“Anyway, we’re indoors. Even if it suddenly starts raining, it won’t affect us.”
Shang Hong withdrew her gaze and looked at Shen Meng.
“Whether you want to be reborn and go back to deal with that scumbag, or start over and live an ultimate life, I’ll support you either way!”
“I’m not interested in dealing with that scumbag. I’ve completely lost all hope in that world. But this so-called ultimate life does interest me. I want to see just how satisfying it can really be.”
The moment Shen Meng turned her head, a figure as exquisitely handsome as a comic-book character appeared reflected in the huge floor-to-ceiling window. His deep-set eyes glared coldly and viciously at Shang Hong.
“Shen Meng, you little wretch! The sun is already high in the sky, and the whole family is busy working. You’re the only one who dares to sleep in!”
A tall, burly woman dressed like a woman from an ancient village kicked open the two already-rickety wooden doors and stormed inside.
The woman’s furious shouting, combined with the sound of the door being kicked open, startled Shen Meng awake on the broken bed in the woodshed. She didn’t dare open her eyes. A nightmare she hadn’t experienced in years came rushing back.
Ever since Shen Meng was little, as far back as she could remember, Bai Jinxi had always barged into her room like this. As long as Shen Meng didn’t immediately get up and open her door when the alarm went off, Bai Jinxi would storm inside with a cold expression and harshly scold her.
Those nightmare-like memories flooded back into Shen Meng’s mind once again. Her body instinctively curled into a ball as she began to tremble.
Shang Hong, who had been watching from the side, felt a pang of heartache. She was just about to walk over and hug Shen Meng when the village woman beat her to it.
The woman roughly dragged Shen Meng to her feet.
“We’re out of firewood. Hurry up and go chop some in the back mountains! Otherwise, none of us will have anything to eat for lunch!”
Shen Meng was dragged toward the door like a rag doll.
Shang Hong’s face turned pale with anger. She snapped her fingers hard.
Everything in the world froze in place, leaving only Shen Meng, who lay trembling on the ground.
Shang Hong walked over and hugged her, gently patting her back as she lowered her voice.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. That’s another world now. I looked into what you went through in your previous world, so I know what you’re afraid of. I just didn’t realize that woman had left such a serious psychological scar on you.”
For some reason, hearing Shang Hong’s softened voice—despite its naturally rough and booming quality—unexpectedly helped Shen Meng calm down little by little.
Once she had regained her composure, Shen Meng immediately recovered her rationality. After all, she had been dealing with these emotional scars for more than a decade. She had plenty of experience by now.
“Actually, even I didn’t realize how deeply these things had affected me. I tried all kinds of methods. I even took courses in psychology and counseling. I thought I had already gotten rid of their influence and escaped those painful memories. I never expected that they had merely buried themselves deep inside me, following me like a shadow all this time.”
“Does that mean an unhappy childhood really takes a lifetime to heal?”
“Of course not. You just don’t know how strong you really are yet. Compared to you, these are only minor problems. Besides, during the upcoming missions in your ultimate life, those emotional wounds of yours will gradually heal as well.”
Shang Hong straightened Shen Meng’s hair and patted her on the shoulder.
“I believe in you. You’ll definitely find your old self again.”
“Speaking of this ultimate life…” Shen Meng looked around.
The room was dark and cramped, with only a tiny window. In fact, it could hardly even be called a window—it was simply an opening in the wall. Beside it were two battered wooden doors that looked as though they might collapse at any moment.
Half the room was empty. In the other half stood a simple little bed made from an old door panel laid across two long benches. A wooden box served as a bedside table. On top sat an oil lamp, a bamboo basket holding needles and thread, and a small bottle filled with several wildflowers.
Fortunately, everything was kept very clean and tidy.
Shen Meng lowered her head and looked at the clothes she was wearing. They were in an ancient style, but she couldn’t tell which dynasty they belonged to.
They were worn and covered in patches, but they had been washed very cleanly, and the patches had been sewn so neatly that the stitches were barely visible.
“This is what you call an ultimate life?”
Shen Meng looked at Shang Hong with an amused, skeptical expression.
