Chapter 50

Gu Qinghuan didn’t have time to think about what was going on because she choked.

Seeing this, Qian Caihua hurriedly punched her in the stomach.

Ugh…

Accompanied by violent coughing, the persimmon in her throat was finally spit out.

“Eat slower, no one’s going to snatch it from you!” Qian Caihua said as she gnawed on the persimmon.

Gu Qinghuan gave her a meaningful glance. Wasn’t the person snatching persimmons right beside her?

If she wasn’t mistaken, when Qian Caihua had just helped her vomit, she had also sneakily taken another persimmon from her pocket.

Multitasking was a useful skill.

But it was strange, though. How did the fortune that had been siphoned off come back to her?

She hadn’t done anything else besides eating persimmons.

Persimmons? That’s right, it must be the persimmons!

These persimmons had been watered with spiritual spring water, and eating them was similar to drinking the spring water.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Qinghuan remembered the words on the large stone: Exorcising Spiritual Spring.

Everything suddenly made sense.

Could it be that the spiritual spring had removed the evil influence from the Fortune Spring Water Qian Caihua drank?

That would explain the black smoke.

It had to be that way!

However, it seemed that no one else could see the black smoke. The people around them showed no reaction, so it appeared that only she could see it.

Qian Caihua had eaten two persimmons, and her fortune had recovered by 80%.

Gu Qinghuan generously picked up the last persimmon and handed it over. “Here, you eat it!”

After the earlier scare from choking, she now had a mental block against the persimmons.

Even Qian Caihua, with her thick skin, felt a bit embarrassed. She had already taken one without permission, but now Gu Qinghuan was offering her the last one as well. What a kind comrade! From now on, she would try not to gossip about her too much.

“Huai’an’s, you have such a kind heart. These persimmons must’ve been bought from outside, right? They’re delicious and refreshing, much better than the wild ones from the mountains.” Qian Caihua happily took the persimmon and began to nibble on it.

Gu Qinghuan nodded.

Qian Caihua truly talked too much and loved taking small advantages. No wonder she had caught Lin Xiaomeng’s attention.

Watching the fortune value behind Qian Caihua return to its original 10% and then slowly fade away, Gu Qinghuan finally relaxed.

It seemed that the Fortune Spring Water had completely disappeared from her body.

It was both a blessing and a curse. If it hadn’t been for Qian Caihua’s greed in drinking Lin Xiaomeng’s water, she wouldn’t have been affected.

But it was also because of her greed for the persimmons that Gu Qinghuan had discovered the spiritual spring could save her.

Though Qian Caihua had her faults, Lin Xiaomeng should not control her life.

Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.

Gu Qinghuan felt quite pleased with herself.

Of course, it was also just a stroke of luck. If she hadn’t encountered the situation, she wouldn’t have been able to help. She wasn’t the Virgin Mary, going around saving everyone all the time.

Soon, Qian Caihua’s husband and son came down from work, and they all rested together under the shade of a tree, waiting for Qian Caihua’s youngest daughter to bring them lunch.

Qian Caihua carefully took out the osmanthus cake from her bosom, giving a piece to her husband and son, happily describing how delicious the cake was. Then, she shoved the remaining piece back into her bosom, likely saving it for her youngest daughter.

Even ordinary people have their own small happiness.

A family that is united is the greatest blessing.

Gu Qinghuan was feeling deeply moved when she noticed Qian Caihua’s son, Tu Gen, glancing at her from time to time.

“Gu Zhiqing, do you want some?” Tu Gen asked shyly, holding out the osmanthus cake.

Gu Qinghuan was startled, remembering how Qian Caihua had mentioned offering 101 yuan to marry her last time. She quickly waved her hand.

“You all eat. I’ll go check on my two kids, see why they haven’t come yet. I hope they haven’t been delayed on the way.”

Gu Qinghuan made an excuse and walked away, distancing herself.

When Qian Caihua saw that Gu Qinghuan had left, she slapped her son’s head in frustration.

“What are you doing? That girl has eaten all sorts of good things, and here you are, fawning over her! Stop thinking foolishly. She’s already married, no use dreaming about it. From now on, when you see her, call her Sister-in-law. Don’t call her Gu Zhiqing.”

Tu Gen lowered his head in grievance. “Aww.”

Qian Caihua was exasperated, feeling like he wasn’t learning.

She knew that Gu Qinghuan was a good girl.

It wasn’t their fault they had arrived a bit too late; there was nothing they could do. If she had known earlier, she would have been willing to pay 150 or 200 yuan.

But wasn’t she already married? Trying to seduce a married woman was bound to end badly.

—

Little by little, people came home for their meals, while others stayed under the shade, waiting for their families to bring them food.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t wait long before she saw Da Bao and Bei Bei coming toward her.

Da Bao carried a small basket, and inside the large bowl were two big, dark, three-combination steamed buns.

At first glance, the buns seemed ordinary, just two dark buns.

But once she took a bite, the inside was filled with a delicious treat—spicy pork sauce stir-fried by Zhong Zijun. It was the perfect thing to eat with the bun.

Liu Guifang passed by, and from a distance, she saw the dark buns in Gu Qinghuan’s hands and the new clothes on the two children. She gritted her teeth in anger.

Gu Qinghuan was being nice to these two little bastards. She was eating the black buns herself, yet she had bought them new clothes.

Look at her—she was showing off!

It made her look like the villain.

The anger that had been building up from the food backlog resurfaced. She couldn’t stand it. She needed to teach Gu Qinghuan a lesson, let her know who was really in charge.

But of course, she wouldn’t make a scene in public. If she was going to act, it would be in a sneaky way.

Gu Qinghuan, unaware that she had caught someone’s attention again, was happily eating her bun with a sip of water.

The two kids had already finished eating and were chattering excitedly.

“Mom, this morning we went to the mountainside and picked a basket of fresh wild vegetables. We also ran into Er Dan and the others.

Er Dan picked up a nest of wild chicken eggs, and we all cooked them together. He gave us and my little sister one each, and we also shared some of the peach crisps with them.”

Gu Qinghuan could hardly imagine how the children must have looked while digging through the ash to eat wild chicken eggs, or using their little dirty hands to share peach crisps. It must have been terribly filthy.

But then again, this was childhood—once in a lifetime.

“As long as you’re happy!” she said.

—

In the large courtyard of the Old Xu family.

Lin Xiaomeng was cooking when she suddenly felt a pang in her chest, breaking out in a cold sweat.

With no one around, she quickly grabbed a bowl of Fortune Spring Water to calm herself. Suddenly, the bowl slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor, spilling water that soaked her cloth shoes.

Yet, she didn’t notice at all.

Because she realized that the fortune value she had just acquired earlier in the morning had suddenly disappeared. Her fortune value had now returned to 30%.

After a whole year of hard work, everything had reverted to square one.

Why had Xu Second Son’s fortune value remained, but Qian Caihua’s had suddenly vanished?

Lin Xiaomeng’s heart sank, but she couldn’t find any reason for it. She could only accept it.

It seemed that she would need to be more careful in the future and not meddle with others’ fortunes.

After all, both rebirth and the Fortune Spring weren’t all-powerful.