He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 5 Cousin Meng Linlang

Many families in the village stayed up late that night, including twelve-year-old Meng Linlang.

After hearing from her father, Meng Cheng'an, that her uncle had passed away, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

Why is it different? Meng Linlang wondered to herself, could it be that the things in her dream wouldn't happen?

But it seems that some things have come true – for example, my cousin was injured in the head because she did not want to become the concubine of the wealthy Lin in town, and had a dispute with my uncle, who then beat her.

But my cousin became mentally challenged after injuring her head! She never heard her father say that her cousin had become mentally challenged.

The cousin who turned into a fool in the dream was even more annoying. She was always at odds with her and didn't know her own strength. In the dead of winter, she pushed her into the water. Her parents prayed to all kinds of Bodhisattvas and Buddhas before they finally pulled her back from the brink of death.

However, this misfortune turned into a blessing. After falling into the water, she discovered that she had something called the 'Spirit Spring Space' on her body. Not only could she grow food, but she could also store many other things. The Spirit Spring was truly magical, and in her dream, she called it 'Holy Water'.

The following year, to escape war and locust plagues, her family led the villagers of Mengjia Village through countless hardships to find a place to settle down, and she also found her soulmate during this process.

In her dream, she naturally wouldn't let her cousin off so easily.

She retaliated by pushing her cousin into the water, but her aunt jumped in and rescued her. Her cousin suffered a fever and became even more mentally impaired; she was also said to have developed a chronic illness.

Such a person could not enter the Lin family, so Meng Shaoyuan married her off to a middle-aged bachelor in his forties who was deaf and blind. For some reason, he died before the war even began.

The eldest aunt also died soon after falling ill from depression due to the death of her eldest daughter and being divorced for having an affair.

Later, Meng Ranran was sold into slavery by her eldest uncle. During the war, only her eldest uncle and cousin remained in her eldest uncle's family. After they found a new place to stay, her eldest uncle turned over a new leaf and stopped being drunk all day. He began to work hard.

Not only did he pass the imperial examinations for both the first and second rank, but he also found a widow from another family in the village to be his wife. Apart from the fact that his new wife was not very kind to his cousin Ali, the family lived a relatively harmonious life.

After her grand wedding, she returned to the village and heard that her cousin had gone mad, stabbed his own father to death with a knife, and then slit his own throat.

In her dream, she felt some sympathy upon hearing these things. A prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold, and it's truly heartbreaking to see a family that was able to start over and live a good life end up like this.

The widow became a widow again, and she also had a child for her uncle. The mother and son struggled to make a living, and her parents couldn't bear to see them suffer, so she took it upon herself to help the mother and son with some material things.

Their family's good reputation spread throughout the surrounding villages.

She started having these dreams a month ago. At first, she dreamed all night long, so much so that she was not very energetic the next day. Later, she dreamed less and less, and now she rarely has these dreams anymore.

Some things she had never seen before were very blurry in her dreams. For example, she didn't know how she got the spiritual spring space after falling into the water, and her husband's face was always blurry.

Meng Linlang wasn't worried at first; as long as she knew the general direction, she could prepare for the future.

Now that things inexplicably don't match her dream, Meng Linlang couldn't help but feel worried—

Will her spiritual spring space ever reappear?

Without the spiritual spring space, how could they successfully escape the war?

Should she try to get her cousin to push her into the water in winter?

As she pondered these things, before losing consciousness, Meng Linlang was still vaguely thinking that she should go and see if Meng Fuqing had gone mad the next day.

Meng Fuqing was completely unaware of Meng Linlang's plans; she was currently recovering from her injuries.

Meng Fuqing had never taken Chinese medicine before, and the two doses of medicine made her question her life – her injuries were almost healed, so why did she have to suffer like this?

The medicine was all bought on credit by Shan Qiyu, and Meng Fuqing couldn't waste such a kind gesture, so he had no choice but to pinch his nose and force it down.

While she was recovering from her own injuries, she was also helping the mother and her two children with their injuries.

As long as she has skin contact with someone, she can transfer wood-based healing abilities into that person's body, little by little each time, without being detected. This not only helps injuries heal faster but also repairs and strengthens the other person's body.

***

When Meng Bochang and the village head arrived with the coroner, Meng Fuqing was lying on the bed, his eyes half-closed, listening intently to the sounds coming from outside.

Examining a corpse is considered an unlucky thing; apart from professional coroners, no one else dares to get too close.

For a while, Meng Fuqing didn't hear any voices until an unfamiliar voice rang out, "Dr. Zheng is right, it is indeed an acute abdominal condition. Even if the doctor had come in time, there would have been no way to save him, not to mention that the head injury is also quite serious. Drinking too much alcohol is still harmful!"

Meng Fuqing relaxed her mind. In ancient times, people valued the dead and rarely performed autopsies. Meng Shaoyuan loved to drink, so she simply fabricated a story that he died from a perforated stomach due to alcoholism, which is an acute abdominal pain. Unless a deity came to investigate, the cause of death would never be traced back to her.

After that came the burial. The only valuable thing the Meng family, a widow and her orphanage, had was some loose change found on Meng Shaoyuan. In the end, the village chief asked the villagers to find a way to raise some money and hire someone to make a simple funeral, so that it would at least be decent.

Madam Meng also had her grandson bring two eggs and a small bag of sorghum flour from home, saying it was to help Meng Fuqing take good care of his health.

Even Shan Qiyu hadn't expected the villagers to help her to this extent. Whether it was for the sake of the Meng clan's reputation or out of genuine kindness, she had to remember these favors and repay them in the future.

The two eggs felt light in their hands, but they were incredibly precious to the family of four.

Shan Qiyu wanted to make egg and brown sugar soup for her eldest daughter using two eggs, as she had heard it could replenish blood. Unfortunately, she didn't have any brown sugar at home, and she was too embarrassed to ask to borrow such a precious food. In the end, she could only sigh and give up the idea.

She needs to do more embroidery; besides farming, that's all she can do.

Meng Shaoyuan could always find the money she earned from selling her embroidery work, no matter where she hid it. If he couldn't find it, he would ask her for it, and if she refused, he would beat her.

Later, she learned her lesson and gave most of her earnings to Meng Shaoyuan, so that she could keep a small portion for herself.

"Mother, boil the eggs and cut them in half, so we can each have half. It's been so long since we've had any meat," Meng Fuqing said considerately when she saw Shan Qiyu frowning and lost in thought.

The original owner was a considerate, obedient, and quiet person. To avoid unnecessary trouble, she had to pretend to be well-behaved in front of her family.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Meng Ranran and Meng Ali couldn't help but swallow hard.

However, both of them knew that the two eggs were for the older sister, so they didn't try to take them.

"Qingqing, this is to help you recover."

"Mother," Meng Fuqing said softly, lying on the bed, "our future will definitely get better and better. Let's celebrate in advance with these two eggs. I can hardly swallow them if you make me eat them alone."