August 1966, midsummer, the scorching sun beat down on Chengdu.
In the mechanical factory’s staff dormitory, the chirping of cicadas followed one after another, disturbing the tranquility.
From a distant loudspeaker, a sonorous female voice declared: “The more arduous the conditions, the more our revolutionary youth must press forward, go to the countryside, go to the border, go to the places where our motherland and people need us most…”
Amidst this rousing tone, the atmosphere in the Lin family’s home was rather somber.
Liu Meiyun sat by her daughter’s bedside, tears silently streaming down her face as she looked at her **unconscious daughter.
Who would have thought that the good marriage and good son-in-law she had hoped for for over a decade, and whom her daughter had only been married to for less than a month, without even meeting properly, would bring news yesterday that the son-in-law had fainted from neglecting his meals while doing research and was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state by doctors!
If only she hadn’t been so eager to rush the Qin family and get the marriage certificate!
She was filled with regret!
Wasn’t she pushing her daughter into a fire pit?
If the son-in-law never woke up, wouldn’t her daughter have to live as a widow for the rest of her life?
Her daughter had fainted yesterday after hearing the news and still hadn’t woken up!
She must have been badly hurt, sigh…
Liu Meiyun lamented and sighed, and then saw her daughter suddenly open her eyes. She was overjoyed and about to cry.
“Daughter…” Before she could finish speaking, she saw Lin Banxia jump out of bed and rush towards the door.
“Holy crap! I think I forgot to submit my research report yesterday!”
The moment Lin Banxia opened her eyes, she saw the white ceiling above her. Her mind raced, and she suddenly realized this wasn’t her laboratory!
Yesterday, in the lab, she had discovered an extremely abnormal fluctuation in data while analyzing the reactions of zombie mice injected with a vaccine. This discovery had the potential to be a milestone event in the research and development of a zombie vaccine!
She had been so excited, dancing with joy, and then after a loud “yes,” she had actually fallen asleep! Asleep! And she hadn’t submitted her report yet!
The apocalypse was an era where people died at any moment. Any discovery that could help humanity resist zombies, even the slightest progress, could save countless lives!
Oh no! This sleepiness couldn’t have come at a worse time! It was so disruptive!
She would definitely develop a drug to resist sleep in the future! This kind of thing wouldn’t happen again!
“I don’t know which guy sent me back yesterday. This bed feels so hard.”
Lin Banxia got out of bed barefoot, casually wiped her face, and strode towards the door, completely oblivious to the stunned Liu Meiyun beside her.
Liu Meiyun: It’s over! Her daughter’s head is damaged from the shock!
The next moment.
“Ouch, holy crap!”
Lin Banxia tripped over her own feet, making “intimate contact” with the ground, and fell, feeling dizzy and disoriented.
Lying on the ground with blurred vision, Lin Banxia felt like her internal organs were about to give out…
No? Why did she feel so weak all over?
Oh, it was probably because she was hungry.
Thinking about the food she had eaten for five whole years – coarse flour cakes, wild vegetable cakes, which were worse than pig feed before the apocalypse – Lin Banxia felt she’d rather starve.
The food she ate was only because she was a top-tier scientific researcher, enjoying special treatment.
Others ate even worse.
Speaking of which, she hadn’t eaten meat in five years.
She had almost forgotten the taste of meat.
Wait?
This smell…
Lin Banxia sniffed the air desperately, saliva almost dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Her unfocused eyes re-focused, her pupils darting around.
Then, the figure of a strange woman loomed larger in her pupils.
“Banxia, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? Huh? You haven’t eaten for almost two days, don’t move too suddenly!”
Liu Meiyun lovingly helped Lin Banxia up, reaching out to pat the dust off her.
“Holy crap! Who are you? Why are you in my house!” Lin Banxia pointed at Liu Meiyun and asked in shock.
Where she lived was highly classified, and ordinary people couldn’t get in. This was for her safety, but what was going on with this person in front of her?
Hearing this, Liu Meiyun’s previous concern vanished. She slapped away Lin Banxia’s pointing hand, rolled her eyes, and her loud voice pierced Lin Banxia’s eardrums, directly to her mind.
“Lin Banxia, are you trying to rebel? This is your home! And it’s my home too! Why can’t I be here? Huh? And this house is in my name now! Your mother isn’t dead yet, and you’re already thinking about inheriting property?”
Lin Banxia became even more confused upon hearing this, and her gaze truly began to take in her surroundings.
In the center of the room, a wooden bed covered with a floral bedsheet.
To the right of the bed, against the wall, stood an old wooden wardrobe. The door was inlaid with an oval mirror, its surface slightly yellowed, reflecting a corner of the room.
A red silk scarf hung from the wardrobe’s handle.
Next to the wardrobe was a small dressing table with a round mirror on its surface. On the dressing table sat several round tin boxes and a wooden comb.
By the window was a wooden desk, coated with a light yellow varnish, the wood grain clearly visible. The desk was wiped clean.
On either side of the desk were stacks of neatly arranged books. In front was a green metal desk lamp. The space in the middle was empty, with a pen and a book flipped halfway lying there alone.
The yellowish paper, the old decorations, everything before her had absolutely nothing to do with the place she was familiar with. Lin Banxia was completely stunned and couldn’t help but curse.
“Holy crap! This isn’t my bedroom! Where the hell have I been sent?”
“Holy crap! This door isn’t sturdy, is it okay?”
“And this window, how can it be opened! Close it, close it quickly!”
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
Sudden pain shot directly into her head. Lin Banxia squatted on the ground, clutching her head, and screamed incessantly.
This action greatly frightened Liu Meiyun. She quickly grabbed Lin Banxia’s arm and repeatedly asked, “Banxia, what’s wrong? Tell Mom! Is it about your son-in-law? Huh?”
“It’s okay, we can get a divorce if you want! Huh? Don’t scare your mother?”
Liu Meiyun trembled, stroking Lin Banxia’s back again and again, trying to alleviate her pain.
“Second Aunt, how is Banxia now?”
Lin Chuqiu stood at the entrance of the Lin family’s house, about to knock, when she heard a woman’s piercing scream from inside, and a man’s low, comforting, flustered voice.
A barely perceptible smile curved Lin Chuqiu’s lips.
Heh! Lin Banxia, all this pain is what you deserve! Compared to the suffering I endured in my previous life, this is not enough! When you get to the capital, you’ll know what true despair is!
Afterward, she stopped knocking and turned to go downstairs.
The purpose of her visit had been achieved, and there was no need to stay any longer.
Not long after Lin Chuqiu left, the sounds from inside the house abruptly stopped.