“Sheng Qiu, since you’re off today, wanna go shopping?”
Sheng Qiu declined the invitation from her dormmate Xiaohua and collapsed onto the iron bunk bed in the dormitory.
The chattering voices around her failed to catch her attention in the slightest. Her entire being exuded an aura of utter exhaustion.
Heavens knew that just three days ago, Sheng Qiu had been the kind of person who slept until she naturally woke up, a full-time daughter who prepared three meals a day for her dear mother. Now, however, she was just a female worker at Dasheng Toy Factory.
Buried in the factory all day long, working nonstop without rest.
Sheng Qiu couldn’t even spare a thought for missing home, her parents, or wanting to go back—all she felt was exhaustion.
Just end it all, just break already!
“Sheng Qiu, is Sheng Qiu here?”
An unfamiliar female voice came from the dormitory entrance.
Sheng Qiu wished she could cover her ears. She had been transported here for a few days now, but sometimes she still couldn’t get used to the enthusiasm around here. If this had happened before, she might have mustered some interest, but right now she was about to drop dead from exhaustion.
Someone on the verge of death doesn’t want any social interaction whatsoever!!
“Sheng Qiu, is Sheng Qiu here or not?”
But clearly, the person outside the dormitory wasn’t planning to let Sheng Qiu off easily.
“Yes!” Sheng Qiu had no choice but to respond.
She knew that if she kept silent, that person would probably keep calling out—or even more likely, just come straight in to find her.
When Sheng Qiu stepped out, she saw a round-faced girl. “You are—?”
“You’re Sheng Qiu, right? Someone’s at the factory gate looking for you.” The round-faced girl grabbed Sheng Qiu and started dragging her toward the entrance, not giving her even the slightest chance to break free.
Before Sheng Qiu could even think about who might be looking for her, she was being pulled along. All she could feel was the exhaustion of moving, and the question she’d had in mind was once again pushed to the back of her thoughts.
Before long, Sheng Qiu and the round-faced girl arrived at the gate.
The round-faced girl looked a bit huffy and kept muttering, “Sheng Qiu, why are you so weak? You’re this tired after just a little bit of walking.”
Sheng Qiu forced a strained smile and didn’t respond. She’d been working all day, standing from morning till night, and was practically dead on her feet. Walking that far was already impressive.
Seeing that the round-faced girl was still chattering on without end, Sheng Qiu quickly changed the subject and looked around. “Didn’t you say someone was looking for me? Where are they?”
It was exactly quitting time, and people were coming and going, but when she looked toward the gate, there didn’t seem to be anyone waiting.
The round-faced girl pushed Sheng Qiu into the small room next to the gate. “The person waiting for you is inside.”
Caught off guard, Sheng Qiu was shoved into the security booth. As soon as she steadied herself, she saw a little boy in a dark green jacket and khaki pants jump down from a bench.
He couldn’t have been more than four or five years old, yet he insisted on keeping a stern face. Still, Sheng Qiu had just seen his two chubby baby cheeks jiggle when he jumped off the bench—adorably so.
The little boy frowned, straightened out his slightly wrinkled pants and jacket, stood before Sheng Qiu, and spoke in a milky yet somewhat cool voice.
“Auntie, hello. I’m Sheng Nian.”
Auntie? Nephew?
What a joke! Sheng Qiu was an only child—she had no siblings whatsoever.
Not only that, but both her parents were only children too, so she had no cousins on either side either.
“Where did I even get a—” Sheng Qiu started to refute, but suddenly froze. She’d forgotten that this body of hers actually did have an older sister.
The Sheng family had two daughters total: the eldest Sheng Chun, and the youngest Sheng Qiu.
Because they had two daughters, Father Sheng had always been looked down upon in the village. He and Mother Sheng had always wanted a son. Later, while trying to evade the family planning officials from the county town in pursuit of that wish, they accidentally fell off a mountain and died.
At that time, Sheng Chun was sixteen, and Sheng Qiu was ten.
Sheng Chun, who had still been in school, dropped out and went with other girls from the village to Yangcheng to work, supporting the two sisters and putting Sheng Qiu through middle school. Unfortunately, Sheng Qiu wasn’t cut out for studying—she barely finished middle school before she couldn’t keep going.
Not wanting Sheng Chun to work too hard, Sheng Qiu came to Yangcheng alone to find her. Luckily for her, she made it there safely. But Yangcheng was too big, and she couldn’t find her sister, so she ended up working at a factory here for half a year.
Three days ago, Sheng Qiu finally managed to get in touch with Sheng Chun. She was already unwell from prolonged, high-intensity work, and with the added emotional upheaval, the person inhabiting this body became Sheng Qiu from the twenty-first century.
Sheng Nian looked at his aunt, whose expression seemed a bit dazed, and felt nervous inside.
Did his aunt not want to acknowledge him?
“You’re really my nephew?” Sheng Qiu immediately realized how silly that question sounded.
The little guy in front of her was still a tiny tot—probably didn’t even have a kindergarten diploma—so how could he prove his identity?
The next second, Sheng Nian fumbled around his neck and pulled out a red string with a silver ring threaded onto it. “Auntie, this is what Mom gave me.”
Sheng Qiu recognized it at a glance—it was the dowry Mother Sheng had left for Sheng Chun, while she herself had gotten a pair of silver earrings.
This silver ring was very important to Sheng Chun; she would never give it away lightly. And looking more closely at Sheng Nian, those eyes really did look a lot like Sheng Chun’s.
