Chapter 1

"Did you hear? The team leader's daughter jumped into the river!"

It was dinnertime, and the Information Brigade had assembled right on schedule beneath the old locust tree at the entrance to Lu Family Village. Auntie Wang, who loved a commotion more than anyone, opened with a piece of enormous news and instantly drew every eye.

"What for?" asked a curious young woman who had only recently married into the village and didn't know the story.

"Heh." Auntie Wang slurped up a mouthful of noodles. Only when she had everyone desperate to know did she wipe her mouth and answer at her leisure. "What for? The team's spot at a workers', peasants', and soldiers' university, of course."

"I heard Captain Lu wants to give the spot to his second son. How could his youngest daughter stand for that? So she threatened her parents by trying to kill herself. Good thing Educated Youth Jiang pulled her out. In this freezing weather, a little longer in the water and she might have lost her life."

"Educated Youth Jiang, huh—"

An auntie with upturned eyes drew out the words. Several women exchanged glances and shared a knowing laugh. Now that the Lu family's youngest daughter had fallen into the hands of a poor, stingy educated youth, her good days were over.

"If you ask me, things are going to get lively at the Lu house," Auntie Wang concluded. Everyone there wore the eager look of people waiting for a show.

It wasn't just that they couldn't stand seeing another family do well. The Lu family simply had it too good.

Take the head of the family, Lu Baoquan. He was captain of the Lu Family Village production team, and the power he held went without saying.

Then there were his three outstanding sons. The eldest had joined the army, the second taught at a county middle school and held an iron rice bowl, and the third was a permanent worker at the county machinery factory.

They were still a rural family, but their circumstances weren't much worse than those of a city household with two wage earners.

If misfortune struck the Lu family, well, the villagers would have enough to laugh about for a year.

Ring, ring! A bicycle bell sounded in quick bursts. Lu Baoquan pushed his bicycle through the gate in long strides and hurriedly asked his wife the moment he saw her.

"How's our girl? Did she see a doctor? How many days' worth of medicine did he give her? Is she awake yet?"

The questions came like a volley of cannon fire, but his wife, normally so forthright, hesitated without answering.

Alarm flared in Lu Baoquan's chest. "What happened to my daughter? Let me in to see her!"

Impatient by nature, he went in rather than wait for an answer. Yet he pushed the door open with great care, afraid of making the slightest noise.

To his surprise, he found himself staring straight into his daughter's eyes as she lay in bed.

Lu Tinglan greeted him sweetly in her head: Hi, my dear dad! You're back! I missed you to death! (In Teacher Feng Gong's drawn-out stage voice~)

She could still joke, so she probably wasn't in serious trouble. Her father relaxed.

But Lu Tinglan only had enough strength to mutter to herself. She had just been pulled from the water, and the cold had left her dazed. Being tucked under a heavy cotton quilt did nothing to make her more comfortable.

So cold I'm numb. Am I in the Arctic? Where did my air conditioner, electric heater, and electric blanket go? Help, help, help! If I don't get some warmth soon, I won't make it!

Her mother hurried in carrying a charcoal brazier, with plenty of firewood crackling inside. In the glow of the flames, Lu Tinglan's complexion looked a little better.

She gave her parents a weak smile. With her palm-sized face buried in the thick quilt, she looked pitiful and adorable.

Her father tucked the quilt around her. Her mother brought her a bowl of sweetened water, and Lu Tinglan struggled to drink a few mouthfuls before lying back down in utter despair.

Barbecue, hot pot, fried chicken, milk tea—I miss you all. If heaven gives me another chance, I swear I'll eat until I weigh five hundred pounds. Boo-hoo-hoo~

Missing the good times she had enjoyed in the modern world, Lu Tinglan shed whole tons of tears in her heart.

A mournful sob drifted through the quiet room. It sounded especially eerie.

Who was crying?

Her father rubbed at the goose bumps that had sprung up on his skin. He had heard the woman's voice when he first entered, but he'd thought it was his daughter speaking.

Just now, though, he had seen with his own eyes that his daughter's lips hadn't moved!

What was going on? Was there a ghost?

Summoning his courage, he searched every place someone might hide in his daughter's room. He found nothing.

In more than forty years of life, he had never encountered anything like it. His heart thudded. His wife quickly pulled him outside and, once they stood in the courtyard, asked tensely, "You heard it too, didn't you?"

"You heard it too?" he asked.

