Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

At the work unit, workers like him were a dime a dozen. They’d return after three years, and with rural household registrations, a position in the city was never guaranteed. If he were assigned back to the countryside, his three years as a worker would have been a complete waste.

More than anything, Li Shan wanted to stay at the work unit rather than return to his hometown.

But with so many people at the unit, if he wanted to stay, he had to resort to unorthodox methods—to do something no one else could.

Fortunately, he had been given this very opportunity!

”It’s nothing that serious, really. They just want me to disfigure Zhao Nuanyue, and then kill her,” Li Shan replied calmly. ”Once this job is done, I’ll be on the fast track to success. Our family’s fortune will be made.”

”My goodness, Zhao Nuanyue is just a young girl! I heard her stepfather disliked her, so she came to Nianqiao Village with her simple-minded brother. But it can’t be so bad that someone wants her dead, can it?” Li Siming exclaimed in shock. ”Was this ’job’ ordered by her stepfather? If not, then who could it be?”

Li Shan shook his head. ”All I know is that it’s a secret assignment from my superior. As for who ordered him to do it, I have no idea. But it must be one of Zhao Nuanyue’s enemies—someone with a grudge against her.”

As Li Siming and Li Shan spoke, Liu Lanhua remained silent, deep in thought as she wracked her brain for anything related to Zhao Nuanyue.

Liu Lanhua knew that even though both her family and the Wang Dadans wanted Zhao Nuanyue dead, it was all just talk. When it came to actually taking action, they were completely incapable.

Everyone else was on quite good terms with Zhao Nuanyue and would never try to harm her. Besides, none of them had the power to give orders to her son.

Therefore, the person who gave her son this order had to be an outsider, and someone of high standing at that.

Suddenly, Liu Lanhua’s eyes lit up as a name flashed through her mind. She said urgently, ”Siming, do you remember that woman, Guo Dongmei, who came to our village claiming to be Hua Yusen’s fiancée?”

”Of course, I remember. She was screaming her head off in the village, saying Zhao Nuanyue had seduced Hua Yusen.” Li Siming paused, then nodded as realization dawned on his face. ”The way that woman talked, she sounded like a shrew from the countryside, but judging by her clothes and the things she brought with her, her family must be well-off. She’s from Jincheng City, and Zhao Nuanyue stole her man. She couldn’t stomach the humiliation, so now she wants to disfigure Zhao Nuanyue and kill her.”

”Yes, that’s it! It has to be her. If outsiders wanted revenge on Zhao Nuanyue for helping that person surnamed Gu, they would’ve just killed all three siblings. They wouldn’t have gone to the extra trouble of ordering her face to be disfigured.” The more Liu Lanhua thought about it, the more certain she was. Only a woman would be so fixated on another woman’s face, so intent on destroying it as part of her revenge.

Hearing his parents, Li Shan was utterly confused. ”Since my target is Zhao Nuanyue,” he asked, ”then Mom, Dad, you need to hurry and tell me everything you know about her.”

Seeing her son ask, Liu Lanhua nodded. Not daring to hide a thing, she told him the whole story, from the day Zhao Nuanyue first arrived in Nianqiao Village right up to the present.

Li Shan listened in silence for a long time. From his mother’s indignant tone and constant cursing, he could tell she hated Zhao Nuanyue to the bone, yet was powerless to do anything about it.

Li Shan came to a single conclusion: Zhao Nuanyue was a calculating, capable, and beautiful woman.

’Completing this job quietly is going to be tricky,’ Li Shan thought.

”In that case, we need to plan this carefully if we’re going to succeed,” Li Shan said slowly after a moment of contemplation. ”We need to attack what Zhao Nuanyue cares about most.”

Liu Lanhua thought for a moment. ”The things Zhao Nuanyue cares about most are probably her simple-minded brother and that little sister she adopted out of nowhere.”

”The little girl plays near the Dragon King Temple every day, and a lot of the village kids like playing with her,” Li Siming replied. ”What if we use one of the village kids to lure her away? We could kidnap her and force Zhao Nuanyue to come alone. That way, we can catch her when she’s by herself.”

Hearing his father’s plan, Li Shan’s eyes lit up. ”Dad, that’s a great idea. As long as we can lure Zhao Nuanyue out, we’ll be able to finish the job.”

Liu Lanhua thought for a moment, then said, ”But it won’t be easy to find a child to do that. If the little girl goes missing, the villagers will definitely question the child we used. They’ll find out we bribed them. Even if we succeed, we won’t be able to escape the blame.”

Li Siming listened and felt his wife’s concern was valid. He nodded. ”You’re right. It’s a good plan, but the risk of being exposed is too high.”

”Heh. Mom, Dad, you’re both too sentimental,” Li Shan said with a cold smirk, a sinister light glinting in his eyes. ”Once that child has lured the little girl away, I’ll just get rid of him, too. No one will be the wiser. Who’s going to know we put the kid up to it?”

”What?” Liu Lanhua was stunned, unable to believe what her son was saying. ”Shanzi, that’s a person’s life you’re talking about! We’re all fellow villagers here. We watched that child grow up. Even if we’re not close, we can’t just kill him!”

”He’s right, Shanzi. Our family has lived here for generations. For all we know, we might all share a common ancestor,” Li Siming added, also a little frightened. He thought his son was being too ruthless.

Seeing his parents’ indecisiveness and sentimentality, Li Shan sighed. ”Don’t you think I know that? But in this world, only dead men tell no tales. Since we’re going through with this, it has to be flawless, without a single loose end. If anyone finds out, our family is finished, let alone ever bringing honor to our name.”

Liu Lanhua and Li Siming exchanged a look, remaining silent. Their hearts were in turmoil, and for a moment, they couldn’t make a decision.

”Mom, Dad, stop hesitating. I now understand that my superior is just carrying out a private order for someone higher up. If I fail to complete this assignment, what do you think he’ll do to me when I get back to the unit?” Li Shan said with a bitter smile. ”He’ll have me quietly eliminated to protect the secret. But if I succeed, it proves that I’m useful. And since I’ll know his secret, he won’t kill me. On the contrary, he’ll have to give me more responsibility.”

Liu Lanhua was still afraid, but the scales in her heart were slowly tipping in Li Shan’s favor.

They were in too deep now. There was no turning back, only moving forward.