Chapter Summaries

After Lu Tinglan was pulled from the river, she woke with memories of modern life and found that her family could hear her thoughts. As she recovered at home, an argument erupted over the university quota, and her father demanded that Lu Jiancheng repeat what he had said.

• Auntie Wang the Second told villagers that Lu Tinglan had jumped into the river after Lu Baoquan planned to give the college quota to his second son, and that Educated Youth Jiang had rescued her.
• Lu Baoquan returned home and found Lu Tinglan recovering, while her unspoken thoughts about the cold and food seemed to sound aloud and frightened him and Mother Lu.
• Mother Lu and Lu Baoquan worried that something had followed Lu Tinglan from the river, but agreed to wait two days before seeking Granny Wang the Third.
• Lu Tinglan shared egg custard with Mother Lu and promised not to risk her life again, while declining to ask her mother to secure the university spot.
• A crash and argument in the main room drew Lu Tinglan from bed; she entered and heard Lu Baoquan demand that Lu Jiancheng repeat what he had said.

Lu Tinglan realized she had been reborn into a novel as the Lu family's youngest daughter and recognized that her brother Lu Jiancheng was about to sacrifice everything for Bai Rui. After Bai Rui was caught eavesdropping outside the Lu home, Lu Jiancheng defied his parents and revealed that she was pregnant.

• Lu Jiancheng insisted on giving his university place to Bai Rui, and Father Lu told him that Lu Tinglan had jumped into the river over the place.
• Lu Tinglan recalled the grim fates awaiting her family and recognized Lu Jiancheng's devotion to Bai Rui as part of the novel's plot.
• Lu Jiancheng offered to sell his job and give Lu Tinglan his savings, then angrily told her to return to her room after hearing her critical thoughts.
• Lu Tinglan's thought that Bai Rui was eavesdropping prompted Father Lu to send Lu Jiancheng outside, where he found Bai Rui behind the house.
• Bai Rui entered with Lu Jiancheng, and Mother Lu condemned her and rejected the idea of giving her the university place.
• Lu Jiancheng knelt before his parents and declared that Bai Rui was pregnant and he had to take responsibility.

Lu Jiancheng learned that Bai Rui’s pregnancy likely predated their relationship, while Lu Tinglan’s thoughts helped his parents recognize that Bai Rui might be carrying another man’s child. He returned home heartbroken, and Lu Tinglan stayed beside him under Mother Lu’s orders.

• Lu Jiancheng told his parents Bai Rui was pregnant and threatened to leave with her when they rejected her and the baby.
• Mother Lu questioned whether the baby was Lu Jiancheng’s, but Bai Rui slapped him and staged an attempt to harm herself when he agreed to let his mother check her belly.
• Lu Jiancheng sent Bai Rui away for the night and withdrew to his room, shaken by the family’s confrontation.
• The next morning, Lu Jiancheng asked Wang Xue how far along Bai Rui looked, then broke down after she confirmed that Bai Rui’s belly was already showing.
• Lu Jiancheng returned home distraught, and Mother Lu left Lu Tinglan to keep watch over him as Lu Tinglan settled beside his bed with sunflower seeds.

Lu Tinglan persuaded Lu Jiancheng to end his relationship with Bai Rui, and he rejected Bai Rui when she confronted him. Bai Rui then demanded five hundred yuan, a proper wedding, and the Lu family's university place, insisting he had no choice.

• Lu Jiancheng asked Lu Tinglan what would happen if he stayed with Bai Rui, and her warning convinced him to end things with her.
• Lu Jiancheng told his parents he had decided to cut ties with Bai Rui, delighting them and prompting Mother Lu to fry Lu Tinglan eggs.
• After work, Lu Jiancheng prepared to return Bai Rui's letters, but Bai Rui arrived at the Lu home and claimed her unborn child was his.
• Lu Jiancheng told Bai Rui nothing had happened between them, said the child was not his, and ordered her to leave.
• Bai Rui refused to go and demanded five hundred yuan, a proper marriage, and the Lu family's university place.

Bai Rui threatened Lu Jiancheng’s family into accepting her demands, and Lu Jiancheng agreed to marry her to protect them. Lu Tinglan confronted Bai Rui alone, exposing her feelings for He Wei and frightening her into questioning whether to continue with her plan.

• Bai Rui demanded five hundred yuan and a worker-peasant-soldier university place, threatening to accuse Lu Jiancheng of rape if the family refused.
• Lu Jiancheng offered to marry Bai Rui but rejected her demand for a university place, then proposed dividing the family property.
• Lu Tinglan sent her parents and Lu Jiancheng outside so she could speak with Bai Rui alone.
• Lu Tinglan threatened to report He Wei to the cotton mill and have him dismissed, using Bai Rui’s attachment to him against her.
• Lu Tinglan warned Bai Rui that she would make her life miserable if she married Lu Jiancheng, and Bai Rui screamed in fear.

Lu Tinglan won her family’s support after they saw her stand up to Bai Rui, and the family uncovered and burned Lu Jiancheng’s banned books. After learning the Gaokao would return, the siblings declined the university place and Father Lu decided to give it back; the next day, Lu Tinglan secretly worked in the kitchen before the family planned to visit Educated Youth Jiang.

