to wait patiently for Xu Jiaojiao to freeze to death. Then, she could step in to care for Qin Jiashu, marry Qin Zhengye, and rise above the masses. Liu Shufen imagined this, as if a bright future were beckoning her.

Liu Shufen had been eagerly anticipating the snow, day and night. When she woke up two days ago to find the world draped in white, she immediately decided to go to Qinjia Village.

However, she worried that Xu Jiaojiao might not be completely dead, fearing she might still cling to life by a thread.

She decided to wait until Xu Jiaojiao was thoroughly gone before swooping in to claim her prize. After all, Xu Jiaojiao lived at the Zhiqing residence, where, according to rumors, her body had been left to rot for days before anyone discovered it.

Therefore, Liu Shufen wasn’t in a hurry. She waited until the sun rose before braving the biting wind to rush to Qin Family Village.

Liu Shufen was from Liu Family Village, about five or six kilometers away from Qinjia Village. Dressed in thin clothes, she had secretly taken two small sweet potatoes before leaving.

The snow had fallen for two full days, leaving a thick blanket of white on the roads.

What would normally be an hour’s walk took Liu Shufen two hours. By the time she reached the Zhiqing Compound in Qinjia Village, she was a disheveled mess. Her shoes were soaked through, and the icy wind had brought tears and snot streaming down her face.

After leaving his house, Qin Jiashu walked for a long time before meeting up with San Gouzi. Together, they headed toward the secret mountain cave.

Inside the cave, Jie Di had already lit a small fire.

“Xiao Shu? What’s that around your neck?” Jie Di stared in surprise at the gloves hanging around Qin Jiashu’s neck.

“My aunt knitted them for me!” Qin Jiashu replied happily, pulling his small hand out of the glove.

Because he had worn the gloves, his little hands weren’t cold at all.

“Your aunt is so kind!” Jie Di gazed longingly at the gloves, unable to express her envy.

The gloves were beautifully knitted, and even without touching them, one could tell they were exceptionally warm.

Qin Jiashu nodded proudly, his little hand stroking the gloves. He then pulled two pieces of walnut crisps from his pocket.

“Walnut crisps!” San Gouzi and Jie Di’s attention immediately snapped to the treats, their mouths watering.

“Here, you can have them.” Qin Jiashu gave one piece to each of his friends.

San Gouzi and Jie Di accepted the crisps with both hands, instinctively bringing them to their noses to inhale the aroma.

“It smells so good,” Jie Di licked her lips.

“Xiao Shu, does your aunt know about this? Did she scold you yesterday?” San Gouzi asked excitedly, but he didn’t eat his pastry.

He hadn’t expected Qin Jiashu to actually give them walnut crisps.

“My aunt is nice, she doesn’t scold me,” Qin Jiashu said with a nod. “Hurry and eat. It’s really fragrant.”

San Gouzi and Jie Di, convinced Qin Jiashu was telling the truth, hesitated for only a second before stuffing the walnut crisps into their mouths.

Crunch! The crispy, fragrant sweetness made them savor every bite. Their little hands diligently caught any crumbs that fell, and they bent their heads to lick them clean.

As they slowly finished the crisps, San Gouzi and Jie Di voiced their lingering satisfaction.

“From today on, walnut crisps is the best thing to eat!” San Gouzi declared firmly.

“Mmm, the very, very best!” Jie Di echoed with a nod.

“Bubu gao cake is good too,” Qin Jiashu said with a smile, squatting beside the small fire. Bundled up warmly, he carefully held his gloved hands together as he spoke.

“Bubu gao cake?” San Gouzi mumbled, puzzled. “How good is it?”

“Soft, fragrant, sweet…” Qin Jiashu struggled to find the right words with his limited vocabulary.

“…” San Gouzi and Jie Di were thoroughly enticed.

Soft, fragrant, and sweet? Without a doubt, it must be delicious.

“Xiao Shu, can I touch your gloves?” Jie Di asked softly, already content after finishing the walnut cookies and daring not to ask for more.

What could she do? Xiao Shu’s gloves were just so beautiful.

Qin Jiashu glanced at Jie Di’s slightly dirty little hands, a conflicted expression flickering across his face. After a moment’s hesitation, he said reluctantly, “You can only touch them once, okay?”

He was afraid Jie Di might soil the gloves, his tone filled with reluctance.

“Okay, I’ll just touch them lightly,” Jie Di nodded happily, extending her small hand to gently stroke the gloves.

“So soft! They must be so warm!” True to her word, Jie Di gave the gloves a single, light touch. The plush texture instantly sparked envy in her eyes.

“They’re very warm. My hands don’t get cold when I wear them,” Qin Jiashu said, cradling the gloves protectively.

He had been so careful on the way here, even tucking the gloves into his chest to keep them clean!

“Your aunt is really nice,” San Gouzi remarked.

Originally, he and Jie Di had thought Qin Jiashu’s aunt was dressing him in new clothes to sell him off. But now their opinions had changed—Qin Jiashu’s aunt wasn’t bad at all.

“Yeah, Aunt is good,” Qin Jiashu agreed, his face brightening at the mention of Xu Jiaojiao. “Oh, by the way, I won’t be coming tomorrow.”

