After the lawyers left, the two of them returned to the rhythm of their previous life. The house was still filled with Zhao Qingye’s constant chatter, though Shi Meiqing’s responses grew fewer with each passing day.
Human life was always so short — like a shooting star, brilliant for only a fleeting moment.
On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Shi Meiqing’s beautiful eyes never opened again.
That strange bead vanished as well, giving Zhao Qingye the feeling of just as I thought.
That day, the girl who used to cry at everything didn’t shed a single tear. Overnight, she transformed from a crybaby into a strong warrior.
She calmly handled Shi Meiqing’s funeral arrangements, placed her ashes inside the villa where they had been living, and afterward settled permanently in that city, rarely leaving it again.
…
Shi Meiqing suddenly opened her eyes, confusion and shock filling them.
Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings before her, only one sentence came to mind:
Holy shit, Yonghe Temple really is terrifyingly magical.
And naturally, the next thought was:
Curly Hair’s sixth sense is absolutely insane.
She vigorously shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but doing so only made her feel even dizzier.
There was no time to think too much. First, she needed to assess her current situation.
This seemed to be the entrance of a small alley. Just a few steps away was a main road. It was still daytime, so there probably wasn’t any immediate danger.
The weather was neither hot nor cold. Judging from the clothes she was wearing and the temperature she felt on her skin, it was probably the transition period between spring and summer.
And if she wasn’t mistaken… this was probably somewhere in Northeast China.
Why did she think that?
Just listen.
“Aiya ma ya, that scared me half to death just now, those people…”
“Shh, shh, shh! You trying to get yourself killed? Hurry home already. Watch your mouth, alright? Otherwise I’m never coming out with you again. Move it.”
“Whaddya doing? Stop pulling me, I can walk myself!”
What a familiar accent. Whenever Curly Hair stopped deliberately suppressing it, she spoke with exactly this thick Northeastern dialect.
And naturally, after spending so much time together, Shi Meiqing had picked up a lot of it too.
The two of them had learned the accent from their college roommate back then. It really matched the saying: If there’s even one Northeasterner in your dorm, by graduation the entire dorm will sound like Northeasterners.
Ahem. Getting sidetracked again.
The two people at the alley entrance hurried away, giving Shi Meiqing the chance to organize the memories she had just absorbed while half-conscious.
She first walked cautiously to the alley entrance and secretly poked her head out to check the street. Seeing that nobody was paying attention to this tiny alley, she relaxed and returned to sit on the stone she’d been resting on earlier.
With her back toward the alley entrance, a small mirror suddenly appeared in her hand.
The moment she saw the mirror, Shi Meiqing broke into a huge grin — the kind with no sound, only bared teeth.
Holy crap.
The space really came with her. Curly Hair was a freaking genius. Thank goodness she’d listened to her and carried enough supplies.
She immediately looked into the mirror. Right now, what she cared about most was her appearance.
She was terrified of accidentally startling herself every time she looked in a mirror. After using the same face for twenty-six years, suddenly becoming someone else would be hard for anyone to accept.
Reflected in the mirror was the face of a bright-eyed young girl with white teeth. Her features were youthful and still carried traces of baby fat. Long bangs covered her eyes, hiding most of her beauty.
The mirror disappeared from her hand, and Shi Meiqing let out a long breath of relief.
Good. Good.
It was still her original face.
She just looked at least ten years younger now. And her complexion was excessively pale, almost bloodless.
Holy shit, I hit the jackpot.
If Curly Hair found out, she’d probably die of jealousy. Though it was a shame she hadn’t come along too.
Shi Meiqing greedily inhaled several deep breaths.
At the end, she had suffocated to death because she refused oxygen support.
In truth, oxygen had been useless for her anyway. Her body had already lost the ability to breathe properly. Sticking tubes into her would’ve only prolonged the suffering.
She wondered what expression she’d worn when she finally closed her eyes.
Hopefully she hadn’t turned all bluish-purple and ugly. Curly Hair had promised to hire the best makeup artist to do her final makeup. She wondered how it turned out. Was she still beautiful?
Still… the feeling of being able to breathe freely was indescribably wonderful.
She took another long breath. The sensation of oxygen flowing through her lungs felt absolutely incredible.
No, no.
Now wasn’t the time to think about that. She needed to sort through this body’s memories quickly.
This body had the exact same name as hers. Was that some kind of transmigration rule? Same name and same appearance as the basic setup?
This girl was only fifteen years old this year and would soon be taking the high school entrance exams.
At the thought of going back to school, Shi Meiqing frowned slightly. After finally graduating following sixteen years of studying, she never expected to end up returning to school again.
As for the girl’s family, it was remarkably simple. A family of five. She was the middle child, with an eighteen-year-old older brother named Shi Jingye and a thirteen-year-old younger brother named Shi Jingli.
Both parents worked at a paper mill. Her father, Shi Shengli, was currently the head of the mill’s business department. Her mother, Du Suian, was a team leader in Workshop One. Their family was considered a respectable cadre household.
The grandparents on the Shi side still lived in the countryside below the city and were genuine poor peasants. Shi Shengli also had an older brother and older sister.
The eldest uncle currently worked in the provincial capital and was one of the rare university graduates of the era. Back then, the entire Shi family had become famous because of him — a poor farmer’s son leaping through the dragon gate was no small thing.
The eldest aunt also worked in the city, apparently as the director of a neighborhood office.
It could be said that all three Shi siblings had become successful and escaped rural life for the city. Of course, the eldest uncle had helped tremendously in making that happen.
Getting sidetracked again.
As for why this young Shi Meiqing had appeared here today… honestly, the story was both laughable and tragic.
The girl had never been especially bright since childhood. Not because she was born that way, though. Supposedly when she was five, she fell out of a tree and hit her head. After waking up, she seemed slightly “off,” as people put it — basically a bit slow after the injury.
But she wasn’t truly stupid. Otherwise she couldn’t have attended school at all. She just seemed a little dull-witted and clumsy in everything she did. Academically, for example, barely passing exams counted as good grades for her.
The girl was honest and obedient, and also very pretty. But in this era, beauty wasn’t necessarily a good thing. So from childhood, her mother had always taught her to hide her appearance.
That was why she had those heavy, overly long bangs covering most of her face.
Today, her fountain pen had suddenly run out of ink. Since both her older brother and younger brother were out, she had gone alone to the supply cooperative to buy ink.
And unfortunately, she happened to run into a public denunciation and house-raiding session.
The shock scared her unconscious on the spot.