Chapter 50: Chapter 50: The Qian Caihua Crisis Is Resolved, and Persimmons Save the Day

Gu Qinghuan didn’t have time to wonder what was happening—she was choking.

Seeing this, Qian Caihua quickly punched her in the stomach.

Bleegh…

After a fit of violent coughing, the piece of persimmon stuck in her throat finally came out.

“Eat slower! No one’s fighting you for it!” Qian Caihua said, munching on a persimmon herself.

Gu Qinghuan shot her a meaningful look—wasn’t the person fighting for persimmons sitting right next to her?

If she wasn’t mistaken, when Qian Caihua helped her just now, she’d also sneakily swiped another persimmon from her pocket.

Multitasking—what a skill.

But it was strange: the luck that had been drained from her had somehow returned.

She hadn’t done anything except eat a persimmon just now.

Persimmons? That’s it—it must be the persimmons!

These persimmons had been watered with spiritual spring water. Eating them was just like drinking the spring water itself.

In a flash, Gu Qinghuan remembered the words carved on the big stone: “Demon-Banishing Spiritual Spring.”

Suddenly, everything made sense.

Could it be that the spring water had treated the luck Qian Caihua drank from Lin Xiaomeng as evil and expelled it?

Otherwise, why would there have been that black smoke?

That had to be it!

But it seemed like no one else could see the black smoke—everyone nearby acted as if nothing had happened. Apparently, only she could see it.

After eating two persimmons, Qian Caihua’s luck value had recovered by eight percent.

Gu Qinghuan generously picked up the last persimmon and handed it over. “Here, you have it!”

After that choking scare, she’d developed a bit of a trauma around persimmons.

Even Qian Caihua, thick-skinned as she was, felt a little embarrassed. She’d just swiped one, and now Gu Qinghuan was giving her the last one too. What a good comrade—she should probably stop gossiping about her in the future.

“You’re really kind-hearted, Huai’an’s wife. Did you buy these persimmons from outside? They’re so tasty and refreshing—way better than the wild ones in the mountains.” Qian Caihua happily took the persimmon and crunched into it.

Gu Qinghuan nodded.

Qian Caihua really was a chatterbox who loved to take advantage of small things—no wonder Lin Xiaomeng had targeted her.

Watching the luck value behind Qian Caihua return to its original ten percent, then slowly disappear as the progress bar faded, Gu Qinghuan finally relaxed.

It looked like the luck spring water had been completely purged from her body.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. If Qian Caihua hadn’t been greedy and drunk Lin Xiaomeng’s water, she wouldn’t have gotten into trouble. But because she was greedy for a persimmon, Gu Qinghuan was able to discover that the spiritual spring could save her.

Qian Caihua had her flaws, but Lin Xiaomeng had no right to control her fate.

Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.

Gu Qinghuan felt genuinely happy.

Of course, this was just a lucky coincidence. She’d save whoever she could, but she couldn’t help everyone—she wasn’t some Saint Mary, out to rescue the whole world every day.

Soon, Qian Caihua’s husband and son finished work and came over to rest, waiting under the tree for Qian Caihua’s youngest daughter to bring lunch.

Qian Caihua carefully took out the osmanthus cake from her pocket, giving a piece each to her husband and son, describing excitedly how delicious it was. She tucked the last piece back into her pocket—clearly saving it for her little daughter.

Ordinary people have their own little happiness.

A united family is the greatest blessing.

As Gu Qinghuan was feeling sentimental, she noticed Qian Caihua’s son, Tugen, sneaking glances at her from time to time.

“Comrade Gu, would you like some?” Tugen blushed, holding out his piece of osmanthus cake.

Gu Qinghuan jumped, remembering how Qian Caihua had joked about spending 101 yuan to marry her last time. She quickly waved her hands.

“You all eat. I’ll go see why my two kids aren’t here yet—maybe they got held up on the road.”

She found an excuse and hurried away.

Once she was gone, Qian Caihua smacked her son on the head.

“What are you doing? She’s had better things than this—no need to suck up! Don’t get any ideas. She’s a married woman. Don’t even think about it. From now on, call her ‘sister-in-law,’ not ‘Comrade Gu.’”

Tugen hung his head, aggrieved. “Okay.”

Qian Caihua was exasperated.

She knew Gu Qinghuan was a good girl.

They’d just been a step too late. If she’d known earlier, she’d have been willing to pay 150, even 200 yuan.

But Gu Qinghuan was already married. Getting involved with a married woman was asking for trouble.

—

People gradually headed home for lunch, while others waited in the shade for their families to bring food.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t have to wait long before Dabao and Beibei arrived.

Dabao carried a small basket, inside which was a big bowl holding two large, dark, mixed-grain steamed buns.

At first glance, they didn’t look like much—just two dark buns.

But when you bit into them, there was a surprise inside: chili sauce stir-fried with pork, made by Zhong Zijun. It was the perfect filling for steamed buns.

Liu Guifang passed by and saw the black buns in Gu Qinghuan’s hands and the new clothes on the two kids. She gritted her teeth in anger.

Gu Qinghuan treated those two little brats so well—eating coarse buns herself but buying them new clothes.

Showing off, wasn’t she?

Making her look like the villain.

Her anger over the grain backlog flared up again. No, she had to teach Gu Qinghuan a lesson—show her who was boss.

But she wouldn’t do it in public. If she was going to act, she’d do it in secret.

Gu Qinghuan had no idea someone was plotting against her. She was happily eating her bun and drinking water.

The two kids had already eaten and were chattering away.

“Mom, we picked a basket of fresh wild greens at the foot of the mountain this morning, and ran into Erdan and the others. Erdan found a nest of wild eggs, and we all cooked and shared them. We gave them some of our peach crisps, too.”

Gu Qinghuan could just imagine the kids digging wild eggs out of the ashes and sharing peach crisps with their dirty little hands—definitely not the cleanest scene.

But that’s childhood—there’s only one.

“As long as you’re happy!”

—

In the big courtyard of the Xu family.

Lin Xiaomeng was cooking when she suddenly felt a wave of panic and broke out in a cold sweat.

While no one was home, she hurried to drink a bowl of luck spring water to calm herself. Suddenly, the bowl slipped from her hands, shattering on the floor, soaking her cloth shoes.

But she didn’t even notice.

Because she realized the luck value she’d just acquired that morning had suddenly vanished. Her luck was back down to thirty percent.

A year’s hard work, gone in an instant.

Why did Xu Lao’er’s luck remain, but Qian Caihua’s suddenly disappear?

Lin Xiaomeng’s heart turned cold, but she couldn’t figure out why. She could only accept it.

From now on, she’d have to be more careful—no more messing with other people’s luck.

After all, rebirth and the luck spring weren’t omnipotent."