She nodded. Glancing at the sky, which was still light, she gathered her courage and leaned close to whisper her suspicion in his ear.

"I've heard... there's something unclean in the river by the village entrance. Do you think something latched onto our girl when she fell in?"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

His voice trembled despite the sharp rebuke. Did his wife have any idea what times they lived in? As the team captain's wife, how could she casually spout feudal superstition?

The campaign to destroy the Four Olds was hardly a distant memory. If the wrong person heard her, someone could end up dead!

She knew how serious it was and lowered her voice, but she refused to back down. "Call it feudal superstition if you want. Lu Baoquan, listen to me: this is your own daughter. If anything happens to Tinglan, you and I are through!"

"I never said I'd do nothing!" Lu Baoquan sighed helplessly. He frowned, wavered for a long moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "Two days. Let's watch her for two more days. If that thing is still there, I'll go ask Granny Wang the Third for help myself. Xiuhong, she's your daughter, but we have three sons too. You have to think of them. Let's be careful, all right?"

His wife punched him in the chest in frustration. She hated it, but there was nothing she could do. The tallest tree caught the wind, and too many people in the village had their eyes on their family. One careless move could ruin them all.

She let out a heavy sigh and returned to the kitchen.

"Sweetheart, wake up and eat something!"

Her mother gently patted the groggy Lu Tinglan awake. A small table had been set before her, holding a bowl of—

Steamed egg custard!

Lu Tinglan cheered inwardly. On her sleep-flushed little face, her large eyes shone at the sight of food. The other villagers could talk all they liked about how well-off the Lu family was, but Lu Tinglan, their own daughter, could attest that their circumstances were only so-so.

Even eggs were a rare treat unless someone was ill.

Lu Tinglan took the spoon with a trembling hand, but offered the first bite to her mother.

"Mom, have some too."

"No, I'm fine. It's for you to build your strength back up..." Her mother refused without a second thought. But while she was talking, Lu Tinglan slipped a spoonful of custard into her mouth.

"You child." Her mother frowned, wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, and turned away. "Don't give me any. I don't like this stuff."

Lu Tinglan ignored the stubborn claim that belied her mother's reaction. When her mother wouldn't eat, she kept holding out the spoon. At last, her mother gave in, took the spoon herself, and ate several more bites.

She had to admit, the egg custard was delicious.

Looking at her living, breathing daughter, her mother remembered how faintly she had breathed when they pulled her from the water. Tears poured down her cheeks.

Lu Tinglan had only just awakened to her memories, and her mind was a jumble. But one thing was certain: she had truly lived in this world for eighteen years. Her affection for the Lu family was real, and she naturally wanted to treat them well, especially her mother.

She picked up the handkerchief and clumsily wiped her mother's face. "Don't worry, Mom. After this, I've come to my senses. No matter what happens, I won't ever gamble with my life again."

Her mother held her hand, warm with a mother's touch. "I'm glad. If you really want that university spot, I'll talk to your dad."

Lu Tinglan shook her head without answering directly.

The tender moment between mother and daughter had not yet ended when a noise came from the Lu family's front gate. After a brief silence, a tremendous crash sounded from the main room.

Clang!

It sounded like her father's beloved enamel mug hitting the floor. Her mother's expression changed. She closed the bedroom door behind her and went out.

Lu Tinglan had lain in bed all afternoon. Now that she was warm and fed, her curiosity was stirring. As the sounds of an argument reached her from the main room, she threw on a coat and got out of bed. She couldn't miss a spectacle this good.

Standing outside the main room, Lu Tinglan could neither make out their words nor see what was happening. Curiosity gnawed at her. What are you talking about? Let me hear too!

In the darkness, a woman's eerie voice came from outside the door, as frightening as a ghost knocking at midnight. Her furious father shuddered all over, then summoned his courage and cleared his throat.

"Tinglan, is that you out there? Come in if you want."

Just stop standing out there scaring people. His heart couldn't take it!

Lu Tinglan had no idea. Yay, a front-row seat to fresh drama! She pushed the door open in delight.

The atmosphere inside was strange. Her father was furious, her second brother looked utterly deflated, and her mother was silent. Each had something on their mind, and tension ran beneath the surface. Something big had definitely happened.

Lu Tinglan stepped around the broken mug, found a seat in the farthest corner, and sat down obediently to watch the show.

His daughter's interruption had taken the edge off her father's rage. He fixed his son with a cold stare. "Lu Jiancheng, say what you just said again!"