Chapter 1: Awakening
Her head felt like it was splitting apart.
After slowly regaining consciousness, Zuo Mei felt a burst of surprise and joy: she"s still alive!
After personally watching the car fall from a tall cliff, and still be alive, she"s really too fortunate!
In the mix of surprise and joy, she abruptly sat up, and was stunned, opening her eyes wide in shock.
Surrounding the bed were two boys and a girl, the older boy was about 12 or so, while the younger boy and the little girl looked no older than 8 or 9.
The three were wearing old and worn clothes made out of rough cloth, the little girl"s flower dress was already so old that the flower pattern could barely seen.
"It was you guys... who saved me?" Zuo Mei asked, the two boys had long hair that was kept bunched up high, she only thought that they were in some place isolated from the world that kept ancient traditions, and wasn"t too surprised.
"Jiejie!" With a great wail, the little girl cried as she fell onto her body, breaking out into sobs as she said: "Jiejie, you can"t die, you can"t die!"
Jiejie?
The almost 30-year-old Zuo Mei could not help but feel a burst of emotion, thinking in her heart: this little girl really knows how to flatter! Even at this age, she still warrants a little girl calling her ‘jiejie"...
Hearing her cry miserably, Zuo Mei could not resist reaching out and hugging her, gently patting her back.
The little girl"s tiny body froze slightly, then she hugged her even more forcefully, sticking even more tightly to her body.
"Fangqing, let go of jiejie, she can"t even breathe already."
The larger boy quickly reached out to pull the little girl called Fangqing. You could clearly hear a strange excitement in his voice.
Little Fangqing was pulled away, letting out cat-like whines unhappily, but no longer sticking to Zuo Mei, she obediently stood to one side. Sniffling and staring at Zuo Mei with beautiful shiny black eyes, her gaze was full of love.
Zuo Mei took a deep breath, and smiled at the older boy: the older ones are more sensible!
“Where is this place? What- what are your names?” Zuo Mei smiled as she questioned the older boy.
The older boy suddenly opened his eyes wide, staring at Zuo Mei with a stunned look, his expression practically spelled out the four words: ‘how could this be’.
The smile on Zuo Mei’s face began to stiffen, and she started to feel a little weird.
“Jiejie!” Before she even had time to ask, the little girl let out a tearful and earth-shattering shout that shocked her.
“Jiejie! You don’t recognise us anymore? You don’t want us anymore? Uuuu…” The little girl fell onto her body again, letting out great cries.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry! Jiejie won’t abandon us, she definitely won’t!” The little boy sniffled, clearly wanting to cry but holding it in by biting his lips, shooting a look full of grievance at Zuo Mei, before pulling on Fangqing’s sleeve.
That appearance, it was really way too cute! The watching Zuo Mei could not bear it, it was as if she had done something wrong.
“Jiejie,” the older boy finally recovered and pulled away the little girl, pushing her to the little boy to console. He measured Zuo Mei with his gaze, dejectedly saying: “Jiejie, you don’t have to be like this, if that Yang family wants to cancel the engagement, then just let them do it! Aren’t they just bullying us because we don’t have our parents anymore? If jiejie marries over into that kind of family, jiejie won’t have an easy time either! Jiejie, I’ll support you after this, please don’t be sad anymore, okay…”
“......” Zuo Mei listened dazedly, even if the boy said anything more, she would not be able to process it, she could not tell which one of them here was the insane one!
Until she accidentally looked down at her own hands, and her mind exploded with a whoosh!
“Is there a mirror?” Zuo Mei suddenly asked.
“A mirror?” The boy froze, and said.
“Could you get me a basin of water!” The panicking Zuo Mei asked again.
“I’ll go!” The little boy had already finished coaxing Fangqing, after hearing her request, he immediately turned and ran out.
Not too long after, he carried in a wooden basin shakily, and the older boy quickly ran over to receive it.
