Mount Xiufeng’s high altitude meant that as soon as December arrived, the weather turned sharply cold, the chill biting and relentless.
A thin layer of ice coated the roads, making every step a precarious gamble.
soil, now frozen hard, resisted all efforts to dig. Yet the road construction team pushed forward, struggling against the elements.
The deeper they went into the tunnel, the more rock they encountered. The workers swung hammers, axes, and iron bars, their strikes echoing through the gloom. Dirt and stone were shoveled into baskets and carted away in small wagons.
Many had their shoulders chafed raw and the webs of their thumbs split and bleeding. Their palms were a map of old scars and fresh wounds, wrapped in thick cloth bandages that were already soaked through with blood.
Despite the hardship, no one complained. A grim determination had seized them all—they would break through the tunnel and connect the North and South Slopes before the first snow fell.
That morning, Tao Nanfeng opened the wooden door and was met with a blast of frigid air. The atmosphere felt sharper now, charged with a piercing, desolate chill.
The newly built brick-and-tile houses of the Zhiqing Settlement, with their thick walls, proved their worth in the cold.
While the air outside turned to mist with every breath, the interior remained warm and dry.
Tao Nanfeng wore a thin, cotton-padded jacket with a red and green floral lining, covered by a dark green corduroy coat. Though the outfit was simple and slightly bulky, it cast a warm glow over her otherwise cool demeanor, softening her appearance.
She rubbed her stiff, frozen hands and pulled her neck in, her ears aching from the cold. Turning back into the room, she retrieved a beige wool scarf from a wicker chest and wrapped it tightly around her head, ears, and cheeks.
Li Huilan and Ye Qin got up, washed, and ate two steamed buns from the kitchen stove.
“We’re heading to the pig farm!” one of them called out.
The two women stepped out into the biting wind, leaving the Zhiqing Settlement behind. Once they had settled into their work at the pig farm, their complaints had ceased.
Despite the filth and stench, there was a genuine sense of accomplishment in seeing the dozen or so pigs they raised grow fat and healthy. After all, these animals would provide the commune members’ meat rations for the New Year, a prospect everyone eagerly anticipated.
Tao Nanfeng looked at Xiao Aiyun, who remained curled up silently in her bedding.
“Xiao Aiyun,” she said softly. “Time to get up for work.”
There was no response from the bundle of blankets.
Under normal circumstances, Xiao Aiyun would have been awake and chatting by now. It was rare for her to sleep in, and Tao Nanfeng shook her head, retrieving some breakfast from the kitchen before returning to the bunk beds. She gently nudged the bundle of blankets.
“Xiao Aiyun? Xiao Aiyun?”
Still no response.
Tao Nanfeng’s heart tightened. She pulled back a corner of the blanket, releasing a rush of heat that revealed Xiao Aiyun’s flushed face.
Her eyes were shut tight, her breathing heavy, and her forehead burning. At the sound of Tao Nanfeng’s voice, she moaned fuzzily but remained trapped in a deep slumber.
Having been frail and sickly as a child, Tao Nanfeng had long ago learned to be a healer by necessity. She knew immediately that Xiao Aiyun was running a high fever. Suppressing her growing panic, she quickly grabbed some clothes from the bedside and helped Xiao Aiyun dress.
Outside, Qiao Yadong called out, “Tao Nanfeng! Xiao Aiyun! Let’s go!”
Tao Nanfeng pulled the door open, hoisting Xiao Aiyun onto her back and supporting her limp, weak legs as she stepped outside. “Xiao Aiyun has a fever. She needs to go to the health clinic.”
Living, eating, and working together, the educated youth had formed a close-knit bond. Hearing the news, the others crowded around, offering a flurry of suggestions.
“Oh, it must be from yesterday,” one said. “They’d finished work late, and she probably caught a chill on the way back.”
“We can’t afford to delay,” Tao Nanfeng said. “She didn’t respond to my calls for ages.”
“Two of you go with them to the health clinic,” Qiao Yadong instructed. “The rest of you, get to work as usual.”
Xiao Aiyun whimpered, burying her face against Tao Nanfeng’s neck. The scarf felt warm and soft, and she refused to let go. Qiao Yadong had offered to take her from Tao Nanfeng, but seeing her resistance, he dropped the idea.
Everyone at the Zhiqing Settlement knew Tao Nanfeng was unusually strong; carrying the slender Xiao Aiyun was no trouble for her at all.
Qiao Yadong ran alongside Tao Nanfeng as they hurried away, waving back at Chen Zhilu and the others. “Don’t worry about us! Get on with the road repairs!”
