Chapter 13

Don't try to guess what's on a kid's mind; you'll guess and guess, but you won't figure it out! Especially with single-celled organisms like Lan Tian, she doesn't bother with people who are irrelevant to her.

Taohua had been staring for a long while, and seeing that Lan Tian didn't react, she ran over with hands on her hips, all worked up. "You stinking brag, who let you sit here? This is my spot, you're not allowed to sit."

A few days ago when delivering water, Lan Tian sat here to take a rest. The two of them were like well water that doesn't interfere with river water, ignoring each other. So why can't she sit here today? Clearly, this was picking a quarrel. "Is this place yours? Ask Shitou if he minds me sitting here. If he does, call out and I'll leave."

Bullying a little kid, she has no psychological burden about that. What? You say one must respect the elderly and care for the young? Well, she never went to school and doesn't know about the fine traditional Chinese virtues, don't pick on her for being uneducated. She understands the principle of hitting back when hit and retorting when insulted, though.

Nobody noticed that in the past few days, the rocks Lan Tian sat on either vanished the next day or ended up in the water. The only reason the rock beneath her today was spared is because it's too large; Taohua and Cha Hua tried but couldn't move it. Otherwise, who knows which corner it would have been thrown into. The riverbed lacks everything but rocks, which is why her little friends failed to see Taohua's malicious intentions.

"You shout, then!" Shitou and the others joined in teasing her. Taohua, bullied by her peers, glanced at Shitou, Tie Jun, and others, then stubbornly pointed at Lan Tian with tears welling up, and bawled, "I'm going to tell my brother, you're bullying me," before running away.

Lan Tian was completely unfazed. If you're going to run, then run! Her friends were dumbfounded. How could she just leave them in the lurch? They were all mentally prepared to watch her throw a tantrum. It was so unprofessional.

The grudges between the two of them could be considered a feud from a past life. Previously, oh, I should say in a past life, because of her status as a beggar, even though Grandma took her in, Lan Tian still felt timid, scared, and inferior, with little sense of security in her heart. She only stayed a few days in the local school, not fitting in with the village kids, and Taohua led the way in bullying her, with others joining in to watch the fun. What scared her the most was running through her family's money, fearing that Grandma would kick her out, so later she staunchly refused to go to school.

You can't force an unwilling ox to drink water! Grandma Sun eventually stopped insisting, and Lan Tian stayed at home helping with housework, washing dishes, sweeping floors, feeding chickens and ducks, and as she got older, she joined in the fieldwork to earn work points.

Taohua, carrying her schoolbag, would flaunt it in front of her every day, right up until high school graduation. Every day of the 365 days a year, except for New Year's Day, she never missed a single one. To this day, Lan Tian still hasn't understood why there was so much animosity between them. After she got married, Taohua frequently came to her home to flirt with her man, but thankfully, he had higher standards and didn't take a fancy to Taohua, the village flower.

In her past life, she never noticed that she had led a wolf into her home. Taohua seduced her man, an intention clear as day to everyone but her. It wasn't until Taohua quarreled with another woman in the army, scolding the other for being shameless, a fox spirit, for seducing a married man, that Lan Tian learned about it.

Lan Tian had made up her mind: if she lived again, she would do as she pleased, cultivate Immortal Seed, farm the fields, live a moderately prosperous life with her grandma, uncles, and aunts, and avoid scumbags altogether.

Having rested enough, Lan Tian carried her basket and started crossing the river. There were two pathways made of rocks in the river, one with larger gaps for adults and another with smaller gaps for children. Lan Tian took small, steady steps, walking so upright and steady that her friends hoping to see her fall into the water were disappointed.

After crossing the river, the path was rough, with growth on both sides nearly as tall as Lan Tian. Through the coarse gaps, she could see villagers in the fields either planting rice seedlings or drying straw spikes everywhere, some even spilling onto the roadside.

Ahead was a slope with a few teenagers carrying loads of rice coming down. Lan Tian, busy watching her step, didn't notice the people on the slope and was about to cause trouble.

Tightening her waist, she was suddenly lifted into the air. Lan Tian nearly screamed in fright as the basket in her hand was flung away but was caught by a hand that reached out. A warm breath near her ear made her uncomfortable as a scolding voice rang, "What are you thinking? Not watching where you're walking, you almost ran into it."

The people from the bottom of the slope had already rushed up. If the person behind her hadn't grabbed her, the basket would have hit her, and Lan Tian would have definitely rolled down the slope. The grassy path was at the base of the mountain; on the right side was the mountain, on the left was a drop. Lan Tian took a glance outward; it was several meters high. She might not die from a fall, but it would still hurt like hell.

The person was trying to do her good and even saved her life. Lan Tian didn't hold it against the stranger for carrying her and thanked him, but the person behind her didn't make a sound. After the others passed, the person who held her put Lan Tian down, and when she turned to look back, her heart tightened, and she was stunned.

It was none other than Mo Junhua, her man from a past life.

Just after deciding to dump the scumbag, within three seconds, the scumbag appeared. Lan Tian didn't expect to meet him so soon; it was too sudden, and she had a hard time accepting it, finding herself led by the hand unknowingly.

During the busy farming season, there's no time to accompany a little child walking so slowly. He scooped up Lan Tian in one arm and carried the basket in the other, striding toward the front with fierce steps.

The village rascal, Mo Junhua, was known by everyone, and the kid in his arms didn't need guessing – certainly from Grandma Sun's house. The fields where their families worked were in the same direction. It wasn't far to Grandma Sun's rice planting fields, and Mo Junhua's family's fields were a bit further beyond, conveniently on the way. The child wasn't heavy, so carrying her was much faster.