“It’s all about starting from the bottom and rising to the top. You suffer at first, then turn the tables and slap everyone in the face later. That’s what makes it satisfying, isn’t it?” Shang Hong said.
“A short-drama trope.” Shen Meng understood immediately. “So how exactly am I supposed to turn things around and slap them in the face now?”
“Hit her back,” Shang Hong said. “In the Great Xia Kingdom, hitting someone isn’t against the law. Especially within a family. As long as you don’t beat someone to death, the government officials won’t interfere.”
“The Great Xia Kingdom?”
“This has nothing to do with the world you originally lived in. This is a country in another parallel space,” Shang Hong explained.
“Give me a quick introduction to the characters.”
Shen Meng glanced at the fierce-looking village woman inside the room.
“This is a small fishing village on the coast of the Great Xia Kingdom called Shen Family Village. There are fifty-four households in Shen Family Village, and most of them have the surname Shen. This family is also surnamed Shen. In this world, your name is Shen Meng too. You’re the only daughter of the family’s eldest son, Shen Fugui.”
“This fierce woman is Wang Cui’e. She’s the wife of the second son, Shen Fuyou. She’s also a notorious shrew in the village. Even Shen Fuyou is afraid of her.”
Shang Hong gave her a brief introduction.
Shen Meng walked around the frozen Wang Cui’e once.
“Hit her back? She’s about as tall as me, but she’s two and a half times as strong as I am. How am I supposed to fight her? I can’t beat her at all.”
“Since this is an ultimate life, of course you get to use a cheat!” Shang Hong said proudly. “You can choose between Herculean Strength and Lightning Speed. Pick one.”
“Strength or speed.” Shen Meng thought about it. “If I can only choose one, I’ll take strength. Having greater physical strength is a huge advantage in the countryside. Even the preference for sons over daughters is partly because men are stronger and supposedly better suited for farm work. In reality, though, women do a lot more of the farm work.”
“Good choice.”
Shang Hong took out a red, teardrop-shaped agate pendant threaded on a red cord and put it around Shen Meng’s neck.
“Hold the agate in your left hand and say, ‘Please grant me strength,’ three times in a loud voice. Then you’ll have divine strength. With one hand, you’ll be able to lift five hundred jin with ease.”
“Five hundred jin?”
Shen Meng found that a little exaggerated. She was half skeptical, but she still followed Shang Hong’s instructions. She gripped the agate with her left hand and said, “Please grant me strength.”
“Too quiet. Louder.”
Shang Hong pointed at herself.
“Repeat after me.”
She turned toward the door and shouted, “Please grant me strength!”
“What, is the stone hard of hearing?”
Shang Hong burst out laughing at Shen Meng’s remark.
“Just pretend it is.”
Shen Meng didn’t quite understand, but she did as instructed anyway, shouting, “Please grant me strength! Please grant me strength! Please grant me strength!”
Shang Hong bumped her shoulder against Shen Meng’s.
“How do you feel? Doesn’t shouting that out make you feel a lot better?”
“I’ll feel better after I hit someone.”
As soon as Shen Meng finished shouting, the red agate began flashing with white light. It flickered for more than ten seconds before finally stopping.
“That’s it…?” Shen Meng asked. “So I have the legendary power of the ancient gods now?”
Shang Hong nodded with a smile.
“You do.”
Shen Meng looked at her hands. Nothing seemed different.
She walked outside into the courtyard. A small household stone mill, the kind commonly found in rural villages, sat there.
“I don’t really have a sense of how heavy five hundred jin is, but this little stone mill definitely doesn’t weigh five hundred jin, right?”
Shen Meng tried lifting the edge of the stone mill with one hand.
To her surprise, she lifted one side of it effortlessly.
“It really works!”
Shen Meng put the stone mill down and lifted it again. She tried several times before finally believing it.
“Believe me now?”
Shang Hong stood beside her with her hands behind her back, smiling as she watched Shen Meng.
“I believed you from the beginning. If I can survive a car accident and travel between two completely different worlds, what else could I possibly have trouble believing?”