Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty

Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Finding the Birthmark Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Finding the Birthmark Chen Afu could see Dabao’s hesitation and guess what he was thinking.

Once mid-April arrived, their home life became harder. There was no surplus grain, no surplus money. The winter wheat had not yet been harvested. Embroidery work from Mrs. Wang had decreased, the bought cloth and leftover fabric were paid in debt. The sewed needle-thread baskets had not been sold for money yet. The money Mrs. Wang got from embroidery work was not enough for buying medicine for Chen Ming’s old father. They still owed some and left something for him to buy nutritional products.

In order to eat, Alu started selling the vegetables from their field in town a few days ago. A full basket of vegetables could only sell for a few coins. Except for one egg a day for Chen Ming, the other eggs were also sold. With this money, they bought cornflour, brown rice or a small amount of wheat to bring home.

The whole family eagerly hoped that the winter wheat could be harvested and sold for money soon.

Alas, there are still a few days left before the winter wheat could be harvested and sold. There is half a month left. Would they be in a state of semi-starvation for this half a month?

Chen Afu was at a loss. She wanted to sell flower patterns, sell recipes, if only she could move and go outside.

In the evening, the family was eating corn porridge again, only Chen Ming had a bowl of noodles. The corn porridge was very thin, and there was also a pot of boiled eggplants.

Other people did not feel sad, it was the same every year before they could harvest the winter wheat. Initially, they had to use more money for Chen Afu’s treatment. Though times were hard right now, those needle-thread basket and thread packages piled up in the room gave them hope.

Chen Afu, under the pretext of feeling unwell, only drank the corn porridge. The remaining eggplants were shared amongst the two kids.

Before going to bed, Chen Afu gave Dabao a bath. Now that the weather was getting hotter, as Dabao was just a boy, Chen Afu gave him a bath every two days. After bathing Dabao using warm water in a wooden tub in the kitchen, she put him on the bed.

Every time she picked up the naked little boy and put him on the bed, Chen Afu would take advantage of the moment and pat his smooth and tender little butt, her hand feeling pleasant. It seemed the little boy liked when his mother patted him and would giggle, pressing his cheek against her neck and flutter his little butt.

But for Chen Afu, bathing herself was far less straightforward. The house was small, they didn’t have place nor a deep enough wooden tub for her to bathe. Usually, adults cleaned themselves with a wet cloth and washed their hair separately. She thought to herself, when they had money in the future, she would build a clean room with a half person-sized wooden tub. Fill it with hot water, sprinkle some petals, and have mist filling the room like a shower scene from her previous life’s television drama, she felt full of energy thinking about such a scenario.

After washing herself and getting onto the bed, wearing only an undershirt, Dabao rolled into her arms and asked, “Mother, should I continue helping you find birthmarks?”

Chen Afu lit the oil lamp on the bed, immediately brightening the small room.

Ever since she could move more freely, Chen Afu started looking for birthmarks or scars on her body. It was often mentioned in many body-swapping stories, that dropping blood on birthmarks or scars would “recognize family” and open the doors of another space.

Except for the first day she arrived here and dreamed of Yanzi, she had dreamed of her twice more. She fully believed that Yanzi was anxiously waiting for her to open the door in some space inside her body.

Moreover, on the day of her car accident in her previous life, Yanzi had appeared and could understand her language. Maybe because she was bleeding, she had opened the door of the space, allowing her to communicate with Yanzi. But then, she died almost immediately.

The skin of this body was really good. It was white, delicate, and as fragile as a piece of paper. From what she could see, let alone birthmarks and scars, there were not even spots. Although this was considered an advantage and a typical beauty body by others, but now, this was her biggest regret.

Chen Afu often asked Dabao to help her check places she could not see, excluding inappropriate places. But no matter how carefully Dabao looked, he never found anything. Chen Afu, however, remained hopeful, always harboring fantasies of a miracle appearing one day.

With the help of the oil lamp, Dabao first checked Chen Afu’s back, the back of her neck, the back of her legs. After finishing, he pulled all of Chen Afu’s hair and said, “Mother, Dabao looked very carefully, but still couldn’t find any birthmarks or scars.” Hearing his mother sigh, he said again, “Mother, is it good to have birthmarks on one’s body? Why don’t you check if Dabao has any?”

Chen Afu laughed and said, “Mother has already checked, you have a small red birthmark on your left butt.” The shape of the birthmark was somewhat unique, like a trident star, or the Mercedes-Benz logo in her previous life, only without the outer circle.

Upon hearing this, Dabao hurriedly said, “Then mother should get off the bed quickly, and Dabao will see if mother has any on her butt.”

Chen Afu pinched his little face and said with a smile, “Mother is an adult, not everyone can see her butt.”

“Dabao is not an outsider, he is mother’s son,” Dabao said sadly, stressing on the word “son”.

“Even though Mother is an adult, even her son can’t look at her there” replied Chen Afu.

Dabao was somewhat disappointed and asked again, “Then who can look at mother’s butt?”

Chen Afu paused for a moment and then said, “When mother was small, grandmother could have looked.”

Dabao was clever and immediately understood, patted his own butt and said, “Oh, that’s right, Dabao is small now, so mother can look at my butt. And those small children who wear open-crotch pants, everyone can see their little butts.” He suggested, “Then, mother should let grandmother check, after all, she has seen mother’s butt before.”

Chen Afu laughed and shook her head, then she laid on the bed feeling a bit depressed, she muttered softly, “Could it be that the door really is in that inappropriate place?”

Then suddenly, Yanzi appeared in her mind again, looking at her like an idiot, and said, “Zhu! How could I be so unlucky to follow you, an idiot, for two lifetimes. The door would never be there. I can’t believe you could even think of it.”

Yanzi showed up at this moment. Chen Afu was overjoyed and quickly said, “Then you must tell me where it is.”

“Idiot, if I told you, then the door will never open again.” And then it disappeared.

Dabao thought that mother was talking to him and asked, “Mother, what do you want Dabao to tell you?”

Chen Afu paused for a moment, then said, “Eh, mother wants Dabao to tell me where our vegetable field is, mother can go water the plants and pick vegetables, so grandmother doesn’t have to work so hard.”

Dabao pouted and said, “Mother can’t simply go outside. Mother looks very pretty, those bad people may have bad intentions.”

Chen Afu hugged him, kissed the top of his head and said, “After mother gets better, she will be self-reliant, make money to provide for the family, so she must go outside. Don’t worry, son. Mother is not foolish, no one can bully her.”

………

Sorry, I am late today. Clear Spring was busy till now to sit in front of the computer. Thanks for Keppra’s red envelope, thanks for Lifelike’s treasure chest, thanks for Milan and Keppra’s sachets, thanks for Jane and Rose, and Yh_yh1166’s wallet, thank you all for your various supports, thank you!