Why did you provoke that old man? He's a reincarnation of a deity!

"Come out here. How long are you going to keep spying?" Xiao Nian had long sensed that someone was hiding outside the temple.

The person who came out was a fourteen-year-old boy, quite strong, with dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night.

The two men's eyes met, and the boy froze, turning to run away.

"Stop! What did your father teach you? Running away as soon as you see your grandfather?"

Meng Xiaoshan—Xiao Nian unearthed this face from Meng Chenhai's memory; he was the second son of Meng Chenhai's youngest son, and Meng Chenhai's grandson. The old man often dragged him along to boast when he was drunk.

"Grandpa? I was just passing by to buy soy sauce."

"Just passing by late at night?"

Meng Xiaoshan was speechless for a moment, his face flushed red, and after a long pause, he blurted out, "Grandpa, why aren't you dead yet?"

Xiao Nian frowned.

"Grandpa, if you don't die, how are we supposed to live?!" Meng Xiaoshan was almost crying.

"Last month, after you got drunk, you cursed the Li family as descendants of barbarians, and it got out! Prefect Li said you were a remnant of the previous dynasty, and the military academy's political review rejected me! You have no idea, I took the exam twice!"

"Right now, I can't even submit an application form. How can I get into the military academy if you don't die?"

Xiao Nian fell silent; he didn't recall such a thing. Meng Chenhai's memory was too chaotic; his brain had been turned into mush by alcohol.

The past is irrelevant now. He has come into this body, and everything will change. This is the confidence of a true immortal.

"Listen carefully. Even if your grandfather dies, you might not be able to get in. A person must rely on themselves!"

Xiao Nian suddenly reached out and grabbed Meng Xiaoshan by the back of the neck, saying in a low voice, "You can't tell anyone what you saw tonight, otherwise, even if Grandpa dies, he'll keep choking you from behind."

Upon hearing this, Meng Xiaoshan shuddered and shrank back.

"Take me home." Xiao Nian released him and dusted off her hands.

Meng Xiaoshan froze for three seconds, then jumped up: "You want to go back?! Do you even know who my parents are?"

"Enough talk, lead the way."

As Meng Xiaoshan watched his grandfather's retreating figure, he sensed that something was different about him.

……

The Meng family originally lived in a courtyard house, but after Meng Chenhai sold it, they moved to a small courtyard house with two rooms in Wali, near Caishikou in the east of Mizhou City.

Xiao Nian pushed open the courtyard gate, and three people were standing in the courtyard:

A thin man in his forties, Meng Xiaoshan's father, Meng Delin; a round-faced woman wearing a coarse cloth jacket, Meng Delin's wife, Zhou Shi; and a fourteen-year-old girl, Meng Xiaoshan's younger sister, Meng Xiaohe.

There was half a bowl of cold porridge and a few pieces of pickled vegetables on the table, indicating that dinner had just been eaten.

When the couple saw Xiao Nian come in, they were first stunned, and then their faces fell.

Meng Xiaohe went straight to Xiao Nian's hand and said, "Grandpa."

Zhou threw the rag in her hand onto the table and pulled Meng Xiaohe over, afraid that the old woman would get the child dirty.

He immediately gave him a dirty look: "You old fool, how dare you come back? How can you be so shameless? If you died, our whole family would set off firecrackers; if you're alive, our whole family will suffer with you."

Meng Delin tugged at her sleeve.

"What are you pulling at! It's either him or me today!" Zhou shoved him away and pointed at Xiao Nian's nose.

"Old man, put your hand on your heart and tell me, have you done anything to our family? Back then, we at least had two shops and a courtyard house in this city! And what did you do? Drunk, you pawned the property deeds at a gambling den, and were kicked out in the middle of the night! The courtyard house is gone! The shops are gone! Delin and I are living in this shabby place with the children. It leaks everywhere when it's windy or rainy, except for you."

