Outside the Anzhi Hall.
Meng Anzhi stared thoughtfully at Miss Zhang's retreating figure. "Auntie, do I also want to go to the Father-in-Law's Place?"
"Silly child, leaving the father and keeping the son will lead to all sorts of rumors. Only someone with a strong heart and a strong sense of self can do it."
She had just calculated that Miss Zhang was destined to die young, a fate marked by loneliness. Her eagerness to find a husband for her was likely due to her relatives' fear of exploiting her family line.
Little did they know, the man they carefully selected was also plotting to exploit the childless.
A commotion arose from the street corner.
A disheveled, seemingly insane woman was running towards them, clutching a tattered pillow.
A fierce-looking man was chasing after her, and he pinned her to the ground in just a few steps.
"You wretched woman! Are you crazy? Why won't you stay still! I bought you to make money, I'll show you what's what..." The man slapped the woman across the face.
He then pulled the pillow from her arms and threw it aside.
The woman struggled and shouted, "Give me back my child! Don't strangle my child!"
"Mother-in-law, I beg you, I'll kowtow to you, I'll kowtow to you..." The woman twisted her body, her head banging against the ground repeatedly, drawing blood in no time.
When Meng Anzhi saw the woman's face clearly, her heart skipped a beat. She recognized her; it was Chunniang, the woman she had recently helped give birth to.
Seeing the man trying to drag Chunniang away, she instinctively shouted, "Let her go!"
The man, with a fierce-looking face, said, "Who are you? I'm telling you, mind your own business."
Seeing Chunniang still desperately reaching for the pillow, Meng Anzhi's eyes filled with sorrow. "Isn't she a daughter-in-law of the Cai Household? How did she end up in your hands?"
The man scoffed, "Listen up, little sister, I bought her for three taels of silver; she's no longer Cai Household."
After saying that, he twisted Chunniang away, and someone muttered "beast" under their breath.
It turned out that not long after Chunniang gave birth, Old Woman Cai took advantage of the couple's inattention and strangled the child to death.
Chunniang couldn't accept it and went mad on the spot.
Her husband was initially willing to take care of her, but after a while he grew tired of it and simply sent her back to her parents' home.
Unfortunately, Chunniang's parents had passed away early, and her two elder brothers were unwilling to accept their mentally unstable sister. Furthermore, they believed that once a daughter is married, she is no longer considered family, and they refused to let her into the family no matter what.
Seeing that Chunniang had no family to back her up, Old Woman Cai turned around and sold her into prostitution.
He received three taels of silver and then used it to find a wife for his son in the countryside.
With a determined expression, Jin Shanyao earnestly said to Meng Anzhi, "I think your idea is very correct; letting the father go and keeping the son is a good thing..."
"Auntie, don't worry about me! Even if I get married, I won't be the one who goes crazy. I'll kill their whole family and make my child pay with their lives."
Jin Shanyao in satisfaction, "That's right. Vent your anger outwards, don't bottle it up inside. If you bott it up and drive yourself crazy, your enemies will still be living happily. It's not worth it."
Oh, and be careful what you do; don't let the government find out."
Meng Anzhi nodded, and the two of them chatted back and forth as if it were really true!
"Auntie, that Old Woman Cai is a terrible person. If she didn't want the child, she could have given it away. Why did she have to strangle it?"
Even the Jin Shanyao couldn't understand it. In the plant kingdom, conception always happens when the wind blows, and the male and female never even see each other. Such a thing also rarely happens in the animal kingdom.
Meng Anzhi was still furious. The grievances and resentment she felt as a girl were intertwined like a fire, burning her heart with a dull pain.
After an unknown amount of time, Meng Anzhi's eyes suddenly lit up, "Auntie, I want to open a charity to pick up and raise those unwanted, abandoned little girls."
Teach them to read, learn medicine, and teach them how to survive.
Jin Shanyao in surprise, "Do you know how much effort and money it takes to open a charitable hall?"
Meng Anzhi looked at Jin Shanyao, "I don't know, but I always want to do something, even if it's just to raise one." She couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
"Okay, your aunt supports you." It's not easy for women in this world. If they help and support each other, it's good to get through life together.
Opening a charity hall, if viewed favorably, is accumulating Merit; if viewed unfavorably, it's a knife in Meng Anzhi's hand, a tool for building connections.
