The pitch-black sky seemed to be torn apart by lightning, revealing a patch of ghastly white, followed by a deafening rumble, as large raindrops suddenly poured down like a torrent.
In the clay house built against the hill, a fragile figure lay quietly on a big red wooden bed, her complexion pale and bloodless, her forehead beaded with cold sweat.
"Whimper... Mama... Ma."
A feeble cry slowly drifted from the next room, sounding somewhat unreal amidst the thunderstorm.
In a daze, Xu Xiuxiu forced her eyes open and stared blankly at the ceiling surrounded by the white mosquito net, and after a long while, controlled her thoughts to pluck a pink, transparent fruit the size of a cherry tomato from a small space and slowly brought it to her lips to consume.
A short while later, as the torrential rain outside began to subside, Xu Xiuxiu's high fever, which had not abated inside the room, gradually eased after taking the pink fruit.
She had been reborn, reborn into July 1983. Cоntеnt sоurсеd frоm МV4LЕМРYR – Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе.
And the original owner of this body was a married rural woman from Xu Village, the third of four sisters, twenty years of age, also named Xu Xiuxiu, who two years earlier had been introduced and married to Song Yuanhuan, the second son of the neighboring Song Family who was a soldier in the army. A year ago, after giving birth to a boy, she became gravely weak. This morning, after quarreling with her sister-in-law at her husband's home over a fish, she took her child and stormed back to her parents' home, indignantly accusing them of marrying her off to a living widow, but was dismissed by her eldest sister, Xu Fangfang—who had married into the Song Family Village as a daughter-in-law—with the phrase "A harmonious family is a prosperous family," and in a fit of rage, she carried her child home in the rain, then fell ill with a high fever and by accident, Xu Xiuxiu, who had died in a modern car accident, took her place.
Confused and complex images raced through her mind, and after quickly assimilating the memories of the original owner, Xu Xiuxiu sighed and resigned herself to accept the fact that she had become a married woman from the eighties. With a bit of effort, she got up from the wooden bed and stood by the window to open it.
Just as the pouring rain stopped outside, the smell of the freshly washed earth hit her, and suddenly, a weak sobbing sound lightly reached her ears, like the whimper of a kitten, instantly slicing through Xu Xiuxiu's heart.
It was the sob of a child!
Xu Xiuxiu's pupils contracted sharply, and a dirty little face suddenly flashed through her mind—that little boy who had been weak and sickly since birth and thus despised by the original owner. Just now, it seemed to be his voice.
Swiftly rushing out of the room, Xu Xiuxiu trembled as she stood at the doorway of the adjacent room and fearfully pushed the door open.
The simplicity of the room was evident at a glance; at the corner of the wall lay a small bed surrounded by a fence, a protective rail that Song Yuanhuan had added for the child during his home visit in March. And at this moment, curled up on the small bed was a frail little figure, dressed in a thin, ill-fitting green jacket that looked to be altered from Song Yuanhuan's undershirt. His tiny hands and feet poking out were dirty and lacked the plumpness of a child's; his sallow little face was now scrunched up uncomfortably, clearly struggling to breathe more than exhale.
The child was so pitiable it hurt one's heart.
"Little Chen Guang..." Xu Xiuxiu's nose tingled as she approached, pulling over a large cloth from the little bed to wrap the little one, and as she gently touched his forehead, she drew in a breath at the burning heat she felt.
"Don't be afraid, Chen Guang, mama will take you to see a doctor right away." After carrying little Chen Guang back to the master bedroom, Xu Xiuxiu searched the house and found it devoid of anything useful. Song Yuanhuan sent money home punctually every month, but it had all been squandered by the original owner on medical expenses, so she resigned herself to carry little Chen Guang to her in-laws' home just a wall away.
Xu Xiuxiu, holding little Chen Guang who weighed scarcely a few pounds, ran to her in-laws' house, where mother-in-law Liu Shuxiang was selecting soybeans under the eaves for tofu. Seeing Xu Xiuxiu rush in sweaty, she immediately became anxious and stood up.
"Xiuxiu, what has happened?" Liu Shuxiang asked in a fluster, her gaze fixed on her grandson, Song Chengguang.
That morning, Xu Xiuxiu had brought Song Chengguang to have breakfast, but quarreled with her elder daughter-in-law over a small salted fish. Seeing her leave with her child in a huff, Liu Shuxiang had been worried that little Cheng Guang couldn't bear it, and now seeing her hurry back holding little Cheng Guang, she guessed the situation at once.
"Mother, you know I am like a walking medicine jar. Yuanhuan's monthly remittances have all been squandered by me. Now Cheng Guang is feeling unwell, and I want to take him to Old Song to have a look, but we don't have enough money at home. Could you lend me twenty yuan for now? As soon as Yuanhuan sends money next month, I'll return it to you right away." Xu Xiuxiu felt embarrassed as she felt her cheeks burning hot.