Chapter 2: Waking Up, Handling Things Carefully

“Mother, I’m awake.” Jiang Jiaojiao called out, using Lin Baoni’s name, towards the door.

“Creak…”

The door was pushed open, and the aunt who had been arguing by the sea came in holding a bowl.

“Baoni, thank goodness you’re awake. If you hadn’t woken up soon, I was starting to doubt that the People’s Liberation Army doctor was lying.” she said, reaching out to touch Jiang Jiaojiao’s forehead.

Jiang Jiaojiao suppressed the discomfort in her mind and didn’t pull away.

Mother Lin’s hands, calloused but warm and dry, made Jiang Jiaojiao unconsciously nuzzle against them.

“Amitabha, thank goodness, it’s not hot anymore.”

Mother Lin was relieved and then began to smack Jiang Jiaojiao’s arm hard, speaking as she hit: “You silly girl, trying to show off. That was the sea! You went to save someone, and if you didn’t come back, what would your father, your grandfather, and your brother do, huh?”

Her voice choked up as she spoke.

“Mother, I won’t do it again. I’m really sorry.” Jiang Jiaojiao said, thinking of the real Lin Baoni, who would never return. She hugged Mother Lin and made the promise.

From now on, she would be Lin Baoni—truly Lin Baoni.

Just as she thought this, Jiang Jiaojiao felt her body suddenly lighten, as though something had floated away.

The once staunch atheist, Jiang Jiaojiao silently thought in her heart: “Lin Baoni, don’t worry. I’ll take care of your family, live for both of us, with your share, and live well!”

“Alright, Mother believes you.”

Mother Lin wiped her tears away, patted her daughter’s arm, then picked up the bowl of sugar eggs she had placed on the table earlier and said: “Baoni, come eat these sugar eggs. You’ve been asleep for so long, you must be hungry.”

Gurgle…

Jiang Jiaojiao, or rather, Lin Baoni, embarrassedly covered her stomach. She really was hungry.

“It smells so good! I love eating the sugar eggs Mother makes. They’re even better than braised pork!” Lin Baoni said, grinning as she took the bowl, not forgetting to flatter her mother.

“Silly girl, these weren’t made by me, your sister-in-law made them, hm?” Mother Lin replied, walking away with an air of pride.

Well, she’d flattered the wrong person.

After eating a bowl of warm sugar eggs and finishing the soup, Lin Baoni smacked her lips, still feeling unsatisfied.

Lin Baoni had always been incredibly strong, and she had a big appetite, eating more than an average adult man.

No matter what, her stomach was filled now. She got up, stretched her body, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and stepped outside.

She pushed open the door and was greeted by the sight of a neatly arranged courtyard. On both sides were the wing rooms, the kind of seaweed houses that were rarely seen nowadays.

In later generations, seaweed houses became an intangible cultural heritage, with the Jiaodong Peninsula being the area that had the most of them in the country.

She was born in Qingdao, grew up in Qingdao, and was very familiar with the sea. It was here that she experienced the familiar scent of the sea.

In her memory, the history of this era was not much different from what she had learned before. The important leaders were all the same.

However, many place names were different. For example, the place she was standing on now had a completely unfamiliar name.

She couldn’t figure out whether this was the so-called parallel world or what was going on, but she decided not to worry about it and accepted the situation. If she was here, then she might as well make peace with it.

“Baoni, are you feeling better? Why did you come out? Don’t you want to lie down a little longer?” A woman, about sixty years old, walked over with a bunch of unfamiliar vegetables in her hand.

This was Baoni’s grandmother, and everyone called her Grandma Lin.

“Grandma, I’m fine now. I was lying down and my body started to ache. I got up to move around a bit.” Baoni said as she stretched her arms and kicked her legs.

“I, Baoni, have suffered. Tonight, Grandma will make you something delicious, and you must eat more.” Grandma Lin was still strong and even able to go along the shore to gather seaweed.

“Just get some fresh air and then go lie down in the house. Take care of yourself so you won’t be sick when you’re old.” Grandma Lin, still worried, reminded her as she walked into the kitchen with the vegetables.

Jiang Jiaojiao repeatedly reminded herself in her heart that she was truly Lin Baoni, the real Lin Baoni.

After blowing some air, she turned around and went back inside, not wanting her family to worry.

Baoni’s room wasn’t very big, only about twenty square meters.

There was a heated bed, probably one and a half meters wide and about two meters long. At the end of the bed stood a wardrobe-like cupboard, and on the floor, there was a table and a square stool.

Though the bedroom seemed simple, in this era, it was quite luxurious.

This was because the Lin family spoiled their daughter. Otherwise, not only would such a neat bedroom be impossible, but even a smaller, more broken-down bedroom would be typical. On the island, other girls shared a room with several sisters.

This brought us to the Lin family. From Lin Baoni’s grandfather’s grandfather and beyond, the Lin family had lived on this island.