It seems like a win-win situation, but opening a charity is not something that can be done with just a few words.
They needed to register the house with the government and find a location to build it. When she thought of a location, Jin Shanyao immediately thought of Hat Mountain. She wondered if Xie Chao had figured it out yet.
The next day.
Jin Shanyao arrived at Hat Mountain with the blueprints. The barrier had been deepened once more. "Are you using me as a practice subject?" Jin Shanyao, tearing through the barrier and walking in.
Xie Chao sat on the crooked tree, intending to have a serious talk with her today.
"Don't come again, and don't bring me any random books. I won't like you."
"Why don't you like me?" She's been bringing me good food and wine, so why is she still annoying me?
Xie Chao's ears turned slightly red. He thought to himself, "How can this girl be so shameless? I've already rejected her, and she's still asking why."
"If you don't like it, you just don't like it. There's no need for so many whys."
That's unreasonable. Are you trying to be a scoundrel with her?
With Jin Shanyao said, "If you don't like me, that doesn't matter. I'm determined to cultivate this mountain."
Xie Chao was taken aback. "You brought me food and storybooks, just so I could go up the mountain to plant medicinal herbs?"
"Otherwise what?" Jin Shanyao was puzzled. Hadn't she made it obvious enough?
Xie Chao's face turned extremely ugly, and a sharp sword instantly appeared in his hand. " Jin Shanyao, you dare to play tricks on me?"
"Younger brother..."
"Who's your brother? Shameless... Take this!"
Fifteen minutes later.
Jin Shanyao sat cross-legged under the crooked tree, with architectural blueprints on her lap.
Xie Chao, bound like a silkworm pupa, was hanging upside down from a crooked tree.
Jin Shanyao said to Xie Chao, "What kind of room do you like? I'll reserve one for you."
Xie Chao kept his eyes tightly closed, refusing to look at Jin Shanyao, petty face.
"My apprentice wants to open a charitable institution. I'm planning to build a farm at the foot of the mountain, and next to it, a medicinal herb drying yard. What do you think?"
Jin Shanyao and pried open the other person's eyes.
Their eyes met, and anger surged within them.
Jin Shanyao silently closed Xie Chao's eyes again. Chatting? There's no need for a response; just be happy.
"Since you're idle anyway, I'll give you two packets of ginseng seeds. You'll be responsible for planting the ginseng. Even immortals need something to do to realize their value."
After saying that, he raised his hand and touched Xie Chao's neck.
Xie Chao froze, opening his eyes in disbelief. "What are you doing? Take your filthy hands off me."
The Jin Shanyao unhappily, "I'm just saying that your neck veins are bulging out, aren't they?"
Are you worried your blood vessels will burst and you'll die...? Besides, what's wrong with touching it?
When she was in her true form, which wild beast hadn't tickled her? Did she get impatient? The fungi in the sky are just being dramatic.
Jin Shanyao carefully folded the blueprints. "Alright, you just follow me and do your job well. When I return to Heavenly Court, I'll put in a good word for you, and maybe you won't have to wait five hundred years."
God... you just have to be more open-minded; some relationships don't have to wait until you need them.
I am now your ladder to heaven. Think about it carefully, is that really the case?
Xie Chao was stunned speechless by her words. " Jin Shanyao! I didn't agree to work with you..."
"Don't be so formal with your agreement or disagreement," Jin Shanyao said, producing a blank sheet of paper from somewhere. She then used the tip of her sword to slice across Xie Chao's thumb, leaving a bloody handprint on the paper.
She can only stay in the mortal realm for a dozen years at most, while Xie Chao will have to stay for five hundred years. By the time he returns to the Heavenly Court, it will be too late.
If he dares to file a complaint with the emperor, she will turn the blank paper into a contract of servitude.
Jin Shanyao the paper, tucked it into his robes, and that was it... He then patted his behind and left.
Without the hindrance of Spiritual Power, Xie Chao flipped over and leaped onto the crooked tree.
He stared at the back of the man with the Jin Shanyao swaying for a long time, then looked down at the tip of his thumb. Recalling his unrequited love and anxiety over the past few days, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Xie Chao used his Spiritual Power to snatch the jar of sorghum wine, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp, thinking to himself, "That scared me to death! I thought this girl really had a crush on me."
Between two evils, choose the lesser. Helping her grow medicinal herbs isn't out of the question; at least it would preserve her innocence.