Chapter 01: Strange Illness

It was the wheat harvest season in 1969.

After days of drought, the weather was unbearably hot. The scorching sun hung overhead as if it could roast a person’s head bald. Out in the fields, the waves of heat jolted the wheat, and in the blink of an eye, large swathes turned yellow.

People often said that once wheat ripens, it will only stay that way for a short while. If it was not harvested and brought home quickly, in no more than two days it would go pi-li-pa-la—the grains scattering all over the ground.

The San Paozi Production Brigade issued an urgent call, summoning all members who were able to work to rush into the fields and harvest the wheat, including the educated youths who had come down to the countryside to work the previous autumn.

Watching the educated youths at work was a rather secret form of entertainment for the commune members, especially since just two days ago, a group of one man and two women had arrived.

Among them, the one named Lin Yingying was both pretty and delicate. It was said she was nineteen, as dazzling as a snowball. Her skin was as fine and tender as a newly blossomed flower, so delicate that it seemed water could be pinched from it.

With the way she was dressed today, they looked at her as if she were some rare spectacle from the West. On her head was a wide-brimmed sunhat in a shade of soft lavender, her face was covered with a white mask, and she wore clothes of some unknown material—soft and slightly shiny. She had on protective sleeves and gloves, her slender waist tightly cinched, her trouser legs bound snugly at the ankles, and on her feet was a dainty pair of wedge-heeled cloth shoes.

Even though she was wrapped up from head to toe, the hot-blooded young men still felt their hearts race with just one glance at her—especially at that small waist that could be spanned with one hand. If they could just touch it once, they felt they could die without regret. One by one, they stripped to the waist, showing off muscles full of explosive power, all hoping to catch the attention of Educated Youth Lin.

“Get lost, get lost, all of you, go harvest the wheat!” The brigade leader barked at them, scolding until they scattered.

He cast a dissatisfied glance at Lin Yingying over there—this was not at all the look of someone here to work. Still, he did not go over to criticize her, only kept shouting at the others to hurry and gather the wheat.

Lin Yingying’s peach blossom eyes, clear as autumn water, showed no interest in the sweat-drenched, sturdy bodies all around her. She held her hat in place and tilted her head up toward the blinding white sun, feeling as though even her heart was about to be roasted dry.

She was indeed delicate, with many ailments. Since childhood, she had been especially sensitive to ultraviolet rays, prone to allergies and sunburn. Her body was particularly frail, her strength slight, afraid of hardship and exhaustion, and especially afraid of pain. The doctors had all said her pain nerves were more developed than other people’s, and she should avoid injury as much as possible.

Her thick, curled lashes fluttered, and even her eyelids felt burning hot.

Ah, in two lifetimes, this was the first time she had ever toiled and suffered under such a blazing sun.

From childhood to adulthood, her mother had protected her like a little princess, rarely letting her be out in the strong sun, never allowing her to do anything dangerous. Even sharpening pencils and cutting fruit were always done by others. She had even been ruthless enough to snuff out her husband’s dream of letting their daughter ride horses and fire guns.

But her father was equally stubborn. How could his child be so delicate? If other people’s daughters could ride horses and fire guns, how could his own fall behind? She certainly could not just sit back and enjoy an easy life. So, taking advantage of the trend of cadre children also going down to the countryside to support agriculture, he sent Lin Yingying off to be tempered by hardship.

Her mother had suggested sending her to the army instead, but her father refused, saying that if someone gave her special treatment it would ruin the army’s discipline. In the end, he arranged for her to “volunteer” to go to the countryside and farm.

Go down to the countryside to farm?

That sent her mother into a panic. In order to change his mind and have her transferred back, her mother brought out her ultimate weapon—tears flowing like a river. But the stubborn old man simply refused to relent, even saying that the children of revolutionaries should take the lead as role models. What was more, he swapped her original farm placement for a village placement in the “go up to the mountains and down to the countryside” program^[1]The “go up to the mountains and down to the countryside” program (上山下乡) was a policy during China’s Cultural Revolution in which urban youth, particularly recent graduates, were sent to … Continue reading.

On a farm there were Dongfanghong tractors^[2]Dongfanghong tractors (东方红拖拉机, literally “East Is Red” tractors) were a well-known brand of agricultural machinery produced in China starting in the 1950s., vast fields, plenty of people and plenty of grain. They ate white flour at every meal, and the farm headquarters had electric lights and telephones. Every ten days or half a month, they could even have a meat dish.

How could an ordinary rural village compare to that?

Take this wheat harvest for example—the brigade actually had the members using sickles to cut the wheat by hand.

This stretch of wheat fields, it went on as far as the eye could see. Just one glance was enough to make Lin Yingying feel she might faint from fright.

At first, the large group lined up in a straight row along the edge of the field, but before long, the line turned into the shape of the Chinese character “人.” Some people surged ahead, while others lagged behind like solitary wild geese separated from the flock.

