"Yes, yes, and there are pretty pictures inside too!"
Pretty pictures?
Ji Youyuanâs hands shook with excitement and almost tore the book.
"What kind of pictures? What did you see?"
The little girl took the book from Ji Youyuanâs hands and flipped through it.
"This page has a handsome uncle drawn on it, and heâs not wearing any clothes!"
Ji Youyuanâs face got hot. Before he could say anything, the girl turned another page.
"This one has a pretty auntie, and sheâs not wearing any clothes either!"
Ji Youyuan: "..."
The little girl kept flipping and was about to say that the pretty auntie and uncle were together and neither had any clothes on, when Ji Youyuan snatched the book back at once.
The old lady Ji gave her eldest son a glare, cold as anything, but didnât say a word.
Ji Youyuan met his old motherâs scrutinizing gaze and rubbed his nose.
"This... this is a Pure Heart Sutra, all about training to forget yourself and reach a state of selflessness."
If you can really reach that selfless state, youâre nearly at the level of a Grandmaster.
Of course, the old lady Ji was nowhere near that stage, so she couldnât see the words on the page anyway.
"Teach the child something else first!"
Saying this, the old lady reached out to gently pat the little girlâs head.
"Be good and learn from your uncle, or else Iâll have your third aunt come in and make you drink medicine!"
The little girl shivered and hurried over to hide next to her uncle.
"Iâll learn! Just donât make third aunt give me medicineâIâm all better now."
The old lady nodded with a smile.
"Study well, listen to your uncle, and you wonât have to take medicine."
With that, she walked off smiling.
Funny thing is, what everyone thought was a serious injury that would take months to heal, the little girl actually bounced back in just over ten days.
The wounds on her body that were so deep they showed bone were all scabbed over now, and the lighter ones had vanished completely, not a mark in sight.
As soon as the old lady stepped outside, Zhu Xiuxiu took her arm and helped her into the house, looking all mysterious. "Ma! I got a secret to tell you."
Third sonâs wife with a secret?
The old lady Ji was surprised. That girl had always been carefree and loudâif she wasnât so easygoing, her third son wouldnât have felt safe leaving her here with her mother, all in the name of "serving your mother-in-law."
No sooner had they married than he dropped her off, and called it looking after his mom.
"Has the third one got another maid?"
The third aunt hurriedly shook her head. "Whatâs that got to do with me if he did? Iâm talking about Suisui, the lucky charm of our family."
Huh?
Might as well be raining red from the sky.
Come to think of it, Zhu Xiuxiu used to say, just like all the others, that Suisui was a bringer of bad luck.
"Didnât you used to call her bad luck?"
"Wasnât that just me listening to gossip?"
Besides,
Ever since Suisui came to our house, Iâve felt so bad for everything she went through!"
Zhu Xiuxiu hurried to explain herself.
"Now that you mention it, youâve actually done pretty well!"
The old lady gave some rare approval, making Zhu Xiuxiu so happy she could burst. She couldnât wait to spill what sheâd seen in town.
"Hahaha..."
Good!
Good kick!
Thatâs what you getâdo enough bad things and youâll get whatâs coming to you!"
Suisui was reading a primer with her uncle, learning characters, when she heard her grandma laughing, and cocked her little head in confusion.
"Did something really good happen to Grandma?"
Her uncle tapped the table and reminded her,
"Focus, focusâno distractions while learning!"
The little girl poked out her tongue and turned back to her lessons.
They kept at it until dusk, when Wang Dongxue slipped in without a sound, lit the candle, and slipped back out just as quietly.
The old lady Ji stood in the courtyard, looking somber. "Well?"
Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law come out, the old lady quickly asked,