Chapter 1
"Have you heard? The captain's daughter jumped into the river!"
It was just dinnertime, and the Information Brigade gathered right on schedule under the big locust tree at the entrance of Lu Family Village. Auntie Wang the Second, who loved nothing more than a good commotion, dropped a super-sized bombshell the moment she opened her mouth, instantly capturing everyone's attention.
"What's it for?" asked a newly married bride who didn't know the situation, asking out of curiosity.
"Heh," Auntie Wang the Second slurped down a mouthful of noodles, and only after keeping people on tenterhooks did she randomly wipe her mouth and speak unhurriedly. "What for? Of course it's about that worker-peasant-soldier college student quota in the team."
"I heard Captain Lu wants to give the quota to his second son. How could the youngest daughter ever agree to that, so she went making a scene and threatening her parents to boot. It's thanks to Educated Youth Jiang that she was pulled up, or else in this freezing weather, if she soaked any longer I'm afraid even her little life wouldn't have been saved."
"Educated Youth Jiang—"
An auntie with upturned eyes dragged out her voice, and several matrons exchanged knowing glances and let out a tacit laugh. Having fallen into the hands of a poor, stingy educated youth, Lu Tinglan's good days were as good as over.
"If you ask me, the Lu family is going to have plenty of excitement ahead." Auntie Wang the Second delivered her final conclusion, and the faces of everyone seated bore the expressions of people watching a good show.
It wasn't just about being unable to stand seeing other people live well; more importantly, the Lu family lived far too well.
Take the head of the household, Lu Baoquan, first. He was the brigade captain of the Lu Family Village Production Team, and the power in his hands went without saying.
Then take the family's three sons, who were also each more outstanding than the last. The eldest joined the army, the second was a teacher at the county middle school and held an iron rice bowl, and the third was a regular worker at the county machinery factory.
Although this family was still rural folk, their conditions were not much worse than those of urban double-income families.
If the Lu family ran into misfortune—tsk tsk tsk—that would be enough for the villagers to laugh at for a whole year.
"Clang, clang~" A flurry of urgent bicycle bells rang out. Lu Baoquan pushed his bicycle and strode into the courtyard gates, and upon seeing his wife, he anxiously asked, "How is our daughter? Did you go see the doctor? How many days of medicine did they prescribe? Is she awake now?"
A string of questions was fired off like a machine-gun volley. Mother Lu, usually straightforward and decisive, hesitated this time and kept failing to answer him.
Fire flared up in Lu Baoquan's heart. "What on earth is wrong with my daughter? Let me go inside and take a look!"
He was of a hasty temperament, and unable to wait for an answer, he went in to look by himself. Only, his action of pushing the door open was cautious to a fault, for fear of making any loud noises.
Yet he never expected to lock eyes directly with the daughter lying on the bed.
Lu Tinglan obediently asked her greetings in her heart: Hi, my dear old dad, you're back. I missed you to death! (Feng Gong teacher aria version~)
She was still able to joke, so it shouldn't be anything major. Father Lu set his mind at ease.
However, Lu Tinglan presently had only the strength to mutter inside her head. She had just been fished out of the water, and her entire person was still in a state of being frozen stupid, only to be stuffed into a heavy cotton quilt—it really was most uncomfortable.
It's so cold, I'm numb with cold. May I ask if I'm in the Arctic? Where are my air conditioner, electric heater, and electric blanket? Help, help, help! If there's no heat source any longer, I won't be able to hold on!
Mother Lu hurriedly carried in a charcoal brazier from outside, inside which quite a bit of firewood was crackling and burning. With the open flame indoors, Lu Tinglan's complexion looked somewhat better in the reflection of the crimson firelight.
She flashed a feeble smile at Father Lu and Mother Lu inside the room, her palm-sized face buried deep inside the thick quilt, looking both pitiful and adorable.
Father Lu tucked the corners of the quilt around her with a pang of heartache, and Mother Lu brought over a bowl of sugar water. Lu Tinglan managed to drink a few sips with some difficulty, and then she continued lying back down with a look of existential despair.
Roast meat, hot pot, fried chicken, milk tea, I miss you guys. If the heavens give me another chance, I will definitely, absolutely eat myself into a 500-jin obese giant, wuuuuuuu~
Lu Tinglan reminisced about her wonderful times in modern times, unable to help shedding tons and tons of tears in her heart.
The mournful weeping echoed leisurely in the quiet room, sounding exceptionally eerie and bizarre.
Who was crying?
Father Lu brushed at the goosebumps that had been startled all over his body. The moment he entered the room, he had heard this female voice, though at the time he thought it was his daughter speaking.
But just now—he had laid eyes with his own two eyes on his daughter lying on the bed, and her lips hadn't even moved!
What was going on? Was it haunted?
Emboldened, Father Lu checked everywhere in his daughter's room that could hide a person, yet he found absolutely nothing.
Having lived for over forty years, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and Father Lu's heart was thumping wildly. Mother Lu hastily pulled him outside. Standing in the courtyard, she opened her mouth with a nervous expression and asked, "Did you hear it too?"
"You heard it too?" Father Lu retorted.
