Meng Yan's Transformation

Chapter 655 Yunqing Asks Zhan Zixun to Sell Tomatoes

The tube of ointment on the kang (a heated brick bed) had rolled to the ground at some point, making a soft "gurgling" sound. Zhan Mengyan breathed a sigh of relief in her dream. The red rash on her neck had long since disappeared, leaving only a patch of delicate skin, like the surface of a river thawing in early spring, shimmering with a soft glow.

Sunlight streamed through the curtains, dancing on Zhan Mengyan's eyelashes, and in the haze, the deep sea of ​​sleep appeared. The light spots seeping through the gaps in the curtains scorched her eyelids. She opened her eyes in a daze, squinting to make out the clock on the wall—8:30. Her stomach felt empty, as if it had been ripped out, but more than that, she felt utterly powerless.

Zhan Mengyan's awakening was like a rusty machine slowly restarting. The moment sunlight pierced her pupils, she felt a stinging sensation in her eyes, as if her eyeballs had been polished by sand. She propped herself up on her arms, a creaking sound coming from her elbows, like bearings that hadn't been oiled in a long time. Her calf muscles were tense like frozen ropes, or like a taut bowstring. When her toes curled, a needle-like pain shot through them, spreading from her ankles to her knees, like countless tiny ants gnawing at her bone marrow. She looked down and saw the scratches on the back of her hands, like riverbanks battered by a torrential rain. The soreness wasn't a single, isolated pain. It was like rust seeping from the cracks in a thousand bones, silently corroding her contours.

Her cervical spine made a soft "click" sound, barely turning like a rusty gear. Aches radiated from her lumbar spine to her temples. Every breath pulled at her, reminding her that this was not ordinary fatigue, but a protest from her body after being overly strained.

The birdsong outside the window was sharp as a knife, tearing through the thin veil she was trying to drift back to sleep.

Zhan Mengyan vaguely heard Yunqing and Zhan Zixun's voices: "Zixun, go check if your sister is awake yet? If she is, we can eat. Last night, the child kept moaning in her sleep. She was working and then got heatstroke, and she bumped into the stall. She has injuries all over her body and hands. I don't know if she got them while working or from the bumps. It's really made Mengyan suffer... After you finish eating, go to the street and sell these tomatoes. Save some money so we can pay your tuition when school starts."

"Mom, let me help you pick tomatoes. I don't know how to sell tomatoes. Let Mengyan sell them when she wakes up."

"Zixun, how can you be so inconsiderate? Your sister knows to work to ease the burden on the family, but you, as her brother, don't know how to help out? You wouldn't even sell some tomatoes. Your sister just came back from the cannery, she must be exhausted. She even had heatstroke on her way home and is also allergic to UV rays, bumping into a roadside stall. And today you still make her sell tomatoes? How can you be so heartless? She needs to rest and recover!" Yunqing's voice was sharp and angry, echoing in the small room, every word seemingly carrying the scent of gunpowder.

Zhan Zixun crossed his arms, looking unwilling, and retorted with a stiff neck, "Mom, it's not that I don't want to help the family, it's that I don't know how to sell things. Didn't I tell you I'd help you pick tomatoes? Why are you accusing me? Besides, selling things doesn't require much physical strength. Mengyan, you can rest while selling tomatoes."

"Zhan Zixun, what kind of absurd logic is this? Making Mengyan rest while selling tomatoes? Selling tomatoes is work, how can she rest?! You..." Yunqing trembled with anger, pointing at Zhan Zixun. She looked at Zhan Zixun's nonchalant attitude, feeling both anxious and furious.

"You, you, Zhan Zixun, you really are..." Yunqing was so angry that tears streamed down her face as she wiped them away, scolding, "You don't even care about Mengyan, let alone help with chores at home. You treat this tuition fee issue like a joke?"