A donkey cart rattled down the country lane, carrying a group of people chatting about family matters, their laughter erupting periodically.

Two young girls sat at the back of the cart. The girl on the left, with two smooth pigtails and a patched-up dress, turned to her companion. She noticed the other girl staring blankly ahead, a behavior that had persisted since boarding the cart.

“Comrade,” she said, “What are you thinking about?”

The other girl was strikingly beautiful, a face unseen in either the family housing compound or the nearby Xingjia Village. She clearly wasn’t a local.

Seeing that the girl didn’t respond, the first girl whispered, “Comrade, are you visiting relatives?”

Wen Nan lowered her eyelashes, finally snapping out of her reverie. “Yes, I’m visiting relatives.”

The young girl, observing Wen Nan’s smile, thought she was exceptionally pretty, with fair skin and clean, unpatched clothes. Her parents must have cherished her.

“My name is Zhao Xiaomai,” she said. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Wen Nan.”

Wen Nan took out the last piece of peach crisp from her cloth bag, breaking it in half and offering it to Zhao Xiaomai. Zhao Xiaomai stared, astonished, at the half-crisp. The faint aroma of oil wafted towards her nose. She swallowed hard; she’d never tasted a peach crisp in her life. Her mother, at most, bought two or three a year, always giving them to her younger brother. Zhao Xiaomai only ever got to smell them. Now, half a crisp was being offered to her.

Wen Nan smiled, “Try it. My aunt bought it for me. It’s delicious.”

Zhao Xiaomai hesitated before taking the crisp, bringing it to her lips for a tiny lick. Her tongue detected a slightly sweet, oily flavor. She took a small bite, letting it melt slowly in her mouth. Wen Nan watched as Zhao Xiaomai held the half-crisp like a treasure, her expression filled with contented enjoyment. Noticing Wen Nan’s gaze, Zhao Xiaomai turned her head, blushing slightly. “I’ve never eaten a peach crisp before. I only ever saw my brother eat them.”

Wen Nan smiled, “Is it delicious?”

Zhao Xiaomai nodded happily, “Delicious.” She took another bite, then asked, “What’s your relative’s name? Maybe I know them.”

Wen Nan replied, “My relative’s surname is Chen. He’s a soldier, in the First Regiment, I think. Do you know him?”

Zhao Xiaomai paused, “Are you talking about Battalion Commander Chen? He’s in the First Regiment, the Second Battalion. He lives just two houses away from my family. He and my father are in the same regiment headquarters.”

So there actually was a Chen in the First Regiment. She hadn’t come to the wrong place. But from what Zhao Xiaomai said, Battalion Commander Chen lived in the family housing compound. Did he have a family? A wife? If he had a wife, it meant she’d found the wrong person.

She asked Zhao Xiaomai indirectly, “Can you tell me about Battalion Commander Chen’s family? I need to make sure he’s the relative I’m looking for. My aunt hasn’t visited them in a long time. She’s not well and can’t travel far, so she asked me to come in her place. I can’t go to the wrong person.”

Zhao Xiaomai understood and began describing the Chen family.

Battalion Commander Chen’s full name was Chen Xu. He had been transferred to this unit three years ago. He had a younger brother, Chen Zhou, two years younger than him. They had brought their elderly grandmother with them when they transferred.

Wen Nan was unsure. Was the man her brother had introduced her to the older brother, Chen Xu, or the younger brother, Chen Zhou?

That’s right, Wen Nan was a time traveler.

The original owner’s life had been quite unfortunate. When she was eight years old, the Great Chinese Famine struck. Food was scarce, and even adult men working all day only received three steamed buns. The original owner, then nine, and her eleven-year-old brother, Wen Guo, were given the buns by their parents, who often went into the mountains to dig for wild vegetables to survive. Finally, Wen Nan’s mother died during the famine, her body nothing but skin and bones.