The Health Clinic sat isolated in the northwest corner of the farm headquarters, a single-story building with a small courtyard. Two brick pillars supported the awning over the entrance. Inside, the lobby and corridors were coated in a dark red paint.
The lack of natural light, combined with the pale green wainscoting and the large black character for Quiet plastered on the walls, gave the place a somber, oppressive feel.
The entire facility—comprising the duty room, registration desk, pharmacy, examination room, and ward—consisted of just six rooms. It was still early, and the place was deserted and silent.
As soon as they stepped into the lobby, Qiao Yadong shouted, “Doctor! Doctor!”
A nurse emerged from the duty room. She was Liu Lili, a woman with a slender figure and striking features.
Liu Lili wore a white nurse’s uniform over a floral cotton jacket, paired with dark wool trousers and black leather shoes. Her hair was pinned neatly in a bun at the back of her head.
Her tone was cold and dismissive.
“What’s all the shouting for? The doctor isn’t here.”
Xiufeng Mountain Farm wasn’t large. With six Zhiqing Settlements, it housed two to three hundred sent-down youths, and along with the rest of the staff and their families, the total population was roughly a thousand.
During the busy farming season, everyone was stretched to the breaking point.
Because of its small size and remote location, no doctors or nurses were willing to be posted there, despite the farm having its own independent Health Clinic.
The facility was minimally staffed—just two internal medicine and surgery doctors and two nurses—who rotated shifts. They could only treat minor ailments like colds, headaches, and scrapes.
Any serious conditions required a trip down the mountain to Quping Town Hospital.
Liu Lili was a well-known figure on the farm, not just for her beauty but for her rumored affair with Farm Director Jiao Liang. Qiao Yadong recognized her immediately.
“She couldn’t get up this morning and has a high fever. She keeps drifting in and out of consciousness,” he explained politely. “Nurse Liu, could you please take a look at her?”
Liu Lili glanced at her watch and replied flippantly, “It’s only half past eight. Still early. Just put the patient on a bed and wait for Dr. Jiang to arrive before we issue any medication.”
Tao Nanfeng followed Liu Lili into the treatment room and gently laid Xiao Aiyun on the bed. The makeshift cot was covered with a thin military mattress, and the white sheets were stained with faint yellow patches, suggesting they hadn’t been changed in ages.
Tao Nanfeng scanned the room, her brow furrowed. Besides the iron bed, the only furniture was a long table and a single wooden chair pushed against the wall.
The concrete floor was freezing, and the wooden window frames were so poorly sealed that a draft constantly streamed into the room.
Xiao Aiyun tossed and turned in her feverish haze, her lips pale. She clutched Tao Nanfeng’s hand, murmuring, “Mom… Mom, I’m thirsty…”
Tao Nanfeng gently freed her hand and stood up to find a cup of water. But the table in the treatment room held nothing except a sterile aluminum box for tongue depressors and cotton swabs.
Unable to leave Xiao Aiyun’s side for long, she hurried into the hallway and called out, “Nurse, could you please bring some water?”
Her voice echoed through the empty corridor, but no one answered.
Qiao Yadong hurried over from the duty room. “Nurse Liu is the only one in the clinic right now. Dr. Jiang is on duty today, but we don’t know why he hasn’t arrived yet. Nurse Liu said she isn’t allowed to administer treatment without a doctor present, so we just have to wait.”
Even the boldest souls would suddenly become docile in a hospital, treating doctors and nurses with reverent awe.
Liu Lili’s icy demeanor left Qiao Yadong too intimidated to ask any more questions.
Tao Nanfeng pressed her lips together.
She unwrapped the scarf from her own neck and draped it over Xiao Aiyun’s chest and abdomen, then turned herself sideways to shield the girl from the draft seeping through the window.
Life on the farm was truly brutal, especially when it came to medical care. They hadn’t noticed the hardship while they were healthy, but now that Xiao Aiyun was burning with fever, the lack of facilities felt desperate.
Sensing the heavy tension radiating from her, Qiao Yadong spoke softly. “Don’t worry. I’ll go get some water. The farm headquarters office is just a short walk from here.”
Tao Nanfeng nodded, looking up at him with a slight frown. “Go on, hurry.”
Beads of sweat broke out on Xiao Aiyun’s forehead. Her breathing was labored and heavy, her breath as hot as fire. Suddenly, Tao Nanfeng remembered how her own father had always tended to her when she fell ill.
The memories flooded back, and before she knew it, her eyes welled with tears.
Seeing the shimmer in her eyes, Qiao Yadong assumed she was overwhelmed with worry for Xiao Aiyun. His heart ached for her.
He took off his cotton cap and pressed it into her hand. “Don’t panic. It’s just a cold and a fever. She’ll be fine once it breaks. It’s cold in here—put your hat on.”
