Kill That Transmigrator Woman - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Kneeling Before the Buddha for Twenty-Seven Years

The young girl looked at the countless, dazzling lanterns and suddenly had an absurd thought in her heart.

Whether it was to cut off any feelings the Young General Shen might have, or out of a stubborn resentment for something she couldn’t obtain in her youth, she sneered with malice and deliberately said to Shen Jingzhou, “If I happen to like all of these, would the General be willing to buy them all for me?”

After she finished speaking, Cui Wanwan lowered her head, forcefully suppressing the grievance and bitterness inside her. She quietly waited for the Young General’s astonishment and disgust.

He probably disliked her just like everyone else, didn’t he?
After all, she had never been loved by anyone, destined to be alone all her life, despised by all.

She laughed at herself. After all, in the world created by the transmigrated girl, Cui Wanwan was the vicious supporting character.

How could anyone ever love someone vicious?

Shen Jingzhou didn’t say anything. Instead, he removed the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to the lantern stall owner.

It was a top-quality Hetian mutton-fat white jade. The lantern stall owner received the jade with both hands, his wrinkled face blooming with joy.

He was just running a small business. These items weren’t worth much. Now that someone was willing to exchange such a valuable jade pendant, he naturally couldn’t be more pleased.

The middle-aged man weighed the jade in his hand a few times and realized it was quite substantial, it was worth a great deal. His eyes crinkled with laughter as he thanked repeatedly, “Thank you, Young General! Thank you, Young General!”

To an ordinary family with limited expenses, such a heavy and fine piece of Hetian mutton-fat jade was enough to ensure his entire family lived in comfort for the rest of their lives.

Shen Jingzhou acted so swiftly that Cui Wanwan stood frozen for quite a while before she could react. If she wanted to buy the whole stall, of course she could afford it too. But the point was Shen Jingzhou, he had actually been willing to throw away a fortune just to make her smile?!

“I was just… saying it,” Cui Wanwan panicked, quickly pulling out money, trying to redeem that jade pendant.

Since the deal had already been made, there was naturally no reason to go back on it.

Otherwise, to a middle-aged man supporting a family, it would be like falling from the clouds to the mud, a duck that had flown into the mouth suddenly escaping.

But the jade pendant from the Young General was far too precious, and the silver she carried couldn’t match its value at the moment.

Seeing Cui Wanwan in a fluster, trying to empty her body of all her gold, silver, and jewelry, Shen Jingzhou let out a soft laugh.
His voice was clear and gentle. “No need to pay me back. Didn’t you say you liked it?”

“But you… this cost far too much money.”

A piece of Hetian mutton-fat jade, traded for a roadside stall, it was sheer waste.

The remaining snowflakes drifted lightly onto her shoulders. The young man in white lowered his head with a faint smile, his brows and eyes clear and cold. “The value of a gift is never in its price, it depends on who it’s given to.”

What mattered wasn’t the gift, but the weight it carried in one’s heart.

If he believed she was worth ten thousand gold pieces, then even ten thousand gold pieces would be worth it.

The world was vast and boundless. At some point, delicate snowflakes had begun to fall again. The clamor of the crowd faded away in that moment. Cui Wanwan stood there, still holding the piece of silk ribbon in her hands, not yet letting go.

She pursed her lips, turned her head slightly, and gave a light cough. “But I can’t carry all these lanterns back with me.”

“No matter. Someone from the General’s Mansion will deliver them to the Cui Mansion,” the young man replied, his voice clear and gentle, driving away much of the cold for her.

A firework shot straight into the sky, bursting into a giant blossom, drawing gasps of wonder from the crowd.

Cui Wanwan looked up, her pupils suddenly shrinking.

It was Wei Qingyu’s work.

In both her past life and her present one, this was the most beautiful firework she had ever seen.

She couldn’t understand how a firework could soar so high, nor how a single golden burst could break into countless colorful smaller fireworks that continued to bloom across the sky. She also couldn’t understand how these dazzling stars could linger in the night sky for so long.

Just as Wei Qingyu had said, this world was far too backward.

Cui Wanwan’s eyes were overwhelmed by the colorful and magnificent display. Even though she had already seen it several times, she still fell in love with it all over again.

Wei Qingyu had named it “Hundred Flowers” and referred to this spectacular scene as a “Feast of Fire Blossoms.”

Cui Wanwan knew that when daylight broke tomorrow, Wei Qingyu would become famous.

This was her first step.

Cui Wanwan was sure that soon, just like in her previous life, Wei Qingyu would use the system to rise to fame, producing one astonishing creation after another, outshining all the noble daughters of the imperial capital.

One of her most dazzling steps to power included stealing poetry and songs from Cui Wanwan’s original world, deceiving everyone into thinking she had created them herself.

A trace of coldness flashed through Cui Wanwan’s bright eyes. Those poems and songs from her past life, she had already spread them into the common folk three years ago through Ling Xun’s hand.

