When Su Tong opened her eyes, she felt a dizzying sensation as if the world were spinning. Before she could even prop herself up, she collapsed heavily back onto the ground.
Only then did she register the sharp pain at her temple…
Reaching up to touch it, her hand came away covered in blood.
Steadying her mind, she glanced around and immediately realized something was wrong.
She had been hit by a stray bullet.
The bullet had pierced her heart, and she had collapsed on the operating table.
But the scene before her wasn’t inside a green military tent, nor were there dense, endless tropical rainforests surrounding her.
Instead, she was in a dilapidated earthen hut supported by a few wooden poles.
A pile of straw lay on the ground, and in front of her was a makeshift door nailed together from wooden planks. The gaps between the planks were wide enough to fit a fist, and cold wind whistled through them.
Beside her stood a handheld kerosene lamp with a glass shade, its faint yellow glow as small as a bean.
Outside the door, she could hear two men arguing.
“Damn it, I told you to take it easy! Now look what happened—we’ve got a dead body! How are we going to explain this to the Wu Family?”
“Now you’re acting all righteous! Wu Dongling told us to have our fun before sending her off to that old widower, and you were more than happy to agree!”
“…Who knew this girl would be so fierce? How could she have smashed her head against the pole…”
Listening to the argument outside, Su Tong lifted her hands to examine herself. She was wearing a patched-up cotton jacket, layer upon layer of mends.
It had clearly been worn for a long time—the cotton filling was stiff and clumped together, offering no warmth. Her arms were thin and sallow, almost unrecognizable, and her palms were a mess of calluses and cracks, a pitiful sight.
In her daze, another wave of intense headache struck.
A flood of unfamiliar memories rushed in, nearly causing her to faint again.
When the pain finally subsided, she processed the chaotic memories one by one and was left utterly stunned.
She had actually traveled through time.
She had died on a 21st-century peacekeeping battlefield, only to wake up in the body of a girl named Wu Tong from the 1970s.
This girl, Wu Tong, was the eldest child in her family, with two younger brothers and a younger sister.
She had never been well-liked. Besides working in the fields and mountains doing farm labor, she was also responsible for all the household chores—a dutiful, enduring soul who accepted hardship without complaint.
At sixteen, Wu Mother, greedy for a bride price of five dan of grain, had betrothed Wu Tong early. Unfortunately, the groom-to-be fell off an embankment on his way to the wedding and died on the spot, forcing the marriage to be called off.
At seventeen, for a bride price of half a pig, she was betrothed to another family. But shortly after the engagement was settled, the prospective groom fell ill and died.
After that, Wu Tong became notorious far and wide as an ill-omened woman. Everyone said she had a fate so harsh it killed her husbands—whoever married her would bring misfortune upon their family.
At eighteen, unwilling to let such a grown daughter go to waste, Wu Mother insisted on finding yet another match, this time far away.
For a bride price of fifty yuan, Wu Tong was promised to a nearly fifty-year-old widower from a neighboring county, who already had a houseful of children.
To avoid complications, as soon as the bride price was received yesterday, Wu Mother confidently assured the matchmaker that Wu Tong would be sent over the very next day—so promptly that the groom’s family didn’t even need to hold a wedding ceremony.
Wu Tong wept bitterly and mustered the courage to say she didn’t want to go. Without a word, Wu Mother forced a bowl of anesthetic—concocted by a local village doctor—down her throat, and Wu Tong immediately lost consciousness.
Wu Dongling, the younger sister, didn’t miss the chance to kick someone when they were down. She hired two village ruffians to escort the bride, slipping them two extra yuan to first violate Wu Tong on the way before delivering her.
This was to ensure Wu Tong would harbor no further ideas and resign herself to living with the old widower.
The two ruffians loaded the unconscious Wu Tong onto a wheelbarrow and set off. Once out of the village, they took advantage of the darkness to find an abandoned cowshed. Just as they were about to assault her, Wu Tong gradually regained consciousness.
Seeing the two men, eyes bloodshot, tearing at her clothes, she understood everything instantly. Furious and desperate, realizing her own mother and sister viewed her as less than human, she saw no reason to live and slammed her head against a pillar…
As Su Tong sorted through these memories, a wave of sorrow washed over her. This girl’s life was truly tragic—born into such a family, it was no wonder she felt life wasn’t worth living…
The conversation outside continued…
“Shuanzi, what do we do now? I saw Ma Dadan and the police officers from the local station patrolling the village entrance today. We can’t let this blow up…”
“What’s it got to do with us? She’s the one who hit the pillar. We didn’t even get any advantage out of this and still ended up with a stink. Listen, Wang Lao Er, you’d better keep your mouth shut…”
“Then… what do we do now? She stopped breathing earlier… she’s probably already cold…”
“In for a penny, in for a pound. Let’s dig a hole and bury her, then lay low somewhere. If anything comes up, we’ll pin it on the Wu Family—after all, they’re the ones who drove her to this…”
As they spoke, the two pushed the door open and entered. In the dim lamplight, two shabby-looking men came into view, their clothes loose and tattered—clearly not decent folk.
One went to fetch the kerosene lamp, while the other grabbed Su Tong’s leg.
Though Su Tong was a doctor, she was a battle-hardened military physician. Doctors sent to the front lines had to pass rigorous selection.
Medical expertise was a given, but proficiency in firearms and combat was also mandatory. Common languages, wilderness survival—all were part of the assessment. Otherwise, they’d be a liability on the battlefield, unable to save others while failing to protect themselves.
Seeing the man reach for her leg, Su Tong aimed a kick straight at his chin.
Her kick was fierce, targeting the vulnerable point under his jaw, but as she struck, she realized this body was terribly weak—unable to muster any real strength. The man only staggered backward, far from the intended effect.
Though not knocked down, he was badly frightened. Scrambling up in a panic, he yelled:
“Shu… Shuanzi! Sh-she’s… she’s risen from the dead!”
Shuanzi, who had just picked up the lamp, noticed the person who’d been lifeless moments ago was now moving and was equally terrified.
But he was steadier than Wang Lao Er. Fighting to control his panic, he said:
“Must’ve just passed out earlier and come to now! If she’s not dead, all the better! Tie her up and send her off! We’ve got to finish the job!”
Exchanging a glance, the two lunged at Su Tong.
There was no way Su Tong would let them capture her. She rolled aside, ready to counterattack, but suddenly felt the world spinning.
Whether it was the aftermath of hitting the pillar or the lingering effects of that bowl of anesthetic, her body was drained of strength, too weak even to stand steadily.
Shuanzi and Wang Lao Er missed their target and started cursing:
“Dammit! This bitch gets smarter after knocking her head! Dares to fight back now!”
“Just wait till I get my hands on you—I’ll finish you off for good!”
Su Tong sensed something was wrong with this body and thought to himself, “This is bad.” Not daring to confront the two men head-on any longer, he seized an opportunity to dash out the door and flee outside.
The two men cursed loudly as they chased after him.
Unexpectedly, the kerosene lamp had tipped over into the haystack, igniting the hay. In an instant, it burst into flames, which then spread to the cowshed.
The cowshed, built entirely of wooden planks, was quickly engulfed in a raging fire, blazing like a massive torch against the dark night sky.