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Chapter Four

“Hey, someone’s getting off!”
A voice shouted from the back, afraid the bus might start moving again.

Bi Qiuguo quickly slipped off her shoes, stood on the seat, and pulled their luggage down from the overhead rack.
“Big Sis, let’s go,” she said.

The woman in the yellow headscarf immediately noticed them getting ready to leave. Her eyes lit up.
“Oh, little sister, you’re arriving here? Then I’ll take your seat—finally I can sit and rest for a while.”

Following the crowd, Bi Chunliu and her siblings squeezed their way off the bus.

Once outside, she saw the woman in the yellow headscarf waving cheerfully at her. Bi Chunliu smiled and waved back.

Bi Xiahe, who had been keeping an eye on her eldest sister, relaxed. Good, Big Sis walked steadily just now, no stumbling. Her face doesn’t look so pale anymore, and her eyes look normal again. Guess she was just carsick earlier—nothing serious. I can stop worrying now.

Quite a few people got off at Dashi Commune. When everyone finished disembarking, the bus chugged twice, let out a long “vroom,” kicked up a cloud of dust, and rumbled toward the next stop.

Only now did Bi Chunliu have the mind to carefully look at her younger siblings she hadn’t seen in years. Back on the bus she thought this was some prank by Liu Xu, so she hadn’t really paid attention. Mm, they’re a little younger than in my memory, or even in my dreams.

“Big Sis, let’s hurry up,” Bi Weiguo urged. “I wonder if Third Aunt will make something tasty. I’m starving and sleepy, and my butt’s gone numb from sitting.”

Qiuguo looked at him in surprise.
“Second Brother, weren’t you sleeping the whole time on the bus? How can you still be sleepy?”

“The bit of food we ate this morning’s long gone. I’ve been saving my stomach for lunch. Grandma must have told Third Aunt to make something good.”

Qiuguo widened her eyes.
“Second Brother, you’re actually counting on Third Aunt to make something good? Hah! If she gives us just two cornbread buns and pickles, that’s already generous!”

Weiguo froze, then hesitated.
“Really? Even if Grandma’s sick, since she knows we’re coming home, shouldn’t she at least make something special?” He turned to their third sister hopefully.

Xiahe patted his shoulder.
“Second Brother, if Third Aunt hears you want something tasty, she’ll just say: ‘What kind of family are you from? Being able to eat your fill is already a blessing!’”

“…Fine.” Weiguo’s shoulders slumped.

“Hahaha! Big Sis, Third Sis, look at Second Brother, hahaha—”

“Qiuguo, don’t you know him by now? He ate so little this morning just to save room for lunch. And now he feels cheated.” Xiahe chuckled, her eyes curving. Teasing him lightened her mood.

“Hahaha, true enough…”

“Argh! Qiuguo, give me back the steamed bun I gave you this morning!”

“Bleh, nope! What’s gone into my stomach doesn’t come back out!”

Walking at the back, Bi Chunliu watched her three younger siblings bicker and laugh. The corners of her lips lifted into a smile. But the moment she thought of her previous life, that faint smile dissolved into a slow‑simmering bitterness—like bitter medicine boiling over a low flame, bubbling up relentlessly.

1970… I’m twenty. Weiguo is fifteen, Xiahe fourteen, Qiuguo thirteen. The 1970s were the hardest, most exhausting, and most heartbreaking years of my life.

’68—first Father passed away. ’69—then Mother too. From 1970 on, Third Uncle and Grandma kept pressuring me to give up my job to him, saying, “You’ll be married off soon anyway. Let your uncle work instead. When your second brother graduates high school, you’ll get it back.” I refused with all my strength. Sometimes they even went to the factory to pester me, leaving me mentally and physically worn out.

Summer ’71—Weiguo, riding his bike through the alley, collided with the Nie family’s two pregnant daughters‑in‑law. Both gave birth prematurely. Their husbands demanded compensation, saying otherwise Weiguo would end up in jail. Our family paid with one of our houses. Weiguo swore up and down he hadn’t hit them, that he’d only passed by when they suddenly fell together. Still, plenty of witnesses claimed he ran into them. Two months later, Weiguo vanished. By year’s end, I finally heard news—but his body had floated in the river so long it was swollen beyond recognition, chunks of flesh on his legs gnawed away by who‑knows‑what.

