Gu Nuanyang was incredibly excited at this moment. When she had been placed under house arrest, Gu Nuanyang clearly understood that the "Fingertip Spirit Spring" was not a golden finger for her, but a death sentence. The events that had happened since her rebirth only solidified this belief. She originally thought the best outcome would be finding a way to seal away the Fingertip Spirit Spring. She never expected the chat group system to give her such a pleasant surprise.
[Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang: Take it, take it. I don't want this golden finger anymore.]
[System Message: Received reply from group member Gu Nuanyang. This group will proceed to strip the golden finger 'Fingertip Spirit Spring'. Please state your request to the group, member Gu Nuanyang.]
Gu Nuanyang took a deep breath and replied solemnly: [Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang: Then, can I have a ticket home? I want to go home.]
In her previous life, even though she was an orphan with no family or parents, she at least had a few friends she could talk to. It wasn't like now, where everyone's heart seemed inscrutable and treacherous. It made her afraid to speak to anyone, worried they were secretly scheming against her.
Furthermore, living in this era was much harder than living in modern times. In modern society, if she didn't study, she could still work to support herself. As long as you had hands and feet, you wouldn't starve to death.
In this era, plenty of people with hands and feet still starved to death. It wasn't because of laziness, but because the living conditions were inherently poor.
There were no high-yield crops, no fertilizers to help increase yields, and taxes levied under all sorts of pretexts. If disaster struck, whether natural or man-made, ordinary commoners had no choice but to flee as refugees or simply wait for death.
Gu Nuanyang really didn't want to stay here any longer.
[System Message: Apologies. According to inspection, group member Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang does not meet the recall conditions. This request cannot be fulfilled by this group.]
Gu Nuanyang couldn't communicate with the chat group system through speech like Lin Xi could. Their communication relied on the chat interface. Lin Xi happened to still be online.
Seeing the system's message and thinking about how Ming Shu had been able to return to the modern era, Lin Xi figured that the only way to go back seemed to be if the transmigrator's body in the modern world wasn't medically dead.
Lin Xi also thought of Wen Wan and her in-law's family; they had physically transmigrated. Could they return then?
Gu Nuanyang wasn't too disappointed. When she made that request, she hadn't held much hope to begin with. After all, she knew that in the modern world, her body was truly, utterly dead.
[Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang: Then, I wish to live in this era peacefully, free from illness and disaster, until I die of old age. I also wish that no matter my appearance, even if I stand naked before others, I will be seen as a man in their eyes. Even if someone examines me, I will be a man.]
Since she couldn't go back, Gu Nuanyang wanted to live well. She had tasted death twice and had no desire to experience it again anytime soon.
She also knew that without the golden finger, her life in the ancient world would become even more difficult. But it didn't matter. Without the Fingertip Spirit Spring, she still had the Transmigrators' Chat Group, didn't she?
For her now, the Fingertip Spirit Spring was a curse, not a blessing. Trading this useless golden finger for a benefit was worth it in Gu Nuanyang's eyes.
Especially that last request. She didn't know how much Zhao Juanqing had told Consort Zhen about her, but the Gu Nuanyang of Willow Village could be an adult or a child, but she absolutely could not be a man.
[System Message: Request received from group member Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang. In exchange, this group will grant the request for Gu Nuanyang to live peacefully, healthily, until dying of old age. PS: As group member Gu Nuanyang is the first in this group to possess a golden finger and the first to exchange a golden finger with this group, the additional request 'to be perceived as a man before others' is approved.]
Seeing the system's confirmation, Gu Nuanyang let out a sigh of relief. In her past life, she had longed for a family and a soulmate. So she had loved them with all her might, only to meet such a tragic end.
Therefore, Gu Nuanyang felt that in this lifetime, she would never form a family with anyone again. And in this damnable ancient world, men had far more freedom than women.
In this era, if a woman didn't marry, aside from shaving her head to become a nun, there was no other path. After all, there was a law stating that women over 17 who remained unmarried or unbetrothed would have their poll tax doubled. In more severe cases, they could even be drowned in a pond by their clan for 'disgracing the family's reputation'.
Thinking of this, Gu Nuanyang recalled how in her previous life, Gu Rou'er had remained unmarried yet never taxed. Besides Zhao Juanqing protecting her from behind the scenes, on the surface, she had been betrothed to several men. They were just unlucky fellows who always met with various accidents right before the wedding.
