Chen Yuan wasn't short on money, and besides, this kind of thing probably wouldn't sell for much anyway.

But coincidentally, he possessed the ability to rewind all memories, so he decided to do a good deed.

To return this 'holy relic' to where it belonged.

After all, she hadn't discarded the hairpin even when she was seeking death, which was enough to show that the memory, at least in her eyes, was meaningful.

But where to return it?

Chen Yuan continued to play back the memory.

After the woman hanged herself, a nearby villager saw it. Then, he took her down, stripped off all her clothes, and ran away with the hairpin, which looked like it was worth some money.

Later, probably out of remorse, he came back and buried the naked corpse under this tree.

At this moment, under Chen Yuan's feet, were the bones of this woman.

That was also why Chen Yuan had insisted on bringing someone with him when he came here.

Xia Xinyu wasn't available; dating Zhou Fu had a forbidden feeling of sneaking around; Zhou Yu and the others had to stay at school, so the only person he could shake loose was Shen Xiaoran.

Besides, she knew some of his secrets.

Calling her over, even if he did something strange, she probably wouldn't be too surprised.

Of course, she would definitely ask about it.

Shen Xiaoran drove over in her electric wheelchair and arrived next to Chen Yuan, asking in confusion, "What are you doing? And what's that you're holding?"

"A hairpin, found it at a street stall," Chen Yuan explained directly.

"What the heck?" Shen Xiaoran was a little confused and reached out to take it.

"Hey, don't touch it. It's made of nickel alloy with lead. Touching it too much will stunt your growth," Chen Yuan quickly reminded her.

Hearing that it would stunt her growth, Shen Xiaoran immediately withdrew her hand, very vigilantly, afraid of getting too close.

Where in the world was there a beauty who was only 1.3 meters tall?

She was going to grow to 1.65 meters and become a great beauty.

"Then what do you want to do with that thing?" Shen Xiaoran asked, puzzled.

Looking at her, Chen Yuan suddenly felt that it was too much for him to know this by himself. So, he suddenly became interested and said, "I picked up this little trinket, and then at noon, I dreamed about it."

"Hiss, things are getting mystical."

Shen Xiaoran felt it was interesting. After all, she read *Panlong* and *Stellar Transformations*. She was deeply involved in online novels. She also read many books in the current Qidian horror...no, suspense section, so she wasn't afraid. On the contrary, she was somewhat expectant.

"Then, I had a dream."

Since the other party wasn't afraid, Chen Yuan continued to say, "Once upon a time, there was a wealthy family. The daughter of the family and the son of her nanny grew up together. The two had a very good relationship. It could be said that they had banquets since they were children, chatting and laughing happily, making solemn vows, never thinking of turning back. The girl admired this handsome young man, and the young man also aspired to pass the imperial examinations. The two made a mutual agreement that if he passed the *juren* exam, the young man… or rather, the poor scholar, would marry the girl."

"Good classic opening. When does the time travel start?" Shen Xiaoran asked with great interest.

"No time travel, no rebirth, no system."

After Chen Yuan declared this, he continued to say, "The scholar was also very competitive and passed the *xiucai* exam at the age of eighteen. Although a *xiucai* wasn't considered to have much status, he was already different from ordinary people. If he committed a crime, he didn't have to kneel when he saw the county magistrate and wouldn't be subjected to punishment. The girl was very happy, and the two often met in secret. However, since she was a girl, she didn't have many opportunities to go out, so the two would use bird calls as a secret code at the wall of the residence to pass letters. This hairpin was also bought by the scholar, who saved money on food and clothing, and then gave it to the girl from outside the wall."

"Just say it, who died in the end?" Shen Xiaoran guessed with a serious face.

No, how could this little brat be so smart…

"Don't guess yet, listen first."

Then, Chen Yuan continued to say, "The girl was already thirteen years old at that time. According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, she had to get married after the age of fourteen. Therefore, her father was preparing for her daughter's marriage, but obviously, the girl only liked her young man and had no such thoughts, so she wanted the scholar to confess to her father, propose marriage, and marry her. If he didn't marry her soon…"

"She's going to marry someone else," Shen Xiaoran seemed to sense the difficulty and became a little nervous.

"That's right, that's how it is."

