Meng Yan's Transformation

"Zhan Yingying, aren't you hungry? Don't make trouble while eating! Girls should 'not talk while eating and not talk while sleeping'!"

Zhan Yu paused with his chopsticks while speaking.

"It was Zhan Zixun who said disgusting things during dinner, but he said that I..."

When Zhan Mengyan muttered softly, she looked at Yunqing. Yunqing pointed at the bowl and signaled her to eat quickly. Zhan Yingying picked up the bowl and started eating slowly.

The next day, Zhan Yingying got up early and made breakfast with Yunqing. She took some dry food and went to visit the yangko troupe in the same village for a performance.

Zhan Mengyan was at home sorting out her homework and books. When Zhan Yingying returned home, she brought back a lot of candy and cakes. These were gifts from the yangko troupe, given to them by the performance unit. Zhan Yingying couldn't bear to eat them herself, so she brought them back for Zhan Mengyan.

When Zhan Yingying put her spoils - candies and cakes - on the kang table, Zhan Mengyan's smile was as sweet as candy.

"Sister, what unit did you go to for the consolation performance today? You got such delicious food! We don't need to buy candy for the New Year this time, right? The cellophane wrappers on these candies are so beautiful. I remember when we were in Heilongjiang, we would visit every household on New Year's Day to wish them a happy new year. We would get candy from every household we visited, but we couldn't bear to eat it. We would let the candy melt quickly before eating it, and the cellophane wrappers would be flattened and stored away."

When Zhan Mengyan spoke, it seemed as if her thoughts were brought back to her childhood.

"Yes, we were upset because we tore the wrapper of a piece of candy. Now all the candies and wrappers are yours, and no one will compete with you."

When Zhan Yingying spoke, her eyes were full of affection, and she pushed a pile of candies in front of Zhan Mengyan.

"Sister Yingying, do you still think I'm a child? How could I eat so many candies? One or two pieces are enough. I loved eating candies as a child, which caused me to get cavities at an early age. If my front teeth hadn't been pulled out early because of cavities, and the roots hadn't been crooked, would they have grown so crooked and ugly? The moment I see my front teeth, I never want to eat candy again. Besides, I haven't collected candy wrappers for a long time. Now candy wrappers are just like waste paper to me."

While Zhan Mengyan was speaking, she used her hands to move her crooked front teeth.

"Even if you don't eat a piece of candy, your front teeth won't straighten up. You don't have the conditions to eat it normally, so it's okay to eat a few pieces of candy during the New Year. Rinse your mouth or brush your teeth after eating the candy, and you won't get cavities. Sister Mengyan is grown up and doesn't care about these candy wrappers anymore. Why don't we peel the candy wrappers off these candies, melt the candies, and I'll make you some candied haws!"

As Zhan Yingying spoke, she pulled a handful of red hawthorns from her small satchel. The hawthorns were plump and round, their skin a vermilion sheen, dotted with tiny yellowish specks that shimmered in the sunlight. Her fingertips felt cool, carefully avoiding the tiny thorns at the base of the fruit. It felt as if she wasn't holding a sour fruit, but a red jade imbued with the spiritual energy of the wild.

"Wow, Sister Yingying, you're amazing! Where did you get such top-quality hawthorns? I work as a handicraft worker in a cannery and have dug out hawthorn seeds before, but hawthorns as good as these are rare!"

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she picked up a piece, wiped off the dust, and placed it in her mouth. The sour taste instantly spread, tightening the back of her tongue. However, upon closer inspection, the sourness gave way to a sweet aftertaste, which then filled her mouth with saliva.

"Silly girl, don't you think you can't eat sour food? Look at you shivering from the sourness. Don't you know how to pick out hawthorn seeds? Pick out these hawthorn seeds and I'll make you candied haws. I guarantee you'll love it!"

As Zhan Yingying spoke, she poured out all the hawthorns in her bag.