In the country of Lancang, on the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Great Cold.
The sky was still dark, and the wind was biting.
Outside a small village in the north, a thin, frail figure was digging hard in the earth by the moonlight.
From time to time, she tossed what she had dug up into a small basket behind her.
“Who’s there? Who’s there?”
A sudden shout came from the field. The landowner, holding a dim lantern, hurried toward the figure.
The small figure glanced back in panic and bolted.
“Stop! You stop right there, you damned thief! These potatoes aren’t even as big as your father’s balls, and you’re digging them up? You heartless wretch!”
After chasing for a distance, the landowner stopped, panting heavily.
He watched helplessly as the figure ran farther and farther away like a rabbit, until she melted into the night.
Shen Qingyue carried the bamboo basket on her back, jogging without daring to stop.
Luckily, her home was at the westernmost end of Hewan Village, and dawn hadn’t broken yet, so no one would see her.
Following their prearranged signal, she knocked on the door—three long knocks and one short.
The shabby door creaked open a crack from inside. A small face, chapped and red from the cold, peeked out.
A little boy with big round eyes saw Shen Qingyue and quickly opened the door.
“Second Sister, you’re back?”
Shen Qingyue slipped inside, and the boy hurriedly shut the door again, bracing it with a bamboo pole.
“Huzi, has Mother woken up?”
Shen Qingyue walked into the kitchen. Huzi helped her take the bamboo basket off her back. Seeing it full of potatoes, his eyes lit up.
“Second Sister, why so many today? I need to hurry and wake Mother and Taotao—they haven’t eaten in two days.”
Shen Qingyue patted his head. “Alright, go wake them. I’ll go get firewood.”
Watching his excited expression, she sighed with pity.
Who would have thought that she—a modern village official, a 985 graduate who had been rooted in the countryside for over two years and was about to be made permanent—would die three days ago, choking on her food because she was frantically shoveling rice into her mouth to rush to the village’s poverty-alleviation innovation meeting?
And so she had transmigrated into the body of the original Shen Qingyue, who had died from eating too much raw rice at the village chief’s house because she was starving.
Within two hours of arriving, she had learned the general situation of this family from the little boy named Huzi.
It could only be described in one word: miserable.
The family originally had four children: the eldest sister Shen Lihua, the second sister Shen Qingyue, the third brother Shen Xiaohu, and the youngest sister Shen Taotao.
The eldest sister, Shen Lihua, had married over two years ago and now had one child in her arms and one in her belly.
Originally, the whole family lived in the Shen ancestral house at the eastern end of the village.
The Shen family had three sons and hadn’t divided the household—more than a dozen people all ate from the same pot.
Over ten months ago, the original owner’s mother became pregnant again.
To buy some nutritious food for his wife, the original owner’s father had gone to town to sell peanuts half a year ago, only to be conscripted by the authorities. His fate was unknown.
The heartless grandparents and the eldest uncle and aunt had driven out the original owner’s pregnant mother, along with the original owner and her younger siblings.
The mother, Madam Bai, had no choice but to take shelter with her three children in this abandoned house.
At first, Madam Bai could earn a little money by washing and mending clothes for others. Life was hard, but at least they weren’t starving.
But half a month ago, after giving birth to the youngest son, Madam Bai had suffered continuous postpartum bleeding and had been bedridden ever since. The family had completely run out of food.
For the past half month, the family had relied entirely on the kindness of villagers, often eating one meal without knowing where the next would come from.
In the three days since Shen Qingyue had arrived, she hadn’t eaten a single meal. It was only when the hunger became unbearable that she went to steal potatoes.
“Second Sister, Second Sister.” A soft, sticky childish voice pulled Shen Qingyue back from her thoughts. She stood up and caught the little girl who came running toward her.
“Second Sister, Third Brother said you brought back something delicious.” The little girl’s big eyes, like crystal grapes, were full of expectation.
Shen Qingyue’s heart ached. A four-year-old girl, yet she was the size of a two- or three-year-old. Held in her arms, the girl’s shoulder blades stuck out frighteningly.
She reached out and pinched the little girl’s thin, fleshless cheek. “Taotao, be good. Second Sister will make sure you get to eat lots of delicious things from now on.”
“Mm.” Taotao nodded solemnly. She believed her Second Sister. Ever since Second Sister had woken up from that long sleep, she had become so gentle that Taotao couldn’t help but want to lean on her.
“Let’s carry the firewood into Mother’s room. That way we can roast the potatoes, and Mother and Little Brother can warm up too.”
Shen Qingyue led Taotao and carried the dry branches she had gathered on the mountain two days ago into Madam Bai’s room, then lit them.
The room, which had been freezing cold, instantly filled with a wave of warmth.
Madam Bai was propped against the head of the bed, her face pale and her lips devoid of color.
She watched her three children with loving eyes as they joyfully roasted potatoes by the fire not far away.
“Mother, it’s done. Eat quickly.” Shen Qingyue handed a roasted potato to Madam Bai.
The potato, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, gave off a tantalizing aroma that made Madam Bai’s stomach, already gnawing with hunger, rumble loudly.
But she still shook her head and pushed Shen Qingyue’s hand away. “Qingyue, be good. Mother isn’t hungry. You all eat.”
If she ate one less, her children could have one more.
Shen Qingyue refused to take no for an answer and directly shoved the potato into her hand. “How could Mother not be hungry? Eat. If you’re full, you’ll have milk for Little Brother.”
Madam Bai looked down at the baby boy on the inside of the bed, remembering how he had cried for a long time before falling asleep because he hadn’t had enough to eat. She sighed, took the potato from Shen Qingyue’s hand, and slowly began to eat.
“Second Sister, it smells so good. Come eat!” Taotao’s young, tender face wore a contented smile.
Shen Qingyue watched her younger siblings eat as if they were feasting on delicacies, silently calculating in her mind.
She had already been spotted by the villagers tonight, so she couldn’t go back for the next few days.
But these potatoes would only last through tomorrow. Besides, the weather was freezing cold now—even if she planted them, they wouldn’t sprout. What should she do?
She ate while staring thoughtfully at the fire.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Taotao, after you finish eating, lean against Mother and sleep a bit more. Huzi and I are going up the mountain.”
Madam Bai grew worried. “Er Ya, the mountain is dangerous. You and Huzi are just two little kids—you can’t go.”
Shen Qingyue moved to the edge of the bed and peeked at her little brother, whose small face was red from the cold. “It’s fine, Mother. We won’t go to the back mountain. We’ll pick a few fruits and come right back.”
Madam Bai looked at her second daughter, who had become unusually sensible ever since waking up after the incident, and her heart ached with bitterness.
“It’s because Mother is useless, making you all go hungry. Qingyue, you’ve only just turned fourteen after the New Year. Mother… I’m sorry to you all.”
Seeing that she was about to cry again, Shen Qingyue quickly cut her off. A woman in confinement shouldn’t be crying at the drop of a hat.
“Mother, as long as our family stays together, I’m confident our days will get better and better, right, Huzi? Taotao?”