Zhu Zhu did not speak, simply standing there silently to express her wish.
Jing Wu frowned with some irritation but ultimately agreed: “Alright, I’ll take you. But it’s almost dawn now—I need to go back for breakfast first, then I’ll take you to find your mother.”
Zhu Zhu’s eyes instantly lit up, and she nodded.
Jing Wu took out the Cosmos Bag, formed a Hand Seal, and stored her inside. Immediately after, she performed another Hand Seal to return home. By the time she reached the attic, Ruan Chongyue was already up and busy in the kitchen making meat pies.
She had barely lain down to sleep when the savory aroma of the meat pies woke her.
Jing Wu sprang up like a carp leaping from water, quickly washed up, and went to the kitchen, gazing longingly at the meat pies.
“A Wu’s awake! Come try your Aunt’s cooking,” Shao Che said cheerfully from the side.
Seeing her up, Ruan Chongyue smiled and handed her a freshly cooked meat pie. “Be careful, it’s hot.”
“Thank you, Aunt.” Jing Wu took the pie, took a big bite, and let out a contented sigh.
So fragrant, so delicious.
After eating sweet potatoes for several days in a row, Jing Wu was utterly satisfied with the meat pie.
Shao Che stood beside her, munching on a pie and beaming as he said, “Your Aunt’s cooking is amazing, isn’t it? This meat pie is just too good.”
Jing Wu nodded while eating, her words muffled: “Aunt’s skills rival those of an imperial chef.”
Shao Chengyang had somehow walked up to the two of them, also holding a pie and munching away. “If Mother sells these meat pies together with Father at the stall, they’ll surely make a fortune. Raw sweet potatoes sell for three coins per jin, and meat pies for five coins each. If bought together, they could offer a discount of one coin—selling for seven coins total.”
Shao Che paused mid-bite and exchanged a glance with his wife.
This idea… actually wasn’t bad. Once this batch of sweet potatoes was sold, they’d have some capital to buy meat. It might be worth a try.
Hearing this, Jing Wu couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. Truly worthy of a destiny blessed with both health and wealth, born under a wealth star—even at seven or eight years old, he already had a business mind.
Thinking of this reminded her of Zhu Zhu in the Cosmos Bag. After quickly finishing her meat pie, she said to Shao Che, “Uncle, I’m going back to sleep for a bit.”
Shao Che was surprised—his niece had never been one for going back to sleep after waking up. But then he remembered her abilities and belatedly replied, “Alright, I’ll call you for lunch.”
Jing Wu nodded, went up to the attic, took the Cosmos Bag, formed a Hand Seal, and used Instant Teleportation to arrive at Zhu Zhu’s home in the neighboring village.
She released Zhu Zhu and transferred a bit of merit to her so she wouldn’t fear the sunlight.
The next moment, a white-haired woman walked out of the house, looking puzzled at the girl standing at the door.
“Who are you?”
Before Jing Wu could speak, Zhu Zhu immediately flew toward the woman, wanting to hug her, but passed right through her body. “Mother~”
Unfortunately, the woman could neither see nor hear her, her eyes fixed intently on Jing Wu.
“My name is Jing Wu. I’m a friend of Zhu Zhu’s.”
“Zhu Zhu? You’ve seen Zhu Zhu? Do you know where she is?” The woman immediately stepped forward, grabbing Jing Wu’s hand and asking anxiously, “That child… a few years ago, her grandmother took her to town, and we never saw her again. Her grandmother even fell and died on the road.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Jing Wu’s eyes. “She fell and died?”
Though puzzled by the question, Zhu Zhu’s mother nodded. “Yes, she fell and died on that mountain.”
Jing Wu looked towards that direction—it was the place where Zhu Zhu had been discovered last night.
She lowered her gaze to the girl beside her, quietly calculating with her fingers.
So that was it. Zhu Zhu’s grandmother had despised her for being a girl. After having a grandson, she had wanted to abandon her on the mountain. She had tricked Zhu Zhu into waiting for her there, but while descending the mountain herself, she had accidentally tripped and fallen to her death.