She was that pitiful little solitary goose.

Never mind harvesting wheat—in both her lives, from childhood until just the day before yesterday, she had been born with a golden spoon in her mouth. Pampered and spoiled, delicate and precious, knowing nothing of physical labor or the grains people lived on, waiting for food to be served and clothes to be handed to her, living like a rice weevil… all sorts of disparaging terms could be applied to her.

Ah, she was going to be roasted dry, she was going to die of exhaustion, and her waist hurt so badly.

She set down the sickle, pulled off her white gloves, and looked at her palms. The gloves were already soaked through with sweat, and as she tugged them off, they scraped against her palms, making them ache.

Although no blisters had yet formed, her palms were red all over. If this went on, they would probably start bleeding, wouldn’t they? She was not afraid of leaving scars though. Her constitution was special, and her skin’s ability to heal was strong. Whether it was sunburn or cuts and scrapes, they healed quickly, leaving her skin just as white, tender, and flawless as before.

But this kind of physical exhaustion was not something that could be endured just by clenching her teeth.

Sob sob sob… Grandpa, Grandma, Little Uncle, Eldest Brother, Second Brother… farewell forever…

With music playing in her heart, she slipped into character, her casual gestures already carrying the elegant grace of a leading actress. After all, she had a grandmother from the Republican era who had once been a film queen.

The old man in her family had said that her grandmother, her mother, and she herself were three generations of women, three generations of drama… and essence.

She wondered, if she were to “faint” now with a relapse of her old illness, would the brigade leader return her and send her back?

She felt she was about to have an episode.

And she was not pretending—Miss Lin truly was ill. It was likely that something had gone wrong during her time travel, leaving her with a strange illness she had been born with in this life.

This illness did not act up every day, but it followed a cycle much like a menstrual period. At first, her whole body would feel weak and powerless, her mouth dry and parched. Gradually it would worsen, until during an episode she would be dizzy and feeble, hovering between fainting and not, her thirst so intense it felt like her throat was about to smoke. Her blood would grow increasingly hot and restless, making her irritable, quick-tempered, and weary of life, with a strong urge to kick away anyone she disliked on sight.

Her grandmother and mother, distressed for her, had taken her far and wide in search of famous doctors. Yet the physicians could find nothing wrong, saying only that the child had been born with a bad temper. Some even suspected that at such a young age she might already be suffering from mental illness.

Her father insisted that his daughter was not ill. In his view, she was simply spoiled, becoming more arrogant and bad-tempered as she grew up, and just needed some proper tempering.

And now, looking at this endless expanse of wheat fields, she truly had no temper left. She had to find someone to help her with some of the work so she could take a break.

She quickly raised a hand to shade her eyes and went to look for Ye Zhiting. He was her childhood friend who had come down to the countryside with her, and his parents had told him to take good care of her while they were there.

Ye Zhiting was her childhood friend, the same age as her. She still remembered how, when they were little, she used to bully him—one push and he would topple over, another push and he would topple over again. It had been endlessly fun. But now, at only 1.63 meters tall, she could no longer intimidate him, as he had already grown to 1.83 meters. She could only resort to pleading.

She tossed away her sickle, removed her mask, slung her faithful little canteen (water bottle)  over her back, and went to find the traitor Ye Zhiting. After walking in a sweat, she finally found him at the slanting stroke of the “人” character.

Sure enough, he was helping Ye Manman with her work again.

That rotten childhood friend—ever since Ye Manman had come to her house, he had formed a new alliance and started siding against her.

She took a look and clicked her tongue—tsk, tsk—Ye Manman’s pace at cutting wheat was even slower than hers. At least she had managed to cut a patch, but Ye Manman had hardly swung that little sickle a few times at all.

Look at how lazy you are.

She poured half a cup from the dark green enamel mug hanging on her canteen and brought it over to Ye Zhiting with a bright smile. “Brother Ye, have some water.” Drink the sweet water, then go help me cut the wheat!

Ye Zhiting cast her a slightly impatient glance, seeing how she was wrapped up like a zongzi from head to toe, with only that stunningly beautiful face exposed.

Spoiled.

He took the canteen, picked up Ye Manman’s sickle, and shoved it into her hands. “Stop slacking off, hurry up and cut the wheat.”

He then unhooked the little enamel mug, first handing it to Ye Manman, who was sitting on the ground panting and wiping her sweat. “Manman, have some water.”

Ye Manman extended her slender, fair wrist to take the enamel mug, but quickly darted a glance at Lin Yingying. When her eyes met Lin Yingying’s cool gaze, she looked as startled as a little rabbit, and her hand shrank back as if scalded.

Ye Zhiting raised his voice. “Lin Yingying, you’re bullying Manman again!”