Not to mention anything from further back, just looking at Grandpa Lin’s generation, there were five brothers, and now three were still alive.

Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin had four sons and one daughter. The second son died during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

The other three sons stayed on the island, and the daughter married someone who lived not far away.

Not to mention the children of Grandpa Lin’s brothers, the Lin family was a large family on this island, with many people, especially many males.

Thinking about this large family, Lin Baoni felt a headache, worried that she wouldn’t remember everyone’s name and might accidentally reveal something.

Putting that aside for now, she decided to focus on remembering the members of her immediate family.

Father Lin was the eldest son, and he lived with his parents, while Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle had moved out and started their own households.

Father Lin had once been the captain of their team, and now he had been succeeded by his own son.

Father Lin and Mother Lin had four children: the eldest son, Lin Yu, who was 23 years old, graduated from middle school, married Song Ping, and had a son named Lin Haiyang, whose nickname was Dabao.

The second son, Lin Tao, was 21 years old, graduated from middle school, and was unmarried.

The youngest son, Lin Bo, was 14 years old and in his second year of middle school.

It was hard to imagine that on a sea island in the 1960s, having four children in the family who were all considered well-educated was quite rare.

Lin Baoni was also surprised; it didn’t make sense!

The 1960s were a time when the sea islands were synonymous with poverty, with people struggling to feed and clothe themselves. The three-year natural disaster had only just passed, so where did they find extra money to send children to school?

That was because the Lin family had inherited the craft of building houses, especially seaweed houses, which were famous far and wide.

With this skill, the Lin family had lived well on the island for generations.

As for education, that was something Father Lin insisted on.

Once, due to his low level of education, when the factory was hiring, an opportunity that he wanted was taken by someone with better qualifications. He regretted it to this day.

When his children were born, no matter how hard things got, he insisted that they attend school. How far they could go in their studies depended on the children’s own abilities. 

Big Brother Lin graduated from middle school, but he didn’t get into high school. He had worked well as a temporary worker and was about to be made permanent when someone with connections took his place.

Unwilling to stay outside any longer, he returned to the island.

The second son didn’t like studying. He barely graduated from middle school and had always wanted to join the army.

The year before, he finally had a chance to enlist. He and another cousin passed the physical exam and political review, but there was only one spot. Father Lin decided to let the other cousin go because he was an orphan.

“Baoni, your father and them are back.” Mother Lin’s voice broke Baoni’s train of thought as she pushed the door open and walked outside.

Outside, a man in his forties, with a short crew cut, a dark face, and a solid build, stood there. This was Father Lin, Baoni’s father.

“Dad, you’re back. Did you send off the fish?” Baoni naturally asked as she looked at her father.

“We’ve sent them off. Baoni, are you okay now?” Father Lin was still feeling a bit shaken. When their boat was still a distance from the coastline, Baoni had suddenly shouted: “Dad, there’s someone in the sea, looks like a People’s Liberation Army soldier.”

Their fishing boat wasn’t very big, and Baoni had been lying at the back of the boat, bored, staring at the sea.

“Where? Where is it?” Father Lin rushed over and asked as he looked around.

Sure enough, there was someone far in the distance, seemingly wearing military clothing.

“We need to find a way to save him, that’s a comrade from the People’s Liberation Army!” Father Lin muttered anxiously.

But the waves were too large, and their boat couldn’t get close. It seemed like the comrade was going to be swept away by the waves.

“Splash.”

No one expected it, but Baoni jumped in and swam toward the comrade from the People’s Liberation Army, managing to grab hold of him.

Before they could celebrate, a large wave hit, and the two of them were swept far away.

Father Lin was terrified. If anything happened to Baoni, how would the family survive?

“I’ll go down.”

“I’ll go down.”

Both Big Brother Lin and Second Brother Lin tried to jump in to save Little Sister, but Father Lin stopped them.

Baoni was the best swimmer in their area, and it would be pointless for them to go in.

“Uncle, Baoni and them have been swept toward the shore by the waves.” Lin Shu, with sharp eyes, spotted a dark spot in the distance and called out to his uncle, pointing in that direction.

“Where? Where?” Father Lin anxiously looked in the direction his hand pointed to, and indeed, it was there.

“Let’s go, let’s head that way.” he said.

Father Lin trusted Baoni’s strength and rushed toward the shore. There was basically no major issue.

As their boat was closely chasing, a military vessel came up from behind.

“Fellow villager, have you seen any soldiers who fell into the water?” a voice called from the People’s Liberation Army boat as it neared their fishing boat.

“Yes, my daughter jumped in to save someone, and was swept toward the shore by a big wave.” Father Lin quickly replied. Their boat was much faster than their fishing boat.

“Got it, fellow villager, we’ll follow. Goodbye.” the People’s Liberation Army boat responded after getting a clear answer and hurried to rescue the people.

Father Lin still had lingering fears when he thought about the scene of Baoni being swept away by the big wave.

Fortunately, Baoni was very lucky and came back safe!

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