Shen Qingyue and Shen Er’ya walked over to the spot beside Lin Xier.
They had planned to set up their stall quietly.
Who would have thought Feng Shuanzi would suddenly shout at Lin Xier and her father,“Can’t you see our boss is setting up here? Move a little to the left! If you squeeze into our boss’s space, you won’t like the consequences!”
Zhang Tieshi even raised his fist in threat.“Know what’s good for you—otherwise these fists will teach you!”
Shen Qingyue rubbed her temples and sternly warned them,“Both of you, behave yourselves. Don’t bully people!”
Only then did the two lackeys obediently step aside.
Feeling embarrassed, Shen Qingyue stepped forward and apologized to Lin Xier and her father.“Sorry—my two brothers have a bit of a temper. You don’t need to move. Just keep doing business.”
Faced with Shen Qingyue’s apology, Lin Xier instinctively frowned, inwardly astonished.
Shen Qingyue was a notorious local bully.
He had an uncle-in-law who worked as a constable at the county office.
Used to throwing his weight around.
Even when he was in the wrong, he never apologized.
Did the sun rise in the west today?
Compared to the him from her previous life… he seemed a little different.
No—at this point in time, Shen Qingyue should have smashed his head and died. Why was he still alive?
Lin Xier had been reborn.
In her previous life, she had stolen her cousin Lin Zhaozhao’s fiancé. Only after marriage did she learn he was blindly filial, allowing his mother to torment her. Her health collapsed early, and she died before thirty.
Meanwhile, her cousin Lin Zhaozhao had turned out to be a princess lost among the common folk!
In the end, she was recognized by the crown prince and lived in luxury and honor.
Both were human—so why did some people have such good fate, while others suffered so bitterly?
Given a second chance at life, she would change everything!
In this life, she seized the initiative, tricked Lin Zhaozhao out of her identity jade pendant, let it bind to her with blood, and obtained a spiritual spring space.
In a little over a month, the crown prince would come under the pretense of disaster relief to search for his long-lost sister.
When that time came, she would take Lin Zhaozhao’s place and become a noble princess!
Lin Xier had thought everything was under control—until she suddenly realized that someone who should have died in her last life was inexplicably still alive.
Something was very wrong.
Could it be that Shen Qingyue had also been reborn?
Uneasy, Lin Xier tested him jokingly,“Brother Goudan, you look full of vitality today—almost like you’ve been reborn.”
As she spoke, she stared hard at Shen Qingyue’s face, trying to read the tiniest changes in his expression.
If Shen Qingyue had truly been reborn, he would definitely be sensitive to the word “reborn,” and his expression would shift.
Shen Qingyue felt that Lin Xier was acting oddly and replied casually,“Oh, I’m doing okay.”
Lin Xier couldn’t read anything from his face and unwillingly continued probing,“Even your skin seems renewed—better than a young lady’s.”
Shen Qingyue raised a hand and touched his own face.“Is that so? You flatter me.”
Farm folk spent their days under the sun; regardless of gender, most had dark complexions. The original owner’s skin had only been slightly fairer than average.
Lin Xier’s words were exaggerated, and she had mentioned “reborn” twice—far too deliberately.
Shen Qingyue couldn’t help thinking: this Lin Xier was very different from the one in the original owner’s memories. Could she have been reborn too?
If transmigration existed, rebirth wasn’t impossible.
As long as she meant him no harm, it didn’t matter whether she’d been reborn or transmigrated.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Qingyue decided to test her instead.“Miss Lin Second keeps staring at me—could it be you fancy me?”
A flash of contempt crossed Lin Xier’s eyes. A good-for-nothing bully like him wasn’t even worthy of tying her shoes—who would like someone like that?
She remembered everything from her previous life clearly.
Shen Dabiao was addicted to gambling, lost the family house and fields, and ended up a beggar.
Constable Zhang, because he interfered in the Shen family’s affairs, was reported for abusing public office and dismissed.
Shen Er’ya was deceived both in body and heart by Scholar Wang and drowned herself by jumping into a river.
Liu Cuihua died of anger.
Not a single member of the Shen family met a good end.
Even if Shen Qingyue survived by luck, he couldn’t change the Shen family’s tragic fate.
Lin Xier didn’t want to get tangled up with unlucky people and hurriedly distanced herself.“Brother Goudan, don’t misunderstand. I already have someone I like. Our cabbages are almost sold out anyway—we’ll give the stall to you. We’re leaving.”
With that, father and daughter hurriedly pushed their handcart away, afraid Shen Qingyue might cling to them.
With the spot cleared, Shen Qingyue waved for Shen Er’ya to come over and set up the stall.
She stood there for quite a while, yet not a single embroidered item was sold.
Shen Er’ya’s embroidery was decent—delicate and pretty—certainly not something no one would want.
Shen Qingyue’s gaze swept over Feng Shuanzi and Zhang Tieshi.
With three hooligans standing here, it would be strange if anything sold.
She instructed Shen Er’ya,“Er’ya, you sell the embroidery here. I’ll go walk around the street.”
Worried that Shen Qingyue would go pick a fight, Shen Er’ya reminded her,“Brother, don’t cause trouble. Once I sell the embroidery, I’ll buy you a meat bun.”
Shen Qingyue hummed in response, and left with the two lackeys.
“Boss, let’s go find Wang Youcai! Last time he ganged up on us when we weren’t around—there’s no way I can swallow that!” Zhang Tieshi said angrily.
“If we don’t get our honor back, he’ll think our boss is easy to bully!” Feng Shuanzi chimed in.
Shen Qingyue fell silent in thought.
The family’s grain would only last three days.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was earning money to buy food and survive this famine year.
An idea suddenly struck her.
“Wang Youcai’s family does business, right? They’re pretty rich?”
Feng Shuanzi nodded.“The Wang family is the richest in Pingyang County. Wang Youcai is their only son.”
“Oh! I get it!” Feng Shuanzi suddenly exclaimed.“Boss, you’re planning to challenge him to a fight—and if you lose, make him pay up?”
Zhang Tieshi slapped his forehead hard.“Boss really is smart—why didn’t I think of that?”
Shen Qingyue was speechless. Everything in their minds led to fighting—these two needed serious re-education.
“Constant brawling—what kind of behavior is that? Makes us look uncultured.”
Feng Shuanzi pulled a bitter face.“Other than fighting, we don’t really have any other skills…”
“Boss, what should we do? We’ll listen to you.”
Shen Qingyue crooked her finger at them, signaling them to come closer.“Help me arrange a meeting with Wang Youcai. Leave the rest to me.”
Feng Shuanzi and Zhang Tieshi weren’t very sharp, but they were obedient.
Half an hour later, no one knew what methods the two had used, but they really did manage to lure Wang Youcai out.
Gathering Immortals Teahouse — Private Room No. 5.
Wang Youcai led four household guards and shoved the door open aggressively.“Shen Qingyue! You really won’t cry until you see the coffin! Last time’s fight was clearly you provoking me first—and now you still dare challenge me again?”
“Today I’m going to teach you a proper lesson and make you remember!”
Shen Qingyue completely dropped her usual tyrannical air and instead put on the manner of a courteous gentleman.
“Brother Wang, what are you saying? Ever since our last scuffle, I’ve admired you greatly.”
As she spoke, she warmly guided Wang Youcai to the seat of honor and even personally poured him a cup of tea.
“Right now, I have a business deal that guarantees profit with no loss. Other than Brother Wang, no one else is worthy of discussing it with me.”