Lin Yingying spread her hands innocently and pouted. “I’m about to drop dead from exhaustion—where would I have the strength to bully her? I’ve cut more wheat than she has. I’ve been working so hard!”

Ye Manman immediately lowered her head and softly apologized. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”

Ye Zhiting simply crouched down, holding the enamel mug for Ye Manman to drink from. “Just drink, don’t pay her any attention!”

Ye Manman started to lift her head to look at Lin Yingying again, but Ye Zhiting blocked her and urged her to drink.

Lin Yingying made a face at them, then squatted down to rest.

Ye Manman knew that Lin Yingying was delicate and liked cleanliness, never allowing others to use her canteen, so she had deliberately hung a small enamel mug for Ye Zhiting to use. The thought that this was Ye Zhiting’s exclusive little enamel mug made her face flush. She did not dare to drink from it directly but instead tilted it slowly into her open mouth.

Lin Yingying could not stand her theatrical act. She deliberately let out an “Oh!” and bumped her, causing Ye Manman’s hand to jerk. Water splashed all over her face, ran into her nose, and made her choke, prompting her to shriek immediately.

Ye Zhiting quickly patted her back, then turned to glare at Lin Yingying. “Lin Yingying!”

Crouching on the ground, Lin Yingying spread her hands, smiling with arrogance and flamboyance. “I didn’t do anything! Can’t even drink water properly—how can you be so hopelessly stupid!”

Ye Zhiting shot her another glare, then snatched Lin Yingying’s canteen to pour water for Ye Manman. “Just drink! If she bullies you again, I’ll write to tell Uncle Lin.”

Lin Yingying gave a mischievous, provoking smile. “Little cabbage, yellow in the field, three years old, lost her dad…”

Hearing Lin Yingying’s singing, Ye Manman was instantly reminded of her late father and felt sad again. Just then, she swallowed a mouthful of cloyingly sweet water and choked, coughing so violently it seemed to shake the heavens and earth.

Ye Zhiting was frantic, patting her back and comforting her while also scolding Lin Yingying to keep quiet.

Tears streamed down Ye Manman’s face as she coughed and whimpered, “Water, water…”

Ye Zhiting asked, “What about the water?”

Lin Yingying pouted. “I poisoned it, of course! You think just anyone can drink my water? Go take a piss and see yourself clearly, tsk!”

“Lin Yingying!” Ye Zhiting’s face flushed red with anger. He took a sip of the water—damn it, it was so sweet it scraped his throat.

That was because Lin Yingying had put a handful of rock sugar in it. Naturally, it was syrupy sweet, just the way she liked it. Since childhood, she had discovered that eating sweets could slightly ease her irritability, keeping her from losing her temper at anyone she came across.

This time, when she was sent down to the countryside, her little uncle had packed over twenty jin (10 kg) of sugar into her suitcase.

Ye Zhiting’s face darkened. “Lin Yingying, did you do that on purpose?” He knew Lin Yingying loved sweets, but she could just carry candy to eat. Putting it in the water was clearly deliberate. Wasn’t carrying water meant to quench thirst? How could anyone drink something so cloyingly sweet?

Lin Yingying rolled her eyes with disdain and pointed a slender finger toward the corner of the wheat field. “Over there, there’s a big jar of water. You were the one who insisted on giving her my sweet water. Clearly you’re the fool here!”

“You—unreasonable!” Ye Zhiting burst out.

Ye Manman quickly tried to mediate. “Don’t… don’t argue, you two. Yingying didn’t mean it. She’s just not used to hardship and has never drunk plain water since she was little. She’s accustomed to drinking sweetened water.”

She then turned to persuade Lin Yingying. “Sister Yingying, please don’t mind us nagging. Now that we’re in the countryside, you need to try to get used to life here. Working makes you tired and thirsty, so you should drink plain water to rehydrate. You can’t drink something that sweet.”

Lin Yingying gave a cold laugh. As if I need you to pretend to lecture me? “When you sweat and get dehydrated, you should replenish with lightly salted water and sweetened water. Mine is specially prepared. Hmph, a dog biting Lü Dongbin!^[3]“A dog biting Lü Dongbin” (狗咬吕洞宾) is a Chinese idiom meaning to fail to recognize someone’s good intentions and instead treat them with hostility. Lü Dongbin is a benevolent … Continue reading”

Ye Manman’s eyes instantly turned red.

“Lin Yingying!” Ye Zhiting barked.

Lin Yingying said coldly, “Stop pretending. You think I don’t know your mother went to whisper to my father, saying I’m spoiled and it damages my image, trying to egg him on to send me down here to suffer?”

Ye Manman’s eyes went wide, staring at her in fright. “No, my mother didn’t…”

Lin Yingying arched a brow, speaking with smug satisfaction. “Of course I’m not angry! Didn’t my mother end up sending you down here too? Now we’re even!”