Chapter 10: She is an Evil Spirit

“The village chief is the village chief, after all; he’s truly cultured. This name is wonderful.”

Wang Cuilan walked away while offering praise, her aged face crinkling into a smile. “We have pigs to feed at home, so we’ll be heading off now.”

“Alright,” the old village chief said, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Useless thing, can’t you say a single nice word? Are you mute?”

As soon as Wang Cuilan was out of earshot, she slapped Zhou Zhaodi on the arm and scolded her viciously: “You spineless creature with no backbone of your own, you’re too slow to even catch a hot meal!”

Ever since she entered the courtyard, she hadn’t dared to lift her head. When the village chief’s wife spoke to her, she only managed a couple of responses before falling silent. She had no grasp of social graces at all. If it weren’t for the sake of Sanfu and her precious granddaughter, she would have chased Zhou Zhaodi away long ago.

“Mom…” Not daring to make a sound while being scolded, Zhou Zhaodi tightened her grip on Lin Xiangrong. “It won’t happen again, Mom…”

“Pah!” Wang Cuilan poked Zhou Zhaodi’s forehead with a rough finger, wishing she could poke her to death.

“Ah, ah…”

Hearing Zhou Zhaodi being scolded again—and fearing she might get depressed right after finishing her postpartum confinement—Lin Xiangrong, who was protective of her own, kicked her legs. A chubby, fair little hand reached out from the swaddling clothes and grabbed Wang Cuilan’s shirt.

[Grandma, stop scolding my mom. Let’s go back.]

Beside her, Zhou Zhaodi’s eyes turned slightly red as she heard her daughter defending her.

“Alright, alright, alright,” Wang Cuilan’s expression changed in a second. She held Lin Xiangrong as if she were a rare treasure. “I’ll listen to my precious granddaughter.”

Glaring at the submissive-looking Zhou Zhaodi and letting out a low huff, Wang Cuilan walked away with her head held high, like a victorious rooster.

The back-and-forth of naming the baby had taken some time, and Lin Xiangrong, feeling sleepy again, felt as if she had forgotten something.

Her little brain’s capacity was a bit lacking.

Lin Xiangrong forced herself to perk up and went over the plot again, but still couldn’t find where things had gone wrong.

Just as she was feeling as restless as if ants were crawling on her, she heard a voice: “Mengmeng, how much further do we have to walk?”

Mengmeng?!

Liu Meng?!

An inexplicable feeling surged in her heart, and in an instant, Lin Xiangrong remembered what she had forgotten.

A very subtle turning point.

It was when Liu Meng, the "lucky star," demanded that Liu Lao’er take her up the mountain to "pick" ginseng. She discovered the village secretary’s young grandson, who had been playing with friends but had accidentally rolled down a slope without anyone noticing.

Liu Lao’er, surprised, picked the ginseng and took the secretary’s grandson to the clinic for treatment, earning the gratitude of the secretary’s family.

Not long after, when a team from the town came to the village for an inspection, the village secretary acted as a bridge, introducing them to a future jewelry merchant. Liu Meng then "luckily" saved that jewelry merchant’s life.

The jewelry merchant was a man of great integrity.

He didn’t just help Liu Meng when she was being bullied by the male lead’s family or schemed against by the villain; he even helped Liu Meng successfully marry into the male lead’s family as his adopted daughter.

This was simply a walking "lucky star" cheat code.

Not only that, but he also contributed significantly to the development of Liu Meng’s family in the village and the town.

The reason the cannon-fodder female lead was schemed against by Liu Meng and ended up losing her virtue to a local hoodlum was entirely due to the jewelry merchant cleaning up the mess.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have succeeded so easily.

Lin Xiangrong, bleary-eyed, forced her eyes open to avoid falling asleep like a little pig. Her gaze drifted toward the approaching Liu Lao’er and the little girl in his arms.

The plot of the original novel kept surfacing in her mind. Thinking of the helplessness of the cannon-fodder female lead when she was forced by the hoodlum on the *kang*, a chill shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

She absolutely could not, would not, and must not end up like the cannon-fodder female lead!

“Dad?”

That is—the old Lin family?

She identified the faces of the Lin family members one by one from her memory.

The weather-beaten person in front should be Wang Cuilan, known for her sharp tongue and stinginess.

The one behind, looking like a punching bag, should be Zhou Zhaodi.

