As soon as Lin Sui’an rubbed her sleepy eyes and let out a tiny delicate yawn, she turned her head and saw a ray of sunlight slipping through the window lattice, falling onto the apricot-red little jacket resting on her mother’s lap.
“Mother, new clothes… pretty… for Niuniu?” Lin Sui’an clumsily climbed off the kang bed and staggered toward her mother.
“My good girl, you’re awake! Slowly now. Yes, the new clothes are for Niuniu.” Tian Guihua quickly steadied her daughter before she could fall.
“Do Father, Mother, and Brothers have new clothes too?” Lin Sui’an asked excitedly.
“Today is Niuniu’s first birthday, so only Niuniu gets new clothes. Good girl, raise your arms so Mother can help you put them on.”
The fine cotton cloth had been dyed with pagoda tree blossom juice, and a few crooked plum blossoms were embroidered onto the cuffs. At a glance, it was obvious the maker wasn’t skilled at embroidery, but had put great care into it.
Unable to wait, Lin Sui’an spun around in a circle atop the kang. Tian Guihua gathered the soft little girl into her arms and tied a five-colored longevity cord around her wrist.
Lin Sui’an raised her hand, turning her wrist back and forth while giggling, revealing two newly sprouted baby teeth. Her mother laughed along with her.
“Niuniu, sit still. Mother will comb your hair.”
She dipped a wooden comb in clean water and tied two little buns on either side of Lin Sui’an’s head. Red ribbons wrapped around the buns, with short tassels dangling and swaying as she moved.
The moment the tiger-head shoes were slipped onto her chubby little feet, Lin Sui’an was already wriggling to slide off the kang.
Just then, Father came in from outside and handed over a polished copper coin.
“Wear this, to lock down your sparrow-like temperament.”
As he spoke, he threaded the copper coin through the five-colored cord around her wrist and tied a knot.
Cheering happily, Lin Sui’an was lifted down from the kang by her father. Grinning from ear to ear, she toddled unsteadily toward the doorway.
Time passed like a white horse flashing by a crack in the wall. Before she knew it, Lin Sui’an had already lived in this dynasty for a full year.
Ever since deciding to truly integrate into this era and live once more as a real child, Lin Sui’an had been very happy. She already had two teeth and could slowly walk while holding onto things. The people in this mountain village spoke with an accent similar to the Northeastern Mandarin she’d heard in her previous life, so she had understood it from an early age and learned quickly. By eight months old, she could already speak simple words one by one. Now, she could talk quite fluently.
Today was Lin Sui’an’s birthday. The family was large, and farming households didn’t usually celebrate children’s birthdays. Still, her parents had prepared new clothes, new shoes, and the simplest, sincerest blessings they could give their child.
“Brother! Brother! Does Suisui look pretty?” Lin Sui’an called out the moment she spotted Fuping and Fu’an squatting at the doorway playing with ants.
The two brothers dropped the sticks in their hands and looked up together.
“Wow! Suisui, you look so pretty today! You’re the prettiest little girl in the whole village. Even Huiniang from the village chief’s family isn’t as pretty as you!”
Hehehe—
Lin Sui’an laughed so hard that drool slipped out uncontrollably.
Her little face was as soft and round as a pink dumpling, still carrying baby fat. A faint rosy blush colored her cheeks, like the tenderest begonia blossom of early spring. Her dark eyes shone like black glass beads, the slightly drooping corners giving her an innocent, bewildered look. Her nose bridge was still somewhat flat, but the rounded nose tip was adorably cute. Most lovable of all was her cherry-like little mouth with its soft cupid’s bow. Her skin was fairer than most farm children, and with today’s outfit, she looked exactly like a lucky doll from a New Year painting.
“Our little girl is truly beautiful—the prettiest little girl in the village!” Old Madam Lin praised as she walked out from the main hall.
“Grandma is the prettiest old lady in the village!” Little flatterer Lin Sui’an immediately returned the compliment.
For a time, Lin Sui’an had once believed that her grandmother in this life was the same grandmother from her previous life. But after several careful tests, she realized they were not the same person. Still, she wasn’t too saddened. She believed her old grandmother must have also been reborn somewhere else, just like her.
