The farmer collects wealth, cruelly oppressing the poor and weak. First met Li Lan in 2016.

  【016】

  Tang Ke can't cook, Tang Mai can. Although it's cold in the middle of the night, this is Tang Ke's way of showing her care. Tang Mai didn't say a word, cleaned up the three chickens, took some hay from the haystack, lit a fire and roasted all three chickens to perfection.

  When all the busy work was done, the sky was almost bright. The two of them ate one chicken and took the remaining two back home to hide.

  After hiding the chicken, Tang Ke said to Tang Mai, "Mai'er, there are two left. One for big sister and Guo'er, and one for mother. Take them out while father is not around."

  Tang Mai had always known that Tang Ke was a vengeful and ruthless person, and he was probably as angry as himself that Tang Yuanshan didn't stand up for Lian Shulan that day.

  "Brother, why do those chickens listen to you?" Tang Mai asked with some curiosity. In fact, she had been curious since her previous life. In her previous life, Tang Ke was always able to easily make the animals he saw obey him. She had suspected that Tang Ke had some special ability, but before she could ask him about it, he went off to battle and never came back.

  "Maier, Mother said that this matter cannot be told to others." Tang Ke looked at Tang Mai with a serious face, and for the first time, a worried expression appeared on his cool little face. "I don't know why, when I was three years old, I could already understand their words, and they would do whatever I asked them to do. I told Mother, and she said that we can't tell others, or else we will be treated as monsters."

  "Maier, would you think of your brother as a monster?" Tang Ke said, still looking at Tang Mai with some concern.

  Tang Mai stared blankly for a while without reacting. Is this the legendary beast? Her brother can actually understand animal language and control it?

  If her brother hadn't been murdered in his past life, wouldn't this world have changed completely?

  However, Tang Mai was only surprised for a moment before regaining his composure and walking up to Tang Ke. He patted him on the shoulder and comforted him in a "sympathetic" tone, "Brother, you will always be my good brother. Mother is right, this matter can't be told to anyone else except me and mother, or you'll be treated as an evil spirit."

  "Brother, it's late, let's go to sleep." Tang Mai said calmly, got on the bed, and then she bit her mouth hard, making sure it really hurt, only then did she confirm that she wasn't dreaming, her brother could indeed tame beasts.

  Tang Mai was not happy but worried after knowing Tang Ke's special ability, after all this is an ancient rural village, if Tang Ke's special ability is known by some people with ulterior motives, their lives will no longer be peaceful.

  She just wants to live a good life in this lifetime, repay the debts owed from her previous life, and doesn't want to get entangled in any court struggles or imperial throne disputes again.

  It was pointless to think about it, so Tang Mai finally fell asleep. When she woke up again, it was already afternoon that day. She remembered her appointment with Li Xin and hurriedly got out of bed, asking Lian Xiu Lan to take her to the Tian family's house.

  Lian Xiulan had always been accommodating of Tang Mei's small requests, helping her wash her face clean and put on clothes before taking her to the Tian family's house.

  The happy event has come to an end, and the Tan family's household has also quieted down. When Tang Mai found Li Xin, Li Xin hummed coldly at her again, "You don't keep your promises, so I've swallowed your jade pendant! I won't return it to you!"

  Li Xinyi came to the kitchen early in the morning to wait for Tang Mai to play with him, but after waiting for a whole morning, Tang Mai still didn't show up. If he hadn't been so persistent, from morning till afternoon, Tang Mai might not have seen him at all.

  Tang Mai knew that Li Xin was angry, and if she were in his place, she would be angry too. So she apologized, "I didn't do it on purpose, I just fell asleep. As soon as I woke up, I came to find you to play."

  Li Xin's face looked a bit better after hearing this, but he still asked in disbelief, "Really?"

  "You're kidding me."

  "Haha, I knew it, my friend is definitely a trustworthy person!" Li Xin said with a proud tone.

  Tang Mei's face turned dark for a moment, and he hastily changed the subject, saying, "Let's go find your sister now."

  "Will you come and play with me again tomorrow?" Li Xin asked Tang Mai intently.

  "Stay!"

  "Okay, let's go find my sister now."

  In a newlywed's room, a young woman with a charming appearance was embroidering in the house when she heard a shout from outside the house, "Sister, sister——!"

  Li Lan immediately knew it was her mischievous little brother shouting, put down the embroidery in her hand, opened the door and walked out, just to see her little brother and a slightly shorter girl wearing coarse linen clothes but looking very cute walking in.

  That little girl looked thin and small, but the pair of eyes looking at her were lively as if they could talk, with a hint of calmness, quietness and shallow smile.

  Li Lan was slightly startled, she had never seen a child with such deep eyes before. Those eyes that were full of thoughts, seemed to belong to a mature girl who had experienced the ups and downs of life, not a child at all.

  "Sister?" Li Xin seemed to notice that his own sister was staring at Tang Mai in a daze, and called out with a pout.

  Tang Mai walked forward, curtsied to Li Lan with a standard gesture that only a young lady from a wealthy family would do. In all these years, Li Lan had followed Master Li to many places and met many young ladies from prominent families, but this was the first time she saw a child of just a few years old show such courtesy, and what's more, doing it flawlessly without a single mistake. Her astonishment grew even more intense.

  Tang Mai wanted was Li Lan's surprise and astonishment, she had to make Li Lan believe that a five-year-old child like her must be seen as different from others.

  "Mrs. Tian, hello, I'm Tang Mai, I've come to discuss business with you." Tang Mai smiled as he looked at Li Lan.

  This remark brought Li Lan back from her astonishment, and she became even more curious about the little girl in front of her. The feeling and foreshadowing that Tang Mai had given her earlier made her feel that it was only natural for Tang Mai to say this. "Oh? Little girl, you want to talk business with me? I wonder what you want to do?"

  Tang Mai glanced at Li Xin standing aside and said, "I have something to discuss with your sister, you go out and play by yourself first, I'll come back to accompany you in a while."

  Li Xing's eyes widened in dissatisfaction, but unfortunately, he was too fat, and his small eyes still couldn't see clearly even when he widened them.

  "Xin ge er, you go out and play first." Li Lan also spoke up at this time. She was teased by Tang Mai's appetite and was very curious about what other surprising things this little girl could do.

  Li Xing heard that even his own sister was telling him to get out, so he coldly snorted twice and said to Tang Mai, "Then you'd better come out quickly, I'll be waiting for you outside! Otherwise, I'll swallow your jade pendant and won't return it to you, humph!"

  Tang Mai,"......"

  Shouldn't she have not given him the jade pendant in the first place?