It showed how foolish she had been back then. Wasn't Gu Rou'er just exploiting a loophole? Yet she had genuinely felt sorry for those potential brothers-in-law and pitied her 'poor sister'.
What an idiot.
Being a man was different. If you didn't marry, people might gossip a bit, but there would be no real harm.
Aside from the middle message stating Gu Nuanyang didn't meet recall conditions, the other two messages appeared in the group chat.
For the first time, Lin Xi felt this chat group system was quite intelligent.
Now everyone knew Gu Nuanyang had exchanged her Fingertip Spirit Spring with the system.
[Primitive World Ahuahua: @Reborn Transmigrator Gu Nuanyang, Congratulations! You got rid of that curse.]
Everyone knew the reason for Gu Nuanyang's miserable death in her past life.
As fellow transmigrators, they all empathized deeply.
[Domineering CEO Villainess Ye Bingbing: Ahuahua is right. Even though you gave away the golden finger, you still have the chat group. Later, you can find Second Dog Song to exchange for a dimensional storage space. Then you can trade for supplies with us in the group. That's a golden finger too, and even more useful than that Spirit Spring!]
[Ancient World Xu Huanhuan: That's right. We'll also give you some things for self-protection. Even though the system promised you a safe and healthy life until old age, it's still important to have some things in your own hands. That's what brings real security.]
[Misplaced Real Heiress Qin Suyuan: What the sisters said is right. I also think giving away that Spirit Spring was a good move.]
Aside from Xiang Qianlan, Wen Wan, and the recently joined Xu Huixin who didn't speak up, everyone else stepped forward to say that Gu Nuanyang's choice was correct.
After sending the message, Yao Xiran, who had no natural plants in her world, and Lin Duxi from the post-apocalyptic wasteland felt quite regretful. This "golden finger" was a curse for Gu Nuanyang, but how wonderful it would be for them. However, the two only thought about it and didn't say much in the group chat. The golden finger belonged to Gu Nuanyang; she could dispose of it however she wished. It had nothing to do with them.
They had no right to interfere.
Compared to the calmness of those two, Chu Qianmo was heartbroken to the point of being unable to breathe. He didn't even have the mood to correct Ye Bingbing when she called him "Dog Song."
He was screaming internally. Give the Finger Spring to him! His world was full of spiritual energy; the Finger Spring would just be a bit more concentrated. He could handle that kind of burden! And she actually exchanged it with the group chat system.
The group chat system doesn't even have a body. What use does it have for it?
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, "Dog Song" was electrocuted several times over, with the voltage controlled just enough to be painfully shocking but not fatal.
[System Message: Detected that group member "Wife-Slaying Dao Prover Chu Qianmo" has insulted this group chat system. Administering electrotherapy once.]
The group instantly fell silent.
After a good while, messages started flooding the screen.
[Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Lin Duxi: You're the one, my Dog Bro. The group's been around for so long, and you're the first to get electrotherapy.]
Everyone in the group knew about electrotherapy. Wasn't that the main skill of that infamous principal from the internet addiction school who caused quite a stir back in the day, nicknamed "The Shocker"?
[Whole Family Transmigrated to ABO Wen Wan: I was away for a bit, how did you get a name change? But gotta say, Dog Bro, you're still the bravest!]
Led by these two, Chu Qianmo, the first to try the crab, happily acquired the nickname "Dog Bro." The group chat system, being quite vindictive, directly added "Nickname: Dog Bro" as a prefix to Chu Qianmo's name.
This was the second special note in the group besides Lin Xi's "Middleman." Looking at the member list interface, the bright pink circle with white text was particularly eye-catching.
[Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Lin Duxi: It's still you, Dog Bro. If you can't be the group chat's most favored member, you'll be its most disliked one, right? You little schemer, I hate that I only see through it now.]
As one of the only two male comrades in the group, Lin Duxi led the charge in mocking Chu Qianmo without holding back.
Of course, he wouldn't have done this before. But now, he and Chu Qianmo were already on very good terms. They had even shared a few drinks across worlds late at night when Lin Xi was still awake.
Chu Qianmo wasn't angry at all at what Lin Duxi said. He slowly exhaled a thick plume of white smoke. Had to admit, that intensity was somewhat comfortable.
He replied to Lin Duxi in the group, feeling quite pleased with himself: [Wife-Slaying Dao Prover Chu Qianmo: @Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Lin Duxi, Envious? Jealous? See the note before my nickname? Heh, you don't have one. The hot pink is so nice-looking. Can't blame you for being jealous, bro is just that outstanding.]
