Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

"Peanuts! It's peanuts! Brother Zhao, where did you bring these back from? Do you have any more?" Li Xiaonuan asked excitedly as she saw what was in the bag.

Zhao Wangchuan was taken aback; he hadn't expected Li Xiaonuan to react this way. But what puzzled him even more was, "Little Nuan recognizes this? How does she know it?"

Li Xiaonuan snapped out of her reverie, a cold sweat breaking out on her back. Good heavens, she had gotten carried away! What should she do? What could she say to cover it up? Before Li Xiaonuan could think of anything, Xiao Yang came in from outside, sounding somewhat displeased:

"Sister, that young master Wei is here."

Young Master Wei? Wei Yu? What's he doing here? Li Xiaonuan didn't want to see him right now, so she said, "Tell him we have guests at home and to come back another time."

Xiao Yang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Doctor Jing is here too, won't you let him in and have a seat?"

Their appearance together must be related to the nautical chart. However, now is really not the time to receive them. After weighing the options, Li Xiaonuan said, "Tell them to go back first, and that I will go to the clinic to see Doctor Jing this afternoon. Be polite and apologize to Doctor Jing for me."

Unbeknownst to everyone, Wei Lu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Li Xiaonuan's words. She was truly afraid of meeting Prince Jing. Although she was wearing a veil, her features remained unchanged. Who could prevent Prince Jing from not recognizing her?

Fortunately, Li Xiaonuan didn't let the person in; otherwise, she would have had to find an excuse to avoid them. The Li family residence was so small that even if she avoided them, there was still a chance of running into each other. Given Prince Jing's keen sense of awareness, she believed that once they met, she and Wang'er would be found very quickly. At that time, she and her son would have to relive the nightmare from over a decade ago.

After Xiao Yang left, Li Xiaonuan picked up the peanuts and examined them closely. Seeing this, Zhao Wangchuan remembered that Li Xiaonuan hadn't answered his question earlier and wanted to ask again, but Li Xiaonuan interrupted him.

"Brother Zhao, are all these peanuts cooked? Don't you have any raw ones?" His tone was clearly disappointed.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wangchuan quickly explained, "The cooked ones have all been soaked in seawater, so they're very salty and fragrant when cooked, perfect as a snack or with drinks. There's also a small bag of raw ones below; peel them and stir-fry them, they'll taste good too."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaonuan was overjoyed. She rummaged through the bag, but instead of finding the ribbon, she spilled a lot of peanuts. Seeing her distressed expression, Madam Su shook her head, grabbed a basket, and poured all the peanuts out.

Seeing this, Li Xiaonuan slapped her forehead in frustration and asked Su Shi in a flattering manner, "Mother, how come you are so smart? How come I didn't think of that?"

After saying that, she was about to pick up the small bag of peanuts. Just then, Xiao Yang came in and said worriedly, "Sister, Dr. Jing and the others are waiting for you at the village entrance. They said they have something very important to tell you."

Li Xiaonuan nodded, indicating that she understood. She untied the bag, took out a peanut, peeled it, ate one, and confirmed that it was indeed raw. Then, she hugged the bag to her chest as if it were a precious treasure.

Zhao Wangchuan had been paying attention to Li Xiaonuan's every word and action ever since she called out the name "peanut." Only when he saw her skillfully peel open the peanut shells did he realize that Li Xiaonuan truly recognized peanuts.

"Little Nuan, so you've actually seen this kind of bean before. Is it called a peanut? Why?"

Caught off guard by her joy, Li Xiaonuan blurted out, "This is a peanut, also called a ground peanut or a ground bean. Of course, it's also called a ground bean. The reason it's called a ground peanut is because this plant has to flower, grow flower roots that burrow into the ground, and then it can grow peanuts."

Zhao Wangchuan asked in shock, "How did Little Nuan know?"

Su was anxiously giving Li Xiaonuan meaningful glances. Unfortunately, Li Xiaonuan was too busy looking at the peanuts in her arms to notice them, so she replied without thinking, "I've seen them in my dream. People in my dream planted these peanuts in large areas. They have so many uses."

Zhao Wangchuan found it incredible. What kind of experience was it to be able to see things he had never seen before in a dream? But then he remembered his master's words: There are many mysterious things in this world, things that ordinary people cannot understand. However, behind every mysterious thing lies a cause and effect. All we can do is treat them kindly, so as to cultivate good karma.

Thinking of this, Zhao Wangchuan didn't press the matter further. He chatted casually with the Su family for a few minutes, then called Wei Lu to take his leave. Wei Lu, preoccupied with Prince Jing's presence, didn't hear their conversation.

Feeling dazed and confused, Wei Lu followed Zhao Wangchuan back to the Zhao family home. She then hid in her room, trying to come up with a plan. Zhao Wangchuan looked too much like that man; she couldn't let them meet, lest it cause trouble.

The first thing Zhao Wangchuan did upon returning to the Zhao family was to instruct Zhao Fan: "Find a way to notify Master to come over and have him bring all those raw peanuts. Oh no, I mean shelled beans. Tell him there's a knowledgeable person here who recognizes them."

The Wei family and Prince Jing—it's truly intriguing why they're so urgently seeking out Li Xiaonuan. However, based on what he'd seen and heard at the Li family's residence, Zhao Wangchuan felt he might already know some connection. If Li Xiaonuan truly possessed that ability, then their actions would be perfectly reasonable.

After seeing Zhao Wangchuan and his mother off, Madam Su couldn't help but tap Li Xiaonuan's forehead with her index finger and say, "You, you, why did you blurt out about your dream without thinking? What if others don't believe you? Don't you think they'll think you're a monster? What will we do then?"

Reminded by Su, Li Xiaonuan snapped out of her joy and looked at Su with annoyance, pouting as she asked, "Mother, what do we do now?"

Su couldn't help but tap Li Xiaonuan's forehead again, angrily saying, "I don't know, figure it out yourself. I really owe you something, you never have a moment's peace, you make me worry so much."

Seeing this, Father Li comforted the two, "I don't think the Zhao family mother and son are troublemakers, so don't worry. I'll have Xiao Yang go to the Zhao family to sound them out later."

Just as Li Xiaonuan was about to act cute with her father, Xiao Yang came in again.

"Sister, the servant in charge of Young Master Wei is here to urge you."

Hearing this, Li Xiaonuan was deflated. She stuffed the small cloth bag into Su's arms and said, "Mother, hide this bag of peanuts where the mice can't reach it. When I come back, I'll tell you what it is and what it's for."

After saying goodbye to her father, Li Xiaonuan called Xiaoyang and headed towards the village entrance. She no longer needed crutches, but she couldn't walk very fast. Her knees couldn't bend freely; if she overdid it, she might fall flat on her face. Therefore, it was more than half an hour later when they reached the village entrance.

At the village entrance, two horse-drawn carriages were parked some distance away by the roadside. Under the large banyan tree, Zhou Rong's wife and the matchmaker, Jin, were pointing and gesturing at the carriages with several other women. Seeing Li Xiaonuan approach, they all fell silent.