’74—Xiahe graduated high school but couldn’t find a job. Pretty as she was, she dated the son of the winery’s logistics director, who had been chasing her. Not long after graduation, she married him. In two years she only bore one daughter, so she suffered in that household. At the end of ’76, police came, saying she had stolen money from her in‑laws and fled abroad. From then on, she disappeared without a trace. But Xiahe adored little Xingxing most of all—how could she abandon her? I never believed it.

’75—Qiuguo graduated high school, got a temporary job at the thermos factory. But constant harassment from someone there drove her to sign up for the “sent‑down youth” program. The very next year, I received news of her death. Supposedly she slipped while picking mushrooms on a muddy mountain after the rain and fell off a cliff. Hah—fell? What nonsense. Two years later, I got an anonymous letter claiming she’d refused a marriage proposal from the village head’s son, and during a quarrel and scuffle with that scoundrel, he pushed her over the edge…

From 1968 to 1976—in just eight years—I lost my parents and every one of my siblings. Then in ’78, even three‑year‑old Xingxing was gone, burned up with fever while no one noticed. After that… I had no family left in this world.

All those years, I kept asking myself: Did I live this life just to suffer?

Tears streamed down Bi Chunliu’s face. Her body gave way, collapsing to the ground.

Ahead, Xiahe noticed her eldest sister falling behind. She turned with a smile—only to see her sitting on the ground, weeping. Panic rushed in. She hurried over.
“Big Sis, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did someone at the factory bully you? Or did someone outside cause trouble?”

Weiguo and Qiuguo rushed over too.
“Big Sis, what happened? Who bullied you? Tell us—we’ll gang up and beat him in a sack!”

Chunliu shook her head, wiping at her tears.

“Could it be… Grandma’s dying?” Weiguo guessed.

Qiuguo muttered,
“Second Brother, come on. Even if Third Aunt’s gone, Grandma won’t die—she treasures her life too much.”

“True… then why’s Big Sis crying?”

Chunliu hastily made up an excuse.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry. I just suddenly thought of Father and Mother.”

“Big Sis…” Qiuguo’s lips trembled. She missed their parents too… wanted to cry, but feared her sister might pinch her mouth shut again if she did.

Weiguo and Xiahe also felt their hearts tighten, eyes reddening.

“It’s okay. At least we’re all still together now! As long as we’re well, Father and Mother can rest in peace. If we stay united, our days will only get better and better.” Chunliu thought to herself, In my last life, even alone, I survived—and I avenged every wrong. In this life, with all my past experience, I fear nothing.

Hmph! Nothing at all!

Her three siblings stared blankly: ? Just a moment ago Big Sis was sobbing—how had she suddenly become so fired up?

Xiahe eyed her determined face, uneasy.
“Big Sis, the four of us are the closest family. Whatever happens, you have to tell us. Even if we can’t help much yet, the four of us can always think of something together!”

“Right, right! What’s that saying? Three cobblers make one Zhuge Liang. With four of us, we’re worth at least two Zhuge Liangs!” Weiguo chimed in.

Qiuguo nodded. Second Brother’s right. Big Sis and Third Sis are one and a half, and she and Second Brother can totally be the other half.

Chunliu and Xiahe: “…”

Qiuguo tugged her big sister’s hand.
“Big Sis, Third Sis is right. You have to trust us! Look at the work issue—didn’t Third Sis already come up with a plan?”

“Work?” Chunliu asked blankly.

Xiahe planted her fists on her hips, puffing up in anger.
“Big Sis! Did you forget everything I told you at home?”

Chunliu: …

“Ugh, don’t brush this off. Just remember—whatever Grandma says later, don’t agree to anything.” Xiahe sighed and repeated the warning, still uneasy. Big Sis was acting way too unreliable today—she might really crumble.

“Okay! I got it,” Chunliu said firmly.

“Big Sis, you have to hold your ground. If we lose our job slot, we won’t be able to stay in the city. Once Third Uncle and Aunt get their hands on it, do you think they’ll ever give it back? No way! Second Brother, Qiuguo—remember what I told you at home?”

Weiguo and Qiuguo nodded hard. We remember, we remember.