Seeing this, Lin Duxi laughed heartily. Bantering with Chu Qianmo in the group was truly enjoyable. Others joined in the fun too. Chu Qianmo watched happily.
He was extremely proud in his heart. He was the second person in the group to have a special note. He was overjoyed.
Chu Qianmo was a total goofball, carefree and thick-skinned. He bore no resemblance to the man desperately fleeing for his life before. After waking up, he had even forgotten about the Avengers Alliance.
The two women secretly observing Chu Qianmo saw him shaking as if having a fit, exhaling white smoke, and then laughing like an idiot. He looked like a lunatic. The two women exchanged glances.
While the group chat was buzzing with activity, over on Gu Nuanyang's side, the group chat system had already begun stripping her of her golden finger.
The process of stripping the golden finger wasn't painful. Gu Nuanyang only felt a brief, needle-like prick all over her body, then a sudden lightness, and after that, no sensation at all.
She held her hand in front of her eyes and called for it as she used to. Ten minutes passed, with no effect whatsoever. Gu Nuanyang smiled happily.
"What are you laughing about outside so early in the morning? Come eat. After eating, I'll take you to the fields. Our millet is ready for harvest." Old Lady Zhou had come out at some point.
"Alright, Mother." Gu Nuanyang stopped smiling and walked over to Old Lady Zhou, supporting her as they went inside.
In the State of Feng, the staple food for ordinary folks was sorghum rice and bean rice. The Zhou family was poor, so they ate sorghum rice. The bran hadn't been sifted out, making it hard to swallow and particularly rough on the throat.
If it were Gu Nuanyang just after transmigrating, she would have been figuring out how to improve the meals to avoid eating this. But now, she ate it as if it were a delicacy. In her past life, she had suffered too much from hunger; going three to five days without food was normal.
Besides the main dish, there was also a bowl of wild vegetable soup, with nothing added—bland and bitter. She took a sip of soup with a mouthful of sorghum rice. Although she ate slowly, Gu Nuanyang finished it all.
As she put down her bowl, Old Lady Zhou said, "Child, I don't know who you are, but I think since you know my family's address, you must have been close to my son, Mao'er. That message years ago saying he'd return in another two years... was that you who had someone deliver it?"
Old Lady Zhou's words stunned Gu Nuanyang. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to bolt out the door.
Old Lady Zhou continued, "My Mao'er... is he dead? If he weren't dead, he wouldn't have abandoned his blind old mother. Child, since you've come here, stay here properly. I felt your face last night. You look very, very much like my Mao'er."
"You're using his body, so see me off to my grave. I don't have many days left." Old Lady Zhou truly didn't care who the person before her was.
She felt her health deteriorating. She used to be able to get up early and work, but lately, she would lie at home all day.
Her biggest worry was that there would be no one to bury her body when she died. She never expected that just before her death, someone would come to her door claiming to be her son. Old Lady Zhou thought it over last night and decided to speak frankly.
Old Lady Zhou even felt that Gu Nuanyang was the person her son had sent to bury her.
"Child, don't be afraid. Once you've eaten your fill, I'll take you to see the family's fields. So you won't be ignorant later and get cheated." Old Lady Zhou led her outside, explaining as they walked: "Our neighbor is the Village Head. If you need to travel far, go to him for the travel pass and identification papers. He's a good man, not like other village heads who demand bribes to get things done."
"The family across the way is your distantly related uncle, beyond the third degree of mourning. You can call on them for help if needed. They're all Zhous in this village; he won't ignore you. I've relied on their family's help these past few years. I wouldn't have lived long enough for you to come otherwise."
"The house with the locust tree at the gate belongs to the village hunter. He often goes to the mountains to hunt. If you crave meat, just go ask him; you can trade for anything. It's just a matter of a little more or a little less."
Old Lady Zhou's hand was smooth and clammy. She was so old her fingerprints had faded, her hand covered in age spots, and she spoke in broken breaths.
Perhaps sensing Gu Nuanyang's distraction, she patted her arm: "Remember this well."
Gu Nuanyang agreed.
Old Lady Zhou chattered the whole way, walking her through all the fields that belonged to the family. By the time they turned back, she could walk no further, and Gu Nuanyang carried her home on her back. The tiny old woman was very thin; carrying her, Gu Nuanyang felt she might not even weigh seventy pounds.