Zhu Zhu’s mother, having lost her daughter during her postpartum confinement, had to handle her mother-in-law’s funeral arrangements while caring for her newborn son. She soon fell ill. Tormented by thoughts of her daughter, she couldn’t sleep at night, and her once-black hair quickly turned completely white.
Jing Wu lifted her eyes to look at the woman before her and blinked. “Zhu Zhu is on that mountain, not far from where your mother-in-law fell to her death. When you found your mother-in-law, Zhu Zhu was still alive.”
“What did you say?” Zhu Zhu’s mother paled, stepping forward to grab her hand. “You said my daughter is there?”
“Yes.” Jing Wu tried to pull her hand back, but the woman held on too tightly, so she let her keep holding it. “After you gave birth to your son, your mother-in-law despised Zhu Zhu for being a girl. She planned to abandon her on the mountain on the way to town, leaving her to be devoured by wolves. And that’s exactly what she did. She told Zhu Zhu to wait for her on the mountain while she went down, but she never expected to fall to her death first. As for Zhu Zhu, after starving for three days on the mountain, she fainted and was devoured by wolves.”
“You… you’re lying!” Zhu Zhu’s mother couldn’t accept it, but her mind kept flashing back to her pregnancy, when her mother-in-law had repeatedly suggested giving her daughter away.
Her entire body trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. “You’re lying to me, aren’t you? Zhu Zhu must still be alive, right?”
Seeing her like this, Jing Wu felt pity but still shook her head.
Zhu Zhu’s mother collapsed to the ground, unable to hold back her sobs. “I thought Zhu Zhu had just gotten lost in town. Even if she was taken by traffickers, she might have been sold as a maidservant to a wealthy family, or at worst… to a brothel. At least she would have kept her life, which would have been better than being devoured by wild beasts and dying in such agony.”
“Zhu Zhu, Mother is sorry. I couldn’t protect you.”
Hearing this, Zhu Zhu had already floated over to embrace her, but as a ghost, her hands simply passed through the woman’s body.
Helpless, she could only gently brush her hand over the woman’s face.
Zhu Zhu’s mother felt a breeze caress her face and, as if sensing something, looked toward where her daughter was.
“Zhu Zhu, is that you?”
Still unable to bear it, Jing Wu made a hand gesture, causing Zhu Zhu to become visible.
“Say your goodbyes properly.”
With those words, she walked away in the other direction.
When Zhu Zhu’s mother saw her daughter appear, she rushed forward in tears, trying to hug her, but her hands passed through Zhu Zhu’s soul, making her cry even more uncontrollably.
“Zhu Zhu, Mother can’t touch you anymore.”
“Mother, don’t cry.” Zhu Zhu wore an innocent smile on her face, her small hand brushing over her mother’s cheek as if trying to wipe away her tears.
The woman could do nothing but weep endlessly. “Your grandmother deserved to die! How could she… how could she be so cruel to you? You were just a child!”
Zhu Zhu didn’t speak, only smiling. When she was dying, devoured by wild beasts, she had resented her grandmother. But now, knowing that her grandmother had met her end by falling to her death while descending the mountain, she felt less hatred.
“Mother, I promised Sister that once I saw you, I would go for reincarnation.”
Pearl’s mother was reluctant, she did not want her daughter to leave, but she also knew that the dead must enter the underworld and go through reincarnation.
“Pearl, go ahead. In your next life, be reborn into a wealthy family and live a life without worries of food or drink.”
Pearl’s eyes reddened, not wanting her mother to see her cry, so she turned her gaze to the young girl beside her.
Seeing this, Jing Wu placed her into the Cosmos Bag and was about to leave when the corner of her robe was tugged.
She turned around and saw the woman crying as she asked, “Will Pearl be reborn into a good life in her next life?”
Jing Wu answered truthfully, “She did no evil in her lifetime and was killed by someone close to her. After death, she did not turn into a malevolent ghost out of hatred. In principle, she should be reborn into a good family.”
“That’s good, that’s good.” The woman stumbled over to a nearby stool, muttering to herself.
Jing Wu sensed the merit entering her body and did not linger any longer, immediately forming Hand Seals to return home.