Su Zhenzhu had it all figured out; ever since she was a child, she had Mu Qingli under her thumb, treating her like a complete idiot.
Mu Qingli had no fight in her, and whenever Su Zhenzhu wanted to use her, she did.
"No need, I can go by myself," Mu Qingli said in a faint tone, her stunning face devoid of any expression.
Although she and Su Zhenzhu had grown up together, the two sisters had little affection for each other.
Or to put it more precisely, Su Zhenzhu had never really considered Mu Qingli as her sister at all.
Whether in the past or present, Su Zhenzhu had never stopped bullying Mu Qingli.
Back when Mu Qingli was considered an unwanted wild child, Su Zhenzhu could derive quite a sense of superiority from her.
Hearing Mu Qingli's refusal, Su Zhenzhu looked at her in disbelief.
Mu Qingli really was changing her tune faster than flipping a page in a book. When she was fostered in their home, she had been so meek, doing whatever was asked of her. Now that she had become the daughter of a wealthy family for not even two days, she had learned to show her true colors!
"Tch! If you don't want to go, then don't! What's so great about that? Heartless ingrate!" Su Zhenzhu bit her lip, a strong swirl of jealousy and resentment flashing in her eyes, and said to Zhu Cuiping, "Mom, I've seen her true colors now, that Mu Qingli is nothing but an ingrate! You raised her for all those years, and I think it was all for nothing! She should have just been left to die out there!"
If it weren't for Zhu Cuiping back then, there would be no Mu Qingli now!
And now Mu Qingli had the nerve to act all high and mighty!
Acting as if everyone owed her millions!
In other families, when one person succeeds, the whole family ascends to heaven, butlook at her family, she turned her back on everyone at the drop of a hat!
Heartless ingrate!
Su Zhenzhu was infuriated.
"Enough," Zhu Cuiping glanced at Su Zhenzhu and whispered, "She's about to leave, so just bear with it for now. In the future, you're still going to need her."
"Need her?" Su Zhenzhu snorted in dissatisfaction, raising her voice intentionally towards Mu Qingli's retreating figure, "Look at her now, putting on airs. Counting on her would probably be the death of me! Look at her, becoming a rich young lady and thinking she's something special! We poor folks can't reach her level now!"
Facing Su Zhenzhu's scorn and mockery, Mu Qingli didn't retaliate, because there was no need to.
Soon after, Mu Qingli arrived at the foot of the mountain.
She stood there, looking up at the mountain that had nurtured her for seventeen years.
Seventeen years, neither long nor short.
This mountain held too many memories for her.
Mu Qingli's eyes gradually moistened.
"Xiaoyu, have you eaten? If not, come to auntie's house for a meal," a peasant woman passing by Mu Qingli greeted her warmly.
The people in the mountains were simple, warm, and kind, and Mu Qingli had practically grown up on their collective charity.
Everyone knew about her situation.
Whenever a family slaughtered a chicken or a lamb, they would call for Mu Qingli to join them.
Mu Qingli turned around, her eyes brimming with a warm smile, "Thank you, Aunt Wang, but I've already eaten."
"That's good, come over to auntie's place when you have the time," Aunt Wang said, hoisting her hoe, "I've still got work in the field, I'll be going first."
Mu Qingli had always been pretty since she was young, and she had a way with words, which made her well-liked by the people in the village.
The Su Family, fearing gossip, kept the news of sending Mu Qingli away a secret.
So everyone was still unaware that she was about to leave this place.
"Alright, goodbye Aunt Wang," Mu Qingli waved to her.
Little did she know, this parting would last for many years.
Today, Mu Qingli had come to the mountain primarily to pay tribute to her grandmother.
However, according to her memories from a previous life, she would end up saving a person on this mountain today.
That person was referred to by Mu Lanke as the most revered man in the Imperial City of China.
The most revered man in Imperial City?
Who was he? Which family in Imperial City did he come from?
As Mu Qingli remembered, when she first saw that man in her previous life, he was courting death, reeking of alcohol.