Lin Sui’an tottered around the small courtyard practicing walking while Grandfather, sitting beneath the eaves, taught Second Cousin Lin Dahe how to weave bamboo strips.
Normally, such craftsmanship would be passed down to the eldest son or eldest grandson. Unfortunately, none of the old man’s four sons had any talent for it. Grandfather often complained that their hands were “as stiff as iron weights and couldn’t bend at all.” Even the eldest grandson, Lin Dashan, was no better, frustrating the old man so much he nearly wanted to take in an apprentice from the village instead.
One day, while Grandfather was teaching Dashan nearby, Dahe merely watched for a couple of moments, casually picked up a bamboo strip from the ground, and started weaving. When Old Man Lin noticed, he was so delighted he nearly jumped off his stool. That very evening, he had Grandma Lin warm up a jug of rough wine. Accompanied by fried soybeans, he drank until thoroughly drunk, loudly proclaiming that he finally had a worthy successor and could face his own father after death.
As for Eldest Cousin, after the New Year he had been taken by Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt to work as a young assistant at a restaurant in the county town. It was said the restaurant belonged to the family of Fourth Uncle’s former classmate.
Because this year’s autumn beans would be harvested a month later than last year, Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle were still working temporary jobs in the county. Father was also preparing to push his “cargo wheelbarrow” out to sell goods.
Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt invited Mother to head into the mountains to gather wild produce. This year Dashan wasn’t home, and Dahe was busy learning the craft, so the few little girls left at home couldn’t gather many wild fruits around the mountain outskirts. Eldest Aunt suggested that several women from familiar households travel together to pick more.
They wouldn’t enter the deep mountains—only go a little farther than usual. There normally weren’t large wild beasts there, at most some pheasants or rabbits. But the trip was long, and children didn’t have the strength to carry the harvest back.
During this year, Lin Sui’an had finally finished all ten bottles of milk stored in her space.
Actually, she had started secretly taking them out to drink as early as three months old. Later, whenever her parents weren’t in the room, she even used her mental powers to prepare milk for herself several times. She had already gone through two whole bags of milk powder.
She had also stopped drinking goat milk at eight months old. Once Grandma saw that she was old enough to eat regular food, she had Grandpa take the ewe away for breeding.
Because Lin Sui’an wanted a healthy body, after stopping goat milk she secretly continued making milk for herself. Now that her hands and feet had grown stronger, and since she had stored a whole bucket of warm water in her space from before, it had become very convenient.
The only problem was that every time she entered the space and saw all the delicious food stored there, she couldn’t help drooling.
Fortunately, she had boiled five hundred eggs back when she stocked the space. By now, she had secretly eaten over sixty of them.
Medical care in ancient times was far too primitive. Even a simple cold could kill someone. Lin Sui’an consciously tried to eat more and eat better, though at her current age the only things she could really consume were milk and eggs.
After a simple breakfast, everyone went about their own work. Even Fuping and Fu’an followed Grandma to the foot of the mountain to dig wild vegetables. Only Grandfather, Second Cousin, and Lin Sui’an remained at home.
Since Lin Sui’an had always behaved very obediently, after Tian Guihua finished her confinement period, she usually left the child alone on the kang, while Grandpa Lin checked in occasionally.
Lin Sui’an’s free time had arrived once again.
She toddled back into the room by herself and shut the door. Using the footstool beside the kang, she climbed back up, then used her mental powers to retrieve vitamins, calcium tablets, and fish oil from her space.
She took one of each.
Then she pulled out a book titled Illustrated Encyclopedia of Common Chinese Medicinal Herbs and Their Uses.
Lin Sui’an had thought about it for a long time. The family lived backed against great mountains filled with medicinal plants. In the future, perhaps they could earn some money by gathering herbs.
Ever since she was eight months old, she had spent some time every day studying the book, memorizing one herb every few days. By now, she already recognized over twenty kinds of medicinal plants.
Still, she had never seen the real herbs before, so she didn’t know whether she would be able to identify them correctly in reality.
Just as the Lin family was preparing to eat supper, the distant sound of gongs and drums suddenly drifted over from afar, accompanied by shouting voices that came in broken fragments, too indistinct to make out clearly.