Early Autumn, 1981.
The dim, yellow light of a kerosene lamp flickered gently.
Su Wan sat on a wooden stool in front of her dressing table, happily fixing her appearance as she looked into the mirror.
Today was the fifth anniversary of her marriage to her husband, Lin Wenchuan.
Her husband had once been an educated youth sent from the city to work in the countryside. After returning to the city, he had secured a job as a purchasing agent at the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Because of his work, Lin Wenchuan frequently traveled on business, often staying away from home for ten days or half a month at a time.
This time, however, he had made a special effort to return to the village on their anniversary. He had even tenderly promised her that he would spend the entire day celebrating their anniversary properly.
After dinner, Lin Wenchuan said he wanted to take her out for a walk.
Su Wan’s heart filled with sweetness.
She carefully straightened her clothes while looking into the bronze mirror. Just as she was about to stand up, a layer of white mist suddenly spread across the mirror’s surface.
Immediately afterward, a hazy figure slowly materialized in the reflection.
The woman looked exactly like her.
Yet her face was weathered and haggard, her clothes were tattered, and her body was covered in scars.
Su Wan’s breath caught in her throat. She nearly screamed in fright.
Then she heard the woman in the mirror speak urgently.
“Su Wan, whatever you do, don’t go to the river! Lin Wenchuan and Bai Wei are setting you up! They’ve hired men to violate you! Afterward, they’ll twist the truth and accuse you of the crime of hooliganism. You’ll end up behind bars!”
The woman’s voice was hoarse, every word filled with anguish and hatred.
Su Wan shuddered, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
She blurted out, “Impossible! Lin Wenchuan is my husband!”
“Your husband?”
The woman let out a low laugh, a sound filled with heartrending sorrow.
“Su Wan, stop being so naive! Lin Wenchuan doesn’t love you at all. The only woman he loves is Bai Wei, the girl he grew up with, his childhood sweetheart. Your marriage was an elaborate deception from the very beginning!”
Su Wan’s heart tightened.
“A deception?”
“That’s right! Five years ago, when you fell into the water and Lin Wenchuan rescued you, that was all part of his plan!”
The woman spoke through gritted teeth.
“He knew you were a high school graduate, a girl who cared deeply about her reputation and modesty. As long as the two of you were seen in public in an intimate situation, the gossip would force you to marry him.”
“And why did he marry you? Because he couldn’t stand the hardship of living in the countryside! He wanted to use your status to secure an easy life in the village. He wanted someone to wait on him so he could comfortably get through his years as an educated youth. That was all!”
Su Wan’s mind began to buzz.
It felt as though something had struck her squarely in the chest.
She couldn’t believe that what the woman in the mirror was saying could possibly be true.
Back when Lin Wenchuan had rescued her, he had told her that he had fallen in love with her at first sight after being sent to the countryside.
However, because of his status as an educated youth, he hadn’t dared to confess his feelings.
He had said that fate had given him an unexpected opportunity to get close to her through that accident.
Back then, Lin Wenchuan had been slender and fair, with refined manners and a gentle way of speaking.
He was nothing like the rough, burly men in the countryside.
Although Su Wan had thought he seemed a little frail, she had still blushed and accepted his marriage proposal.
At the time, she was one of the few high school graduates in the village. The relatively easy position of production-team scorekeeper had originally been hers.
But after marrying Lin Wenchuan, she watched him collapse twice under the scorching sun because he couldn’t endure the hardship of agricultural labor.
Without hesitation, she gave him her position as scorekeeper.
She took his place in the fields instead, rising early and working until late every day to earn work points for the household.
If the woman in the mirror was telling the truth, had Lin Wenchuan married her solely because he wanted her job as scorekeeper?
Su Wan’s face turned pale. She stared at the figure in the mirror, her voice trembling.
“Who exactly are you? How do you know so much about my life?”
The woman in the mirror pointed at her own face. Her hoarse voice was filled with overwhelming hatred.
“Look at this face of mine! How can you still not understand? I’m you—from the future! I’m the fool Lin Wenchuan drove to ruin, the woman he left with a shattered family, reduced to something barely human!”
This was her future self!
Su Wan swallowed hard. She was about to ask another question when a man’s gentle voice came from outside the door.
“Wanwan, are you ready? I’m coming in.”
Before Su Wan could answer, the door was pushed open.
She instinctively looked toward the mirror.
The hazy figure had disappeared.
“Wanwan, it’s chilly outside. I’ve made you a cup of brown sugar water. Drink it before we leave.”
Lin Wenchuan approached her, holding an enamel mug.
The man was slender and scholarly in appearance.
