Winter, 1965, Bincheng.
The biting wind swept through the bare trees as people hurried along the streets, yet their steps would inevitably slow when passing the red-walled, white-pillared Yangming Middle School.
This was Bincheng’s best secondary school, where dozens of students were admitted to universities each year—an extraordinary achievement in those times.
Today was the winter break. Students from other grades had collected their report cards and gone home early, but the senior third students clustered around their teachers, inquiring about various universities and discussing admission scores. They were to fill out their college entrance examination intention forms today. Even those underachievers who planned to skip the exams and simply collect their graduation certificates next semester gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing.
Amid this lively scene, Feng Mingshu—typically quiet and reserved—suddenly sprang up and dashed out, knocking against several desks with loud crashes that made onlookers wince in sympathy. Yet she never slowed, charging straight out of the classroom.
Class monitor Zhang Yunxiao was momentarily stunned. Watching her disappear beyond the doorway, he called out, “Feng Mingshu, you haven’t signed your intention form yet!”
“Don’t bother, Monitor. With her family background, it’d be pointless even if she filled it out.”
“Yeah, just save your breath.”
Zhang Yunxiao ignored his classmates and rushed after her, but only caught a glimpse of her slender back vanishing beyond the school gate, leaving him bewildered and uneasy.
Just a week ago, they had promised to apply to Binjiang University together. Even if her family background posed obstacles, he had resolved to help her achieve that dream.
Unaware of the boy’s thoughts behind her—and too preoccupied to care—Feng Mingshu felt as if she were dreaming. The scenes before her seemed both real and illusory, overlapping with fifteen years of memories.
Was she truly back from fifteen years in the future, or had she just returned to Bincheng after leaving the labor reform farm?
At the foot of the Feng family’s two-story western-style house, the housemaid Wang Ma was startled by Feng Mingshu rushing into the yard. “Young Miss, why are you running so hard you’re drenched in sweat? Wipe yourself quickly, or you’ll catch a chill.”
Feng Mingshu didn’t respond, charging straight into the building. There, in the first-floor living room, she finally saw her—a serene figure in a plain cheongsam, trimming flower branches. The light from the window fell upon her elegant face, where faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes spoke of years filled with gentleness.
After fifteen years, seeing this scene from her dreams again, Feng Mingshu choked up. Softly, she called out, “Mom,” and tears streamed down her face.
Yu Jingqiu turned at the sound and was startled to see her daughter weeping uncontrollably. She immediately set down the flower shears and hurried over to embrace her, soothing in a gentle voice, “Don’t cry, Zhuzhu. Tell Mother what’s wrong.”
Zhuzhu was Feng Mingshu’s childhood nickname, meaning “treasured like a pearl.” No one had called her that in fifteen years.
Feng Mingshu’s tears fell even faster as she clung tightly to Yu Jingqiu, craving the warmth of her mother’s embrace.
“Madam, the Young Miss, she…” Wang Ma followed close behind, voicing her concern, but Yu Jingqiu gestured for her to stop. Understanding, Wang Ma nodded, simply taking two autumn pears from the basket and retreating to the kitchen.
Once the Young Miss finished crying, she could have a bowl of pear soup to soothe her throat.
But even after the pear soup was boiled and cooled, Wang Ma heard no summons from either the madam or the young lady.
In the first-floor bedroom, Yu Jingqiu held her daughter calmly, yet the blue veins on the back of her right hand—propped on the table—stood out starkly against her pale skin, flushed with suppressed emotion.Just moments ago, her daughter had told her that in half a year, the domestic situation would drastically change. Their family of four would suffer impacts, leading to separation and fifteen years without communication.
“Mom, do you believe me?” Feng Mingshu lifted her face from Yu Jingqiu’s embrace and asked anxiously.
Yu Jingqiu took out a handkerchief, gently wiping away the tear stains on her daughter’s face, and replied with a soft smile, “I believe you, of course I do. My daughter has foreseen the events of the next fifteen years—this is a blessing from heaven for our family.”
Hearing her mother’s affirmation, Feng Mingshu’s tense body relaxed instantly, but the exhaustion from fifteen years of labor reform on the farm surged across time and space. She was so drowsy her eyelids were fighting to stay open, barely managing to clutch a section of her mother’s cheongsam sleeve. “Mom, we must hurry, quickly…”
“Mom knows. Mom will arrange everything. Sleep peacefully, Zhuzhu.” Yu Jingqiu’s tone was tender as she guided her daughter to lie down on the bed, removing her shoes and tucking her under the quilt.