Qiao Yadong hurried away, leaving Tao Nanfeng holding his army-green cotton cap, still warm from his touch. She gently brought Xiao Aiyun’s hands together and wrapped them in the hat.
Xiao Aiyun lay in a delirious stupor, her limbs limp and her face flushed. She murmured incoherently, and when Tao Nanfeng leaned closer, she could only make out fragmented words:
“Cold… hot… so thirsty… the sun is so hot… the wind is so cold… Mom, Dad! I want to go home…”
At the final plea—I want to go home—Tao Nanfeng leaned down and gently pulled the girl into her arms, as if trying to transfer her own strength to her to help her recover.
Go home. What a beautiful sentiment.
It had been over three months since she left home in September. The farm was remote and difficult to reach, so much so that the mail carrier sometimes couldn’t make the trip up the mountain for an entire week.
She had sent several letters home, but not a single reply had ever arrived. She didn’t know if her father had simply not received them, if they had never reached their destination, or if her stepmother and Tao You were deliberately ignoring her.
Tao Nanfeng dreamed of returning to Jiangcheng, the city she had called home for seventeen years.
Although her stepmother and stepsister were two-faced, her father had always been genuinely devoted to her, investing his heart and soul into her education. Besides, that was the city where her beloved alma mater lay—the university she had grown up in.
The campus of Jiangcheng University of Architecture was a place of serene beauty. The tongzi dormitory buildings buzzed with the lively energy of student life. Just outside their doors, lush camphor and sycamore trees provided a verdant canopy, while rosebeds and winter jasmine bloomed in the courtyards.
A man’s arrogant voice suddenly shattered the silence of the corridor. “Sister, I’m broke. Give me some money.”
Liu Lili gritted her teeth. “I just gave you ten yuan the day before yesterday! How are you out of cash already? I only make thirty-two yuan a month—I can’t afford for you to spend like this!”
Tao Nanfeng straightened her back and moved warily toward the door.
The man who had called Liu Lili “Sister”—wasn’t that Liu Bin, the former Chief of the security department, who had been stripped of his duties but kept on the payroll?
Liu Bin spoke without a shred of restraint. “Sister, you know the situation. After that brat Wei Min kicked me out of the security department, I’ve got nothing to do but play tiles with the guys. You know the money you give me is gone in a single night.”
He then changed his tone, adding smoothly, “You’re the capable one, Sister. If you’re out of cash, just ask Brother-in-law for more.”
Liu Lili was so livid she looked like she was about to collapse. She swung her hand and slapped Liu Bin’s arm hard. “Anyone else could say that, but you’re my brother! How dare you spout such nonsense!”
Is being Director Jiao’s mistress some kind of honor?
Liu Bin had the nerve to call him “Brother-in-law” right here at her workplace. Brother-in-law, my ass!
Jiao Liang had a wife and kids—the only reason he was even here was that he refused to leave his life in the provincial capital to suffer at the farm. If it weren’t for her deadbeat brother and her own desire to transfer back to the county hospital, why would she ever have had to play nice with that half-old man?
Liu Bin glared at her, his eyes bulging like brass bells, a menacing look on his face. “You’re not the one losing out, so what do you have to worry about?”
Her face flushed a deep red, then drained pale. She was speechless. In this era, when personal conduct could be elevated to a political issue, a woman whose reputation was ruined could hardly ever marry well.
Her own brother was living off her, eating and drinking the finest things, yet now he dared to claim she wasn’t losing out?
“Bah!” she spat. “What do you know? Now get out! Get out! I have patients today. I’m done talking to you.”
Seeing his sister show him no mercy, Liu Bin’s eyes widened. He gripped her arm, refusing to let go. “Sister, Mom and Dad died early. You’re my only family. You can’t just leave me to die in the street! If you won’t help me, I’ll just stay here. Then you can take responsibility for me, dead or alive!”
Hearing Liu Bin mention their parents, Liu Lili’s heart softened for a fleeting moment. But the sharp pain in her arm—where he still gripped her—served as a harsh reminder.
Recalling everything her brother had put her through, she steeled herself and tore away, striding toward the treatment room. “Let go of me! I have patients to attend to!”
They stumbled into the room, still wrestling, and Liu Bin looked up to find himself staring straight into Tao Nanfeng’s eyes.
He froze for half a second. Then, a rush of old grudges and newly stirred contempt flooded his mind.
He shook off his sister, a sinister grin spreading across his face.
“Well, well. If it’s the beautiful Ms. Tao,” he drawled. “Are you sick? Here, let me treat you…”
Liu Bin had always been the type to remember a meal but forget a beating. His right hand shot out, grabbing Tao Nanfeng’s arm. Even through her thick quilted jacket, he was barely a foot away.