“Why won’t you come?” San Gouzi blurted out, his worry instinctive. “Afraid your aunt would scold you?”

His memory of Xu Jiaojiao scolding Qin Jiashu was deeply ingrained.

Qin Jiashu shook his head. “My aunt isn’t mean.”

“She said it’s too cold outside,” he explained softly. “If your pants and shoes get wet, you’ll catch a cold.”

“That makes sense,” San Gouzi nodded. “It’s freezing. Jie Di, let’s wait until the snow stops before coming back.”

The firewood they had gathered during sunny days was nearly gone.

“Okay,” Jie Di nodded, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

He hated going home. He would much rather stay in the cave and warm himself by the fire.

“Then I’m heading back,” Qin Jiashu announced, getting to his feet. His mind was already racing home to be with his aunt.

Once Qin Jiashu left, only San Gouzi and Jie Di remained in the cave.

Jie Di sat on the ground, her small hands unconsciously poking the fire with a thin twig.

“I wish I were a boy,” she murmured, wiping away tears.

She envied Xiao Shu. His aunt treated him so well, probably because he was a boy, unlike her—an unwanted burden.

“Don’t cry,” San Gouzi said, feeling helpless as he watched Jie Di sob.

He knew Jie Di had the hardest life of them all. Her mother had desperately wanted a son, but she had given birth to three daughters in a row.

Jie Di had two older sisters who, he’d heard, had been abandoned on the mountain shortly after birth.

As the third daughter, Jie Di was originally meant to be abandoned too. But the midwife had convinced her parents to keep one girl, claiming it would increase their chances of having a son in the next pregnancy.

Though they kept her, they treated her poorly. After Jie Di’s mother finally had a son two years ago, Jie Di became even more neglected and unloved.

Each of the children carried their own burdens. Xiao Shu had lost both his parents, while Jie Di suffered from being an unwanted girl.

San Gouzi, though also orphaned, had an older brother in his teens who worked to support the family, and a blind grandfather.

Despite their poverty, his situation was slightly better than Jie Di and Xiao Shu’s.

Qin Jiashu had probably been the most pitiful of them all, completely alone. But now he had his kind aunt to care for him.

“Waaah…” Jie Di buried her face in her knees, her sobs filled with bitterness and despair.

San Gouzi lowered his head, scratching his head awkwardly. Unable to comfort her, he squatted beside her, waiting for her tears to run their course.

Qin Jiashu emerged from the mountain cave and headed home. Although the sun was shining, the melting snow made the air even colder than a snowfall, his breath forming thick white clouds in the air.

The sun had melted the thick snowpack, turning the mountain path into a treacherous mix of mud and slush. Qin Jiashu walked carefully, but still slipped and fell, his clothes completely covered in mud.

Liu Shufen lurked near the Zhiqing yard, occasionally peeking into the silent house. She desperately wanted to confirm whether Xu Jiaojiao was truly dead, but fear rooted her to the spot.

Having been reborn, she was now terrified of ghosts and dared not enter the compound. Instead, she could only fret outside until she spotted a mud-caked child approaching in the distance, bathed in sunlight.

The child, no more than two or three years old, drew closer. As he neared the gate of the Zhiqing yard, Liu Shufen sprang forward and grabbed Qin Jiashu’s arm with lightning speed.

Qin Jiashu hung his head, clutching his mud-stained gloves with his small hands, his heart aching. The sudden appearance of Liu Shufen startled him.

“Are you Qin Jiashu?” Liu Shufen asked uncertainly.

She had never seen him before, but the child’s destination—the Zhiqing Compound—made her guess it was him.

Qin Jiashu nodded, his red-rimmed eyes fixed on the strange woman.

Relief washed over Liu Shufen. She smiled at him. “Xiao Shu, tell me—are you hungry? Has your wicked aunt been mistreating you? Has she been lying in bed these past two days, not getting up?”

“?” Qin Jiashu frowned at Liu Shufen’s agitated questions. “Who are you?”

“I’m your new aunt, Liu Shufen,” she replied, sizing him up as if he were a glittering golden child of fortune.

“No, you’re not. My aunt is pretty, and you’re ugly,” Qin Jiashu retorted angrily, shaking off her hand and shoving her away.

“Oh, you little rascal,” Liu Shufen sighed, nearly losing her balance from the shove. She shook her head indulgently. “You’re still young. I won’t hold it against you.”

“Here, your aunt brought you these sweet potatoes specially from home,” she said, pulling two small sweet potatoes from her pocket and pressing them into his hands.

She knew all about Qin Jiashu’s miserable childhood, how Xu Jiaojiao had abused him and left him half-starved. But that was all in the past. Now that Xu Jiaojiao was dead, she would take good care of him.

Liu Shufen thought smugly as she placed the sweet potatoes in his hands. She stood up and reached for his hand.

Clutching the sweet potatoes, Qin Jiashu glanced at Liu Shufen with a puzzled expression before turning and scampering home.

“No wonder Xu Jiaojiao abused him. That personality is truly unlikable,” Liu Shufen muttered softly as she watched him disappear into the courtyard.

But when she remembered the future wealth and glory that awaited her, she forced a smile and strode into the Zhiqing Compound.