Based on his memories, plus some literary additions, Chen Yuan narrated slowly, "But the young man was a little afraid and didn't dare to. So she asked him to delay. Of course, this kind of thing couldn't be hidden forever, so her father found out. However, he didn't despise him at first because of his humble background. On the contrary, he thought that he was very smart to pass the *xiucai* exam at the age of eighteen, so he gave him three years. When his daughter was sixteen, if he didn't pass the exam in three years, he would betroth his daughter to someone else."

"It's too difficult to pass the *juren* exam in three years, right? Even Zhang Juzheng, a child prodigy, only passed it at the age of 16," Shen Xiaoran analyzed.

"Your knowledge reserves are quite broad."

This was the reason why Chen Yuan liked chatting with Shen Xiaoran. This guy not only had a very high aesthetic taste and loved to read *Stellar Transformations*, but also had a deep literary accumulation because she read a lot of books, so chatting with her wasn't dry at all.

It would be great to have a daughter like this in the future.

No, this daughter is love-brained.

The Xia Xinyu he would have in the future must be a daddy's girl.

"But although he was given three years, at that time, the provincial exam was held once every three years, which was only equivalent to two opportunities. Therefore, during this period, the scholar worked very hard, but because his family was poor, the girl often sold her jewelry for money to help the scholar study and pass the imperial examinations." Chen Yuan continued to add artistic touches, "Because a scholar is a consumable product, he basically can't create any value before passing the imperial examinations. Therefore, the girl sold all of her jewelry, leaving only that broken copper hairpin."

"So she's this kind of love brain. She wouldn't also make shoes for the man..."

Shen Xiaoran suddenly realized that she had been hit by a boomerang halfway through her sentence.

Wait, I'm knitting gloves for Chen Yuan!

"The scholar failed the exam the first time, unable to pass the *juren* exam. He was very discouraged, but the girl comforted him, saying, 'It's okay, there's still one more chance. Continue to study hard.' She stole money from her family to support him."

Speaking of this, Chen Yuan's tone changed, gradually becoming serious, "She thought it was great, but her father had been seeking in-laws. Then, he climbed up to a middle-aged man who had passed the *juren* exam. When he saw the girl, he fell in love with her at first sight. Ask yourself, one is already a *juren*, and one is still taking the *juren* exam, which one would you choose?"

This was the difference between a civil servant and a 'person who is taking the civil service exam' during a blind date.

They seemed to have something in common, but in fact, they had nothing to do with each other.

"Of course, it's the one who has already passed... but, I like someone who is more handsome." When Shen Xiaoran said this, she stared at Chen Yuan and smiled shyly.

"Who asked you to choose? I was just arousing the reader's interest."

Chen Yuan ignored Shen Xiaoran and continued the previous plot, "Just like that, the girl's father wanted to force the marriage. At this time, the girl panicked and asked the scholar to see her father, hoping that he would consider the relationship between his mother and her as her wet nurse, and beg her father to give him another chance. But these words seemed to touch the scholar's inverse scale. He became furious and felt that he had been humiliated. The girl quickly apologized and gave the young man all the money she had earned from selling textiles, saying that she would find another way."

"He feels a little too sensitive," Shen Xiaoran shook her head and sighed.

"After all, face is very important to scholars."

Chen Yuan also nodded in agreement and then said, "But there was no way. Women were vassals at that time, let alone daughters. Her efforts were useless. On the contrary, she angered her father. Her father called the scholar and gave him money, asking him to leave his daughter. The scholar was very stubborn and refused, saying that he would definitely pass the imperial examination. Please fulfill the three-year agreement."

"That's not too scummy."

"He still has some pride," Chen Yuan continued to say, "Her father laughed and said that there was no three-year agreement. Moreover, he drove the girl's wet nurse, who was also the scholar's mother, out of the mansion. At that time, although the status of servants wasn't high, wet nurses, who had been serving the master's family almost all their lives, actually had a very close relationship. But her father still drove her out mercilessly."

"This dad is a bit too much... but it's hard to judge."

"Then, the girl was betrothed to that *juren*. But during that time, the flu broke out, and the *juren* died of illness before he even entered the door. Although the girl was a widow, she was very happy because her body had never been touched. So, she continued to contact the scholar secretly and helped him as much as possible. Finally, in the third year, the scholar passed the *juren* exam."

"The first thing he did after passing the exam was to kill his lover!"

"That's right."