"What's most infuriating is that the old man stole things to exchange for wine, even stealing from the Li family! This caused Xiaoshan to fail his military academy entrance exam! And his eldest son's family? They were tricked into joining the army on the border by a drunken pep talk, and three years have passed without a single letter! Who knows if they're alive or dead! And his daughter? You married her off to a hunter! That hunter is twenty years older than her! She cried and refused to marry him, but what did you do? That's your own daughter!"

Zhou spoke at length, like spitting out beans.

Meng Delin, standing to the side, sighed with his head down, "Father, you shouldn't have come back."

Xiao Nian stood there, listening to the stories, thinking: We're doomed, this family has become our enemy.

Xiao Nian took a deep breath and slowly spoke, her voice calm: "Are you finished?"

Zhou choked, wanting to curse again.

Xiao Nian walked to the table, sat down, picked up the half-bowl of cold porridge, and took a sip.

The porridge was cold, and the rice grains were hard; it might be good for replenishing energy.

He casually picked up a white porcelain bottle from the table, opened it, and took a deep sniff.

Inferior quality Peiyuan Dan (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) is only adequate for replenishing the body's Qi and blood.

Upon seeing this, Zhou immediately pounced on him: "That's Xiaoshan's medicine! You're going to use it to exchange for wine again? I'll fight you to the death!"

Xiao Nian ignored her, uncorked the bottle, poured out two brown pills, opened his mouth and threw them in, then crunched them down.

Zhou and Meng Delin were both stunned. In the past, Meng Chenhai never dared to take any pills; he would just tough it out for a few days if he was sick.

The Peiyuan Pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, and a warm medicinal power acted directly on the body. However, this body's qi and blood were insufficient, and the recovery was slow.

Xiao Nian remained expressionless, poured out three more pills, and ate them like candy.

Zhou then realized what was happening and her eyes widened: "Spit it out! Do you think this is your snack?"

"Can you still eat the little mountain that's been spit out?" Xiao Nian put the empty porcelain bottle back on the table, wiped her mouth, and stood up.

"I'll return it to you next time; give it to your grandfather first."

"Old man, you'll pay with your life? What else do you have to pay with?" Zhou Shi snatched the white porcelain bottle as if she had gone mad, and even wiped the bottle after getting it.

It's obvious they dislike it, they really dislike it.

Meng Xiaoshan looked at his father.

Meng Delin finally raised his head and asked in a hoarse voice, "Father, where are you going?"

Xiao Nianren had already walked outside and stood at the door of the main room. Moonlight leaked in through the hole in the roof, illuminating his gray beard and hair and his eyes that suddenly became frighteningly bright.

He leaned against the door frame, glanced back at the people in the room, and then walked out of the courtyard.

"The Li family."

"Where are you going?"

"Get the debt back! Make them pay back my hard-earned money!" Xiao Nian's voice trailed off.

The main room fell silent for a moment, his words still echoing in my mind.

"The Li family? Debt collection?"

Then Meng Delin suddenly stood up: "The Li family! They're here to collect debts! Are they out of their minds?!"

Zhou was stunned, then shouted, "Pull him back quickly! He's got a death wish, but we do!"

Meng Delin was about to rush out when Meng Xiaoshan stopped him in time.

When Meng Xiaoshan returned, he kept looking at his grandfather's back. Today, his back was straight, completely different from the drunken old man he remembered who was slumped over the table.

"What are you doing!" Meng Delin turned around and said, "You don't want to take the entrance exam for the Military Academy anymore!"

"Grandpa doesn't seem to have been drinking today."

Zhou snapped out of her daze and slammed her hand on the table: "He's crazy when he's drunk! He's even crazier when he's sober! What's gotten into this old man today?"

Zhou continued to yell and curse at the door like a shrew.

Meng Delin stood at the door, watching the hunched figure disappear into the alley.

That old man who gets drunk and staggers around every day didn't stumble at all when he came back or went out tonight.

Meng Delin patted Meng Xiaoshan's head and sighed, "Xiaoshan, go and follow your grandfather. Even if he's wrong, we'll still collect his body when he dies."