Entering the village, Gu Nuanyang asked her: "Old lady, aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?"
Old Lady Zhou said: "Last night, I didn't sleep a wink. If you had made any strange move, one shout from me and the whole village would have heard. Besides, our village is poor. Every year we don't even have enough grain to eat. The tree bark on the mountains has been stripped bare by us. What could a bad person possibly want from a village like this?"
"And my son must have thought you were a good person to have sent you with a letter for me. My boy, for all his years, if nothing else, is a good judge of character."
"Child, I don't know why you changed your name, nor why you came here. From now on, be a good person. Don't do anything that would trouble your conscience."
Gu Nuanyang felt a pang of distress: "Aren't you afraid I might be a fugitive from the law?"
"What's there to fear? This old woman is about to die; even if I wanted to manage things, I can't anymore." The whole village only has these few households; there's truly nothing here worth scheming for.
That very afternoon after returning home, Old Lady Zhou took a turn for the worse, lying in bed unable to eat or drink. "I'll take you to see a doctor."
"No... use." Old Lady Zhou beckoned to Gu Nuanyang: "After my son... left... was he... buried?"
"He was. I dug a grave and buried him."
Old Lady Zhou reached out, holding Gu Nuanyang's hand, then touched her face: "Be a good person, child. Be a good person."
Old Lady Zhou touched the features identical to her son's, tears welling from her blind eyes.
Her Mao'er had always been a filial child since he was little. When he went out for work, he would always send a letter every two or three months and come home every half year. When word came that he would be away for several years this time, Old Lady Zhou knew her son was likely in grave danger.
Lying in bed these past few days, she kept thinking, if only she could hear her Mao'er call her 'Mother' one more time.
Last night, she really did hear it. Old Lady Zhou's body, which had been weak for days, suddenly seemed to gain strength. She opened the door, touched his face, and forced herself to cook a meal.
But Old Lady Zhou knew this was not her son. Her son's skin wasn't that soft, and he had an old scar on his brow, which this false son did not. The room he slept in last night was her own room; if he were truly her Mao'er, he wouldn't have been unaware.
But what did it matter? Old Lady Zhou said: "Silly child, what mother... wouldn't recognize... her own child? In the future, don't be so trusting... you'll... get... hurt."
Old Lady Zhou was blind, but her heart was clear. Even though she had spent less than a day with Gu Nuanyang, she had an intuition—this was a good child.
Her intuition over the years had never failed her: "Child... if possible... bury me... with my son."
Gu Nuanyang grasped the hand that was touching her face and promised: "Alright."
Old Lady Zhou smiled, and her hand soon slipped down. She had died. Gu Nuanyang wept bitterly, and soon many people from the village came to the house.
The Village Head, leading them, said: "Mao'er, don't grieve too much. Aunt Zhou hadn't eaten or drunk for days. That you managed to return in time to see her one last face means she passed peacefully."
"The silver you sent back in previous years, your mother used to have a coffin made. It's in the storage room over there. Come, let's place your mother inside."
Mountain folk aren't particular about rituals; they rarely even hold funerals. They carried her to the mountain, dug a pit, and buried her. When Gu Nuanyang wanted to hold a funeral, she was scolded by the Village Head and her Eldest Uncle together.
After the villagers had all left, Gu Nuanyang leaned against Old Lady Zhou's grave, suddenly feeling she couldn't quite understand this world. The family of Gu Erniu and Zhao Juanqing had made her feel there wasn't a single good person in this world.
But Old Lady Zhou made her wonder, could there really be such people in this world? After experiencing Lady Guli, Gu Nuanyang found it very hard to believe someone like Old Lady Zhou could exist. Did she not mind that she wasn't her son? Was she truly willing to let her assume her son's name and identity? Was there some hidden scheme she hadn't thought of?
But what was there to scheme from her now? Wasn't Old Lady Zhou afraid she was a bad person? Wasn't she afraid she was a scout released by bandits, meant to lure them in for a village massacre later? Such things happened often enough in this region.
Gu Nuanyang's emotions were complex. She pinched herself several times until tears of pain fell, yet she still couldn't believe it.
Finally, she sent a message in the group chat: [In this world, can there really be such good people? Like Old Lady Zhou. Even though she knew I wasn't her son, she still left the family fields to me. Though not much, it's enough to support one person.]