“Sheng Nian, Niannian, right? Where’s your mom?” Sheng Qiu tentatively believed Sheng Nian’s words, but she’d still need Sheng Chun to confirm it.
How could Sheng Chun—her sister—feel at ease letting such a tiny child like Sheng Nian go out on his own? This wasn’t the 21st century with surveillance cameras everywhere. Even in times with ubiquitous monitoring, child trafficking was still all too common, let alone now.
“Mom went out. She told me to come find you, Auntie.”
Sheng Qiu simply assumed Sheng Chun had dropped the child off here before leaving, so she nodded without giving it much thought.
“Niannian, do you remember where home is?”
This was the factory, and Sheng Qiu was still staying in the factory dormitory for the time being—a tiny room crammed with over a dozen people, so packed you could hardly move. Besides, even though Sheng Nian was still young, he was a little boy right at the age when his character was forming, so it wasn’t suitable either.
Sheng Nian nodded eagerly. “Yes, I do, Auntie.”
“Alright, then Auntie will take you home.”
She’d originally thought she could spend her one precious day off lying in the dormitory all day, but that plan was now out the window.
Sheng Qiu wanted to thank the round-faced girl who had called her over, but when she turned around, the girl was already gone. She’d have to put aside the thought of thanking her for now—she could find another opportunity later.
Despite his small size, Sheng Nian had an exceptionally good memory. He clearly remembered which bus to take and which stop to get off at.
On the way back to the city, Sheng Qiu also learned from Sheng Nian that he was four years old and had always lived with his mother, Sheng Chun. But she never got any information out of him about his father.
Such a young child mentioning only his mother and never his father was clearly unusual.
Sheng Qiu searched through her residual memories. Her sister Sheng Chun had never mentioned having a boyfriend, nor had she ever revealed even a hint of Sheng Nian’s existence.
She’d never brought it up before, and now suddenly sending Sheng Nian to her—Sheng Qiu was genuinely puzzled.
After over an hour on the bus, Sheng Nian led Sheng Qiu to the entrance of a residential complex.
Looking at the complex, which far surpassed every other building they’d passed along the way, Sheng Qiu was a bit dumbfounded.
Was her sister this well-off? She was already living in a residential complex back in the 1990s?
While Sheng Qiu was staring at the complex in a daze, Sheng Nian eagerly greeted the security guard at the gate.
“Uncle Security, I’m taking my auntie home!”
The security guard looked at Sheng Nian, then at the young woman a few steps behind, a bit puzzled, but still replied, “Alright, I’ll open the gate for you.”
Sheng Nian took Sheng Qiu’s hand and led her into the complex, navigating with ease to the building where their home was and getting on the elevator.
Ding!
Sheng Qiu followed Sheng Nian out of the elevator, turned left, and after just a few steps, they stopped.
“We’re here, Auntie.” Sheng Nian said as he walked around the flowerpot by the door, then bent over, stuck his little bottom up in the air, moved the pot aside, and fished out a key.
When the door opened, Sheng Qiu didn’t immediately check out the interior decor. Instead, the first thing she saw was a photo of Sheng Chun and Sheng Nian on the entryway console. In the picture, Sheng Chun was smiling gently, her eyes full of love for Sheng Nian.
This confirmed it—Sheng Nian was indeed her nephew.
“Auntie, would you like some water?” Though he asked, Sheng Nian was already heading into the kitchen with a cup in hand.
He was still just a four-year-old, after all, so Sheng Qiu was worried and followed him into the kitchen. The next second, she saw Sheng Nian standing on his tiptoes, holding the cup up to the faucet to fill it with water.
The kitchen counter was still a bit too high for Sheng Nian. Even as he strained to push the cup under the faucet, he couldn’t get all the water into it. Just as he tried to push it further in, a hand reached out from behind and took the cup from him.
“Niannian, let Auntie help.”
Soon, a cup of water was filled, and Sheng Qiu moved to hand it to Sheng Nian.
“Auntie, this water is for you—please drink it.”
Drink tap water straight from the faucet?
Sheng Qiu felt she couldn’t quite accept that just yet.
“Do you have a kettle?” Sheng Qiu figured they should boil some water—not just for herself, but for the little one too.
“Yes, we do.”
Sheng Nian soon came back carrying an aluminum kettle and placed it in front of Sheng Qiu.
Looking at this antique kettle in front of her, Sheng Qiu couldn’t help but sigh. How was she supposed to use this thing? She’d only ever used an electric kettle!
After finally managing to boil a pot of water, Sheng Qiu poured a cup for herself and one for Sheng Nian. She was about to ask when his mother would be back when she noticed him staring at the hot water, swallowing longingly.
“Niannian, are you hungry?”
The next second, Sheng Qiu met Sheng Nian’s bright, sparkling eyes.
In the kitchen, Sheng Qiu found only a few eggs, some rice, and flour. Since there was no rice cooker, she gave up on steaming rice.
She scooped out a small bowl of flour and mixed it into a batter, cracked all the eggs into it, and added some seasonings she found on the counter. Soon, she started frying egg pancakes in the pan.
Thank heavens—the apartment used a gas stove.
Before long, golden, fragrant egg pancakes were placed in front of Sheng Nian. Having gone hungry for days, surviving solely on water and crackers, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He grabbed a pancake and stuffed it straight into his mouth.
The pancake was soft and fluffy, and Sheng Nian thought it was absolutely delicious.
“Auntie, can you be my mom?”