Returning to the long-missed warmth of the brocade quilt and breathing in her mother’s unique, gentle fragrance, Feng Mingshu soon fell asleep, her brows relaxed and expression content.
She was a beautiful girl, with delicate features, skin as fair as jade, cheeks tinged with pink, as tender as a budding peony.
Yu Jingqiu gazed tenderly at her, tucked in the quilt corner, then quietly left the room and closed the door. In an instant, her gentle demeanor turned cold and resolute.
Having married into the Feng family for twenty years, she had only enjoyed a slightly easier life during the first two years when her father-in-law was alive. After that, with a wayward husband and a frail mother-in-law, she independently managed the family’s business and raised the children. In recent years, her husband had even run off to Hong Kong with the family’s money for his “true love.” Despite such circumstances, she had kept their lives in perfect order—not merely relying on gentleness to endure.
Wang Ma, coming out from the kitchen, noticed the sharp glint in the madam’s eyes and immediately grew cautious, standing respectfully to the side awaiting instructions.
“Wang Ma, go pick up Mingyu and Mingxue.”
Mingyu and Mingxue were nine-year-old twins, currently in third grade at an elementary school about a mile from the Feng family foreign-style house. Since the beginning of the year, they had refused to be picked up by the family. Today was a holiday, and they should have been home early.
“Yes, Madam.”
Wang Ma acknowledged and went out, just as the twins’ pattering footsteps and cheerful shouts echoed from outside.
“Mom, Uncle Li bought us chestnuts!”
“Hot chestnuts, so fragrant! Mom, try one.”
The twins ran into the house. The innocent and lively Mingxue grabbed a sugar-roasted chestnut from a paper bag and offered it like a treasure. Yu Jingqiu smiled and reached for it, but her hand was intercepted midway.
Li Yanzhong held the chestnut. “The chestnuts are sugar-roasted, and the shells are sticky. Let me peel it for you, Madam.”
Yu Jingqiu would usually decline politely, but this time, her gaze lingered on Li Yanzhong’s solemn face for a second before she withdrew her hand and thanked him.
“Madam, there’s no need to be so formal with me.” A smile touched the corners of Li Yanzhong’s eyes, creasing them slightly and softening his stern expression.
Feng Mingshu, having lived through fifteen years in her previous life, was a light sleeper. The twins’ loud chatter woke her, and she emerged from the bedroom just in time to see her mother and Uncle Li exchanging glances.
Without the experience of those fifteen years in her past life, Feng Mingshu wouldn’t have recognized the emotion stirring in Uncle Li’s eyes, assuming he was merely fulfilling Grandma’s dying wish to care for her mother and the siblings.
Now, looking back, she realized how foolish she had been. How could a man remain unmarried by a woman’s side for over a decade, helping her manage the company and raise her children, without any personal feelings involved?When the turmoil first began in her previous life, Mother had asked Uncle Li to send the three siblings to their fickle father in Hong Kong. Despite knowing the difficulties, Uncle Li agreed without hesitation and sent them away that very night. However, Ming-shu, worried about her sick mother, ran back midway, yet still couldn’t save her mother’s life… She saw Uncle Li again a year later at the farm visitation window, his temples gray and his back bent, making her almost unable to recognize him…
Li Yanzhong noticed a gaze and turned to see the girl he had always doted on standing in the corridor, her eyes red-rimmed. Surprised, he stepped forward and asked, “Ming-shu, are you feeling unwell? Or is there something you want? Uncle Li will buy it for you.”
The twins also noticed their sister and chattered excitedly as they rushed over to express their concern.
Feng Mingshu held one twin in each arm, looked at Uncle Li with his anxious expression but still dark hair, and smiled through her tears, “I’m not unwell, and I don’t want anything else. I just want Uncle Li to stay and have a meal with us.”
Li Yanzhong was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at Yu Jingqiu.
To avoid gossip from the neighbors, ever since Old Lady Feng passed away, even when he entered the Feng household, he never stayed for more than ten minutes, let alone stayed for a meal.