Spring, 1965 — the chill still lingered in the air.
In Xiangyang Commune, the Fifth Production Team of the Forward Brigade—formerly known as Liujiagou after the three-tier people’s commune system was established—was winding down its day’s work.
A few years earlier, the communal “big pot meal” system had been abolished. Now, workers left the fields, their clothes drooping, walking toward their homes under the growing warmth of the sun.
Those staying behind at home—either people who hadn’t gone to work, or children in their teens who had already prepared meals—ate, rested, and waited. When the gong at the village entrance sounded, signaling work in the fields, they would return to toil.
But just as the day’s labor ended, the village gong rang again. A crowd grew puzzled, until a teenage boy came running, shouting at the top of his lungs:
“Gu family’s daughter-in-law was pushed into the river by Liu Sanbo’s eldest son! The Gu family’s twins have been kidnapped!”
In an instant, the crowd erupted like firecrackers igniting.
“What? What happened to the Gu family?”
The villagers of Liujiagou could hardly believe it. Although the Gu family were outsiders, Li Yulan—the matriarch—was not to be trifled with. Fierce and commanding, she kept her husband and household in strict order. Now, with her daughter-in-law in the river and her twins kidnapped, no one knew how she would react.
“The brigade leader called us over probably to see if anyone knew who saw the kidnappers.”
“A kidnapper in our village? I need to check on my own children!”
“Who dressed their kids so nicely? No wonder the kidnapper took notice.”
Rumors swirled, some even suggesting, “Gu Qingyan only came back for his wedding a couple of years ago—maybe he remarried elsewhere…”
“Pfft, nonsense!”
None of this chatter reached Song Qinghuan, who had been carried back to the Gu household.
She was unconscious. It was cold, and the river near the fields in Liujiagou, though narrow, was deep. In previous years, few survived falls into it.
At this moment, though, Song Qinghuan was partially conscious. A gentle female voice echoed in her mind:
“So, am I just a character in a novel? Or cannon fodder in a wicked stepmother story?”
The voice explained that she would fall seriously ill after the river incident. Upon learning her children had been abducted, she would collapse and eventually die. Her children, in the story, would either die or be crippled, serving as stepping stones for the future heroine’s children.
[That was only in the book. This world has now extended beyond it. Once it becomes a real world, the World Will is born, and the story no longer controls it.]
Ignoring the voice’s further words, Song Qinghuan struggled awake. She sat up, coughed, and spat out several mouthfuls of water.
Her clothes had already been changed. She climbed out of bed and pushed open the door.
Aunt Zhao Lan, sent to care for her, came out holding a bowl of red ginger tea. Seeing Song Qinghuan up, she gasped:
“You’re awake? Go back to bed!”
Song Qinghuan shook her head. Right now, her children were what mattered—she wouldn’t let them meet the fate foretold.
[I can help you.]
“Aunt, I can take care of myself. You go about your work.” Song Qinghuan took the bowl from her and returned to her room, shutting the door behind her.
Zhao Lan was puzzled but saw Song Qinghuan looked fine, so she closed the Gu household gate and went to the village entrance. Fortunately, Qinghuan didn’t yet know her children were missing—her body couldn’t have taken it otherwise.
..
Once the door closed, Song Qinghuan’s expression hardened.
“How exactly can you help me?” she asked.
Even in the novel, her in-laws would have tried everything to find the children—but they still weren’t found.
Instead of repeating the same actions, she wanted to try the mysterious force that had appeared in her mind, powerful and enigmatic.
A bowl suddenly appeared before her, filled with white porridge.
[This porridge was made by my previous host. It has special effects: “A child traveling far makes the mother worry”—from a mother’s love, which can generate great power. Try it; you can sense your children’s location. When I bound with her, she was in her forties, and her greatest skill was cooking porridge. This will give you temporary power for self-defense.]
Song Qinghuan placed her hand tightly on the side, set down the ginger tea, and lifted the porridge. It radiated warmth, like a mother’s gaze, quietly concerned.
She swallowed it quickly. Her fingers trembled slightly when she set the bowl down, revealing the turmoil beneath her composed exterior.
“Is this enough?” She didn’t wait to feel the warmth fully. She opened the redwood cabinet, gathered what she needed, and stepped outside. Pausing at the gate, she lifted the latch.
Two hours had passed since the children went missing. She had questioned every household in the village. Today, two groups came to the village—one from the neighboring Majiazhuang, the other from the county town.
At the village entrance, she approached the brigade leader directly.
“Captain Liu, please help me get a referral letter to the county town. Also, may I borrow your bicycle?”
The captain was worried. Such an incident could affect the ranking of the First Production Team, and the Gu family was not easy to deal with. Li Yulan had already gone to Majiazhuang. By the time Song Qinghuan arrived, the crowd at the village entrance had dispersed.
No matter what happened, work in the afternoon would still resume.
Hearing her voice, the brigade leader was surprised.
Song Qinghuan handed him fifty cents.
“I have to go to the county town.”
He glanced at the coin and pushed it back, then went to prepare the referral letter. “People from the city couldn’t have kidnapped your children.”
Song Qinghuan didn’t speak, lowering her brows. Her cold, distant look made Ma Hongmei, the brigade leader’s wife, feel a pang of pity.
“Quickly now,” she urged him. “If a child’s missing, anyone would be anxious!”
The Gu children were barely over a year old, rarely leaving the house. Today, the Gu patriarch went to the river to wash clothes and left the children in Liu Chang’s care next door. When he returned, the children were gone!
The three Gu adults had split up to search. The patriarch roamed near Liujiagou, fearing malicious villagers might have hidden the children in the hills. The Gu family and Liujiagou villagers had a history of conflict.
Li Yulan went to Majiazhuang, and Song Qinghuan, referral letter in hand, rode her bicycle straight to the county town.
Spring wind cut across her face like tiny, unsheathed blades.
Year after year, season after season, mother will come to take you home!