Chapter 2 - How Much Are You Worth?

In the valley, a girl about twelve or thirteen years old slowly opened her eyes. Her skin was coarse and black, her hair messy, her cheeks with some scratches, making her not so good-looking a girl at the first glimpse. Nevertheless, her eyes were especially dark and transparent with a refreshing light, which was rather attractive and unforgettable.

She had been woken up by the clear bird singing accompanied by the scent of grass and wood.

Shen Ninghua suddenly came to herself. She subconsciously looked around and her sight was greeted with lush green vegetation.

Not far away a capsized carriage lay on the ground, and the horses were dead. Even the carriage was broken and scattered all over.

How was that possible? Wasn’t she dead? Why was she here all of a sudden? There were stings in her head, and Shen Ninghua groaned. After a while, she laughed quietly, “Oh, it seemed that heaven had blessed me by giving me the chance of going back to nineteen years ago.”

Her mother died when giving birth to her. When she was a hundred days old, her father Shen Dong married Zhao Yunxiang, daughter of the Zhao’s family. Only six months later, Zhao Yunxiang gave birth to a twin boy and a twin girl, respectively named Shen Linghan and Shen Xuanye.

She, however, was born with dark complexion. At the first glance of her, her father almost dropped her on the ground, bluntly saying that she was not the child of the Shen’s family. Her stepmother never treated her well either, leaving her, the first daughter of the Shen’s family, to live a life even inferior to a servant.

That was quite natural: on one side there were auspicious twins and on the other side an ugly daugher without her birth mother. It was not surprising that Shen Dong was particularly in favor of Shen Linghan and Shen Xuanye.

At the age of thirteen, she happened to see a servant girl adding something to her meals. She felt that she was in urgent danger, so she requested to retreat in a country villa, never expecting that horses got startled on the road and the carriage fell down the cliff.

She was so fortunate that she only sprained her ankles after falling from such a high cliff. The two servant girls who accompanied her to the villa, however, were not so lucky and died in the accident.

After quickly examining herself, Shen Ninghua decided not to stay long. She picked up the baggage containing her clothes and boken silver and walked to the north with a stick to support herself.

After walking for about half an hour, she felt that her ankle was too painful to walk any more, so she went to have a rest by a stream.

In her previous life, it took her one day and one night to walk out of the valley, leaving her ankle diasabled. An ugly girl with disability was a stain to the Shen’s family, so the whole Shen’s family disliked her even more after she returned. No matter how intelligent she was, she was nothing but a joke.

Shen Ninghua crouched down to wash her face with some clean water. She smiled slightly, feeling so good to be alive again.

A loud crash!

A bloodstained hand reached out of the grass across the stream and landed in the water. Blood immediately diffused in the water and was washed downstream.

Shen Ninghua tremored in surprise and shouted in a low voice:

“Who’s there?”

The stream was not wide, but on both sides of the shore there was lush vegetation about half a person tall, so when Shen Ninghua came over, she was completely unaware of the person hiding in the grass on the opposite side of the stream.

After a while, a restrained cough came out, the grass rustled, and a man struggled out of the grass and fell straight into the stream.

Shen Ninghua clenched the stick in her hand and stepped back two steps, her brows frowned: “Who are you?”

“Um… a man in trouble…”

The man looked up and sized up Shen Ninghua with his eyes discreetly for a while before his tensioned body relaxed. “You are a strange-looking girl, but it is surprising that you should suddenly appear alone in the wilderness. You are not a genie from the mountain, are you?”

Stream water had washed away the blood on the man’s face, and Shen Ninghua found he was extremely handsome and his complexion was clear as jade. Even the blood all over his body could not conceal his grace. The man must be from a rich or noble family, and whoever had wounded him severely was not a person she could afford to offend now. She might as well run away from him as fast as she could.

“I was just passing by.”

Shen Ninghua said. She took two steps back and left quickly.

“You… are going to leave a dying man in peril?”

Seeing that Shen Ninghua had already walked four or five steps without the slightest intention of saving him, Chu Junyi hurriedly said. “Have you ever heard of the Xiao’s family in the capital city?”

Shen Ninghua looked back, surprised but showing no sign on her face: “You are from the Xiao’s family?”

“Xiao Jingran is my foster father.”

Hesitating for a while, Shen looked up and asked, “Do you have any proof?”

Chu Junyi raised his eyebrows, surprised. The girl in front of him knew the Xiao’s family, but she was in no hurry to please him. It would be normal for a person from a noble family, but unusual for an ordinary girl like her to be so composed. “This jade pendant is token of the Xiao’s family. If you save my life, I will certainly repay you.”

Looking at the shape of the jade pendant, Shen Ninghua felt a bit tempted. This jade pendant was indeed the token of the Xiao’s family and symbol of the direct line of descent. The man in front of her claimed to be the foster son of the Xiao’s family, so he must be Chu Junyi, one of the famous “Peerless Duo Masters.”

“How much silver would Master Chu be worth?”

She knew his identity!

“Now that you know who I am, and you only think about money?”

Chu Junyi was surprised. A lifesaving deed of gratitude could be exchanged for more, but she wanted only money.

Sarcasm flashed in Shen Ninghua’s eyes: “Does Master Chu expect me to ask for something else? That’s OK. Now tell me what you could give me?”

Chu Junyi choked and looked at Shen Ninghua carefully. “Why are you angry?” He laughed. “I was just saying that. It is good that you want money. I can give you as much money as you want, so long as you help me get out of the valley.”

He was so badly wounded that it was impossible for him to go out without help.

“I will save your life. In exchange for that, I want 5,000 taels. The jade pendant works as a pledge. You give me the money, I give the jade pendant back to you. Then we do not owe each other anything. How about that?”

Shen Ninghua looked up and asked.

Shen Linghan and Baili Jinze smeared her reputation, leaving her to rot in the cold palace after killing the people she cared most. Blood must be repaid with blood! And this was only the first step. She needed financial support after going back to the Shen’s family and money was indispensable. Now that someone was here to offer the chance, there was no reason to decline.

“Five thousand taels of silver in exchange for saving me?”

Chu Junyi was speechless. Not to mention his secret identity. His known identity was the foster son of the Xiao’s family, and he was hailed as one of the Peerless Duo Masters in the capital city, and even had a position in the imperial court. Now she told him that he was only worth five thousand taels of silver?

“Gold!”

Shen Ninghua coldly said, showing a little impatience in her eyes. If it was not for knowing that this man would be very successful in the future, she would not venture to ask for trouble by making a deal with him.

“Deal!”