The sun was on the verge of setting.
Nan Feng, carrying a jute sack of rice on her back, was struggling on her way home.
Although in her previous life she was skilled in martial arts and possessed great strength, this life in her frail, bean sprout-like body was suffocating.
Having eaten only a sweet potato the size of two fingers for the entire day, how could she have any energy left?
Moreover, with the current turmoil and high taxes, the bag of rice she had, even after paying the tax, would last less than two months.
Nan Feng was halfway home when she saw a limping figure approaching her. She halted and exclaimed in a reproaching tone, "Father, why did you come? You should have waited at home."
In ancient times, people married young, so this father of hers was not yet forty. However, being a cripple, thin, and an early widower who had to farm and raise a child alone, he looked as if he were fifty.
"Alas, I was worried about you causing more trouble after yesterday's incident. What if something... really serious happended to you? How would I ever explain it to your departed mother?"
Perhaps the emotional influence of the previous host lingered. Nan Feng felt a sour sensation in her heart.
"Father, you don't need to worry about me. Isn't it just sun drying the grains? I can handle that by myself."
Nan Quanyou looked at Nan Feng once again, his expression somewhat bewildered, "Fengfeng, it seems like you've become a different person ever since you woke up yesterday."
Nan Feng chuckled and asked jokingly, "So, Father, how do you think I've changed?"
"You speak more competently and you've become sharper."
Nan Feng snuggled up to her father, pretending to be mysterious, "Father, don't tell anyone. When I fainted yesterday, I dreamt that the Earth God came to me and told me that the reason why I was so slow-witted was because a soul of mine was taken away and could only be retrieved by experiencing death. Now that the soul is back, I've become more intelligent."
Nan Quanyou was overjoyed, "Really?"
"Yes, the Earth God also asked me to take good care of you, or else, I'll become slow-witted again."
Nan Feng coaxed her father into blank astonishment.
After a while, Nan Quanyou burst into tears, "The Earth God is merciful... The Earth God is merciful..."
Nan Feng's mother passed away when she was just one year old. By the time she was three or four, she was still slow-witted. The village doctor claimed she was an imbecile.
In order to cure Nan Feng's ailment, Nan Quanyou foraged for medicinal herbs in the mountains as prescribed by the doctor. However, he injured his leg in the process, causing one misfortune after another for the family. Now that Nan Feng had recovered, how could Nan Quanyou not be ecstatic?
Watching her father in this state, Nan Feng felt a mix of emotions. In her previous life, she was an orphan who was adopted by a couple of policemen. Seeing her talent for physical movement, they sent her to the Special Agent School for training from an early age. She was never a formal special agent though. Despite her martial arts skills, the instructor said she was not ruthless enough to be assigned any mission.
At eighteen, the higher-ups decided to use her to fight against the drug lord, Fu. They transferred her to the police force and made her an undercover agent.
Consequently, she never enjoyed the happiness of an ordinary family, and had always grown up under harsh training conditions.
In this life, she now had a father, a father who cared so much for her. She would properly honor this father.
Father and daughter carried the sack of rice home together.
Suddenly recalling something, Nan Quanyou said hurriedly, "Fengfeng, I heard from Auntie Lan next door this afternoon. You quarrelled with Wenxuan at the grain drying site and said that you would rather marry a rugged man than him. Is that true?"
Nan Feng nodded, "Yes, that's what I said."
"You really don't like Wenxuan anymore? You used to follow him everywhere."
Because of Nan Feng's infatuation, the local children had made up a rhyme: There's an ugly girl in the village named Nan Feng, who's always chasing after Mo Wenxuan, hopping around all day long...
The world of the old Nan Feng consisted of sleeping in, picking wild fruits, and Mo Wenxuan.
Nan Feng said, "Father, I don't like him anymore. Please cancel my arranged marriage."