Zhao Hongmei's heart began to pound so violently that she could hear the dull thud of blood rushing beside her ears.
Could it be… Had Li Shuying also been reborn? The thought came so suddenly that Zhao Hongmei nearly stopped breathing.
If Li Shuying had truly returned then did she already know everything?
Did she already know that in the years to come, her father would rise step by step through the military ranks, eventually becoming a high-ranking officer in Beijing?
Was that why she had insisted on going to Baicheng?
And if Li Shuying remembered the future… then perhaps she also knew exactly how prosperous her life would become. She would one day marry into wealth and power.
At that thought, Zhao Hongmei's breathing became shallow.
Then another nameless fear rose in her chest. Did that mean she already know about that man?
For one brief second, everything around her seemed to go silent. Her face slowly paled.
No… That man should never belong to Li Shuying in this life. A sharp jealousy surged through her like poison as her mind recalled the image of the man she had once seen standing beside Li Shuying in her previous life.
Even now, she could remember him with painful clarity. He looked nothing like the rough-handed, crude and ugly village men she has married to.
He was tall and straight-backed, carrying himself with the restrained confidence of someone raised in discipline and authority. His shoulders were broad beneath a sharply tailored black Western-style suit, cut cleanly to fit his frame with precision. Every line of him appeared measured, meticulous, and impossibly refined.
Even standing still, he gave off the quiet pressure of someone born above ordinary people. Like those cadres and city officials one only heard of in newspapers from Beijing.
In Zhao Hongmei's memory, when he had walked beside Li Shuying, passersby had instinctively stepped aside. He had looked like a man carved from steel and order. A true city gentleman.
That memory had burned in Zhao Hongmei's chest still.
She had also heard whispers that his family held an extremely high position within the Party in Beijing, close enough to major political circles that their words could influence key decisions.
As for Li Shuying's future husband… He was no ordinary man either.
When the first great wave of reform and opening swept across the country in later years, he had seized the opportunity and with sharp instincts, he entered trade and built enormous wealth, becoming one of first rice buisnessmen.
Power, money and connections, a future most people in a poor mountain village could not even imagine. With all that knowledge, if Li Shuying had truly returned from the future, would she not desperately push every step, toward that same prosperous destiny? Dosen't that make Li Shuying's condescending attitude towards her very clear?
Zhao Hongmei's palms turned cold.
Just then a familiar cold mechanical voice rang sharply inside her mind.
[Ding… Host, stop overanalyzing. The probability of two individuals being reborn simultaneously is nearly impossible. Your rebirth was triggered by your overwhelming desire to alter your fate at the moment of death. That intense will activated a survival mechanism. I was bound to your consciousness at your final breath. Using all available energy, I brought you back to this point in time.]
Zhao Hongmei's breathing steadied slightly. But only slightly. She lowered her gaze so no one in the crowd would notice the flicker of panic in her eyes.
Then she asked inwardly, almost immediately, "Then how does Liu Zhenshen know so much? How could he predict the coming hardship with such certainty? Could someone have influenced him? Or has something else changed?"
She bit the inside of her cheek. For the past two weeks, unease had already been building in her chest like a dark cloud.
Too many things were going wrong. Li Shuying just weeks ago, had been soft-tempered, cautious, and painfully obedient to her.
Yet now? Everything had changed.
Even as the villagers slowly dispersed from the threshing ground, the unease in Zhao Hongmei's chest refused to settle.
Her gaze remained fixed on Li Shuying's retreating figure.
Her lips tightened, "Li Shuying's attitude…" she muttered inwardly, her thoughts turning sharp and suspicious. "It is too strange. Too sudden."
In her previous life, Li Shuying had never been like this.
She had been timid. She had always spoken softly, endured quietly, and trusted her far too easily. Now she no longer cowered, carrying herself with a faint, almost cold dignity, as though she had suddenly stopped fearing the world.
That change disturbed Zhao Hongmei more than she wanted to admit.
"In this world," she thought darkly, "when a crooked tree suddenly bends another way, either the wind has changed… or the roots have shifted."
At once, the cold mechanical voice of the system echoed again inside her mind.