A pair of black-rimmed glasses rested on his nose, concealing the calculating look in his eyes.
“Don’t drink it! He’s mixed it with an aphrodisiac intended for breeding livestock!”
The woman’s hoarse voice rang in Su Wan’s ears.
Su Wan understood that her future self was warning her.
Lin Wenchuan had never intended to take her out for a simple walk that evening.
Instead, he wanted to use the drug to make her lose control of herself.
That way, he could make the accusation that she led an immoral private life stick and ruin her completely!
A chill crept through Su Wan’s heart.
She kept her expression calm, obediently accepted the enamel mug, and softly thanked him.
“Thank you, Brother Chuan.”
“Why are you thanking me? Come on, drink it while it’s still warm.”
Lin Wenchuan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and smiled tenderly.
Su Wan pretended to blow on the brown sugar water before saying, “Brother Chuan, could you get my coat for me?”
Lin Wenchuan didn’t suspect a thing. He walked over to the clothes rack in the corner and took down her coat.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Wan swiftly turned to the side, lowered the enamel mug, and poured the entire cup of sugar water onto the dry soil along the base of the wall.
When Lin Wenchuan turned around, she pretended to tilt her head back and drink.
“It’s really sweet.”
Seeing that she had supposedly finished the entire cup, Lin Wenchuan’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“Then let’s go.”
“All right.”
Su Wan handed him the enamel mug.
“Brother Chuan, could you put the mug away? I’ll come out as soon as I’ve put on my coat.”
Lin Wenchuan hummed in acknowledgment, took the mug, and left the room.
“Why are you still going out with him? Didn’t you hear anything I just told you?”
The hazy figure reappeared in the mirror. Her scarred face was full of anxiety.
“Once you go to prison, your nightmare will only just begin. Before long, your four-year-old daughter, Yaya, will be abducted by human traffickers! Your parents, your older brother, and your sister-in-law will all meet with misfortune one after another!”
Su Wan’s hand trembled as she put on her coat.
She took a deep breath, pulled a medical kit out from under the bed, removed a small bottle, and slipped it into her pocket.
“I heard you. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
She wasn’t going to give up until she saw the truth for herself.
Deep down, she still clung to a sliver of hope.
What if it really was just a misunderstanding?
Only after witnessing everything with her own eyes could she finally let go of her doubts.
…
By the Reed Marsh
The evening breeze tousled their hair.
The swaying reeds carried a faint dampness in the air.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. Not a single person was in sight.
Watching the man, who had seemed distracted throughout their walk, Su Wan deliberately tugged at the collar of her clothes.
“Brother Chuan, I think… I’m feeling a little hot.”
A glint flashed behind Lin Wenchuan’s lenses.
He reached out and touched her forehead.
“What’s wrong? Did you drink too much brown sugar water?”
His concerned tone made it impossible to tell whether he was being sincere.
Su Wan lowered her eyes and said nothing.
Just then, Lin Wenchuan suddenly pressed a hand against his stomach and let out a hiss of discomfort.
“Oh, no. I don’t know if I ate too much at dinner, but my stomach feels a little uncomfortable too. Wanwan, wait here and enjoy the breeze for a while. I’ll go behind that mound of earth over there to relieve myself.”
Su Wan felt her heart sink little by little.
She slowly raised her head and looked at the man’s hypocritical face. The last trace of hope she had been holding on to vanished completely.
Throughout the journey, she had silently tried to convince herself that the figure in the mirror might have been nothing more than a hallucination brought on by days of exhaustion.
Perhaps the bowl of brown sugar water really had been nothing more than an ordinary drink Lin Wenchuan had made for her out of kindness.
Perhaps she had simply been overthinking things.
But now, how could she possibly fail to understand?
Lin Wenchuan was making an excuse to leave so he could arrange to have her framed!
So the battered, wretched figure in the mirror hadn’t been a hallucination after all.
There had never been any misunderstanding!
All the tenderness, affection, and eternal vows the man had once given her had been nothing but an elaborate web of lies he had carefully spun!
“See? That bastard Lin Wenchuan has hidden himself away! Bai Wei will be bringing people here to catch you in the act very soon! Those two scumbags, Ergouzi and Huangmao, are coming too!”
The hazy figure appeared over the river.
The familiar, hoarse voice rang out, trembling with unbridled fury.
“After they’ve done what they came to do, Lin Wenchuan will tell everyone right there that this isn’t the first time you’ve behaved this way. He’ll claim that you were already unfaithful five years ago!”
“He’ll even say that Yaya and the baby they sold off immediately after birth aren’t his children at all! He’ll accuse you of having conceived both children through affairs with other men!”