Chen Yuan nodded and said, "After the scholar passed the *juren* exam, he became completely successful. The county magistrate, gentry, and wealthy people all gave him money and gifts. The girl's father also realized his mistake and went to lick the scholar's boots. But the scholar immediately refused and drove her father out of the house."

"What about the girl? Wasn't that mentioned?"

"Yes, the scholar returned all the money he used from her to the girl, and that was the end of it."

"Damn it, feeding the young master cakes, right?!"

"Your use of memes is a bit too broad..."

Chen Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. He returned to the story and said, "Of course, the girl didn't want this. She thought that he would marry her because of their feelings, after all, she was still innocent. However, the scholar felt that he was a *juren* official, so how could he marry a widow? Plus, he had a very good image, so he married the daughter of a prefect."

"Pah, scum."

Shen Xiaoran felt that it was reasonable for the scholar to hate her father. After all, he had indeed been 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river', but the girl was not wrong.

Moreover, he was still holding her money!

"Originally, this matter would have passed like this. But, our place is close to the sea, and the pirates started to cause trouble. Many local people became traitors. The girl's father had done business with the pirates before, so he was also considered an anti-Ming element. In fact, this matter could be solved by finding a relationship. But at this time, the scholar, who had already been appointed as the county magistrate, insisted that her family was colluding with the pirates and sent people to raid the girl's family, and all the family property was confiscated."

"Bastard!" Shen Xiaoran was so angry. She didn't understand why there could be such a man.

"The girl's father died of illness in prison. Her family was also scattered. So…"

As Chen Yuan spoke, he raised his head and looked at the ginkgo tree, saying, "She wore a red wedding dress, with a copper hairpin on her head, and hanged herself on this tree."

"???"

Shen Xiaoran was stunned when she heard this, and looked up at the tree, saying in surprise, "Wait, are you serious?"

"No, just kidding." Chen Yuan said with a smile, "I just had a dream. In the dream, the heroine hanged herself. So, I wanted to find a ginkgo tree and return this ominous object to it."

This was the reason why Chen Yuan was unwilling to earn this small amount of money.

Because the girl in the story was a bit pitiful, and he felt sorry for her.

He thought of Xia Xinyu, who was also so pitiful and so single-minded.

But the difference was that Xia Xinyu met Chen Yuan.

And she met the birth of 'You can't stop me from running towards better people'.

The reason why she still kept the hairpin shouldn't be because she still liked that scumbag.

It was purely because her happiest memory in life was the moment she received this broken hairpin.

As well as the childhood:

Banquets since they were children, chatting and laughing happily, making solemn vows, never thinking of turning back.

"Is this really your dream?"

If it were someone else, Shen Xiaoran would be willing to believe it was a dream. But this was Chen Yuan. He was an omnipotent god.

Wasn't it very normal and natural for a god to see a ghost?

"Really, don't be afraid."

"No, how can I not be afraid?"

"Then I'll treat you to roast meat rice later."

"Then I'm not afraid."

Shen Xiaoran was proficient in Sichuan opera face-changing, and immediately showed a smile.

"Then wait a moment."

Chen Yuan squatted down, picked up a sharp stone, and dug a hole under the tree.

Miss Yingzi's feet were buried with secrets.

And buried below this was a corpse.

So Chen Yuan didn't dare to dig too deep. After about five centimeters, he put the hairpin in.

Then, he filled it with soil and completed this project.

Now, his heart was a little more balanced.

He couldn't go around touching antiques anymore.

After all, eight or nine out of ten of these things were related to dead people!

"I, I saw a red figure behind you…"

Suddenly, Shen Xiaoran's expression froze in astonishment.

"?!" Chen Yuan was so frightened that he turned around and found that there was no one behind him.

Could it be that children and dogs can see things that others can't see?

Just as he was trembling with fear, Shen Xiaoran suddenly 'poofed' and couldn't hold back.

Chen Yuan's face sank at once: "Xiaoran farted, right."

"No, it was laughter that broke! A beautiful girl doesn't fart!"

"Didn't you fart quite loudly just now?"

"That was laughing… laughing!"

Chen Yuan left, pushing Shen Xiaoran while bickering.

And behind him, an almost transparent red-clothed girl sadly watched his back, tears welling up in her eyes.

But this kind of 'person' can't cry tears.

(End of chapter)