Chapter 7

Sun Shi watched as Yang Ruqing placed the bowl in her lap and then reached out to take the empty bowl beside her. She then scooped nearly half of the food from her own overflowing bowl into the other bowl and held it up to Sun Shi, blinking her eyes: "Mom, you eat too."

"What?" Sun Shi looked at the food held up to her, stunned for a moment, her eyes instantly reddening. "Mom isn't hungry. I already ate in the kitchen. This is specially saved for you! Eat it while it's hot!"

They say a daughter is a mother's little cotton jacket, and this is truly not false. The daughter had just regained consciousness and already knew how to care for her.

"Mom, if you don't eat, neither will I. I want you to eat with me." Yang Ruqing deliberately put on a serious face, mimicking the behavior of her former host, pouting her lips as if she would starve if Sun Shi didn't eat.

"Mom really has eaten..." Sun Shi's face was full of helplessness, but her heart was warm.

Yang Ruqing ignored this.

In the past, she was foolish and didn't understand many things. The Lao Yang family hadn't split up, and the whole family of over a dozen people ate from one big pot, with Tan Shi in charge.

Given Tan Shi's attitude towards her before, how could she possibly allow Sun Shi to bring such a full bowl to this room? It was clear that Sun Shi had saved her own portion to supplement her daughter's meal.

"Ruqing, your filial piety is seen, but mom really has eaten, I'm not lying to you."

"..."

"Alright, mom will eat, is that fine?" Sun Shi finally gave in, sighing lightly, and picked up the bowl in front of her.

Only then did Yang Ruqing smile, picking up the chopsticks made from bamboo, using a clever force, and with a "snap!" the chopsticks were broken into two pairs.

Yang Ruqing handed one pair to the stunned Sun Shi, grinning. "Eat, or it will get cold."

Sun Shi took the chopsticks, looking at the broken ends, inwardly amazed.

These chopsticks, even she, an adult, would find it hard to break so easily. Her daughter, who had been sick all night, still had this much strength. How had she not noticed before?

"By the way, Ruqing wants to ask mom for something."

After a few bites, Yang Ruqing seemed to remember something, swallowing hard and looking up at Sun Shi.

Sun Shi put down her chopsticks, giving Yang Ruqing a playful look. "You silly child, do you need to beg your own mother? Just say it, what is it?"

Yang Ruqing thought for a moment, glancing at the door of the side room, and then said seriously to Sun Shi, "Don't tell anyone about me regaining consciousness for now. Apart from dad, don't mention it to anyone else!"

"Why?" Sun Shi was puzzled. "This is a good thing..."

Thinking about how her daughter had been a laughingstock in the village for so many years, everyone making fun of her, even the younger children daring to bully her, her heart ached. She was powerless, having to work in the fields, manage the family's meals, and take care of the two younger ones, making it hard to look after her daughter.

Now that her daughter was better, they should be able to hold their heads high. Why hide it? Sun Shi couldn't understand!

"Mom, when I was in a daze, I had a dream. In the dream, a person who looked like a bodhisattva told me that my soul had just returned and wasn't stable yet. If too many people knew, it might shock me and make it unstable again!"

Yang Ruqing knew that people in this era believed in deities, so she quickly fabricated a lie.

As for why she wanted to keep it a secret, Yang Ruqing had her own reasons.

Hearing this, Sun Shi's eyes showed a hint of panic. She remembered what the shaman in the neighboring village had said, that her daughter had lost her soul.

The bodhisattva in her daughter's dream must be the one who returned her soul. Thinking of this, Sun Shi quickly put down her bowl, clasped her hands together, and bowed a few times towards a corner of the room, her face full of piety.

She murmured, as if thanking the deities.

Yang Ruqing lowered her eyes, secretly smiling. She thought, this stepmother is really easy to deceive!

After thanking the bodhisattva, Sun Shi's nervous gaze returned to Yang Ruqing. "Ruqing, don't worry, mom won't say a word, to anyone. When the bodhisattva tells you to say it, mom will. As long as you're well, that's all that matters!"

"Okay, let's eat, let's eat!"

...

"After we finish eating, mom will go to the kitchen to clean up the bowls. The sun is warm at noon, so later, mom will help you go to the yard to bask in the sun and get rid of the dampness in your body." Sun Shi picked out the beans from her bowl and placed them in Yang Ruqing's bowl, discussing with her.

"Okay."

Since she had been in this damp and dark room for most of the day after crossing over, she felt like she was about to mold.

Going to the yard for a walk would be good, to stretch her limbs and familiarize herself with the environment.

Sun Shi had just started eating, while Yang Ruqing was almost finished. Swallowing the last bite, she realized that the amount she used to eat in a day, she had just finished in one meal!

The host's appetite was really good, frighteningly good!

"Still hungry? Mom has more, it's all yours!" Sun Shi looked at Yang Ruqing's bowl and smiled. A mother knows her daughter best; she knew her daughter's appetite well.

Sun Shi reached out to pour her portion into Yang Ruqing's bowl.

Yang Ruqing shook her head, the fat on her cheeks jiggling. "Mom, I'm full. If I eat more, my stomach will burst!"

She placed her hand on her stomach, pinching it. Damn, this belly fat is scary!

In such a poor household, how did the original host manage to eat like this?

For a girl to treat her appearance like this is too cruel!

Changing her body shape was urgent!

After they finished lunch, Sun Shi carried the small stool with one broken leg to the yard, propping up the broken part with a brick, and then padded it with one of her old clothes.

She then returned to the room and helped Yang Ruqing, who was already dressed, to the door.

The simple farmhouse courtyard had side rooms on the east and west, each with three rooms. The main room was the kitchen and dining area, with walls made of yellow mud, wooden stakes on the walls, and some yellowed straw hats and bamboo baskets hanging.

A crooked old locust tree stood in the yard, its leaves looking somewhat withered. Yang Ruqing estimated that it was probably after the beginning of autumn, around the ninth month of the lunar calendar.