Qin Huai felt that his mind was a bit chaotic, he needed to sort it out.
Alright, he was prepared for the fact that Chen Huihong wasn’t human long ago.
Chen Huihong is a Divine Tree from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, entering the world for tribulation, a bit sudden, but still within an acceptable range.
She failed the tribulation and entered reincarnation. You can tell the general reasons from the dream, it’s acceptable.
But isn’t their tribulation mechanism a bit unreasonable?
Very illogical indeed.
According to the logic of immortal cultivation novels, when you reach a certain level, you need to break through. At a higher level, you’ll get struck by lightning; after that, you upgrade, if unsuccessful, you restart.
They have a standard procedure.
Chen Huihong and her kind don’t have a process for tribulation.
It seems mostly based on mood.
Qin Huai organized his thoughts and seriously asked, "So, are you now the crazy lady of Beiping City, or our community’s Chen Huihong?"
"Both." Chen Huihong replied, "I woke up, but I wasn’t possessed. I am still me, just remembered memories from past lives."
Qin Huai: "... You even read immortal cultivation novels?"
Chen Huihong laughed heartily: "Not much, now that I’m older my eyes aren’t well, looking at my phone for too long gives me blurry vision, so I usually listen to books. Recently, I particularly loved listening to that domineering President Fu and his cold and beautiful wife, but I was embarrassed to play it out loud so I secretly wore Bluetooth earphones until my ears hurt."
"Why don’t we talk about things unrelated to people." Qin Huai said numbly, "Is Huihui the reincarnation of Hui Niang?"
Chen Huihong shook her head.
Seeing Qin Huai’s surprise, Chen Huihong chuckled helplessly: "I’m just a tree, not a divine beast like Bi Fang or Taotie with the power to devour heaven and earth. During my first life’s tribulation, I only realized I’d failed just before dying. How could I understand human things when I’m so clueless myself."
Qin Huai thought Chen Huihong indeed seemed a bit clueless.
"Where did you start watching my first life’s memory?" Chen Huihong asked, intrigued.
"You suddenly emerged from the earth." Qin Huai succinctly replied.
"Oh, I think I know when that was." Chen Huihong nodded, "It’s , us flowers, trees, and plants generally lack self-defense abilities. Becoming human to undergo tribulation in the human world is also very dangerous."
"Sometimes seniors who successfully underwent tribulation would share their experiences with us, telling us that the human world was always in chaos, either war or famine, and occasionally plagued by epidemics."
"In such troubled times, tribulations are very dangerous."
"Let alone us Bai Gao, who encounters years of famine during tribulation, are eaten by rebels, or even bound and used as moving granaries, cutting flesh daily and enduring endless suffering, we fall deeper into the abyss of hatred and numerous fail in their tribulation."
"When I first arrived in the human world, I stole some clothes and inquired about the situation in the capital. Upon hearing about a three-year drought and widespread famine, I was scared to death and wanted to hide in the deep mountains and forests overnight."
"However, Jin was so severely dry that I couldn’t even find any deep mountains and forests, so I had no choice but to bury myself in the earth."
"After hiding in the earth for a while, I realized this wouldn’t work. Our spirits from the Classic of Mountains and Seas don’t have a set process for tribulation, but just hiding and not seeing anyone for a lifetime would definitely mean failure. So, while hiding, I was thinking about finding a solitary, weak-looking person to interact with."
"You know, it was my first time as a human, everything was new, and I wasn’t good at it, full of flaws." Saying this, a reminiscent expression appeared on Chen Huihong’s face, "If I hadn’t met Hui Niang, who taught me how to be human along the way, then later, after entering Beiping City, by chance, being mistaken as the crazy lady, I fear I would’ve been discovered and burned."
"Although being tied and burned might’ve led to success in tribulation, the fastest way for us plants and trees to succeed is getting mistaken for monsters and getting tied and burned, so we generally don’t learn human rules."
Qin Huai was at a loss for words, scratching his head instead.
Chen Huihong smiled: "Do you think we’re quite bizarre?"
Qin Huai nodded: "A bit."
"But there’s no choice, you can look through the Classic of Mountains and Seas to know that powerful Great Demons are a minority. It’s common for us woods and herbs with no special abilities to either be eaten or used as medicine. Apart from a few extraordinarily gifted ones, most spirits just have the mindset of muddling through, as failing isn’t survivable."
"Moreover, during our first life, we can choose what our human appearance and age look like. If we fail in the first life and enter reincarnation, it means truly starting anew and there’s too much uncertainty."
"Most spirits find it difficult to succeed again after failing in their first life."
