Chapter 222: Apprehension on Returning Home

After hearing Song Ru’s words, Jiang Xinyu nodded seriously. “Yes, I understand, Mom.”

Song Ru didn’t lower her voice on purpose. In fact, she seemed to want the brown-haired young man to hear her clearly. The brown-haired young man’s face darkened, and he glared coldly at Song Ru. “Old woman, whether your daughter comes to Love Fire Bar or not isn’t up to you. Maybe someday soon, she’ll start going there every day willingly. Hmph.”

With a cold snort, the brown-haired young man turned and walked away, a sharp glint in his eyes. How dare she call him a worthless troublemaker? Fine, he’d let them see exactly how a troublemaker like him would teach them a lesson.

Song Ru and Jiang Xinyu didn’t notice the young man’s malicious actions near the Bulk White Sugar. After he left, Song Ru went back to tending the store. Jiang Xinyu obediently stayed inside, sometimes watching TV and other times helping her mother, completely unaware of the terrible disaster that was about to strike.

Half an hour later, just as Song Ru and Jiang Xinyu had seen off a customer buying juice, they saw a group of troublemakers hurrying over carrying a child. Leading them was the brown-haired young man who had bought Bulk White Sugar earlier. From a distance, he already started yelling at Song Ru and Jiang Xinyu, “Old woman, the sugar you sold is poisoned! My cousin ate it and now he’s dead! You’ll pay with your lives!”

The brown-haired young man shouted loudly on purpose, and half the street heard him. A crowd quickly gathered to see what was going on.

Song Ru and Jiang Xinyu were stunned by his words. They stared in disbelief at the little boy being carried over by the group of troublemakers. Their faces turned pale, and Jiang Xinyu turned her head away, too scared to look at the boy.

“Bang…”

The brown-haired young man threw the body of the shabbily dressed boy right in front of Song Ru. She stumbled back, nearly falling to the ground. Her face was deathly pale, and she could hardly speak.

At the same time, just outside Tongle Town, Jiang Xincheng finally arrived back in his hometown by taxi. He slowly walked along the small paths of his hometown, his heart filled with longing and sorrow.

That little river—he often caught small fish there with his sister when they were young. His sister loved eating fried little fish the most…

That mulberry tree—one time, because he wanted to eat mulberries, his father climbed up the tree just to pick some for him and almost fell from it…

That cotton field—his mother used to grow watermelons and sweet melons there. When they were ripe, she would pick one each day for him and his sister to enjoy…

That little path—his family used to take many walks there. His father and mother held hands, his sister held their mother’s hand, and he held his sister’s hand…

All of it seemed to have happened just yesterday, not more than sixty years ago. He didn’t understand how so much time had passed, but now that he was back in his hometown, memories he thought he’d forgotten came rushing back like a flowing stream—vivid and precise.

So, he had never truly forgotten those memories from over sixty years ago. In his past life, he had avoided thinking about them because, back then, those recollections were a source of pain. Every time he remembered, his heart ached, and he grew even sadder.

But now, he had been reborn.

Unconsciously, tears welled in Jiang Xincheng’s eyes. As he stepped into the town that had raised him, he suddenly felt a surge of anticipation unlike any before—he longed to see his parents, whom he hadn’t seen in sixty years; he yearned to embrace his sister, who had suffered so much in his past life; he looked forward to returning to his familiar home and tasting his mother’s delicious cooking again.

It had been sixty years since he last ate it, but even after all that time, Jiang Xincheng still remembered the flavors of those dishes clearly: sautéed greens, chive and egg dumplings, pan-fried tender tofu, braised pork, stewed young chicken, cured meat with string beans… Even though he had tasted many delicacies over the years, he still believed none could compare to his mother’s cooking.

“Did you hear? The sugar from the Jiang Family’s General Store this morning killed someone. A bunch of troublemakers brought the body and are demanding the Jiang Family pay a huge sum to settle it.”

“That child isn’t even one of their own—just a street urchin. This whole thing smells fishy. I’ll bet the troublemakers from Love Fire Bar are trying to frame the Jiang Family’s store.”

“Exactly. They poison a homeless child, blame it on the Jiang Family’s sugar, and then force them to pay up. How familiar! Didn’t a store next to Love Fire Bar close down the same way before? After that, Love Fire Bar took over that store without spending a single coin.”

“Love Fire Bar truly has no conscience! To get a little compensation, they’d even poison children. It’s disgusting.”

…

Hearing these rumors, Jiang Xincheng’s expression changed instantly, turning grim. The events from his past life—were they happening again now?

In his past life, the Zhang Family had paid the troublemakers from Love Fire Bar to use the same dirty, vicious trick against the Jiang Family’s General Store, forcing them to hand over the store as compensation. It drove Jiang Xincheng’s family to leave the home they had lived in for decades and rent a shabby place outside town.

Later, they were pushed into poverty, and Jiang Xinyu almost had to drop out of school. It was under those circumstances that Jiang Xinyu went out sadly to clear her mind—only to run into that even worse scoundrel Ximen Changkong. That meeting led to the destruction of Jiang Xincheng’s family.

To think everything from his past life was repeating itself now. A fierce light flashed in Jiang Xincheng’s eyes as overwhelming killing intent surged. Activating his Five Elements Steps, his body shot forward like lightning, racing toward his family’s courtyard.

Faced with the gang’s accusations and the corpse lying before her, Song Ru turned pale and stammered, “I–I swear our sugar is fine. We–we had some just yesterday. How could it be poisoned? You must be mistaken.”

“Mistaken?” the brown-haired young man sneered and waved his hand. “Boys, go check their store properly. See if there’s something wrong with their sugar—it must be laced with rat poison. Otherwise, how could it kill someone?”

Several troublemakers barged fiercely into the small General Store. They hauled out a bag of Bulk White Sugar and dumped it on the ground, causing a puff of white smoke to rise. The brown-haired young man leaned in to sniff it, then immediately frowned and stepped back, pointing at the smoke and shouting, “Song Ru, how dare you say your sugar isn’t poisoned? Smell that! It’s clearly a strong rodenticide. If you don’t believe me, taste it yourself and see if it kills you, you wicked old woman.”