From Folly to Fortune：I Rewrite My Life After Rebirth!

Wang San was dressed in a monk’s robe, stepping unevenly as he headed toward the Old Mu Family’s main house.

Everyone was busy celebrating the Lantern Festival, so there wasn’t a single person on the road to run into Wang San.

So just like that, he smoothly arrived at the Old Mu Family’s main residence.

He tugged at the monk’s robe and went straight up to knock on the courtyard gate.

Before long, a Protector came out to watch the house, his face bruised and swollen.

”What do you want?” the Protector asked.

Then he suddenly remembered how he himself had been beaten last night for not being polite, and quickly squeezed out a smile uglier than crying. ”The original owner of this house has already sold it to our Mr. Ma. If you’re looking for the people who used to live here, you can go ask around at other homes in the village!”

”I’m not looking for anyone else, I’m looking for your master,” Wang San said.

”But...”

”I’ve got urgent business. If it gets delayed and I leave, don’t you regret it later!”

The Protector saw that Wang San was a monk, and the way he talked was arrogant and full of righteous confidence. He was afraid that, just as the monk said, if he missed something important he’d be beaten viciously by Mr. Ma.

So he scampered back into the courtyard, panting as he went to fetch Mr. Ma.

Before long, Ma the Landlord came out, bringing a group of Protectors with him, each holding a hoe or a wooden stick, looking ready to fight.

”So you’re the monk who came looking for me?” Mr. Ma asked unhappily.

Wang San hurriedly bowed to Mr. Ma. ”Congratulations, sir, congratulations!”

Mr. Ma was momentarily stunned by what came out of Wang San’s mouth, but he quickly recovered and asked, ”What’s there to congratulate me on?”

”Your lordship chose this house well. I saw it from outside the village—purple qi rising from the east, the whole sky above the house shrouded in good fortune. Whoever lives here will either be rich or noble in the future!”

Mr. Ma’s face instantly broke into a smile.

”Really?”

Before Wang San could answer, the Protector beside him whispered, ”Sir, it must be true. I heard people say this house once produced a scholar, and they say he’s gone off to the county now to be the county magistrate!

And that nasty girl who came to cause trouble today, I heard her family used to be dirt poor, but now she’s opened a restaurant in town, and she’s even opened a school here in the village. Isn’t that exactly ’rich or noble’?”

Hearing this, Mr. Ma’s face lit up like a flower.

”But all the good fortune in this house lies in the east. You must protect the east side above all, sir!”

”The east side...???” Mr. Ma froze.

”Sir, isn’t the east side that house of the third branch? They just seized it from us this morning. They’ve already piled up a courtyard wall over there!” the Protector helpfully reminded Old Ma.

Wang San, standing to one side, put on a look as if facing a great calamity.

”The east side’s been cut off from the main house? That’s an omen of great misfortune!”

”Wha... great... great misfortune?” Mr. Ma was scared stupid.

”Yes! The fortune of this residence originally comes from the east. The good fortune from the east continually spreads to the center and west sides—that’s what makes this a blessed place!

If you sever the eastern house, it’s equivalent to cutting off the flow of good fortune! From then on, the people living in the middle and west sides not only won’t get a share of this fortune, they’ll be entangled in malignant qi. At best the household will be restless, chickens and dogs unsettled; at worst the family wealth will vanish, the home will be destroyed and lives lost!”

Wang San had spent some time cultivating in the temple; though his six senses were far from purified, he’d picked up plenty of lofty, impressive-sounding phrases.

As soon as he finished, Mr. Ma was so frightened he fell straight to the ground. The layers of fat on his body trembled along with him.

”Sir...”

”Sir...”

Several Protectors rushed up from all sides. Mr. Ma’s face was ashen, like mourning the dead.

Feeling he had completed his task, Wang San left this group he had just duped and went off contentedly to ”cultivate” at the temple in town!

Mr. Ma only came back to himself after quite a while, and the first thing he did upon reviving was to order the Protectors to go tear down the third branch’s courtyard wall.

Several Protectors who had been badly beaten said, ”Sir, it’s not that we don’t want to tear it down, it’s just that that nasty girl really has some skills. If she brings the whole village here again, we won’t be able to hold them off!”

”Hmph! Since I, your master, say it must be torn down, I’m not afraid of her coming! Doesn’t she like to fight? I’ll hire some desperadoes specially to deal with that nasty girl. I don’t believe that even if I put up half my fortune, I still can’t beat one nasty girl!”

Once he said it, he did it. All the Protectors in the residence began tearing down the wall that had just been built that morning.

Only when they’d carried away every single mud brick did Mr. Ma’s smile return.

”At least we’ve preserved the fortune of this house. From today on, I’m going to guard this place with my life. Whoever dares lay a finger on this house is coming for my life!

Whoever comes for my life, I’ll make her wish she were dead, with no grave to be buried in!”

...

On the other side, Mu Shuangshuang finished stir-frying the last dish and told Yu Si Niang to go call everyone to the table.

Today she’d made quite a few dishes, but the main attraction was still the yuan-yang hotpot she’d already tried at home before.

Green vegetables, bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, radish, sliced meat, and tofu skin and other side ingredients had all been prepared by Yu Si Niang.

Once the hotpot boiled, they could just toss the ingredients in, saving quite a bit of trouble.

Before long, everyone gathered around three tables: as usual one for the men, one for the women, and one for the children.

Seeing the tables piled high with dishes, everyone was practically drooling.

As host, Mu Dashan naturally had to say something festive.

”Today is the Lantern Festival. It’s rare for everyone to gather together. Today we’re going to eat well, drink well, and have fun. If we haven’t eaten or drunk enough, we’ll keep going tonight!”

Once the man finished speaking, everyone started eating.

It was Xiuxiu’s first time eating this kind of hotpot. She found it novel and asked Mu Shuangshuang, ”Shuangshuang, how did you come up with this hotpot? How come I’ve never seen it before?”

”This yuan-yang hotpot is something Shuangshuang came up with herself. One side is spicy, the other side not spicy. We even said we’d serve it at the restaurant, but we still haven’t done it yet!” Yu Dahai explained.

”So that’s how it is. I think it’s wonderful! Before, hotpot always came in one big pot; it was so spicy some people couldn’t eat it, but if you didn’t eat spicy you felt unsatisfied. Now this is just right—if it’s too spicy, you just cook your vegetables on the other side!

If this gets promoted in the restaurants, it’s sure to set off another trend in town!” Xiuxiu said.

”Trend? Brother Yu taught you that word?” Mu Shuangshuang looked amazed.

”Yes! Big Brother said you taught him that word! Right now, quite a few restaurants in town are taking dishes from our place back to practice hard, trying to make food that tastes the same, but none of them are as good as Chef Wei’s!”

Xiuxiu had been staying in town for a while. Even though she was pregnant, she still asked about the restaurant’s affairs, so it was perfectly normal for her to say things like this.

”Let’s not talk business today. Today we just celebrate the festival and enjoy eating, drinking, and having fun!”