Chapter 2: She Was Reborn as an 18 - Year - Old

As the sky gradually darkened, Shu Shu squatted on the streets of An City, which were both familiar and strange after thirteen years. She had been squatting there for three hours. She still couldn't quite accept that her cute, obedient, and clingy little baby, who used to speak in a sweet, childish voice, had grown up to be a punk. And the most crucial thing was that this ungrateful child actually didn't recognize her. She had already told him that she was his mother.

At that time, various small vendors came to set up street stalls. "Excuse me, you're standing on my spot," an old woman pushing a small cart said to Shu Shu from behind. "Sorry," Shu Shu quickly got up and moved to another place, then continued to squat, still lost in her thoughts.

The old woman was selling some handmade trinkets. As she set up the stall, she noticed Shu Shu and casually started a conversation, "Little girl, you're still in high school, right? At this time, don't you need to attend evening classes at school?" "Auntie, I'm not a student," Shu Shu explained. Many people had said she looked young. "My son is already four years old—" She paused and corrected herself, "He's seventeen years old." The old woman looked at Shu Shu as if she were seeing a crazy person. "What's wrong?" Shu Shu asked. The old woman handed her a small mirror and said in a tone of seeing - through, "Little girl, when making up lies to skip class, there should be a limit."

What? Shu Shu took the mirror suspiciously and looked down. Then she was completely stunned. The person in the mirror was a young girl, with red lips and white teeth, bright and vivid features, and a pair of especially charming peach - blossom eyes. It was indeed her, but she looked at most eighteen years old. Not in her twenties or thirties, but exactly eighteen! The old woman setting up the stall heard the girl holding the mirror burst into a loud laugh. "I've become young again! Hahaha!"

Shu Shu stopped laughing after only three seconds. She seemed to understand why her son didn't recognize her. An eighteen - year - old couldn't possibly have a seventeen - year - old son. Her son must have regarded her as a swindler! Shu Shu's first reaction was to find her son and explain things clearly. But after more than ten years, the streets of An City had changed so much that she had no idea where to look. Call him? Shu Shu felt around in both trouser pockets but didn't find a phone. Besides, even if she had a phone, she didn't have her son's number.

At this moment, the aroma from a nearby snack stand wafted over. Shu Shu's stomach rumbled. She hadn't had dinner yet. She felt through her pockets again. Great, she didn't even have any money. What did God mean? Reborn her just to let her fend for herself? No way. This time, she would control her own destiny!

Shu Shu noticed that the old woman setting up the stall was weaving handmade trinkets with colored threads. Coincidentally, she also knew some handicrafts, so she went up to the old woman to discuss whether she could help. She asked for one yuan for each trinket as a labor fee. "I don't need you. This is a small business, and I don't have many customers. I can handle it myself," the old woman refused directly. But Shu Shu didn't give up. "How about this? I'll make two for you for free first. If they can be sold, you can give me one yuan for each starting from the third one." The old woman glanced at Shu Shu's slender fingers like green onions and thought Shu Shu must be spoiled, so she was skeptical. "You can do it?" "Yes."

Shu Shu took the thread and crochet hook, and with fluent movements, a small white - and - blue shark soon appeared in her hand. She saw that there were DIY small lights in the old woman's box, and a light bulb went off in her head. She took one, stuffed it into the shark, and put on a small silver ring. A glowing keychain was done! "Oh, you really can do it," the old woman said in surprise. As soon as she finished speaking, the keychain attracted a passing young lady. "It's so cute. How much is this?" The old woman saw how much the girl liked it, rolled her eyes, and quoted a price three yuan higher than usual. "Eight yuan, take it." The girl readily scanned the code to pay, and her friend who was with her was also interested and quickly asked if there were any more of the same kind. The old woman immediately agreed to Shu Shu's proposal.

In the end, Shu Shu earned a total of five yuan in labor fees. She was about to buy a hand - held pancake to fill her stomach when the old woman stopped her. "Little girl, let's make a deal. I have some mugwort cakes made this afternoon. I'll give them to you. In return, you teach me how to make those things you just made, okay?" Shu Shu readily agreed.

...

Not far away, Shu Lingchen watched this scene. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He had already left, but then he came back along the same way to find this girl who had "cursed" at him. Because his heart felt uneasy if he didn't. It was so strange. Until he saw Shu Shu making trinkets with a crochet hook, he was stunned. In his memory, his mother was very good at making these small trinkets. Many children in the kindergarten envied the different doll pendants on his schoolbag every day. At that time, he held a small blue - and - white shark and proudly told everyone, "You laugh at me for not having a father, but I have the most skillful and loving mother in the world!" How could this person also know how to do it?

Shu Shu gobbled up four mugwort cakes in one go, as if she hadn't eaten for three days and three nights. The old woman's eyes showed pity, and she took out a small bag of peanuts. "Child, take this and eat." Shu Shu waved her hand. "Thank you, but I'm allergic to peanuts." This sentence clearly reached the ears of Shu Lingchen, who was walking over quickly. The young man's steps suddenly stopped. His mother was also allergic to peanuts.

"Hey, young man, do you want to buy something?" The old woman noticed Shu Lingchen. Shu Shu looked up and her face lit up. "Son!" Shu Lingchen's eyes passed heavily over the small shark in the old woman's hand and finally stopped on Shu Shu's face. His Adam's apple bobbed, and an inexplicable impulse made him ask, "What was drawn on the painting I brought home from kindergarten on the first day?" Shu Shu raised her eyebrows, realized what he meant, and answered without difficulty, "A small shark and its shark mother." Shu Lingchen's breath caught. That painting was a secret one he had drawn and hidden in his schoolbag to bring home and give to his mother. In this world, besides himself, only his mother knew what was on the painting. The young man took an incredulous step back, and even his turkey - like hairstyle trembled slightly. "You, you're really my..." Shu Shu was almost in tears and nodded. "Yes, yes, son. I'm your mother!"

...

In a quiet corner of the park, "You mean that after you died, you opened your eyes and appeared at the gate of No.3 Middle School, and what's more, you look eighteen years old?" Shu Lingchen summarized Shu Shu's words concisely. "Yes." Shu Lingchen thought it was too unbelievable, but looking at his mother, who had left him long ago, reappearing in front of him, his eyes couldn't help but gradually become moist. "Mom...?"

Shu Shu originally wanted to give her son a warm hug, but that turkey - colored hair—No, it was too ugly to bear! Shu Shu closed her eyes and directly shattered the sentimental atmosphere. "Quick, take me home!" Her feet were numb from squatting, and she couldn't wait to go home and soak in a comfortable scented petal bath in the jacuzzi!

...

Twenty minutes later, Shu Shu looked up at the strange and dilapidated residential building, and three big question marks popped up above her head. Where was her big house in Yujingyuan, which was over 300 square meters? Had it deteriorated to this extent after thirteen years?