• Lu Tinglan’s parents praised her for standing up to Bai Rui, and the family shared pancakes together.
• Lu Tinglan’s thoughts revealed that Bai Rui might report Lu Jiancheng for his banned books, so he retrieved them and the family burned them.
• Lu Jiancheng agreed to give his university place to Lu Tinglan, but she refused and said the Gaokao would be reinstated the following winter.
• Father Lu decided to return the university place, and Lu Jiancheng said he would wait for the Gaokao instead.
• The next day, Lu Tinglan slept late, then shut herself in the kitchen to work while Mother Lu called her to get ready to visit Educated Youth Jiang.

Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu visited Jiang Xingnian with an extravagant thank-you gift after he saved Lu Tinglan from drowning. Their visit left Huo Qi trying to charm Lu Tinglan, while Mother Lu grew more convinced that Jiang Xingnian had a promising future.

• Lu Tinglan dressed up for the visit, and Mother Lu added more gifts to their baskets before they left.
• Mother Lu proudly showed the villagers their gifts and warned them not to mistreat her daughter.
• Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu met Jiang Xingnian and his friend Huo Qi on the way to the Educated Youth Compound.
• Huo Qi teased Jiang Xingnian about marrying Lu Tinglan, and Jiang Xingnian clarified that they had come to thank him for saving her.
• Jiang Xingnian brought the visitors into his well-kept room, where Huo Qi offered them tea and eagerly tried to charm Lu Tinglan.

Lu Tinglan visited Jiang Xingnian and noticed his poverty while Jiang discovered he could hear her thoughts. When Zhou Zhuo accused Jiang of stealing from the Educated Youth Compound, Lu Tinglan defended him, but the other youths joined in with more accusations.

• Jiang Xingnian heard Lu Tinglan's concern about his worn clothes and shoes, and her thoughts made him smile.
• Huo Qi offered Lu Tinglan Silver Needle Tea, but commotion from the courtyard interrupted her thoughts about it.
• Zhou Zhuo discovered her soap was missing and accused Jiang Xingnian of stealing it, prompting Huo Qi to try to calm her.
• Jiang Xingnian prepared to see Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu out, but Lu Tinglan stayed when Zhou Zhuo and the others confronted him.
• Lu Tinglan challenged Zhou Zhuo's accusation and pointed out that anyone in the compound could have taken the soap.
• The educated youths listed other missing belongings and denounced Jiang Xingnian as a thief.

Lu Tinglan realized Huo Qi was the real tea thief and helped Jiang Xingnian expose him. The Educated Youth Compound identified Huo Qi as the culprit, clearing Jiang Xingnian of the accusation.

• Zhou Zhuo accused Jiang Xingnian of theft and challenged him to name the real thief, while Huo Qi withdrew from the confrontation.
• Lu Tinglan remembered that Huo Qi was the thief and reasoned that stolen Sparrow Tongue Tea mixed into his tea could expose him.
• Jiang Xingnian borrowed Wang Hui’s remaining tea and compared its brewed leaves with Huo Qi’s tea, while Mother Lu confirmed Huo Qi had brought it.
• Wang Hui recognized the stolen Sparrow Tongue Tea in Huo Qi’s packet, and Jiang Xingnian pointed out that the quantity disproved Huo Qi’s excuse.
• The Educated Youth Compound saw the evidence and recognized Huo Qi as the thief.

Lu Tinglan helped Father Lu expose Huo Qi as the thief at the Educated Youth Compound, and Father Lu reported him to the Police Station. When Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu returned home, they found the house ransacked and caught someone hiding in the kitchen.

• Lu Tinglan gave Father Lu a fair account of Huo Qi being caught stealing, and Father Lu ordered the case reported to the Police Station.
• Zhou Zhuo tried to dismiss the theft as a misunderstanding, but Lu Tinglan challenged her, and Zhou Zhuo fled into her room and locked the door.
• Lu Tinglan encouraged Jiang Xingnian to retaliate against his accusers, while he tried to stifle his laughter and coughing.
• Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu returned home to find their house ransacked and spotted someone in the kitchen.
• Mother Lu struck the intruder's leg with a piece of firewood and shouted for the neighbors to catch the thief.

Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu confronted Liu Cuilan after catching her stealing grain, and Liu’s demands brought long-buried resentment between Mother Lu and Father Lu to the surface. Father Lu finally rejected Liu’s claim that he owed Lu Lin’s family a debt, and an old friend began revealing the truth about Lu Lin’s death.

• Mother Lu struck Liu Cuilan with a stick after catching her stealing grain, and Liu accused the Lu family of abandoning her.
• Mother Lu refused to keep supporting Liu Cuilan, while Lu Tinglan exposed in her thoughts that Liu had falsely claimed to have found Hu Wa.
• Lu Tinglan’s thoughts made Mother Lu realize Father Lu had not caused Lu Lin’s death, and Mother Lu threatened to divorce him unless he cut ties with Liu.
• Liu Cuilan demanded that Lu Tinglan marry Hu Wa and bring a two-hundred-yuan dowry and her university place, but Father Lu ordered Liu to leave and said he owed her nothing.
• An old friend of Father Lu stepped forward and began explaining the truth about Lu Lin’s death.