That fire… it would ignite sooner or later.

“This is for you.” A hand with well-defined joints stretched out, holding a wooden box. Shen Jingzhou looked at her and said, “Wanwan, Happy New Year.”

She accepted it and opened it.

Inside the sandalwood box lay a string of fortune beads, eighteen beads made of different materials strung together. Because they had been stored in the sandalwood box for a long time, they had all absorbed the same pleasant fragrance.

Cui Wanwan picked it up and brought it to the tip of her nose to sniff lightly. The sandalwood scent was calming and reassuring.

To eat from others’ hands makes one soft-spoken, and taking from others makes one feel guilty. She felt embarrassed to keep accepting gifts for nothing, but that fortune bracelet was simply too beautiful. She had taken a liking to it at first glance.

Since she liked it so much, she thickened her skin and accepted it.

Then she pulled out the highest-denomination banknote she had with her today, a thick stack, and stuffed it into Shen Jingzhou’s palm.

“Thank you. This is a return gift,” Cui Wanwan said solemnly.

Although… it still couldn’t compare to that piece of mutton-fat jade he gave her.

He suddenly laughed.

No one knew exactly what had triggered Shen Jingzhou’s laughter, but his shoulders trembled slightly as he chuckled. His brows and eyes curved into crescents like the moon, and he stared at her without blinking.

After a long while, Shen Jingzhou, still smiling, gently patted her on the head.
“As long as Wanwan likes it.”

After the fireworks ended, Shen Jingzhou had the General’s Mansion carriage take her back to the Cui Mansion.

As the servant lifted the curtain and helped her into the carriage, Cui Wanwan’s mouth twitched.

This General’s Mansion was seriously rich.

This General’s Mansion’s carriage could be summed up in two words: extravagantly lavish.

Or in five words: extravagantly lavish beyond compare!

The Cui Mansion was also one of the established noble families, with wealth counted in tens of thousands, and even so, the carriage her parents used for travel wasn’t this luxurious.

Then Cui Wanwan thought again, after all, the General’s Mansion only had this one heir, and the Shen family had accumulated considerable wealth over the years. Not even counting the merits earned from military exploits, just the random gifts His Majesty bestowed when he was bored—weren’t all of them valuable treasures?

All said to be priceless, Shen family’s “city” of treasures probably couldn’t even be counted. The collection of precious jewels alone was dazzling.

Cui Wanwan couldn’t help but wonder, was the Shen family wealthier, or was the national treasury?

Sitting across from her, Shen Jingzhou watched the change in her expression and let out a soft chuckle. “About the same.”

About the same?

Comparable to the national treasury?

Oh my goodness, heavens above… Wait, no! Cui Wanwan stared at Shen Jingzhou across from her with a look as if she’d seen a ghost.
“You… how did you know what I was thinking?”

Shen Jingzhou let out a low laugh. “I guessed.”

Cui Wanwan said nothing.

She didn’t believe that for a second!

Her thoughts began to spiral in an unsettling direction.
Could it be that Shen Jingzhou, like Wei Qingyu, was also someone who had transmigrated?

Only, while Wei Qingyu had to “capture” so-called male leads and male supporting characters, was this man from another world meant to “capture” her, Cui Wanwan?

The more she thought about it, the more horrified she felt. Recalling the inexplicable kindness from the dignified General Shen, she became increasingly convinced that this possibility was very real.

Seeing her expression constantly shifting, the youth as graceful as jade only smiled, saying nothing.

When the carriage stopped at the gates of the Cui Mansion, Shen Jingzhou watched her walk through that doorway before his entire demeanor turned cold, and he turned back into the carriage.

The wide carriage still lingered with the delicate fragrance of the young girl. He closed his eyes, lips pressed into a thin line.

No one knew that the snow-robed youth before them had also lived two lifetimes.

In his previous life, he had knelt before the Buddha for twenty-seven years, and in the end, died before her grave. Moved by his devotion, the Buddhas were finally stirred and granted him one chance to turn back time.

When time rewound to the point where nothing had yet happened, he was finally able to see the vibrant and radiant Second Young Lady of the Cui family again.

Twenty-seven years of kneeling, all for the wish that she might be saved.

Their acquaintance went far longer back than she could ever imagine.

It was just a pity that she had fallen gravely ill that year, and upon waking, the Second Young Lady of the Cui family had completely forgotten the Young Master of the Shen family.

“Young General, why don’t you just tell the Second Young Lady of the Cui family directly? You two could be considered childhood companions, after all.”
The coachman wasn’t an ordinary servant but his deputy general, who had grown up with him and followed him into the army.

“It’s no matter.”
With fingers long and well-defined, he lifted a corner of the curtain. Fixing his gaze on the distance, he murmured, “Those memories that shouldn’t be recalled… should never be recalled. It’s enough if only I remember them.”