This book is set in a fictional world. Do not obsess over the prices mentioned. Any similarities to real people or events are purely coincidental…
On a sweltering afternoon, amidst the constant chirping of cicadas, the peace of Lianhua Gou was shattered by a sudden shout.
“The Lin family’s young daughter jumped into the river!” someone cried out.
“What? Why would she jump? Come on, let’s go see!” Villagers gathered in small groups and ran toward a thatched hut at the eastern end of the village.
In the fenced courtyard, a pale, soaking wet young girl lay on the ground. By all appearances, she had stopped breathing.
A woman, about thirty years old, refused to believe the girl was dead. Sobbing, she held the girl and shook her repeatedly. “Yuhe, my Yuhe, don’t scare Mother. Mother can’t live without you!” Her tears fell like pearls from a broken string.
This woman was the girl’s biological mother, Bai Haitang.
The young girl had been betrothed since childhood, but the groom’s family had recently called off the engagement. In a moment of despair, she had jumped into the river.
At that same moment, a silver-gray sports car was speeding along a winding mountain road. The driver was Lin Yuhe, the CEO of a conglomerate involved in hotel chains and import-export trade.
Ring, ring! The car’s video call system chimed.
Initially, she didn’t want to answer. But even though the caller was her father’s illegitimate daughter, she was still technically her sister.
She tapped to accept the call and simultaneously linked the satellite video feed to the group headquarters. “Lin Yue, you don’t need to call. You embezzled fifty million from the group’s funds. I’m giving you three days to pay it back in full.”
“Hahaha, Lin Yuhe, your end is near, yet you’re still giving me deadlines? Once you’re dead, I’ll take over your company—and your man.”
The video screen showed a man and a woman in a disgusting, intimate embrace.
Just then, a massive truck barreled around the mountain bend at high speed. Lin Yuhe slammed on the brakes, a cold sneer forming on her lips. “Lin Yue, without me, you will get nothing.”
BOOM! Everything went black before Lin Yuhe’s eyes.
“Blargh!” The young girl, who had been breathless, was shaken back to consciousness by the woman, spitting out a mouthful of water.
“She’s come back to life!” someone shouted. The onlookers huddled by the fence scattered in a panic.
After running about a dozen meters, they turned back and saw no further commotion in the yard, so they cautiously returned.
“Yuhe, my Yuhe, you’re awake! Thank heavens, waaaah…” The woman pulled the girl on the ground into a tight embrace.
Indeed, the girl had woken up, but she was no longer the original owner of that body.
This was the Lin Yuhe from the modern world, who had arrived here after a car crash caused by brake failure.
Inside the thatched hut, Lin Yuhe lay on the bed. Memories of the original host’s life flickered through her mind like a movie.
A plump woman pointed at the Lin parents’ noses, shouting, “I’m telling you, Lin Hai, Bai Haitang, your Lin Yuhe better stop dreaming about a toad eating swan meat!” The fat woman wanted to break the engagement for her son, looking down on Lin Yuhe for being a mere village girl.
It turned out her son had passed the exams to become a Tongsheng and had been scouted by a town Yuanwai to become a matrilocal son-in-law.
Lin Yuhe was eleven years old. She had honest, hardworking parents, doting grandparents, an older brother, a pair of twin younger brothers, and a sixteen-year-old uncle, Lin Fan, who was not yet married.
The original host had been betrothed since childhood to Zhang Yuqing from the neighboring Zhang family. When the Zhangs demanded to break the engagement, she couldn’t take the shock and jumped into the river. Her father, Lin Hai, who had been following her, managed to fish her out.
The eldest brother, Lin Changfu, was fourteen. He worked as a server in a town restaurant. His job provided food and lodging and paid a monthly wage of one hundred wen. He kept two wen for himself and handed the rest over to Grandma Lin.
The third and fourth brothers, Lin Changping and Lin Chang’an, were ten-year-old twins. The villagers and family called them Changping and Chang’an, as the elders hoped the children would live in peace and safety.
When there was work in the fields, they helped the family. When there wasn’t, the two brothers gathered firewood in the mountains and carried it to town to sell for two wen a load. If they couldn’t sell it, they would settle for three wen for two loads, delivering the second load the following day.
Like most families in Lianhua Gou, this household was dirt poor, living hand-to-mouth. The family relied on Grandma Lin’s frugality and the hard work of everyone to make ends meet.
“Yuhe, you must be hungry. Get up and eat,” Mother Lin said as she entered to help her up, interrupting the images in Lin Yuhe’s mind.
On the table were several chipped porcelain bowls filled with wild vegetable and corn porridge, along with a small piece of salted radish. The bowl in front of Yuhe was filled to the brim with porridge and contained a peeled, boiled egg.
“Sister, hurry and eat! Tomorrow, Chang’an and I will sell the firewood and buy you meat buns from the town,” Lin Changping said, looking at Lin Yuhe’s pale face. He decided to cut an extra load of wood tomorrow.
Usually, they only brought one load because the town was far, and the two brothers took turns carrying it.
“That’s right, Sister. The meat buns in town are so delicious and fragrant,” Chang’an added. He had never eaten one himself, but he had watched others eat them.
Lin Yuhe, who had been betrayed and had vowed never to trust anyone again, felt the wound in her heart heal slightly as she looked at this family.
Her eyes reddened. She didn’t know if she should trust them; after all, it was her own family’s betrayal that had sent her here.
“Yuhe, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Here, Uncle will give you a candy. Once you eat it, no more crying,” Uncle Lin Fan said. He reached into his peddler’s unicycle parked nearby and pulled out a piece of candy, placing it before her.
Grandma Lin added, “It’s just a broken engagement. Why act like it’s the end of the world? In the future, we’ll find you a lad better than anyone from the Zhang family and make them regret it.”
Grandma Lin’s maiden name was Yulan, though everyone in the village called her Grandma Lin. Many years ago, she had collapsed at the entrance of Lianhua Gou while fleeing a famine. She was saved by Grandpa Lin’s parents and eventually married Grandpa Lin, Lin Yuzhang.
“Eldest, tomorrow take your second brother to the Zhang house to formally end the engagement. Get the Gengtie back. I’ll provide five taels of silver.”
When the engagement was first set, the Zhangs had given two taels. Grandpa Lin knew the Zhangs were difficult people, so he wanted Lin Hai to bring extra.
“No, why should we give five taels? Back then, the Zhangs only gave two taels, which was the lowest betrothal gift for any girl in the village. Besides, every year the Zhang boy was in school, our family provided copper coins. That silver is meant for the second son’s wedding!”
Grandma Lin was extremely reluctant. Other families had sons the same age as her second son who were already married with children. Their family hadn’t even saved enough to find him a bride.
“Mother, I’m in no hurry. I agree to using five taels to get Yuhe’s Gengtie back,” Uncle Lin Fan said firmly to Grandma Lin.
Wiping away a tear, Grandma Lin went into the inner room and brought out five taels of silver in various denominations. She placed them on the dining table. “Tomorrow, we must get that girl’s Gengtie back.”
“Alright, everyone eat! Tomorrow, we’ll find a doctor to check on Yuhe,” Grandma Lin said. Seeing her normally cheerful granddaughter so expressionless, she worried the girl hadn’t fully recovered.
Despite her sharp tongue, Grandma Lin had a heart of gold. She truly adored her only granddaughter and always gave her the best of whatever food they had.