Chapter 40: A Great Opportunity to Curry Favor

Chapter 40: A Great Opportunity to Curry Favor

Even though Shen Meng was terrified inside, she couldn't afford to show cowardice at a time like this. After all, she had a little one clinging tightly to her leg; if she got scared and bolted, the child would surely be frightened out of his wits.

"It's nothing, Xiaokai. There are no ghosts in this world. Let's just pretend we didn't see anything and go home. We're almost there." She leaned down to scoop Lu Mingkai into her arms, suppressing the urge to run, and strode briskly toward home.

Lu Mingkai was young after all. Leaning against his mother's shoulder, he closed his eyes in fear, yet he couldn't resist peeking toward that direction. Suddenly, something moved over there, and he abruptly tightened his arms around Shen Meng's neck.

"Mom, that ghost moved! It really is a ghost, wahhh, Xiaokai is scared!"

Shen Meng was already terrified herself, and with Lu Mingkai's crying and wailing, her fear combined with heartache and suddenly surged into anger. Gritting her teeth, she turned around and walked toward the "ghost." She wanted to see exactly what kind of thing it was that dared to scare her adorable cub.

Seeing his mother walking toward the "ghost," Lu Mingkai felt a sudden sense of desolation. He felt as if his mother's soul had been snatched away. Mimicking a move he had seen an old lady perform nearby before, he reached out his small hand and pinched Shen Meng hard on her philtrum.

???

Shen Meng: "Hiss! Xiaokai, what are you doing? That hurts, Mom!"

"Mom, you just had your soul snatched! This isn't the way to our house, you're going the wrong way. Xiaokai saved you!"

Shen Meng: "..."

*Thank you, seriously!!!*

Shen Meng's half-face twitched painfully from the sting. She hadn't expected a child of this age to have such strength in his hands.

As the mother and son approached, they realized that the thing lying on the ground and occasionally twitching was actually a person. Shen Meng leaned closer to the person, but before she could identify who it was, Lu Mingkai slid down from her body.

"Mom, it's A-Man!"

"What?" Shen Meng's heart skipped a beat. She remembered a passage in the book where someone fell ill by the roadside and was encountered by the female protagonist, Zhou Jiaojiao, while she was going to the river to wash clothes in the morning. Zhou Jiaojiao had casually given that person a steamed bun she had hidden in her basket. Later, after returning home, that person recognized Zhou Jiaojiao in the capital and helped her out secretly many times.

Seeing someone approaching, the man named A-Man struggled desperately to get up. The early autumn weather was still a bit chilly at night, but it wasn't enough to make someone shiver uncontrollably.

Shen Meng made a decision. To be able to intercept a source of assistance for the female protagonist made her so happy she could practically dance. She reached out and placed her hand on the man's forehead; it was indeed burning hot.

"You have a fever. Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person, nor am I an aggressive person. I won't do anything to you. My husband is a soldier. It just so happens I have some medicine here; take it first."

Shen Meng pulled a fever reducer and an anti-inflammatory pill from her pocket and, without waiting for A-Man to say anything, stuffed them directly into his mouth.

As the bitter taste spread in his mouth, A-Man strained his neck, exerting great effort to swallow. His entire face wrinkled like an orange peel.

"I... thank you. I'll leave right now, right now."

With such a great opportunity to curry favor, how could Shen Meng possibly let it go? She hurriedly reached out to support A-Man. Seeing his mother helping A-Man, Lu Mingkai felt a surge of excitement and wanted to help too. He reached out to pick up the empty basket on the ground.

"Huh?" The little guy strained several times but couldn't lift it, so he couldn't help but want to lift the cloth on top to take a look.

Shen Meng was quick and snatched it away. "Look at you, child. I have things in here that I put there. How could you lift that? Haha."

After helping the man up, she took a shepherd's purse steamed bun from the basket. She had bought this during her time living in the countryside; it was made with tender shepherd's purse from spring and was quite expensive.

"You must be hungry. This is a steamed bun made with dried shepherd's purse from home. Have one." Shen Meng handed A-Man a still-warm steamed bun.

A-Man was currently a sixteen-year-old boy. He had been sent down to Lu Village with his grandfather six years ago.

He had fallen ill today because his grandfather was old and in poor health. He had gone up the mountain hoping to find some wild game to nourish him, but he hadn't found anything all day. By the afternoon, he felt dizzy and heavy-headed. He had gone to the river at night hoping to catch a fish, but he failed to catch anything and ended up falling ill. For a moment, he felt it would be better to just die; what was the point of living such a miserable life!

His whole body was trembling. He held the warm vegetable bun in his hand but didn't bring it to his mouth immediately. He recognized this woman; she was the only military family member in Lu Village. In the past, she used to look down on people through her nostrils, but word was that after being gored by a cow once, her brain had suddenly become much sharper.

He just hadn't expected that she would actually show him kindness.

"Eat. If you don't take care of your health, what will happen to your grandfather? He is so old; if something happens to you, it would be the death of him."

Thinking of his grandfather, A-Man's nose felt a bit sour. He didn't have time to think too much and quickly devoured the vegetable bun in his hand. Just as he was about to say something, a water flask was handed to him.

A-Man: "..."

How could someone go out in the middle of the night and be so well-prepared, with both food and water!

"Drink some water. Xiaokai and I were originally going to see Daqing's mother and happened to run into you. There is still some food in the basket; take it back for your grandfather. It's nothing valuable."

Lu Mingkai stood there with his mouth agape, looking from his mother to A-Man, and then at the basket. This had already exceeded the capacity of his little brain to process.

He strained on his tiptoes, trying to peek at the basket his mother was handing over. Why did it look different from what he had seen before? He was truly baffled. And what about his mother saying they were going to see Daqing's mother? Hadn't they just seen her?

Lu Mingkai suddenly pinched his own philtrum. He wondered if his soul had been snatched away?

"Ouch!"

"What's wrong, Mingkai? Don't be stingy. Your brother A-Man is hungry. We still have more at home; Mom will get some for you later. A-Man, hurry back while it's still dark. I'll have Mingyang and the other kids go play with you later, and they can bring the basket back. We're heading home now."

Without waiting for him to refuse, Shen Meng quickly scooped up Lu Mingkai and ran toward home.

Because of the fever, A-Man's reactions were a bit slow and his movements were sluggish. Under the dim moonlight, he lifted the cloth on the basket and saw that besides the vegetable buns, there were also two vegetable rolls that smelled like meat.

He hurriedly covered the cloth back up, grabbed the basket, and stumbled toward the cattle shed. He walked very quickly, fearing that if he were discovered, someone would snatch the items away. Even at night, there were militia patrols along the roadside; if he were caught, they certainly wouldn't let him off easily.

Shen Meng jogged all the way home. Before she even entered the courtyard, she heard Xie Jinghao's sharp, angry voice.

"Second Sister-in-law, you'd better leave quickly before the Eldest Sister-in-law gets home. Otherwise, when she arrives, things won't go well for you!"