"For example, my first life in the human world lasted 7 years and ended being shot by a bandit."
"In the second life, I died of hunger before turning three. I couldn’t even judge where I was born."
"In the third life, even more unfortunate, I was stolen by traffickers as a baby. When they found I was a girl during inspection, they couldn’t sell me and threw me on the ground, killing me."
"The fourth life was okay, born in a city with four siblings and a harmonious family. By then, I’d almost forgotten who I was, only feeling a persistence to let everyone have a good life and enough to eat. Later I got into an agricultural university, studied seeds, and died of exhaustion from working too hard daily before the age of 30."
"And then there’s now."
Qin Huai could only sigh: "Your persistence is actually ensuring everyone has enough to eat, what a noble persistence."
Chen Huihong laughed at Qin Huai’s words and quickly shook her head: "It probably isn’t, but honestly, I’m not sure what my persistence is."
"It was when I died in my first life that I realized what I couldn’t let go of was Hui Niang not having that bowl of Longevity Noodles I promised for her at her coming of age."
"Perhaps, deep down, the true resentment was towards myself."
"I hated my carelessness, knowing that moldy cornbread couldn’t be eaten, yet not stopping Hui Niang."
"I hated my indifference, having guessed that evening the cornbread upset her stomach, but not insisting on calling a doctor."
"I also despised my selfish cowardice, if I had called a rickshaw to send Hui Niang to the inner city hospital and borrowed money from Shopkeeper Lu, she might not have died. I wasn’t afraid of being known as the crazy lady, but feared failing in disguise might reveal me as non-human."
"At that time, I was enjoying myself too much, finding the human world fun. Beiping City was more interesting than any world senior had described. I feared being tied and burned would end the tribulation, but feared my attachment to the human world would lead to failure, so I chose to do nothing and watched Hui Niang die."
"I didn’t realize until the moment of death that my regret was that if Hui Niang could’ve eaten that bowl of Longevity Noodles, maybe she could’ve lived longer and healthier. It dawned on me that I probably failed my tribulation."
"That’s why." Chen Huihong’s expression turned helpless, "My persistence is probably not seeing Hui Niang healthy and happy."
Qin Huai was silent for a long time before asking, "Then, let me ask again."
"Is Huihui the reincarnation of Hui Niang?"
"I don’t know." Chen Huihong smiled and shook her head, "Maybe she is, maybe not. Among the countless strangers, there’s always someone similar, not to mention almost a century has passed."
"I’ve heard that in a spirit’s last life, heaven gives a final chance to succeed in tribulation. It’s a chance from heaven and also our chance for redemption."
"Maybe Huihui is that chance given to me by heaven."
"Regardless of whether she’s Hui Niang or not, she’s the Huihui I raised, and I hope she remains healthy, safe, and happy forever."
"Master Qin, is there anything else you wish to know?" Chen Huihong asked.
Qin Huai shook his head, feeling he had learned almost everything he wanted to know.
"Then I have a question for you."
"Is there anything you want?"
"According to our spirits’ traditions, if someone helps us succeed in tribulation, we should give them a great gift to express gratitude."
Qin Huai immediately sat up straight.
"In a normal novel plot, a drop of kindness should be returned generously. I came empty-handed and will leave empty-handed, so I should repay with everything I have."
Qin Huai sat even straighter.
"But all I have will be left to Huihui."
Remembering the crazy lady’s memories really is different, Sister Hong, you’ve changed.
"However, there is a gift for you which I’m sure you’ll like." Chen Huihong took out her phone, searched, and opened the Shuanghai High School enrollment website.
"I can have my brother money to Shuanghai High School to renovate the track field or enhance teaching facilities, and thus, he can recommend a specialty student for admission without tuition."
"And my brother’s daughter, my niece Jiahai, is already a student at Shuanghai Junior High School, so she doesn’t need this specialty student spot, so it can naturally go to Luoluo if needed."
"Shuanghai High School is not far from here, so Luoluo doesn’t even have to board. Sister Zhao doesn’t need to part ways with you two to accompany Luoluo for high school. Most importantly, my brother’s company could also sponsor promising specialty students at Shuanghai High School, like sponsoring Luoluo for studying abroad after three years."
"Truth be told, I think Luoluo is really well-suited for sports, haven’t you considered letting her pursue the path of a sports specialty student?"
"Master Qin, what do you think of this gift?"
Qin Huai was silent for a moment, then said: "This money, you really aren’t spending a penny."
It’s all coming from your brother.
No wonder you got scammed out of 200,000, you’ve probably been conned by your sister quite a bit at home too.