Seeing that the wheelchair beneath him could actually be pulled apart when he went to the outhouse, and although his legs were missing below the knees, they were still strong enough to support him.
What followed were scenes unsuitable for children, so she stopped watching.
Using her Divine Sense to observe the courtyard, she saw him push the wheelchair out and go to the kitchen to fetch water himself.
Despite being over six feet tall, even sitting in the wheelchair he wasn’t short, and he could actually reach the water vat.
Seeing that he could fully take care of himself, Jiang Manman felt relieved. The man’s arms were very strong—he could support his entire body with just one arm.
As for time, it would likely be quite long.
Even where there were thresholds, he could lift both wheels with his arms and cross over.
When he entered the room and saw Jiang Manman teaching the two children to recognize characters, he was clearly surprised.
“They’ve already started learning characters at such a young age?”
“These two little ones are very clever. I teach them five characters every day, and they remember them all. They already know many characters now.”
Tang Xin looked curiously at this father, tilting her head as she asked,
“Why do you always sit in that chair?”
Tang Yuan turned and whispered in her ear,
“He’s our dad, you should call him Dad!”
“Oh, Dad, why do you always sit on the stool?”
Tang Yuan clearly wanted to know the answer too, his gaze fixed intently on Tang Changsheng.
Facing the two children, Tang Changsheng felt a mix of emotions, his heart softening. He glanced down at his legs.
He couldn’t help but feel insecure.
“Because Dad’s legs are broken, so I can only sit in a wheelchair.”
“Oh! Can you Get on the Kang?”
“Yes! Dad still has hands, see.”
As he spoke, Tang Changsheng pressed his hands against the edge of the kang, lifting his entire body up. With a twist of his palms, he swung himself onto the kang.
Dressed in army-green clothes, his pant legs hung empty. Once on the kang, the two little ones gathered around him, their eyes fixed on his empty pant legs.
They looked at his pant legs, then at each other, before turning their gaze back to his pant legs.
“Dad has no feet.”
Tang Xin looked at Tang Yuan beside her and whispered softly in his ear.
Tang Yuan nodded his little head, tilting it to whisper back in Tang Xin’s ear,
“Dad has no calves either.”
Jiang Manman thought about how Prosthetic limbs could be made in the past, but with current technology, it probably wasn’t possible.
“You can touch them if you want. Would you like to try?”
“Mom, can we?”
Seeing Jiang Manman nod, the two little ones stretched out their curious hands.
When they touched Tang Changsheng’s empty pant legs, their small mouths fell open in surprise, their expressions adorably cute.
“Dad, does it hurt?”
Hearing Tang Yuan’s question, Tang Changsheng shook his head.
“It doesn’t hurt. It’s been four years now; it stopped hurting long ago.”
“So Dad couldn’t come back to find you because of his broken legs, but your dad really loves you.”
Noticing him turn to look at her as he spoke, Jiang Manman nodded expressionlessly.
“Oh~”
Tang Xin blinked her big eyes.
“So that’s why Dad has to sit in that chair with wheels, like a car?”
“Yes!”
Receiving the affirmative answer, Tang Xin let out an amazed “oh,”
“That’s so magical!”
Seeing that the two little ones didn’t resist him, Tang Changsheng’s hands moved. He really wanted to touch them—their tiny, soft hands and their little faces made his heart melt completely.
“Are you learning characters?”
“Yeah, yeah, Mom just tested us and we both got it right. I answered correctly, and so did my brother. Dad, aren’t we amazing?”
When Tang Changsheng heard his daughter’s question, how could he say they weren’t amazing? His sword-like eyebrows raised, phoenix eyes curved, and a smile played on his lips as he nodded in praise.
“Amazing, both of you are amazing.”
At this point, he remembered to ask Jiang Manman,
“By the way, what are these two children’s names?”
“They’re homophones of their nicknames. Tang Yuan is ‘Tang Yuan,’ with the ‘Yuan’ from ‘yuanbao’ (gold ingot). Tang Xin is ‘Tang Xin,’ with the ‘Xin’ made of three gold characters.”
Tang Changsheng’s gaze grew even softer as he looked at Jiang Manman, speaking in a deeply affectionate tone,
“Thank you!”
“No need,”
Jiang Manman’s lips twitched slightly.
Tang Changsheng glanced at the book in her hand,
“Where have they gotten to in their studies? I’ll teach them with you!”
“Alright!”
She handed him the book, letting him spend more time with the two children while she watched from the side.
An hour passed, and the two children had grown slightly closer to him.
When it was time to sleep at night, Jiang Manman directly had him sleep at one end of the kang (heated brick bed), while she went to sleep at the other end, with the two children in the middle.
This was the first time since they arrived here that they were truly sleeping in this room.
Once the two little ones fell asleep, Jiang Manman wanted to enter her Dimension. Using her Divine Sense, she glanced at the person on the other side of the children and saw his gaze still lingering on the two little ones and herself.
Especially when she saw him looking at her with that deep, affectionate, yet guilty expression, Jiang Manman rolled her eyes and felt utterly uncomfortable.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I… I’m sorry. I came too late. Perhaps… I shouldn’t have appeared at all. But when I found out that you and the children were waiting for me, I really couldn’t control myself. I… I ended up coming after all.”
Jiang Manman took a deep breath, turned over, and sat up, looking at Tang Changsheng on the other end.
“You certainly owe Jiang Manman an apology, but not me—this Jiang Manman—rather, the Jiang Manman who has already passed away. Come with me!”
As she spoke, she brought him above a Sea of fire.
Just as Tang Changsheng looked astonished, she said,
“I am not the original Jiang Manman. Don’t direct your deep affection toward me anymore. If you want to know, look here.”
With that, she waved her hand over the Sea of fire, and a scene appeared.
It showed what happened between Jiang Manman and Wang Laicai before she crossed over:
A girl struggling desperately was knocked to the ground by Wang Laicai. After a slap, the woman’s head hit a rock, and she completely lost her breath.
Watching this scene, Tang Changsheng’s fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white, his hands trembling, and his breathing grew heavy.
Just as Tang Changsheng was about to speak, the girl lying on the ground with her eyes closed suddenly opened them again.
What followed was naturally her counterattack against Wang Laicai.
In just a few moves, she finished off Wang Laicai. As Wang Laicai died, the scene vanished.
Jiang Manman turned to him with an expressionless face and told him,
“As you saw, this scene is from Wang Laicai’s memories before he died. The one who acted afterward was me. In a way, you could say I’ve taken over your wife’s body through a form of reincarnation. So from now on, don’t look at me with that kind of gaze anymore. Since I’ve borrowed your wife’s body, I will also bear all the karmic consequences tied to her. Of course, another reason I’m good to the two children is that I intend to take them as my disciples.”
“No! I don’t know what kind of spirit or ghost you are, but if you want to lead them down those wicked ways, I’ll be the first to oppose it.”