Then, the one held by Wang Cuilan in the navy blue cotton swaddling clothes must be Lin Xiangrong.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Liu Meng’s clear eyes.

Lin Xiangrong, who always went against her and snatched everything away like a mad dog—she wouldn’t let Lin Xiangrong have a good ending!

“Auntie Wang, Sister-in-law Zhou, did you just come from the village chief’s house?”

Liu Lao’er took the initiative to walk up and greet them. “Oh, is this your little girl? She’s truly bright and lovely. Look at those crystal-clear eyes; anyone who sees her would feel affection.”

[So annoying.]

Lin Xiangrong couldn’t help but curse silently. She had to close her eyes to avoid Liu Lao’er’s gaze, which felt like he was evaluating the value of goods.

But soon, a sharp, malicious gaze landed on her.

Lin Xiangrong opened her eyes again and met a pair of hostile eyes.

She saw Liu Meng, who was barely considered cute, pulling her chubby face into a twisted smile that failed to look friendly.

[Liu Meng’s smile looks like she’s performing in an opera; it’s too ugly.]

Lin Xiangrong couldn’t help but complain.

When Wang Cuilan heard this, her gaze shifted to Liu Meng’s face. She couldn’t hold back her laughter and asked Liu Lao’er, “What’s wrong with your second girl? This smile is too ugly—did she have a stroke?”

[Grandma, you’re amazing!]

That mouth of hers was divine!

Lin Xiangrong grinned, her grape-like eyes curving into crescents, and her "giggle-giggle" laughter was incredibly innocent.

But Liu Meng heard a hint of mockery in that laughter.

“Grandma Wang!”

Liu Meng was unhappy and pouted. “Why is the little sister an evil spirit?”

“You dead girl, who are you calling an evil spirit?!” Upon hearing this, Wang Cuilan exploded. “How could my precious granddaughter be an evil spirit?!”

This was a fairy sent by Guanyin, descended from heaven to experience life and repay a debt of gratitude, hmph!

Zhou Zhaodi suddenly looked up, about to say something, but seeing the dark, thin, and fierce-looking Liu Lao’er, she timidly swallowed her words.

With Mom here, nothing will happen.

“Mengmeng isn’t wrong,” Liu Meng buried her face in Liu Lao’er’s neck and shouted loudly, “There’s an evil spirit living inside the little sister’s body!”

Whoa, at this, the two or three villagers passing by immediately exploded with excitement.

An evil spirit?

You have to know, this was an era where the slogan "Labor is most glorious" was the standard. Although after the founding of the country, all talk of ghosts and gods was defined as feudal superstition and not allowed, as long as it didn’t cause big trouble or get caught, it usually wasn’t a major issue.

Especially the older people in the village; they were incredibly superstitious.

Once these words were out, the gossiping women nearby were like cats seeing a mouse, smelling the scent and quickly gathering around to watch the show.

“What evil spirit?”

“Oh, isn’t this Sister-in-law Wang?”

“What did the Liu family’s little lucky star say? Evil spirit? Where is the evil spirit?”

“The little sister held by Grandma Wang is an evil spirit,” Liu Meng said, hugging Liu Lao’er’s neck in fear. “Mengmeng is scared.”

What do you have to be scared of?

Who could be more sinister than you?

If she weren’t unable to speak right now, she would definitely spill all your dirty secrets and let everyone hear them.

“Ah, ah!”

Lin Xiangrong was so angry she cried out twice.

“Evil spirit your grandma’s head!” Wang Cuilan was so angry and anxious she cursed loudly. “If you can’t speak properly, don’t spout that nonsense that even the old monks in the ruined temple would despise.”

Wang Cuilan almost sprayed spit all over Liu Lao’er’s face. “Liu Lao’er, if you can’t handle her, let me teach her how to speak. See if I don’t whip her to death!”

“A dead money-losing girl dares to lean on my precious granddaughter? Do you have any shame!”

Hearing his daughter being scolded to pieces, Liu Lao’er said awkwardly, “Auntie Wang, you can’t say it like that. How does that saying go… children are innocent!”

“Liu Lao’er, that saying is ‘children’s words are innocent’!” A middle-aged woman slapped her thigh and laughed, her mouth wide open. “What ‘children are innocent’? You haven’t read a single book, have you!”

Liu Lao’er became even more embarrassed.