Chapter 2: She Transmigrated Into an Eighteen‑Year‑Old

The sky grew dark.

Shu Shu squatted on the street of An Shi, which after thirteen years was both familiar and strange.

She squatted for three hours.

She still couldn't quite accept that her obedient, cute, clingy child, who used to speak in a babyish voice, had grown up into a kemono.

And most crucially, this little white-eyed wolf didn't even recognize her.

She had even told him she was his mother.

At that moment, various small vendors came over to set up stalls.

"Move aside, you're standing on my stall."

An old lady holding a small cart appeared behind Shu Shu.

"Sorry."

Shu Shu hurriedly stood up, moved aside, changed spots and continued squatting, continuing to doubt life.

The old lady was selling some handmade small ornaments; as she set up her stall she noticed Shu Shu and casually said, "Little girl, are you still in high school? At this time, shouldn't you be in evening classes?"

"Auntie, I'm not a student." Many people had said Shu Shu looks young; she explained, "My son is already four years old—"

She paused, then corrected: "He's actually seventeen."

The old lady looked at Shu Shu with the kind of gaze one reserves for a lunatic.

Shu Shu: "What's wrong?"

The old lady handed her a small mirror and, in a tone as if seeing through her, said, "Little girl, even if you're skipping class and making up lies, you should have some limits."

What.

Shu Shu took the mirror suspiciously and lowered her gaze to it.

Then she froze completely.

In the mirror was a girlish figure, lips red, teeth white, features bright and lively, a pair of peach-blossom eyes especially glistening.

It was indeed her, no mistake.

But this—at most—was how she looked at eighteen.

Not in her twenties, not in her thirties.

But rather… eighteen!

The stall‑holding old lady heard the girl holding the mirror burst into a loud, upward‑looking laugh.

"I've returned to youth! Hahaha!"

Shu Shu, who had just laughed for three seconds, stopped.

She seemed to understand why her son didn't recognize her.

How could an eighteen‑year‑old possibly have a seventeen‑year‑old son?

Her son must have thought she was a scammer!

Shu Shu's first reaction was to want to find her son and explain things clearly.

But over ten years have passed, and the streets of An Shi have changed so much that she has no idea where to look.

Make a phone call?

Shu Shu felt both pant pockets, found no phone, and even if she had one, she didn't have her son's number anyway.

At that moment, the scent from a nearby snack stall drifted over.

Shu Shu's stomach began to growl.

She hadn't eaten dinner yet.

She felt her pockets again—well, she didn't even have any money.

What does Heaven mean by this?

Let her be reborn only to leave her to fend for herself?

No way—this time she will command her own fate, not leave it to Heaven!

Shu Shu noticed the stall‑holding old lady weaving handicrafts with colored thread.

Coincidentally, she also knew a bit of handicraft, so she stepped forward and asked the old lady if she could help, offering to work for a dollar per piece.

"No need, my tiny business doesn't get many customers; I can handle it myself."

The old lady refused outright.

But Shu Shu didn't give up: "How about this? I'll make two for free; if they sell, you can pay me a dollar starting from the third."

The old lady glanced at Shu Shu's scallion‑white fingers, thought she must be spoiled, and expressed doubt: "You can?"

"I can."

Shu Shu took the thread and hook, her movements fluid, and soon a white‑blue little shark appeared in her hand.

Seeing the old lady's box still held a DIY small light, she had an idea, took one, slipped it into the shark, and added a silver ring.

A glowing keychain was done!

"Oh, you really can do it."

The old lady exclaimed in surprise; before her words faded, the keychain attracted a passing young lady.

"It looks great, how much?"

The old lady sized up the girl's liking, shifted her eyes, and quoted a price three dollars higher than usual: "Eight dollars, take it."

The other party happily scanned the code; her friend nearby also got a recommendation and hurriedly asked if there were more of the same.

The old lady immediately agreed to Shu Shu's proposal.

In the end Shu Shu received a total of five dollars for her work; she took the money intending to buy a handheld pancake to fill her stomach.

The old lady stopped her: "Little girl, let's make a deal—I have some mugwort rice balls I made this afternoon; I'll give them to you to eat if you teach me what you just made, okay?"

Shu Shu readily agreed.

…

Not far away.

Shu Lingchen watched this scene.

He also didn't know what was wrong with himself.

Clearly they had left, yet he returned the same way and found that woman who swore.

Because not finding him made his chest panic directly.

This is too strange.

Until he saw Shu Shu making accessories with a crochet hook, and he was stunned.

In his memory, his mother was very good at making these little ornaments; many kids in kindergarten envied the different plush charms hanging on his schoolbag each day.

At that time he held a blue-and-white little shark, proudly telling everyone: "You mock me for having no father, but I have a mother who is the most skillful and loving in the world!"

This person…… she also knows how.

Shu Shu gulped down four green rice balls in one go, as if she hadn't eaten for three days and three nights.

The old woman's eyes welled with pity, and she took out a small bag of peanuts: "Child, take it to eat."

Shu Shu waved her hand: "Thank you, I'm allergic to peanuts."

These words clearly entered Shu Lingchen's ears as he strode over.

The teenager's steps halted abruptly.

His mother was also allergic to peanuts.

"Hey young man, want to buy something?" the old woman noticed Shu Lingchen.

Shu Shu followed by raising her head, her expression brightening: "Kiddo!"

Shu Lingchen's gaze swept past the small shark in the old woman's hand heavily, finally stopping on Shu Shu's face; his Adam's apple rolled, and an inexplicable urge prompted him to ask:

"What was drawn on that picture I brought home from kindergarten on my first day?"

Shu Shu raised her eyebrows, understood, and answered without difficulty: "It's a little shark and its shark mom."

Shu Lingchen's breath caught.

That picture was one he secretly drew, hid in his schoolbag, and brought home to give to his mother.

In this world, besides himself, only his mother knew what was on that picture.

The teenager stepped back in disbelief, and even his turkey‑like hair trembled slightly.

"You, you really are me……"

Shu Shu was about to tear up, nodding: "Yeah, yeah, kiddo, I'm your mom!"

…

A quiet corner of the park.

"You mean after you died, you opened your eyes again and appeared at the gate of San Zhong, and still looked eighteen?"

Shu Lingchen briefly summarized Shu Shu's words.

"Yes."

Shu Lingchen felt it was too fantastical, but seeing his mother, who had long left him, reappear before his eyes, his eyes involuntarily grew moist.

"Mom……?"

Shu Shu originally wanted to give her son a warm embrace, but that turkey‑colored hair——

No way, it's too ugly to bear!

Shu Shu closed her eyes and directly shattered this sentimental atmosphere.

"Quickly take me home!"

Her legs were numb from squatting, and she could hardly wait to go home and soak in a comfortable fragrant‑flower‑petal bath in the massage bathtub!

…

Twenty minutes later.

Shu Shu looked up at the unfamiliar, rundown residential building, with three big question marks popping up above her head.

"Where is her spacious Yujingyuan residence of over three hundred square meters?"

"Thirteen years have passed, and it's become like this?"