[Ding… Host, I have already explained this. Li Shuying's changed attitude is directly related to how openly and repeatedly your family has mistreated her. In difficult years, who would willingly continue accepting such treatment? Even clay figurines have tempers, let alone living people. As for Liu Zhenshen's prediction regarding the coming hardship, that is your opportunity. You have been desperately trying to save yourself of hardships. Luck has already begun to influence your surroundings. The road has opened before you.]
Hearing this Zhao Hongmei froze and her eyes widened. A spark of realization flashed through them, "You mean…" she whispered inwardly, nearly breathless, "this happened because of my luck?"
The system gave no reply. But silence, to Zhao Hongmei, was already confirmation.
Her breathing quickened and thoughts immediately raced backward.
She had completed that mission not long ago and her Protogonist halo points from it were enough to trigger small amount of luck.
So perhaps… perhaps this was truly possible.
Village elders often judged weather by old experience. If her halo luck had nudged fate slightly, then perhaps someone like Liu Zhenshen had simply developed sharper intuition.
Yes, that had to be it.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became. A smug, sycophantic smile slowly spread across her face, "System," she said inwardly, her tone almost reverent, "you are right. My luck must have triggered all this. Otherwise how could everything suddenly change so smoothly?"
"And now," she thought, pulse rising with ambition, "I finally have a chance to save myself from hardship."
As her gaze swept across the villagers a disgust suddenly flashed through her eyes.
A cold snort escaped her, "But why must my luck also save all these peasants? Hmph. Let them live or die, what does it matter to me?" Then hatred sharpened inside her. "Especially Li Shuying's family."
Her fists clenched tightly at her sides. In her previous life also, that family had barely suffered during the famine.
While other households starved, Li Shuying's family had somehow escaped the worst of it. Li Jianhua had been admitted into Peking University and Li Guoqiang had somehow rescued the kidnapped son of a Provential government official. Because of that, he had been promoted swiftly and assigned housing through his military unit. Soon after, their whole family had moved away.
And now, even in this life they had somehow been spared once again.
To Zhao Hongmei, there could be only one explanation, "Heaven truly favors Li Shuying." A fierce bitterness climbed through her chest. "No… I will not allow that. In this life, I am the true protagonist."
She lifted her chin slightly, her thoughts cold and vicious. "those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish. I will not let Li Shuying thrive forever."
At that exact moment the system spoke again...
[Ding… New task unlocked. Mission Objective: Get along well with Li Fengying. Establish closer contact. Gain her trust. Become her close acquaintance. Reward: 10 Protagonist Halo Points.]
Zhao Hongmei's pupils contracted sharply. For a brief moment, she thought she had heard the system wrong, "Li… Fengying?"
Her lips parted slightly in disbelief. The name alone was enough to make her scalp tighten.
At once, an image surfaced in her mind of a young girl with fierce eyes, sharp brows, and a temper as wild as dry firewood catching flame. Li Fengying had always carried herself with the rough confidence of someone raised without fear. She was sharp-tongued, proud to the bone, and notoriously difficult to approach. She was not someone easy to befriend.
"Li Fengying is already here?" Shock flickered across her face.
Earlier that morning, she had overheard Zhang Xiuli mocking Chen Meilan about Wang Xiuying and her daughter, Li Fengying were returning.
But at that time she had thought they would only return during the Mid-Autumn Festival. That was still some weeks away. So why had they arrived early?
Her thoughts tangled immediately. And about the task? Li Fengying was Wang Xiuying's daughter. And that realization made Zhao Hongmei's expression freeze.
"My mother will never allow this." She nearly said the words aloud, then quickly swallowed them, speaking only in her mind. "If I get close to Wang Xiuying's daughter, my mother will skin me alive."
That was not exaggeration. Sun Guifeng's hatred in the village was legendary. If Chen Meilan was the woman she openly despised the most, then Wang Xiuying was not far behind.
No, perhaps even worse. With Chen Meilan, there was rivalry. With Wang Xiuying, there was hostility sharpened over years.
Sun Guifeng carried hers resentment towards Chen Meilan and Wang Xiuying like a knife tucked inside her sleeve. If she discovered Zhao Hongmei trying to befriend Li Fengying, she would erupt like thunder over dry fields.
Zhao Hongmei's fingers tightened nervously against her sleeves.
But then, protagonist Halo Points were also neseccary. She could not ignore that reward of ten points. Those points were precious. Every mission brought her closer to changing her fate.