Zuo Mei abruptly got off the bed, placing that wooden basin on a worn square table, raising her head and looking, that pale oval face, large eyes, dark red lips…
This tenderly young face is definitely not her almost 30-year-old face! These small arms and legs, small body and face, obviously belong to a 14 or 15-year-old malnourished young lady!
Combined with the cries of ‘jiejie’ from the siblings just now, Zuo Mei’s body shook and almost stumbled: she crossed into another world… another world…
“Jiejie!” The older boy hurriedly supported her: “Are you okay? Do you want to sit down and rest for a while?”
“I-” Zuo Mei opened her mouth, but found that she did not know what to say.
She let the boy support her in sitting down, then measured up the house that could be described as dest.i.tute, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.
Secretly sighing inside, no matter how chaotic her heart felt right now, she had to admit and accept this reality.
“I’m fine,” Zuo Mei forced a smile, and said softly: “I won’t die, after today, we’re one family…”
“As long as jiejie is fine!” The older boy nodded forcefully, obviously agitated, a smile slowly crept up from the sides of his lips, revealing clean white teeth.
Zuo Mei thought that he was good looking when he laughed so unreservedly.
“Jiejie! Jiejie!” Fangqing rushed into her embrace again, sobbing and coquettishly saying: “Jiejie won’t die, jiejie spoils me the most! I don’t wantjiejie to die…”
Zuo Mei smiled slightly, and could not help but hug her back hard.
Right now, she could only take things step by step. These three siblings were all so young, from their behaviour, it was clear that they loved this older sister dearly, it probably would not be hard to let them explain things, without revealing any cracks- at this young age, how would they know about reincarnation?
However--
Since she had no pains or illnesses, no scars on her neck, no visible wounds on her body, why were these three little guys crying and clamouring for her not to die?
“Just now-- what happened to me?” Zuo Mei asked with a smile.
“That fat woman from the Hua family came to our yard and started shouting and scolding us ouside, after jiejie listened to it, jiejie collapsed on the ground, and, and then you stopped breathing!” Fangqing spoke quickly.
“The Hua family?” Zuo Mei froze slightly.
“Fangqing!” The older boy softly admonished his little sister, then turned to Zuo Mei with a puzzled look: “Doesn’t jiejie remember the Huas?”
Zuo Mei rubbed her temples and smiled wryly: “I don’t know what happened either, after waking up, my mind is a little, a little messed up, a lot of things aren’t very clear now…”
The older boy nodded with a look of sudden understanding, he was not even the slightest bit suspicious, and without needing Zuo Mei to ask, he then said: “Half a year ago, after our father and mother pa.s.sed away in a flash flood after going up to the mountains, jiejie’s fiance’s family, the Yangs, kept wanting to cancel the engagement, but jiejie--”
The boy glanced awkwardly at Zuo Mei.
It was obvious that the previous Zuo Mei had been adamantly against this.
Yet it was not possible to fault her, her family was poor, without parents, and there were even three young siblings, with this kind of family background, once the engagement was cancelled, how would any other family be willing to let her marry in?
She smiled and nodded understandingly, then asked: “What happened after that?”
Upon seeing that she had really completely let go of her previous grievances, the older boy’s spirit picked up, and he hurriedly continued: “The Yangs couldn’t cancel the engagement, but they were looking favourably upon one of the maidens in our village, so they told the Hua family, to let them find a way to make jiejie cancel the engagement. Then that old woman let her family’s eldest daughter-in-law Madam Liu shout and scold at our door from time to time, jiejie was incensed by her words that jiejie fainted… at least jiejie is fine now! Otherwise, I’ll pit my life against that Madam Liu!”
So that’s what happened!
Zuo Mei secretly sighed in her heart, your sister didn’t faint from anger, she actually died from her anger!
This lady was way too easily agitated!
A sharp voice came from outside the door, Zuo Mei couldn’t help but p.r.i.c.k up her ears and listen--