Mother Lu nodded. She looked at the still-bright sky with a pale face, and then, mustering her courage, she pressed close to Father Lu's ear and whispered her guess.
"I heard... the river at the village entrance isn't clean. Do you think our daughter got herself hooked up with some dirty thing when she fell in?"
"What are you talking nonsense about!"
Father Lu's voice shook as he sternly cut her off. This matron wasn't looking at what era it was; as the brigade captain's wife, was feudal superstition something she could just casually speak of?
How long had it been since the Four Olds were broken? If someone with ulterior motives heard this, it might well cost them their lives!
Mother Lu knew the gravity of the matter. She lowered her voice, but her tone brook no concession whatsoever: "What of feudal superstition? Lu Baoquan, I can tell you this: the one who met with disaster is your own flesh and blood. If Tinglan suffers any mishap, the two of us won't go on living together either!"
"I didn't say I wouldn't care, did I!" Father Lu sighed helplessly. He frowned tightly, hesitating for a long while before heavily slapping his thigh and saying, "Two days. Let's observe for two more days. If that thing is still around, I'll go beg Granny Wang the Third in person. Xiuhong, the daughter is yours, but we still have three sons, so you have to consider them too. Let's be careful, alright?"
Mother Lu angrily hammered her fist into the man's chest. She felt upset inside, but was powerless to do otherwise; a tall tree catches the wind, and their family was watched by too many people in the village—if they weren't cautious, the whole family would be finished.
Mother Lu heaved a heavy sigh and turned back toward the kitchen.
"Daughter, stop sleeping, get up and eat something!"
A drowsy Lu Tinglan was gently patted awake by Mother Lu. A small table had been propped up in front of her, upon which rested a bowl of—
Egg custard!
Lu Tinglan cheered inside her mind, her flushed, sleep-warmed little face glowing with bright, food-hungry eyes. Despite what the rest of the Production Team might say about how well off the Lu Family was, Lu Tinglan, as their biological daughter, could attest that their financial situation was truly average.
Even eggs were a rarity, rarely seen a few times over unless someone fell ill.
Trembling, Lu Tinglan took the spoon, but her very first bite went straight to Mother Lu.
"Mom, you have some too."
"I don't want any, I'm fine, this is to build up your strength..." Mother Lu refused without a second thought, yet capitalizing on the moment Mother Lu opened her mouth to speak, Lu Tinglan slipped a spoonful of egg custard right in.
"You child," Mother Lu frowned, wiping the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and turning her head away. "Don't give it to me, I don't care for such things."
Lu Tinglan paid no mind to her hypocritical stubbornness; when Mother Lu refused to eat, she stubbornly held the spoon up without lowering it, until Mother Lu finally gave in and took the spoon herself to eat several mouthfuls.
Truth be told, the egg custard tasted genuinely delicious.
Looking at the living daughter before her, the moment Mother Lu recalled how faintly she had been breathing when pulled from the water, the tears began to stream uncontrollably.
Lu Tinglan had just awakened her memories and her mind was a jumble, but she was certain she had truly and solidly lived in this world for eighteen years. She felt genuine familial affection for the Lu family, and naturally wanted to treat them well, especially Mother Lu.
She picked up a handkerchief and wiped haphazardly at Mother Lu's face, promising, "Don't worry, Mom. After going through all that, I've seen the light. I won't ever joke with my life again no matter what."
Mother Lu pressed her hand, the warm touch carrying a mother's warmth. "It's good that you've seen the light. If you really want that university spot, Mom will talk to your dad."
Lu Tinglan shook her head, not answering her directly.
The tender moment between mother and daughter had yet to conclude when a commotion arose at the Lu Family front gate, falling quiet a moment later before a massive crash sounded from the main room the next second.
"Clang—"
It sounded like Father Lu's favorite enamel mug being smashed against the floor. Mother Lu's expression shifted as she closed the door and walked out.
Lu Tinglan had lain in bed all afternoon; with her basic needs met, her human curiosity was now stirring restlessly. Hearing the bursts of argument drifting from the main room, she threw on her clothes and got out of bed—such exciting gossip called for her presence live at the scene.
Lu Tinglan stood outside the main room, unable to hear the voices or see the situation, her heart itching with anxiety. What are you guys talking about? Let me hear too!
In the dark night, an eerie female voice drifted from outside the door, its terror level rivaling a midnight ghostly knock. A furious Father Lu shivered all over, mustering his courage to clear his throat lightly.
"Tinglan, is that you outside? Come on in if you want."
Just don't stand outside scaring people—it wasn't great for his heart!
Lu Tinglan paid none of that any mind. Yay, fresh gossip in the wild! She pushed the door open gleefully and entered.
The atmosphere inside was utterly bizarre. A furious Father Lu, a wilted Lu Jiancheng, and a silent Mother Lu each harbored their own thoughts beneath a tense undercurrent, making it look as though something major had undoubtedly occurred.
Lu Tinglan skirted around the shattered cup, finding a spot in the very corner to sit obediently and await the show.
Interrupted by his daughter, the raging fury in Father Lu's chest subsided quite a bit, and he demanded coldly, "Lu Jiancheng, say what you just said one more time!"