Chapter 1
“Sheng’er, now that you’re heading to the city, you must take care of yourself. That Old Charlatan made me promise to look after you before he passed. If you ever run out of money, call your aunt. Don’t let yourself suffer.”
At the high-speed rail station, Fang Juan held Xia Sheng’s hand, her face full of reluctance.
Xia Sheng was a child picked up by the Old Charlatan who lived on the mountain west of Peach Blossom Village. The old man and the girl often helped the villagers with good deeds, building up goodwill.
A month ago, the Old Charlatan passed away, and Xia Sheng’s parents happened to receive news of her whereabouts from the police.
Today was the day Xia Sheng would return home.
However, the Xia Family clearly wasn’t very concerned about the daughter who had been missing for over a decade. They had found Xia Sheng a month ago, but no one came to pick her up.
It wasn’t until today that the Xia Family bought her a train ticket, letting her travel alone by high-speed rail, and only planned to pick her up at the station.
Just seeing the Xia Family’s attitude, Fang Juan felt Xia Sheng would probably have a hard time there. She’d been worrying so much these past few days that she couldn’t sleep, afraid the girl would be bullied in the city.
Xia Sheng’s delicate, beautiful face showed little emotion. She said calmly, “Don’t worry, Aunt Fang. With my skills, I can always find a way to make a living anywhere.”
Fang Juan laughed, “Oh, come on. You just love all that superstitious stuff. Maybe the old folks in our village believe it, but city people aren’t so easy to fool.
“When you’re in the city, don’t go around handing out Talisman Papers or reading people’s feng shui like you did in the village. If the police catch you, don’t come crying.”
Xia Sheng smiled and didn’t explain. She pulled out a Protective Talisman from her small cloth bag and handed it to Fang Juan. “Aunt Fang, take this. It’ll keep you safe on your way home.”
“There you go again, with your old habits.”
Fang Juan didn’t believe in such things and grumbled, but she still took it and stuffed it into her pocket.
Xia Sheng reminded her, “Make sure you keep this Talisman Paper with you on your way back. Don’t throw it away.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll do as you say.” Fang Juan’s tone was helpless but doting. “Go through security now, don’t miss your train.”
Xia Sheng nodded, slung her faded hiking backpack over her shoulder, and turned to leave.
After watching her go, Fang Juan went to the hospital to buy medicine for her husband, then took the rural bus back to the village.
As the bus drove through the mountain roads, a sudden thunderous roar came from above.
Someone inside screamed, “It’s a landslide! Huge rocks are falling!”
Instantly, screams erupted throughout the bus, piercing the ears.
Fang Juan was terrified, and vaguely felt something in her pocket heating up.
The next moment, the dust and boulders about to crash onto the bus seemed to freeze, as if someone had pressed the pause button-everything stopped.
Everyone stared in shock at the bizarre scene. The driver immediately floored the accelerator and sped away.
Someone tried to record the moment on their phone, but found their phone wouldn’t turn on, and even their power banks were dead.
In that space, only the bus was still working.
Not until the bus left the danger zone did the landslide behind them seem to resume, roaring as it swallowed dozens of meters of road.
Fang Juan was left in shock, unable to recover for a long time.
Suddenly remembering something, she quickly pulled out the Protective Talisman Xia Sheng had given her before leaving.
She saw that the Talisman Paper had already burned to ashes, its original form unrecognizable.
……
“Chuan-ge, didn’t that Xia Family girl say she’d arrive at noon? Why isn’t she here yet?”
“How should I know? I was about to get engaged to Zhiruo, and now this country bumpkin has ruined everything!”
Zhou Yichuan shot an annoyed look at his friend, his heart full of irritation.
The Xia Family and the Zhou Family had a childhood engagement. After the eldest daughter of the Xia Family went missing, the engagement fell to the second daughter, Xia Zhiruo.
Xia Zhiruo was a lovely child, and as she grew up, she became even more beautiful. Zhou Yichuan had had his eyes on her for a long time, wishing he could just drag her into bed.
But since the elders from both families had made it absolutely clear that he wasn’t allowed to touch the girl before marriage, Zhou Yichuan had been forcing himself to hold back.
Now that the eldest daughter of the Xia Family has been found, according to the original engagement, it naturally falls to her to be engaged to him.
He’d been longing for Xia Zhiruo for seven years – from fifteen to twenty-two. Just as he was about to finally have her, Xia Sheng popped up out of nowhere. How could he not be angry?
His friend tried to comfort him, “Haven’t you ever met the eldest daughter of the Xia Family? Maybe she’s actually a beauty.”
Zhou Yichuan scoffed. “I haven’t met her, but I’ve seen her photo! Do you know what she looks like?”
His friend shook his head, and Zhou Yichuan’s expression grew even more mocking. “She was out in the rice fields, helping those peasants plow the land, covered in mud from head to toe – so filthy you couldn’t even see her face.
“With that kind of living environment, who’s going to believe she’s fair-skinned and beautiful?
“A woman like that, her skin’s probably dark as hell, and I bet she has calluses a few centimeters thick on her hands!”
At that, his friend pictured it and felt a little disgusted. “Man, you really got the short end of the stick. You could have married a beauty like Zhiruo, and now you’ve hit rock bottom.
“By the way, if you never saw her face clearly, how are you going to pick her up?”
Zhou Yichuan replied, “Her parents already gave her my photo and phone number. She’ll naturally come find me when she sees me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone walked past them.
His friend caught sight of the woman’s face and was stunned, quickly tugging at Zhou Yichuan’s hand. “Look, there’s a beauty!”
“Other than Zhiruo, what beauty could possibly catch my eye…”
Zhou Yichuan’s scornful tone vanished the moment he saw the woman’s face, replaced by astonishment.
The woman carried a huge hiking backpack and wore only a simple T-shirt and denim shorts, but her plain clothing couldn’t hide her outstanding features and bone structure – she stood out in the crowd at a glance.
His friend noticed Zhou Yichuan was also transfixed and nudged him in the waist, teasing, “What’s up? Didn’t you say only Zhiruo was the most beautiful?”
“Fuck off.” Zhou Yichuan shoved his friend but couldn’t help sneaking another look at the woman.
You had to admit, even in the entertainment industry, that woman’s looks would be exceptional, almost flawless from any angle.
It wasn’t until her figure disappeared from view that the two finally looked away.
His friend urged, “Why don’t you call your fiancée? The high-speed train’s been here for a while – why hasn’t she come out yet?”
Zhou Yichuan nodded and took out his phone to call her.
When the call connected, he said impatiently, “Where are you? I’ve been waiting for you at the exit for over ten minutes!”
On the other end, the woman’s voice was completely emotionless: “I’ve already left the station.”
That made Zhou Yichuan instantly furious. “I’ve been waiting for you at the exit for over ten minutes and you just left without saying a word? What’s that supposed to mean?”
The woman on the other end apparently couldn’t be bothered to answer and simply hung up.
Hearing the beeping, Zhou Yichuan cursed, “Typical country girl, no manners at all!”
After cursing, he called again, only to discover he’d been blocked.
Zhou Yichuan’s face turned grim and he ground his teeth. “Ill-mannered brat, I’ll remember what happened today!”