Chapter 190: Chapter 192: Saving People

Every year, she has her birthday, and so does Wei Jiani.

But their mother always remembers Wei Jiani’s birthday, while hers seems irrelevant to the family.

Only those who give birth to you and raise you would genuinely care about you, and Sang Zhilan was not one of those people.

“I’ll get you a big cake today, my daughter,” said Tang Zhinian, who clearly remembered his daughter’s birthday. “Today is our sweet girl’s sixteenth birthday. We should celebrate it properly. In a couple of years, she’ll truly be a young lady.”

“Uncle, uncle…” Sisi ran over and hugged Tang Zhinian’s leg,” Take Sisi with you, I want to buy a present for my sister,” she patted the little bag she was carrying on her back, which was filled with the pocket money she’d saved and her New Year’s money. Sisi always received presents from her sister on her birthday, all her dolls were bought by her sister.

Mother said one should repay kindness with kindness, whoever fails to do so would be considered a bad child and be snatched away by evil uncles to become their daughter. Then, they would have no meat to eat, no candy, and no parents.

“Alright, uncle will take Sisi to the city for dumplings,” Tang Zhinian picked up Sisi. She may not be of Tang Family blood, but Tang Zhinian treated her as if she was, spoiling her as if she was another Tang Yuxin. He hadn’t provided well for his daughter in the past, now he compensated for those failures on Sisi. Sisi was now a Tang, a child of his Tang Family.

Sisi excitedly left with Tang Zhinian, and Zhang Xiangcao followed Tang Zhijun out to buy meat and vegetables. The house hadn’t been this lively in a long time. It called for a good celebration.

In a couple of years, Yuxin will become an adult, ready to get married.

Thankfully, Tang Yuxin did not know what Zhang Xiangcao was thinking. If she did, she wouldn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Perhaps she will never get married in this life.

Even if she were to marry, it would be to an honest and upright man. She would never accept a man like Zhang Yong’an, the so-called phoenix man, even if he were given to her freely.

She put on her bamboo basket, took a deep breath, and exhaled the stale air in her lungs. Perhaps she would meet him today.

She placed her hand on her neck and pulled out a necklace.

This should be returned to you now.

What is not meant to be hers, will never be hers, no matter how long she had held onto it. She had this necklace in her previous life too. Wei Jiani wanted it but she wouldn’t give it up, refusing even when Sang Zhilan beat her black and blue. She never let go of it.

But based on Wei Jiani’s temperament back then, how could she ever give up on this necklace easily?

Wei Jiani always behaved like this—if she couldn’t have something, she would make sure no one else could have it either.

Therefore, she stole the necklace, and cut the chain, crushed the pendant with a brick, and tossed it in front of her.

Tang Yuxin still remembers the heartache she had that year.

It seemed that year the only thing Wei Jiani broke wasn’t just a necklace, but also a connection. And the so-called connection counted down a period of time.

She put the necklace back around her neck, and headed up the mountain. She had walked up this mountain countless times since her childhood, mostly with Chen Zhong, and sometimes alone. Sometimes she would return with edible mushrooms or herbs. These herbs, when sorted and sold to the city’s pharmacy, could bring in a decent amount of money each year – money she used to buy stationery for herself and Sisi. Hence, in this regard, she had not been hard on herself.

A wind blew past, lifting a corner of her clothes, carrying a subtle, sweet fragrance.

It was a special fragrance, similar to that of an orchid or a plum blossom.

Lighter than that of an orchid but richer than that of a plum blossom.

A natural floral aroma, seemingly a bit cold. Tang Yuyu stopped and carefully took in the scent, but as the wind passed, the fragrance disappeared.

She then pulled up her sleeves and took a sniff, ah, so it was here.

Right, this was the scent of her body. Her skin was gradually becoming fairer and her body’s unique aroma was slowly emerging. If she were to sweat or not bathe for a long time, the scent would act as a natural air freshener.

While others smelled of sweat, she smelled fragrant.

However, if she bathed or if she didn’t sweat, the fragrance would fade significantly.

She continued her journey. Walking this path was second nature to her. Along the way, she picked herbs she needed. These herbs were good for curing minor ailments like colds and were also helpful when made into a foot soak to prevent athlete’s foot and reduce swelling in the legs.

Her footsteps rustled on the fallen leaves of the mountain trail. The crushing of the veins of leaves echoed around her as they disintegrated into the earth.

A figure could be seen lying in the distance, a man, his body pressing down on the green grass underneath him. The smell of blood was pervasive around him.

To the side stood Tang Yuxin, the scenery nearly identical to that of her past life.

She slowly approached, each step bringing her closer, until the strong, mature face of the man was right in front of her, much younger than the man she would later meet. Right now, he was just a young man in his twenties, but his body already radiated a steely resilience.

This was Gu Ning.

This was the young Gu Ning, the Gu Ning before he fell ill.

The image that remained most vivid in her mind from her last life was of this man standing on a balcony, the wind whipping his gray and blue patient gown, his back always straight and rigid. There were many times when she thought he might jump.

But he never did. Not once did he attempt to end his life.

He carried on living, whether he wanted to, or simply because he had to.

Tang Yuxin kneeled, laying her bamboo basket aside. She outstretched her hand and grasped Gu Ning’s wrist. She didn’t understand any medical skills in her last life. All she knew was that Gu Ning was bleeding, so she brought herbs to stop the bleeding, and moved him to a safe location. When she came back with her father, the man was already gone.

Perhaps he was rescued.

As for the extent of Gu Ning’s injuries, all she knew was that he had lost a lot of blood and was unconscious.

When she checked his pulse, it was still strong, but the loss of blood was evident.