“Help me carry this.”
Xia Xiaolan pushed the bag into Liu Fen’s arms, who was tearful:
“Xiaolan, how can you leave… what about when your father returns…”
Liu Fen couldn’t understand how things had come to this. Though her daughter hadn’t been bullied into submission, she was essentially being forced to live independently. Driven from home, how could a teenage girl survive? She wanted to ask Xiaolan to apologize but feared triggering her.
“Come live with me, we’ll deal with Father when he returns. I can’t cook—I’ll starve alone!”
Xia Xiaolan never intended to leave Liu Fen behind. Once she left, wouldn’t the Xia family bully Liu Fen even more? She was also counting on Liu Fen’s soft heart, firmly insisting that Liu Fen comes with her.
The Xia family didn’t stop Liu Fen, probably planning to deal with the mother-daughter pair when Xia Xiaolan’s father, Xia Dajun, returned—continuous heavy rains had the county worried about flooding breaching the neighboring town’s levees, and they had recruited able-bodied men, including the Xia family men, to repair them.
Liu Fen, being indecisive, confusedly followed along carrying the sweet potato bag.
Xia Xiaolan stepped out and then turned back to grab the enamel cup with the steamed egg. The Xia family’s young grandson had been eyeing the egg hungrily, and when Xia Xiaolan took it, he burst into tears.
The room erupted into chaos—some cursing Xia Xiaolan, others comforting the child.
Stepping outside, fresh air immediately hit their faces.
Without smog or pollution, only someone from 30 years in the future could truly appreciate how precious clean air is. Xia Xiaolan’s spirits instantly lifted.
The Xia family’s daytime drama had surely caught many neighbors’ attention.
Seeing the mother and daughter, people didn’t even try to hide, openly pointing and commenting. Of course, they ignored Liu Fen, focusing mainly on Xia Xiaolan:
“Thrown out by the family?”
“Hmph, serves her right, not even sparing her brother-in-law!”
“Rolling naked with that good-for-nothing from the next village in the haystack, the Xia family’s lost so much face…”
“Same surname as Xia, her sister got into university, look how loose she is.”
“When Xia Dajun returns, he’ll surely beat her half to death.”
“She’s been beaten and scolded, but she just won’t change… look at her walk, swaying her hips…”
Xia Xiaolan wanted to beat all these gossiping village women. She wasn’t swaying her hips—she was weak from hunger! These busybodies ruined the good mood brought by the fresh air. Xia Xiaolan surveyed her surroundings—pastoral beauty? That’s only appreciated when material life is abundant.
The countryside of ’83 was only praised in “rural literature” by writers.
Looking around, mud houses dominated, with few brick houses. Low buildings, mud-brick walls whitewashed with lime, still bearing decade-old slogans in red paint.
Neither north nor south, trapped in the country’s heartland province, Dahe Village was too remote to feel the spring breeze of reform and opening up.
The only escape was through education.
Xia Xiaolan’s cousin took the right path. Xia Ziyu was Dahe Village’s only university student in the 30-plus years since the founding of the People’s Republic and the restoration of college entrance exams. Imagine, if Xia Xiaolan hadn’t switched souls, from the moment Xia Ziyu entered university, their lives would have diverged into an unbridgeable chasm!
Even if Xia Ziyu had wronged her, what could she do?
One was a female university student of the 80s with a bright future, no wonder the whole family saw her as a golden phoenix; the other had a ruined reputation, no skills, destined to marry a widower or old bachelor, a village woman who couldn’t help her family at all.
The difference between clouds and mud.
No wonder the Xia family was materialistic and practical… it was human nature.
For benefits, the Xia family would unanimously stand with Xia Ziyu. The original ‘Xia Xiaolan’ died without understanding that what had been developing into an almost official relationship, started with her encouraging that man to take the college entrance exam.
She had even borrowed books from her cousin Xia Ziyu to help him study, personally taking him to the county for the exam.
She noticed nothing unusual after the exam, so how did he become Xia Ziyu’s official boyfriend after the acceptance letter arrived?
Was it because she wasn’t good enough for Wang Jianhua?
Choosing her cousin was correct in the long run—college student with a college student, a match made in heaven.
But why did they have to step on ‘Xia Xiaolan’ before leaving?
How did the deadly rumors spread throughout the area? When ‘Xia Xiaolan’ went to confront Wang Jianhua, she found only Xia Ziyu in his room. Xia Ziyu was better at reasoning than ‘Xia Xiaolan’, and with a few measured words, made ‘Xia Xiaolan’ turn and leave.
On the way, she met the good-for-nothing from the neighboring village, who had harassed ‘Xia Xiaolan’ before and this time boldly tore her sleeve… Wang Jianhua and Xia Ziyu appeared together, with Wang Jianhua seeming disappointed in ‘Xia Xiaolan’, not listening to her explanation and directly taking Xia Ziyu’s hand.
Did the neighboring village’s good-for-nothing spread the rumors? This was the year of the Strike Hard campaign—he could be executed in minutes!
No matter. Since she had been reborn in this body with the same name, she would uncover what the original ‘Xia Xiaolan’ couldn’t understand and get justice for her.
The dilapidated old house by the riverbank came into view.
The fence gate was crooked, without even a lock, holes in both walls and roof. Liu Fen stood helplessly holding the sweet potatoes.
This was no place for shelter from wind and rain.
“Xiaolan, listen to Mother’s advice—”
Xia Xiaolan clutched her head, “Mother, my wound hurts again!”
She called out more naturally now, and Liu Fen indeed shifted her attention, “Has the wound opened? Let Mother look.”
The unlocked door revealed a messy interior, the bed reduced to just a frame. Liu Fen urged Xia Xiaolan to eat the steamed egg quickly. The egg had cooled and smelled fishy, but Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to eat alone, eating only half before claiming fullness:
“You eat the rest, it’ll spoil by tomorrow.”
Liu Fen held the enamel cup with complex emotions. This had never happened before—her daughter had hit her head and seemed to have learned to care for others.
Liu Fen felt both gratified and worried:
“Your father will be back in a few days.”
Mentioning her husband, Liu Fen’s shoulders instinctively shrank, fear deep in her bones.