The next afternoon, all the masters of the Sheng household had already heard about what happened to Sheng Mingjian.
Sheng Yong was mortified and agitated, so he went to Qingxin’s place to spend the night.
Sheng Minmin couldn’t have been happier to see Sheng Mingjian suffer, so naturally, she had no intention of lifting a finger to help him.
Huang Yaning, too, felt nothing at all about the matter.
Over at Lotus Courtyard, Sheng Mingzhu was so furious she smashed several teacups in a row.
A man who’d just confessed his feelings to her, only to turn around and sleep with another woman—and couldn’t even manage that much?
What a pathetic, disgusting waste of space!
Sheng Mingbo, on the other hand, did want to go comfort his eldest brother. But he had no idea what to even say about something like this.
And he knew he wasn’t good with words—worried he’d say something wrong and make his brother even angrier, he decided to just let it be…
As for Sheng Mingyi—Sheng Mingyi was trapped in a nightmare.
In his dream, he found himself in an unfamiliar place, stuck inside the body of a little girl.
That little girl was cutting grass.
He could feel everything she felt with absolute clarity.
Like the sour acid churning in her stomach, and the weakness spreading through her limbs.
It took Sheng Mingyi a moment to realize—that was hunger.
The girl’s small hands got nicked by the grass blades—sometimes burning with a fiery sting, other times jabbing with a sharp, piercing pain…
But the girl didn’t stop. She just kept repeating the same motion over and over.
The sky had barely begun to lighten, and she was already drenched in sweat, droplets rolling down her forehead.
Sometimes they got into her eyes—and it was horribly uncomfortable…
The girl wiped her face with her sleeve and went back to cutting grass.
Mechanical. Repetitive. Enduring the pain signals screaming from every part of her body.
Sheng Mingyi’s experience shifted from curiosity, to growing impatience, and then to outright agony.
For the first time in his life, he understood what it really meant to be exhausted and starving.
It didn’t feel like the little girl was the one working—he was the one working.
He wanted to stop, but he had no control over it.
He tried to force himself awake—and failed.
When the sun finally rose above the horizon, the little girl had at last filled her entire basket with pigweed. She let out a sigh of relief.
Sheng Mingyi sighed too, thinking this torture was finally over.
But the moment she tried to stand up, her vision went black and she collapsed to the ground…
Her palms scraped raw, stinging fiercely—but the little girl didn’t even pay it any mind, as if she were used to such pain.
She dragged the basket to a higher spot, crouched down, and tried a few times before finally hoisting it onto her back.
Sheng Mingyi felt himself struggling under the weight of that enormous basket of grass, gritting his teeth and trudging forward.
He wasn’t the type to get angry easily. But with every step he took, the fury inside him grew.
He was seething. Why was he trapped in this body?
He was the third young master of the Sheng family! He’d had everything he ever wanted since childhood! Why was he being put through this?
“YOU LITTLE WENCH—took you long enough to get back! You trying to starve the pigs to death?
“If the pigs lose any weight, I’ll beat you to death, you hear me?!”
As soon as he stepped through the door, Sheng Mingyi saw an old woman in coarse clothing, her face pinched with meanness, cursing at the little girl.
Or rather, cursing at him, because he was now inside the little girl’s body.
Under the eaves stood a plump woman, watching the scene like it was entertainment, with two equally pudgy boys at her side.
Not far away, three girls stood together. The moment Sheng Mingyi laid eyes on them, the names Xiazhi, Qiuju, and Dongkui popped into his head…
Except the three of them looked much younger now.
Sheng Mingyi finally understood—this was Peach Blossom Village. The Feng family.
And right now, he was inside the body of that maid from Begonia Courtyard… as a child…
“Grandma… I’m sorry…”
The owner of this body let out a soft, timid apology.
The sound of it made Sheng Mingyi feel like everything was utterly absurd!
That girl was not such a weak pushover!
She’d gone straight to the magistrate’s office as soon as she returned to the capital and exposed Mingzhu as a fake heiress.
Then she’d come back home and caused all sorts of chaos—she could fight like a demon too.
With that kind of bold, fearless attitude, Sheng Mingyi had always assumed she must have been just as fierce in the Feng family—someone who wouldn’t take any crap, who’d never let herself be wronged. How could she be so submissive, so tirelessly obedient, never talking back?
So for a moment, Sheng Mingyi wasn’t so sure anymore.
“Stop standing there! Go feed the pigs and the chickens! Then make breakfast, quick! You bring bad luck just standing there—”
So Sheng Mingyi found himself in a tiny, cramped “kitchen,” personally experiencing how to make pig slop. He made two big basins full of it…
That plump younger woman from earlier rolled her eyes as she came in, spat out “useless thing,” and carried the pig feed out.
Then the little girl fed the chickens and cleaned up the chicken droppings—the stench was overpowering.
Sheng Mingyi felt like this was no dream at all!
Once the girl finished everything and went to wash her hands, the sharp-faced old woman came in carrying a small bowl of rice and a basket of vegetables, and barked:
“Get cooking—the men of this house are hungry!”
He felt himself take the items and start working again.
Rinsing the rice, putting it in the pot, adding the chopped vegetables once the water boiled…
It felt nearly identical to making pig slop—just with slightly better ingredients.
Sheng Mingyi could hardly believe it. That stuff in the pot—no oil, no salt—was supposed to be human food?
And what made it even more surreal was that as the smell of the food wafted over, his stomach began to growl audibly. He kept swallowing saliva…
As if that mess in the pot were some kind of delicacy…
In the end, that wretched old harpy only gave him half a bowl of vegetables—no rice, not even a drop of the rice broth to spare.
And that small dish of pickled vegetables on the table? None for him either…
The women and children at the table got half a bowl of rice and vegetables. The men got a full bowl!
Damn it!
He’d been working all morning, his hands so weak he could barely lift them—and all he got was half a bowl of vegetables?
Those useless good-for-nothings had lazed around all morning, and they got thick, hearty rice?
Why?
Kill them all!
Kill every last one of them!
Sheng Mingyi felt murderous rage surge through him. But the little girl couldn’t hear his voice.
She took her bowl back to the kitchen and ate it with pure, blissful happiness…
He could feel it—this little girl was genuinely happy. Grateful just to have something to eat. Nothing else crossed her mind…
Was this really that girl from Begonia Courtyard?
No—absolutely not!
If it were that girl, being treated so unfairly would’ve made her flip the table.
Or she’d have set the place on fire at night and burned those beasts alive. Or poisoned them!
He knew that girl from Begonia Courtyard was bold and vengeful to the core.
Faced with this kind of hellish existence, she’d rather kill her tormentors and then die herself!
Sheng Mingyi was certain he hadn’t misjudged her character.
So whose body was he in?
Where even was this?
Once again, Sheng Mingyi tried to force himself awake.
And once again—he failed.
A wave of deep frustration and restlessness washed over him. It almost felt like he really was trapped inside this body…