A witness revealed that Lu Baoquan had been injured while helping Lu Lin, clearing him of responsibility for Lu Lin’s death. Wang Xiuhong confronted Liu Cuilan over years of hardship and shut herself in her room, leaving the family tense and Lu Jiancheng confused.

• A man recounted how Lu Lin stole a wolf cub for food, prompting the mother wolf to kill him and injure Lu Baoquan.
• Fifth Great-Uncle confirmed that Lu Baoquan had treated Lu Lin and Liu Cuilan fairly and warned the villagers against stirring up the old dispute.
• Wang Xiuhong slapped Liu Cuilan twice, saying some of the grain Lu Baoquan had given her came from Wang Xiuhong’s own labor.
• Fifth Great-Uncle sent the villagers home, and Liu Cuilan left in disgrace.
• Wang Xiuhong locked herself in her room, while Lu Jiancheng returned home and heard Lu Tinglan joking in her thoughts that their parents might divorce.

Lu Tinglan’s family learned that Huo Qi had been caught and sentenced for repeated theft, while Father Lu tried to mend his marriage and arranged a substitute teaching job for her. When she recognized the school’s teacher Qin Shujie, Lu Tinglan recalled a horrifying part of the plot involving him and Liu Cuilan’s son.

• Lu Jiancheng sided with Lu Tinglan and Mother Lu as they ate meat while Father Lu was left with porridge, prompting him to reflect on how he had treated his family.
• Father Lu told Lu Tinglan that Huo Qi had been exposed after Jiang Xingnian found stolen goods hidden in a smoke flue, and Huo Qi was sentenced to three years of reform through labor.
• Worried that Mother Lu still would not reconcile with him, Father Lu arranged for Lu Tinglan to work as a substitute teacher at the village primary school.
• Lu Tinglan learned that Qin Shujie taught at the school and remembered that he and Liu Cuilan’s son would molest students and later strangle a witness.
• The Lu family reacted in shock as Lu Tinglan’s memory revealed that Qin Shujie and Liu Cuilan’s son would become murderers.

Lu Tinglan began teaching at the village primary school, while her family escorted her there to investigate the men she suspected of wrongdoing. During the pupils’ activity period, older girls humiliated her with a clump of mud, and she confronted the girl responsible.

• Lu Tinglan prepared for her first day teaching, and Mother Lu woke her early for breakfast.
• Lu Jiancheng, Mother Lu, and Father Lu accompanied Lu Tinglan to the school, where they met teachers Qin Shujie and Lu Xiaohu.
• Lu Tinglan introduced herself to the first- and second-grade pupils and began teaching, while her family left after assessing the two men.
• During the activity period, Lu Tinglan rested on the mountain while pupils collected pig fodder for work points.
• A girl threw mud onto Lu Tinglan’s clothes, and Lu Tinglan seized her and demanded to know who had given her the nerve to bully her.

Lu Tinglan uncovered the schoolgirls’ infatuation with Lu Xiaohu and secretly investigated him with Jiang Xingnian. They overheard Lu Xiaohu pressuring Qin Shujie, then Qin Shujie made an intimate advance toward Jiang Xingnian, leaving him horrified.

• Lu Tinglan recognized Lu Ting’s hostility and suspected she had romantic feelings for Teacher Lu.
• A girl tried to trick Lu Tinglan into grabbing a rag hiding a scorpion, then warned her to stay away from Teacher Lu.
• Lu Tinglan realized the girls thought she was competing for Lu Xiaohu and suspected that Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie were secretly involved.
• Lu Tinglan and Jiang Xingnian eavesdropped outside the teachers’ office and heard Lu Xiaohu pressuring a crying girl.
• Jiang Xingnian led Lu Tinglan to the entrance to interrupt them, and Qin Shujie approached Jiang Xingnian and draped an arm over his shoulders.

Lu Tinglan’s plan exposed Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie in the temple, where villagers also learned that Lu Xiaohu had harassed female students. The village committee gathered to decide what to do, but Xu Yin argued that the men should simply be sent home.

• Lu Tinglan comforted Er Ya by the stream and told her how to bring villagers to the mountain temple.
• Er Ya raised the alarm, and Lu Baoquan led villagers up the mountain, where they found Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie naked together.
• Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie blamed each other, while Lu Ting declared that she and Lu Xiaohu were in love; her father slapped her and rejected her.
• Er Ya accused Lu Xiaohu of harassing her, prompting villagers to beat him and Qin Shujie before Lu Baoquan ordered the school dismissed pending a village committee decision.
• Lu Ting’s father threatened to divide the household, and Lu Tinglan taunted her as the villagers dispersed.
• Production Team cadres gathered at the Lu Family’s home, where Xu Yin argued that Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie should be sent home and allowed to mend their ways.