Rows of apartment blocks stood in neat rows, clean laundry hanging to dry along the balconies.
A handful of children chased and tussled at the entrance of the building.
Women carrying basins of water stepped out from time to time, exchanging casual chatter.
The air carried the aroma of cooking food—a warmth and stability she had never known before.
It was a world apart from that cold, suffocating home in the countryside, where endless chores and constant scolding had been her lot every single day.
Lu Jianguo pushed open the door to the innermost room and held back the curtain. “We’re home. Come in, quickly.”
The room was modest in size but spotlessly kept. Facing the door stood a square wooden table; wooden chests and a wardrobe lined the wall, and in the inner room, the outline of a bed could be faintly seen. Every corner spoke of a quiet, orderly life.
Lu Jianguo noticed her taking in the room. “Your mother’s at work. She’ll be back at noon to cook.”
He pulled over a wooden bench and guided her to sit. “Your head is injured—don’t stand all the time. Sit and rest.”
He turned to fetch a thermos, poured a cup of warm water, and placed it in her hands. “Drink something. You must be parched after your journey.”
Lu Jinxia wrapped her fingers around the warm enamel mug, slowly feeling warmth return to her fingertips.
Lu Jianguo was not a man of many words. Once he had asked the basics, an awkward silence settled between father and daughter—though it did not last long.
About half an hour later, the door swung open.
A woman in pale gray workwear, with blue cloth sleeves pulled over her arms, stepped inside. She carried a cloth bag filled with fresh vegetables, having evidently hurried straight from the garment factory.
This was Wang Xiulan—her biological mother.
Wang Xiulan kicked off her shoes, looked up, and froze. Seated in her home was a stranger of a girl: painfully thin, hair unkempt, forehead swathed in bandages, wrapped in a man’s work coat.
She turned to Lu Jianguo, bewildered. “Jianguo? Why are you home? Who is this child? Where did she come from?”
Lu Jianguo stood at once, drew her aside a few steps, and spoke in a low voice, recounting everything from the very beginning—how difficult life had been back then; how they had three children to raise and elders to support; how she could not possibly manage both work and three young children alone. How his elder sister and brother-in-law had sworn repeatedly, and his parents had pressed them day and night, until they had agreed to send two-year-old Jinxia away.
At his words, the vegetable bag slipped from Wang Xiulan’s grasp with a loud clatter. Greens rolled across the floor, unnoticed. Her eyes instantly brimmed red.
She had not been heartless back then, nor had she wished to part with her daughter. Life had simply been too hard, suffocatingly so. Wearing down her resolve, her parents-in-law and sister-in-law had eventually persuaded her to agree.
All these years, she had never stopped thinking of the daughter they had given away—she had simply dared not dwell on it. She had never imagined Jinxia might have suffered all these years in the countryside, or been driven to such desperate straits.
She stepped before Lu Jinxia, taking in the child’s sallow face, dull lifeless hair, and the stark, glaring bandage upon her forehead.
Her eyes swam with tears. “Jinxia… my poor, suffering child… Mother is so sorry. Your father and I are so sorry… to have let you endure so much hardship all these years…”
She longed to embrace her, yet feared hurting the fresh wound on her head. Her hands hovered trembling in the air, until she dared only to brush her arm gently.
Tears spilled unchecked down her cheeks. “Fear no more. Never again shall anyone force you or harm you. You are home now. Stay right here with us—you shall not go anywhere.”
Lu Jinxia looked up at her, seeing the raw love and grief in Wang Xiulan’s eyes.
Her heart gave a painful twinge—whether it was her own feeling or the echo of the original child’s emotions, she did not know. She nodded.
Perhaps this family was not as cold as she had feared.
Nor had things unfolded as she had once braced herself to expect.
We shall see.
Even though Lu Jianguo and Wang Xiulan had both welcomed her to stay, she dared not lower her guard. After all, human nature could be an ugly thing.
Once she had wept, Wang Xiulan hurried to the kitchen to prepare lunch. She had to return to work in the afternoon, and the noon hours were short—besides, the other children would soon be home.
Lu Jinxia had one elder brother, two elder sisters, and one younger brother.
The eldest, Lu Weidong, born first to Lu Jianguo and Wang Xiulan, was twenty-two. He had finished junior high and, through Lu Jianguo’s recommendation, joined the Machinery Factory; he had just become a permanent employee this year.
The eldest sister, Lu Xiaoman, was twenty and already married.
The second sister, Lu Lichun, was sixteen and in the final year of the two-year high school program. At this time, many urban youth were being sent down to the countryside. The Lu family wished to keep their children in the city, so Wang Xiulan had already arranged a position for Lu Lichun at the Garment Factory—she would join upon graduation.
The youngest, Lu Xiangyang, was ten years old and in the second grade.
Lu Jinxia was fourteen. She had completed primary school, but her education had ended there. Yet she had never stopped yearning to learn. Every night before bed, she had reviewed all she had been taught. When her cousin Wang Chunhua began attending junior high, Jinxia would sneak to read her textbooks on weekends when the girl was out playing. She had been careful, and no one had ever discovered her secret.
She copied down entire passages and chapters, studying them in her spare time, and whenever she encountered something she did not understand, she would seek out her former primary school teacher. The teacher, pitying her plight yet admiring her diligence, did all she could to help.
Through this, Jinxia had mastered much of the junior high curriculum.
If she could remain here in peace, she intended to sit for this year’s junior high graduation examinations and strive for high school admission.
It was now 1969. High school education represented the highest level of schooling available. Universities had been suspended for years. Yet coming from the future, she knew that national university entrance examinations would not resume until 1977–1978. If she wished to attend university later, she needed only to wait.
Whether she would pursue that path, she had not yet decided. For now, the most urgent matter was to take firm root here in the city.
Lost in thought, she was startled by movement at the door. Lu Weidong stepped inside. He paused, surprised to see a stranger in their home.
Before he could speak, a youthful shout interrupted him.
Lu Xiangyang burst through the door, breathless. “I’m starving! Mom, is lunch ready?”
“Almost!” Wang Xiulan called back from the kitchen.
Lu Xiangyang pushed open the door and caught sight of Lu Jinxia seated on the bench. “Whoa—who are you? What are you doing in my house?”
Lu Jinxia bared her teeth in a faint, wry smile.
Lu Jianguo hurried out from the kitchen at the noise, meeting Lu Lichun as she returned home. Father and daughter stepped inside together.
Lu Jianguo turned to the three siblings. “This is your younger sister.”
He looked to Lu Xiangyang. “This is your third elder sister—Lu Jinxia.”