And if she failed, the points she had painfully earned from Tang Yulan's task could also be deducted.
That possibility made her chest tighten, "No…" She muttered under her breath, "I cannot lose them."
Her thoughts churned violently, "What should I do?"
Then suddenly a possibility flashed through her mind. Perhaps she should first test her mother's reaction.
Tell her that Wang Xiuying was returning, and probe her thoughts. If her mother's anger was manageable, then Zhao Hongmei might slowly find excuses to approach Li Fengying.
The more she considered it, the more practical it seemed. Her eyes lit faintly, "Yes… That might work."
Without wasting another moment, she turned sharply and ran towards her house.
Li Shuying had still been quietly savoring the small victory of the day. She stood among several woman hearing their discussion. When a crisp sound suddenly rang inside her consciousness.
Li Shuying's brows furrowed at once. That sound had come from her system space.
Level completion? That was impossible. Just yesterday, when she had checked the control panel, the progress bar had still been far from completing Level Five. By her estimate, it should have taken another big sale. Then why had the system suddenly responded?
Suppressing her confusion, she quietly excused herself from the crowd, turned and quickly walked back towards her family courtyard.
When she reached home, the courtyard was empty as expected. Without delay, she entered her small room, pushed the wooden door shut behind her, and slid the latch into place.
Then, with practiced familiarity, she entered her system space. The next moment, she stood once again inside the control room.
Li Shuying immediately strode toward the main control panel and her breath caught. Floating above the screen was a treasure chest. It hovered quietly in midair, rotating in slow circles. Unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Li Shuying stared, "What is that…?" In her previous life, she had spent years playing this farm simulation game on her mobile phone for years. Yet this had never existed in that game.
She had already learned that the real-life Farm System was far more complex than the simple game she once played, but moments like this still caught her off guard.
Her gaze shifted downward. Beneath the floating chest, glowing text appeared. "Guardian's Gift Chest"
Her curiosity sharpened and she immediately tapped the instruction panel.
Words unfolded before her eyes. "The Host receives the Guardian's Gift Chest upon accumulating virtue, spreading kindness, and extending benevolence for the welfare of mankind."
Li Shuying blinked, "…Virtue?" Her lips parted slightly. A moment later, realization dawned, "So I received this… because of what happened today?"
Because she had helped alter the villagers gate and gave a chance to survive the coming hardship. A small smile slowly curved across her lips. Without hesitation, she opened the chest.
A flash of white light burst outward and Li Shuying instinctively narrowed her eyes. Something heavy suddenly dropped into her hands. When her vision adjusted, she lowered her gaze and stared. "A… water kettle?"
It was a white enamel kettle. Round-bodied, smooth and slightly glossy. Its curved metal handle felt cool beneath her fingers. At first glance, it looked ordinary, almost disappointingly so.
The exact kind sold in Supply and Marketing Cooperatives in Baicheng.
Its only striking feature was the delicate painted floral pattern winding around its enamel surface. It looked old-fashioned, yet strangely refined.
"That's it?" She gently shook it.
Slosh...
There was liquid inside, her eyes sharpened, is it some medicinal essence of some special fertilizer?
She immediately twisted open the lid and then peered inside. And was stunned to see water inside.
"…Just water?" Disbelief crossed her face, that made even less sense. The system had never been whimsical. Every reward after level completion had purpose.
She carefully lifted the kettle closer and smelled it. A fresh, crisp scent brushed against her senses like mountain spring water. She resealed the lid and examined the kettle more closely.
"What's wrong with system space? Giving me water as a reward?" She instinctively looked back toward the control panel, hoping for an explanation.
But the entire interface had already reset and everything had returned to normal. Only the standard level panel remained. Alongside the usual crop, inventory, and farm-space options, nothing more.
Li Shuying let out a quiet sigh, "Fine. I'll inspect it later."
She was just about to sit in the steel chair near the panel when...
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A hurried voice sounded from beyond her room, "Little Shuying! Are you inside? Come out quickly, we need to discuss something urgent!"
Li Shuying's expression shifted immediately, "Second Brother?"
Why did he sound so panicked? Without wasting another moment, she exited the system space and unlatched the door.
As soon as she opened it, she frowned. Li Jianguo stood outside with pale face.
Li Shuying's chest tightened, "Second Brother, what happened?"