After Wen Guo joined the army, their father also passed away a couple of years later. Wen Nan had lived with her aunt ever since. While her aunt’s family wasn’t happy about having her, they didn’t say anything because Wen Guo sent them ten yuan a month. This ended when Wen Guo died unexpectedly last month, cutting off the financial support. To make matters worse, her aunt’s eldest son was getting married and needed money, and her uncle refused to support Wen Nan anymore, leading to constant arguments with his wife.

Around that time, Wen Guo’s comrade called the commune where Wen Nan’s aunt lived. Her aunt’s youngest son answered the phone and didn’t hear everything clearly, relaying a garbled message to Wen Nan: her brother had set her up with a fiancé, a soldier in the Nanyang City, Fenglin County army, whose surname was Chen, and was in the First Regiment. He couldn’t remember the fiancé’s given name.

Not wanting to cause trouble for her aunt, Wen Nan took this incomplete information and traveled alone to Nanyang City, Fenglin County, by train. Upon getting off the train, she was knocked down by a group of fleeing refugees, hitting her head on a step and dying. That’s how she ended up here.

Seeing Zhao Xiaomai licking the crumbs from her fingers, Wen Nan offered her the other half of the peach crisp. Though tempted, Zhao Xiaomai shook her head and refused. Wen Nan pressed it into her hand, smiling. “Xiaomai, do you know where Chen Zhou is stationed?”

Zhao Xiaomai shook her head, “He’s not in this unit. He was transferred to the Dong Hua City army three months ago. I heard the conditions there are harsh. His grandmother even spoke to the regiment leaders, trying to prevent Chen Lianzhang from going, but he insisted on transferring for experience.”

Wen Nan lowered her head, swinging her dangling legs.

Chen Zhou had been transferred three months ago. The man Wen Guo had introduced her to wasn’t him. Perhaps it was the older brother, Chen Xu?

The donkey cart entered Xinghua Village, separated from the family housing compound by a river. The compound and the family quarters were on one side of the river, while Fenglin County’s largest village, Xinghua Village, was on the other. The cart stopped at the stone bridge. Four women got off to return to Xinghua Village. Two more women remained on the cart, army wives from the family quarters. Both were around the same age. One asked Zhao Xiaomai about the girl sitting next to her.

Zhao Xiaomai whispered, “She’s a relative of Battalion Commander Chen.”

One of the army wives clicked her tongue, “The Battalion Commander Chen from the First Regiment?”

Zhao Xiaomai nodded, “Yes.”

The army wife exclaimed, “That’s rare! The Chens haven’t had any relatives visit in three years. This is the first one.”

Wen Nan looked at the army wife who had spoken. She looked to be in her forties, with short, bobbed hair, wearing a greyish-brown shirt and trousers. Her skin was yellowish, and she had double eyelids and thin lips. She had been the loudest and most gossipy on the cart. She wasn’t carrying a water bottle, so Wen Nan wondered if she wasn’t thirsty after all that talking.

Zhao Xiaomai, standing beside her, whispered, “That’s Zhang Xia’e. She’s the wife of Regiment Commander Du from the First Regiment. She lives next door to the Chens.”

The family housing compound was quite large, comparable to Xinghua Village.

Zhao Xiaomai led Wen Nan to the fourth house in the third row. The courtyard gate was ajar. “Wen Nan, this is Battalion Commander Chen’s house. Grandma Chen is cooking for him. Just go in.” She held up her cloth bag, containing several eggs. “I have to take these eggs back to my mother. She’ll scold me if I’m late.”

After Xiaomai left, Wen Nan took a deep breath and mustered her courage, pushing open the courtyard gate and entering. She could hear the sound of a spatula stirring food inside. Nervously, she pressed her lips together. She had only taken a couple of steps when she heard a deep, stern voice behind her.

“Comrade, who are you looking for?”

Wen Nan stopped, turning to see a man in uniform standing at the courtyard gate.

The man was tall and imposing, wearing a green military uniform. His exposed arms and neck were a healthy wheat color, his muscles well-defined. His dark eyes scanned her, and Wen Nan instantly guessed he was Chen Xu, the eldest Chen brother.

Her heart leaped into her throat. He was standing right in front of her.

How should she speak? What should she say?