Chapter 2: A Gentle Breeze Like a Dream

“Fine—” The girl finally deigned to lower herself and admit the fact that she was indeed a bit childish. “But—I can change! For your sake, I’m willing to give up all my bad habits, including that childishness you dislike the most...”

The girl immediately tucked her neck back into her shoulders like a shrinking turtle. “Then what exactly are you talking about? You have to be clearer! If you don't explain it clearly, how am I supposed to understand?” The girl complained in a small voice, pouting her lips.

Min Kangping was already so angry that his limbs felt powerless and his forehead throbbed with pain.

“Brain, use your brain!” The man pointed his long fingers at the girl's head. “When I want you to grow up, I mean for you to grow in maturity, in wits, and in wisdom.”

What did "growing in maturity and wits" even mean? The girl couldn't understand it at all! Well, she might as well go drink some "Smarty-Pants Formula" then. But "growing in wisdom," she knew about that! “I scored ninety-eight on my nursing simulation exam in the medical department this time. I think my scholarship for this year is secured...” The girl incessantly told him that she wasn't lacking in wisdom!

In fact, as long as she was willing to work hard, she would surely be a genius.

“It’s useless,” he rejected her flatly.

“Why?” The girl cried out in anger.

“Because we have been dating for three years, and I have already waited for you for three years. In these three years, I have made countless efforts, trying to wait for you to grow up. But whenever you encounter a problem, you always act like an ostrich, thinking that if you bury your head in the sand, the problem will cease to exist. You always leave me hanging, ignoring the fact that I am already over thirty and have reached marriageable age...” The more he spoke, the more resentful he became.

After all, the girl was only nineteen, in the prime of her youth. How innocent or naive she chose to be was her freedom; he had no right to interfere or deprive her of it.

Because the one at fault was him. He shouldn't have listened to her fallacies in the first place, treating "age is not a problem, height is not a distance" as a dogma of love and believing it to be true, resolutely entering a relationship with her despite the opposition of all his bros.

He didn't even understand what he was doing himself. They had already said they would break up, so why was he so insistent on correcting the girl's innocent naivety?

“I didn't say I wasn't willing to marry you!” she immediately defended herself.

“But you have never grown up. How am I supposed to marry you?” This was the reason for his exasperation.

“I have grown up!” The girl innocently puffed out her chest immediately. Hmph! Her bust was a full 32D; wasn't that big enough?

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Here it goes again! Min Kangping roared back immediately.

“Let’s break up!” The man proposed once more.

This time, he gave her no chance to play coy. After dropping the words of the breakup, he left the girl's world.

This time, he did not look back. A missed opportunity is a lifetime. He would never know that at the very moment he turned to leave, the little girl he thought he loved was sent flying by an oncoming truck. This time, it was not a "see you later," but a final farewell.

***

**Otherworld Continent, First Awakening**

From the eighty-year-old elders to the three-year-old toddlers in the Prince Jin Estate, everyone knew that the Third Miss, Dongfang Wenqing, was a foolish young lady with weak intellect, low character, and little hope of achieving greatness.

From the moment she "waa-waa" entered this world through the womb, she didn't learn to walk upright until she was two, and didn't start learning to speak until she was three. Even at five, she still couldn't speak very clearly. In order to help this foolish lady learn to recognize characters as quickly as possible, her mother, the Duchess of Jin, had racked her brains in worry. She had hired the most famous female teacher in the city, Zhuge Wanqiu, to teach her, but after nearly two years of teaching, the girl still couldn't write her own name.

Later, even though this foolish lady was almost like a "brain-dead, mentally challenged, disabled" person, she actually liked reading. Every day, she would sit quietly in the garden pavilion accompanied by her maid, staring intently at a book, yet she wouldn't finish a single page even after an entire morning. If a maid were to ask her, "Third Miss, what is the content and plot of this book that you are reading so intently?" she would only lower her eyes and shake her head with a face full of confusion, "Wenqing doesn't know either."

Later, after her father married the Second Concubine, she was plotted against and sold off.

***

**Shifting Stars**

Today, the servants of the Lin Estate were all busy in a frenzy. Each was busy preparing clothes and valuables for their respective masters in preparation for the entire family's migration to the south. The head maid, Lin Alin, sat in the main hall directing the subordinates.

In truth, since the fall of the Lin family, the person most heartbroken was her. Because ever since she was sold into the Lin Estate at the age of six, she had treated this place as her own home. She had grown up by the side of the young masters and ladies, studying and learning characters alongside the masters, and the masters of each household had never treated her as a mere maid. Her status in the Lin family could be described as being below one person but above a hundred; in the Lin Estate, everything from scheduling and personnel to distributing the monthly allowances for each household was under her control...

But now that the Lin family had fallen, and the masters were going south to seek refuge with relatives, they naturally could not take the servants and slaves of the Lin Estate with them. Thus, this was the scene before her—Alin looked back at the Lin Estate.

The senior worker, Uncle Fu, was discussing the trip to the Jiangnan region with a laborer, while the woman in charge of the kitchen, Auntie Wang, was busy rushing in and out to prepare dry rations for the masters to eat on the road. The young girl Qiu Ju, with red-rimmed eyes, was helping the young master onto the carriage, as if this parting were a separation of life or a separation of death...

And all this noisy scene was about to vanish along with the masters' migration to the south. At the thought of this, even the usually strong Lin Alin could not help but have her eyes redden.

“Miss Alin—” A young maid came forward to call her, bowing respectfully to Alin. In the Lin family, Alin's status was different from servants like them.

The young maid told Alin, "The Mistress is looking for you."

“I understand.” Alin nodded and walked around to the back of the main house.

The Lin Estate was originally a wealthy household; the residence alone was a massive complex with seven successive courtyards. Judging by normal circumstances, at this hour, the Matriarch of the Lin Estate should be in the Buddhist hall.

Alin walked toward the Buddhist hall.

Not far from the hall, she heard the voice of the Old Ancestress chanting sutras. After Alin quietly entered, she did not dare disturb the Old Ancestress's morning practice, only kneeling silently to one side to wait for her master.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, seeing that the Old Ancestress had finished chanting, Alin hurriedly stood up to go forward and support her.