Chapter 36: Chapter 36: You Can’t Take What Belongs to Others, and the Miserable Qian Caihua

Gu Qinghuan stared intently at Lin Xiaomeng, making her a bit uncomfortable before Gu Qinghuan finally looked away.

Lin Xiaomeng was the female lead in the novel, so of course she was beautiful—she and Gu Qinghuan each had their own charms. If Gu Qinghuan was like an elegant, gentle white magnolia, then Lin Xiaomeng was a lively, captivating peach blossom.

But Gu Qinghuan wasn’t looking at Lin Xiaomeng’s face.

She suddenly realized she could see a progress bar behind Lin Xiaomeng. The red bar showed that Lin Xiaomeng’s “fortune value” was already at 30%.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t know what it meant that she could see this, but she was sure it wasn’t a good thing. Once again, she reminded herself to stay far away from Lin Xiaomeng.

Lin Xiaomeng had come to the countryside early, married Xu Huaizhi for several years, and even had a five-year-old child. So, even though they were both educated youths, they weren’t actually close.

But now that they were sisters-in-law, it was only polite to greet each other.

“Qinghuan, how’s your mother’s injury? We’re both educated youths from Beijing, and now we’re even sisters-in-law—such a coincidence! We should keep in touch more often,” Lin Xiaomeng said, looking genuinely concerned.

Having been reborn, the biggest variable Lin Xiaomeng encountered was this woman, who should have been long dead. So, she felt a bit wary of Gu Qinghuan.

Especially after Gu Qinghuan suddenly got clever and used Xu Huaizhi to ask the old lady for food, Lin Xiaomeng felt uneasy, afraid her rebirth would be exposed.

But she didn’t dare act rashly or test her, so she could only put on a front for now.

“No need to trouble yourself, sister-in-law. We’re not the same kind of people. Let’s just keep to our own paths from now on,” Gu Qinghuan said coldly, just like the original owner would have.

She had no intention of getting involved with the female lead—not even a little. That would only bring misfortune.

Lin Xiaomeng was momentarily speechless, not expecting her warm greeting to be met with such a cold shoulder.

But this was in line with Gu Qinghuan’s usual behavior—she’d always been a loner, didn’t like to talk, and had no friends.

It seemed she’d been overthinking things before. Gu Qinghuan was still the same as ever—she’d just been lucky enough to survive a disaster.

Lin Xiaomeng finally felt relieved.

Now, even though they were sisters-in-law in name, she herself was the favored daughter-in-law of the Xu family’s eldest son and had given birth to the family’s eldest grandson. Gu Qinghuan, on the other hand, was just the wife of a crazy, abandoned son—naturally beneath her. They wouldn’t have much to do with each other in the future.

If anything, it would be Gu Qinghuan coming to beg her for help. There was really no need for further contact.

All these thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant.

Lin Xiaomeng’s face turned cold as she snapped, “Kindness is wasted on the ungrateful. Just forget what I said earlier. I hope you can keep up this backbone of yours.”

With that, she turned and headed down the mountain with her empty basket.

Gu Qinghuan glanced back at her meaningfully.

According to the novel, by this point Lin Xiaomeng should have already discovered her “fortune space,” absorbed the fortune of a local troublemaker, and then come up the mountain to try her luck—where she’d find a century-old wild ginseng.

That woman’s fortune space was truly sinister. It was best to keep a clear boundary with her. Gu Qinghuan figured Lin Xiaomeng wouldn’t try to get close again.

As for the Xu family, Gu Qinghuan would use them if she could, and keep her distance if she couldn’t. After all, they’d already been cast out to fend for themselves.

Oh, and she needed to remind her two children to be especially wary of Lin Xiaomeng and her son, Xu Jincheng.

When she returned to where they were picking schisandra berries, the two kids had already picked all the ones within reach and were sitting on the ground resting.

“Mom, you’re back! We finished picking all the low ones, just can’t reach the higher ones.”

“Good job. Here, have some water to cool off.” She handed over the canteen.

The two kids gulped down the water, feeling much better afterward.

Gu Qinghuan pulled a few White Rabbit candies from her pocket, held them tight in her fist, and teased, “Guess what treat I brought for you?”

Little Beibei immediately piped up, “White Rabbit candy!”

If Mom could hold it in her hand, it had to be candy.

Gu Qinghuan opened her palm, revealing a few White Rabbits.

“That’s right! You get a reward.”

The two kids happily took the candies and split them up, one for each.

Gu Qinghuan took the opportunity to give them a little lesson.

“If you ever want something—whether it’s food or anything else—as long as it’s reasonable, Mom will get it for you. But there’s one thing I want you to remember.” She looked at them seriously.

The kids immediately forgot about the candy, listening nervously to her words.

“That is: you must never take things from others. No matter what it is, even a bowl of water—don’t accept it, especially from the people at the old house. Be extra careful with them. Of course, if I’m there and I say it’s okay, then it’s fine. But if I’m not there, you must never eat or drink anything from others. Remember: you have to be on guard against people. If someone’s being overly nice for no reason, they probably have an ulterior motive. Better safe than sorry.”

Dabao nodded earnestly to show he understood.

Beibei didn’t really get why Mom wouldn’t let her take things from others, but she obediently nodded along.

Dabao had been through a lot and already knew there was no such thing as a free lunch, so Gu Qinghuan wasn’t worried about him.

Her biggest concern was Beibei—she seemed like the type who could be lured away with a piece of candy.

“Dabao, you must watch your sister closely. Don’t let her eat anything from anyone else.”

“Mom, I’ll definitely keep an eye on her,” Dabao promised seriously.

Gu Qinghuan felt a bit more at ease.

“All right, you can eat your candy now.”

Gu Qinghuan picked the schisandra berries from the higher branches, secretly transferring half of them into her space as she went, until she’d filled a large sack—half inside her space, half outside.

As she was packing up, an unfriendly voice interrupted.

“Huai’an’s wife, is your family so poor you’re planning to cook these red berries as your staple food?”

Qian Caihua was passing by with a bundle of firewood on her back. Seeing the family picking and packing the red berries, she stopped to watch the show.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t like gossipy busybodies and didn’t even spare her a glance, just kept working.

“Aunt Caihua, do you live by the sea? Why are you so nosy? You’d be better off worrying about yourself!”

Qian Caihua’s days were about to get rough. In the novel, Lin Xiaomeng’s second target was Qian Caihua.

Who told her to have such a foul mouth, always spreading rumors and gossip—she’d even accused Lin Xiaomeng of cheating on Xu Huaizhi.

Granted, in her previous life, Lin Xiaomeng really had abandoned her husband and child for a chance to return to Beijing, and even hooked up with a male educated youth from the neighboring village.

But this time, she didn’t want to do that!

So Qian Caihua became a thorn in her side, someone she had to get rid of.

She didn’t even spare Qian Caihua’s family.

After losing her fortune, Qian Caihua became so unlucky she’d choke on water, and her bad luck rubbed off on her family. Her husband died young, her son got shot for profiteering, and her youngest daughter married a violent divorcé—she’d come home crying every time. After one blow after another, Qian Caihua couldn’t take it anymore and ended up taking her own life.

Everyone has their own way of living. No matter what, they didn’t deserve to die.

The ridiculous thing was, from the perspective of the novel’s female lead, she was “ridding the world of evil.”

Gu Qinghuan couldn’t understand it, nor could she agree. How was that any different from being an executioner?"