“Old man, old man, hurry! Stop what you’re doing for now and go call the eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter-in-law back to help. The third daughter-in-law is about to give birth!”
As the voice rang out, an elderly woman walked over. She wore a coarse cloth jacket faded nearly white from countless washings. The hem had yellowed slightly with age, and obvious patches covered the cuffs. Her rough hemp trousers were rolled up at the ankles, revealing patched cloth shoes. Around her waist was a faded blue apron, and a gray-white headscarf wrapped around her hair.
This woman was Old Madam Lin of Peach Blossom Village, named Liu Cuifen, fifty-two years old this year. She had raised four sons and two daughters, all of whom had grown up and married.
After hearing his wife’s words, Old Man Lin—Lin Daniu—immediately set down the bamboo basket he had been weaving and strode toward the fields.
It was currently harvest season. Aside from Old Man Lin, Old Madam Lin, and the third daughter-in-law Tian Guihua, who was about to give birth, everyone in the family—young and old alike—was busy working in the fields. Every autumn harvest, Old Madam Lin was responsible for cooking. This year, Old Man Lin had wanted to continue working in the fields alongside his sons and grandchildren, but his sons firmly refused. The old man was already fifty-five and shouldn’t overexert himself anymore.
Tian Guihua’s pregnancy had been especially difficult. Ever since becoming pregnant, she had suffered constant vomiting, right up until labor. As a result, she had become little more than skin and bones, making her hugely swollen belly appear especially frightening. So this year, she had stayed home instead of helping with the harvest.
Old Man Lin hurried to the edge of the fields. Spotting his eldest son, Lin Dayong, he immediately shouted, “Eldest! Quickly send your wife and Second Brother’s wife home to help. Third Brother’s wife is going into labor!”
Lin Dayong immediately called for the two women to return home.
In the fields, Lin Sanyong overheard his elder brother’s words and instantly dropped his carrying pole before sprinting home as well.
My wife’s pregnancy has been terrible. I’m really afraid she won’t survive this… Maybe I should ask Granny Wang, the village midwife, to come help deliver the baby.
Thinking this, Lin Sanyong abruptly changed direction and rushed toward Granny Wang’s house.
By the time Lin Sanyong arrived home pulling the midwife along with him, he could already hear his mother shouting instructions:
“Eldest daughter-in-law, is the brown sugar egg soup ready yet? Second daughter-in-law, boil more hot water! Don’t forget to prepare lunch later!”
Lin Sanyong hurried over anxiously.
“Mother, how’s Guihua doing? I brought Granny Wang.”
“Third Brother, your wife won’t give birth that quickly yet. She needs to eat a bowl of brown sugar egg soup first. Go back to the fields—you don’t need to stay here.”
Then Old Madam Lin turned warmly toward the midwife.
“Sister Wang, thank goodness you’re here. Sorry to trouble you. Third daughter-in-law’s pregnancy hasn’t been good. I’m worried about difficult labor. Now that you’re here, I feel relieved.”
As she spoke, she ushered Granny Wang into the birthing room.
But Lin Sanyong didn’t return to the fields. He had a terrible feeling that his wife might not survive this ordeal. The pregnancy had simply been too difficult.
Outside the room, he paced anxiously in circles. Inside, his wife’s groans gradually rose from low moans to agonized screams before eventually fading into silence.
When his eldest sister-in-law carried basin after basin of bloody water out of the room, Lin Sanyong nearly collapsed.
Inside the birthing room, Tian Guihua had already begun drifting in and out of consciousness. The midwife forcefully slapped her cheeks.
“Wake up! If you fall asleep now, the baby in your belly will die—and so will you! Can you bear to leave your two boys behind? If you die, do you believe your husband won’t immediately marry another woman? Once there’s a stepmother, there’ll be a stepfather too. Do you think your two sons will still have good days ahead?”
Whether Tian Guihua truly heard those words or not, some spark of strength suddenly returned to her.
“Good! Push harder!” Granny Wang urged sharply, her eyes fixed intently on the laboring woman.
Hearing this, Old Madam Lin quickly lifted the bowl of egg soup that had long since cooled to lukewarm and fed it into Tian Guihua’s mouth. Driven by a fierce will to survive, Tian Guihua swallowed desperately, finishing most of the bowl in moments.
After two grueling hours of labor, the weak cries of a newborn child finally echoed from the birthing room.
Meanwhile, the Lin family members had gradually returned from the fields. Old Man Lin still sat beneath the eaves weaving bamboo baskets, his calloused hands skillfully threading strips of bamboo together.
The eldest son, Lin Dayong, and second son, Lin Eryong, squatted beneath the roof smoking homemade tobacco. The eldest grandson, Lin Dashan, led several older boys in splitting bamboo strips for their grandfather, while a few half-grown girls spread wild vegetables gathered from the mountains to dry. Several younger boys clustered near the kitchen door playing with ants, occasionally sniffing at the air and swallowing their saliva.
During harvest season, no matter how poor a household was, every family would still prepare something tasty to eat. Otherwise, they couldn’t endure the backbreaking labor of farm work. The rich smell of meat drifting through the village was unbearably tempting.
As for Lin Sanyong, he currently had one little boy hanging from each arm—one four years old, the other two.
The four-year-old had a little topknot sticking straight up and kept asking where his mother had gone. The two-year-old had sparse hair tied into a tiny tuft and leaned weakly against his father’s shoulder blowing snot bubbles. His nose was red, and he sniffled occasionally, clearly having cried earlier.
“She’s given birth! She’s given birth! It’s a little girl!”
At that moment, the eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Ju, ran out excitedly to announce the news.
“She gave birth? Sister-in-law, how’s my wife?”
Lin Sanyong rushed toward her carrying both boys.
“Don’t worry, everything’s fine. It was dangerous, but mother and daughter are both safe,” Liu Ju replied before hurrying back into the birthing room.
Inside, Granny Wang was applying her homemade medicinal powder beneath Tian Guihua, while Old Madam Lin carefully wiped the newborn baby clean of birth fluids.
At this moment, baby “Lin Mei” herself was utterly bewildered.
One moment she had been eating barbecue and drinking beer at the small hotel, feeling slightly dizzy and assuming she had simply gotten drunk for the first time. She had only intended to lie down for a quick rest.
Then, as soon as her consciousness returned, she felt herself being squeezed painfully. Her eyes wouldn’t open, breathing was difficult, and her head spun. She had thought she was experiencing sleep paralysis and kept struggling desperately to free herself.
The instant the pressure disappeared, someone grabbed her upside down by the feet and smacked her butt several times in rapid succession.
Who the hell is this rude?!
But the words she intended to shout came out only as loud infant wails.
Lin Mei struggled with all her might to open her eyes, only to discover she couldn’t.
Then, in utter horror, she realized she had become a newborn baby.
Even more horrifying, from the conversation in the room, she gradually realized this was ancient times.
The one thing she had least wanted to happen… had happened.
She had transmigrated.
And not just transmigrated—she had reincarnated as a baby in ancient China.
This was absolutely fatal.
The instant she realized she was in ancient times, the very first thing Lin Mei did was sense for her space.
Thankfully… it was all still there.
Dear heavens… what dynasty did you throw me into?!
At long last, that massive “Five Thousand Years of Chinese History” book might finally prove useful after all.