Seeing Village Chief Mei’s agitation, the villagers of Xiangyun Village immediately swarmed forward, forming a protective circle around Shen Ningning.
"What are you shouting about? You want to start a fight?" The people of Xiangyun Village grew indignant.
They were already furious about Village Chief Mei’s malicious intentions.
Now he wanted to bully a child? Unacceptable!
United, they began to shove Village Chief Mei and the villagers from Xitai Village away.
Sister-in-law Liu raised her voice and cursed, "Get out! Get lost! Xiangyun Village doesn’t welcome you!"
Hearing the commotion, the wolf pack on the mountain came bounding down.
The Black Wolf King walked to Shen Ningning’s side, its lupine eyes fixed on the other group as it let out a low, warning growl.
Shen Ningning patted its fur with her small hand, her voice soft and soothing. "It’s okay, Langlang. I can handle this myself."
With that, she lifted her watery eyes and stared at the defiant Village Chief Mei.
"Village Chief Mei, there’s no need for you to come back. We can’t reach an agreement, so there’s no point in talking further."
Village Chief Mei gritted his teeth and pointed at Shen Ningning. "You just wait! You’re so cold and heartless, the heavens will punish you! You don’t deserve to be a blessed girl!"
Leaning on her cane, Grandma Qin parted the crowd and hurried out.
She raised her cane as if to strike, and Village Chief Mei’s face changed in fear as his own villagers pulled him back a few steps.
Full of righteous anger, Grandma Qin said sternly, "If you like the title ’blessed girl’ so much, you can have it! Our Ningning doesn’t care."
"Besides, she’s done so many good deeds. Whether she’s a blessed girl or not isn’t for you to decide."
The villagers chimed in, "That’s right."
Grandma Qin turned, taking Shen Ningning’s hand with one of hers and patting the Black Wolf King with the other.
"Let’s go. We’re going home. Grandma will make you two some steamed meat buns."
The villagers followed them back into the village.
A few children from Xiangyun Village, still indignant, packed some snowballs and threw them at Village Chief Mei.
"Still not leaving? We’ll teach you a lesson for bullying our big sister, the blessed girl!" the children shouted, chasing after them relentlessly.
The hard-packed snowballs smacked against their faces with a stinging, icy pain!
Having failed to get what he wanted and getting beaten instead, Village Chief Mei fled in disarray with his villagers.
「Back at home.」
Sipping a cup of hot brown sugar and egg soup, Shen Ningning felt warm and comfortable in both body and soul.
Her small, chubby face was filled with a happy, contented smile.
But Grandma Qin seemed worried. "Sigh."
The Black Wolf King pricked up its ears and looked at Grandma Qin.
The little girl also asked, "Grandma, what’s wrong?"
Grandma Qin forced a smile. "Ningning, I don’t think that Mei Zhijian will give up so easily. I’m afraid he’ll try to make trouble for you."
"For the next few days, after your classes at the National Academy, don’t linger outside. Come straight home, and don’t be alone. Have Chen Ye stay with you. If that’s not enough, take the Black Wolf King with you, too. Only then will Grandma be at ease."
Shen Ningning wasn’t afraid at all.
Her voice was soft, and her eyes were clear and bright.
"Grandma, I’m not a helpless three-year-old anymore."
"If he dares to mess with me now, I’ll make him regret it!" The little girl clenched her small, rosy fists.
Grandma Qin’s worries were not unfounded.
Over the next few days, people were constantly causing trouble at Shen Ningning’s shop in the city.
They would either complain that the food was unclean or claim they got diarrhea after eating the shop’s sweet soup.
At first, Aunt Yun was reasonable and offered compensation.
Later, she realized this group was just malicious and deliberately stirring up trouble.
She ended up in a conflict with the troublemakers, and the young shop assistant nearly got into a fight with them.
A constable on patrol nearby rushed over and put a stop to the farce.
When Shen Ningning found out, she decided to go to the shop and oversee things for a couple of days.
She had to find an opportunity to deal with the troublemakers once and for all to prevent future problems.
On this day, the National Academy was on break, so Shen Ningning went to the shop to help out.
The weather was freezing. A heavy snow had fallen the night before, and it was so cold that even two layers of quilted clothes weren’t enough to stop people from shivering.
As a result, there were few pedestrians on the street, and even the shop’s business was a bit bleak.
Inside the shop, Shen Ningning sat by the fire, rocking gently in a lounge chair.
Blinking her large eyes, she glanced into the courtyard where Wuer and the others were busy preparing the soup base for the next day.
Not far away, Uncle Zhong was meticulously doing the accounts. At times like this, not even a clap of thunder outside could break his concentration.
Seizing the opportunity, Shen Ningning slipped away in a flash and entered her Immortal Realm.
The little girl had been diligently tilling the soil around the golden tree for the past few days, hoping it would grow strong quickly and give her a surprise.
And sure enough, just as she walked under the four golden trees and looked up, she was stunned!
The four chestnut-like fruits seemed to have ripened.
They had transformed into perfectly round, golden-red pearls the size of a baby’s fist.
One of them, apparently overripe, had fallen to the ground.
Shen Ningning picked it up, her cute little eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she examined it.
’What is this thing?’
She was afraid that if she disappeared for too long, the people in the shop would notice.
So she took the strange pearl and left the Immortal Realm.
Fortunately, everyone was still busy with their own tasks, and no one noticed that Shen Ningning had vanished and reappeared.
The little girl leaned back in her lounge chair, looking at the pearl in her hand.
It was very warm to the touch, like holding a ball of gentle fire.
Shen Ningning felt a luster flowing within the pearl.
She couldn’t resist opening her little mouth and taking a small bite.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" ’It’s disgusting! It tastes like hot oil.’
Shen Ningning wiped her little mouth with her sleeve.
Suddenly!
She realized that she had actually bitten through the "pearl"!
A golden-red liquid flowed out from inside. A gust of wind blew past, and it transformed into a sky full of sparkling crystalline dust.