Due to the passage of time, Mu Qingli had forgotten what he looked like.
Before she knew it, Mu Qingli arrived at her grandmother's grave.
Grandma, like her foster father, had been exceptionally kind to her, never treating her as an outsider, and had even imparted to her all her unparalleled knowledge and skills.
Mu Qingli stood in front of her grandmother's grave, her eyes slightly reddened.
In a trance, the kind old lady still seemed to stand before her, calling her "Yu'er."
"Grandma, I've come to see you," Mu Qingli said as she bent her knees and knelt before the tombstone.
After this farewell, Mu Qingli did not know when she would be able to return to see her grandmother again.
She also didn't know what kind of trials and tribulations awaited her in her future.
Mu Qingli bowed deeply in front of her grandmother's grave and then turned to leave.
"Woof woof woof." A chubby little milk dog, wagging its tail, ran up to Mu Qingli.
This little milk dog was picked up by Mu Qingli from the side of the road two months ago; because it looked like a small rice ball, she named it Fat Bear.
When she first brought it home, it hadn't even opened its eyes yet.
It was Mu Qingli who had fed it with the goat's milk from her home and raised it.
Usually, Fat Bear was very clingy to Mu Qingli.
However, Mu Qingli had not expected Fat Bear to follow her all the way up the mountain.
"Fat Bear, how did you get here?" Mu Qingli crouched down and stroked Fat Bear's head.
Instead of affectionately licking Mu Qingli's hand as usual, Fat Bear bit tightly onto the hem of Mu Qingli's clothes and tugged at her, desperately trying to lead her in another direction, as if it wanted to take Mu Qingli to meet someone.
"Fat Bear? What's wrong?" Mu Qingli lifted one of Fat Bear's paws.
"Woof woof woof!" Fat Bear paddled its paws frantically in the air, struggling to get down.
"[My lord, this little doggy seems to have found some prey,]" Little Baba, on her wrist, spoke up.
"Prey?" Mu Qingli raised her eyebrows slightly.
Could it be that Fat Bear had hunting dog blood in him?
Had she picked up a treasure?
Little Baba sniffed its nose, "[That's right! It's the scent of prey; let's hurry! Yin Family is so hungry...]"
So hungry?
And just now, that little doggy...
Mu Qingli said somewhat speechlessly, "Can you act normal for once?"
Little Baba put on an adorable face, "[What's wrong, my lord? Yin Family is very normal!]"
Blue kids need to be a bit cuter to be adorable.
It had looked up guides; faced with an aloof host like Mu Qingli, it should use softness to overcome firmness.
Let the cold host be reluctant to bully such a cute Spirit.
Mu Qingli rubbed her forehead, resigned.
Mu Qingli set Fat Bear down on the ground and patted its head, "Lead the way."
Fat Bear, as if understanding Mu Qingli's words, set off on all fours, clearing the path for Mu Qingli in front.
The paths on the mountain were not easy to navigate, but Fat Bear ran quickly, looking back every so often to see if Mu Qingli was still following.
Suddenly, Fat Bear came to a halt in front of a dense clump of grass.
This grass was about one to two meters deep, with leaves sharp enough to cut fingers; thus, both adults and children avoided it. This sort of grass was common in rural areas, and it had a scientific name: reed grass.
At the same time, Mu Qingli detected a faint smell of blood in the air. However, the closer she got to the reed grass, the stronger the scent of blood became.
"Woof woof woof!" Fat Bear barked intensely at the reed grass and scratched at it with its paws.
"[So fragrant, so hungry.]" Little Baba's voice sounded lackluster, "[My lord, Yin Family wants to eat something.]"
Mu Qingli approached the reed grass and carefully parted it with her hands.
Initially, she thought a wounded wild pig or rabbit might be hiding within the reeds.
Who would have thought that within the reed grass there lay a man drenched in blood!
Mu Qingli glanced at the man, then looked down at her wrist, and said in disbelief, "You, you want to eat a person?!"