The scent of her—warm, soft, and fragrant—hit him, and a surge of desire shot through him.
Not satisfied, his left hand reached out to stroke her cheek as he spewed a crude, lewd comment, his expression the height of insolence.
Fury ignited in Tao Nanfeng. A wave of heat surged from her dantian, channeling down her arm and into the one he held. She threw her hand out, flinging him aside, then aimed a brutal kick at the back of his left knee, striking the most vulnerable spot.
Whoosh—Thud!
The entire sequence had unfolded with blinding speed.
Liu Lili could only blink in confusion. All she’d seen was a black blur flash through the air before slamming into the hallway wall and collapsing to the floor.
Liu Bin—a man built like a young bull, his face a mask of menace beneath a thick, bushy beard—now lay sprawled on the cold concrete floor of the hallway like a beaten cur, a pathetic sight of disarray.
Liu Lili’s mouth hung open, her voice failing her.
This second defeat at Tao Nanfeng’s hands proved the farm’s rumors of her superhuman strength were no idle gossip.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in his back and backside, Liu Bin struggled to his feet. He leaned against the wall for support, one hand shaking as he pointed at Tao Nanfeng.
“You!” he wheezed. “You… you hit me!”
His face was a mess of bruises and swelling from the fall, his lip so swollen it distorted his words into a muffled, nasal drone. All his previous bravado had vanished.
“Get out!” Tao Nanfeng snapped. “If you ever dare be disrespectful again, I’ll beat you every single time I see you!”
Perhaps her newfound strength had given her courage, but she no longer felt the slightest fear toward a shameless man like Liu Bin. She brushed her sleeve with disgust where he had grabbed her, her eyes narrowing, her expression one of cold, inviolable dignity.
Still, he was family. Liu Lili anxiously checked Liu Bin’s arm and leg, only relaxing once she confirmed nothing was broken. She then turned to stare at Tao Nanfeng, her gaze cautious and calculating, as if trying to assess what made this young girl so formidable.
Under Tao Nanfeng’s piercing gaze, Liu Bin clutched his waist and muttered a self-deprecating excuse.
“Fine, I won’t touch you. No need to be so fierce about it.” With that, he slunk away.
Liu Lili watched her brother’s limping figure disappear down the hallway, a strange glint in her eyes.
Before Tao Nanfeng could say a word, Liu Lili returned from the duty room, carrying a thermos of hot water. “Your friend has a high fever from the cold, right? Give her some water first. I’ll go grab some alcohol so you can wipe her down—let’s try to bring her temperature down physically.”
When Qiao Yadong returned and saw Liu Lili bustling about, clearly trying to curry favor with Tao Nanfeng, he found the change in attitude peculiar.
He leaned in and whispered, “Why is Nurse Liu suddenly so deferential?”
I just beat up her brother, yet she’s not angry—she’s being helpful and warm? Tao Nanfeng shook her head, unable to explain.
Liu Lili was a woman driven by purpose.
The farm’s gossip about her—insults like “slut,” “trash,” and “wicked woman”—all went in one ear and out the other.
As long as she achieved her goals, a few slurs couldn’t hurt her. Her real headache was her brother, who was spiraling further into delinquency.
For the first time, Liu Lili had seen a young woman who could actually handle her delinquent, troublesome brother.
Taking in the girl’s fair, delicate face and the aura of unwavering righteousness she exuded, Liu Lili felt a forbidden hope stir within her.
If… if this beautiful girl could become my sister-in-law, would Liu Bin finally set himself on the right path?
Driven by this thought, Liu Lili cast aside her usual apathy and negligence. She attended to Xiao Aiyun on the sickbed with newfound enthusiasm, keeping Tao Nanfeng informed every step of the way.
“I’m going to check her temperature again. It was 39.8 just a moment ago, but it’s down to 39.2 now. It’s still high, but the physical cooling is working. That’s a good sign, Educated Youth Tao. Don’t worry too much.”
“I’ve prepared some sugar-salt water for her,” she added. “It’s better than plain water.”
Though Dr. Jiang had yet to arrive, Liu Lili’s attentive care was paying off. Xiao Aiyun’s complexion gradually returned to normal, and her breathing steadied.
As her condition visibly improved, Qiao Yadong and Tao Nanfeng finally felt their hearts ease.
“Doctor! Doctor!”
Urgent, frantic cries erupted from outside the clinic, accompanied by the sound of chaotic footsteps. The atmosphere instantly turned tense. Tao Nanfeng and Qiao Yadong shot to their feet.
Something’s happened!