Chapter 2

What kind of appearance must one have to be called “ugly”?

Having always been considered a natural beauty, Xu Wanchun simply couldn’t imagine it.

Besides, she was also curious about what year this was, so she lifted the blanket, slipped on the shoes, and got out of bed.

When folding the bedding, she noticed just how worn-out the quilt was. In some spots, she could even faintly see the reed flowers used as stuffing inside.

They couldn’t even afford cotton??

This poor?

So, exactly where had she transmigrated to?

“Dani, you’re awake?”

Xu Wanchun turned her head and found herself staring right into a pair of warm black eyes.

The woman looked about thirty-something, tall—easily over 175 cm. Thick eyebrows, big eyes, a high nose bridge—even though her skin was tanned, she was still very beautiful.

Discreetly sizing up her savior, Xu Wanchun gave a slightly awkward smile: “I’m awake, thank you… ma’am.”

Sensing the little girl’s unease, Xu Hehua didn’t act overly warm. She simply placed the ceramic bowl in her hand onto the table: “Since you’re awake, eat something. The doctor said you were starving, so you can only drink porridge for the next few days to recover.”

“White sugar and rice—this is precious stuff. Hehua, you’re really generous.” The woman who came in behind her, Xu Lancao, glanced over at the scrawny little girl. The more she looked, the uglier she found her, and she couldn’t stop herself from blurting out: “Didn’t I say this girl isn’t good-looking?”

Xu Wanchun: …So exactly how ugly was she supposed to be?

“Don’t listen to your Aunt Lancao’s nonsense. You’re just too skinny now—once you’re nourished, you’ll look lively.” Seeing the child hadn’t moved, Xu Hehua directly scooped her up onto the stool, shoved a pair of chopsticks into her hand, and urged: “Eat!”

Xu Wanchun really was hungry. Ignoring her awkwardness at being plopped onto the stool, she muttered a soft thanks, then lowered her head and began to eat.

Seeing this, Xu Lancao clicked her tongue in amazement: “Hey, such a little thing, and she even knows how to say thank you—just like those cultured folks. Can you read, little girl? You sound so refined.”

“That’s enough, let the child eat. I’ll go call Doctor Cao to check on her again.” Xu Hehua, wary of her elder sister’s sharp tongue, turned and began to push her out the door.

Xu Lancao might have been sharp-tongued, but her heart wasn’t bad. She immediately said: “I’ll go call him. You stay with the child. Poor thing, she doesn’t say a word—probably scared out of her wits. You should comfort her, let her know we’re not bad people.” With that, she bustled out without waiting for a reply.

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Xu Hehua’s ties with her family were ordinary, so she lived alone as a woman.

When choosing her homestead, she had carefully considered her neighbors.

In the end, with the help of the village elder, she settled right next door to Doctor Cao—only a few meters apart.

So, the doctor came quickly.

But to Xu Hehua, it still felt too slow—because the little girl had said she didn’t remember anything.

“Doesn’t remember?”

Doctor Cao placed the medicine box on the table, lifted his robe corner, and sat down on the long bench. He tapped the table with his knuckles: “Little girl, give me your hand.”

With his short cropped hair, round gold-rimmed glasses, navy long gown, and a pocket watch dangling from the second toggle, he looked like a proper scholar from the Republic of China era.

Gentle, yet… dignified.

“What are you dazing out for?” Cao Xiu frowned, tapping the table again.

Xu Wanchun quickly stretched out her wrist. The moment his long fingers pressed against her pulse, her heart sank completely.

So… she had transmigrated into the Republic of China era?

Early? Or late?

She wouldn’t have landed right in the middle of a war, would she?

That would be…

“Calm yourself.” Cao Xiu’s reminder snapped her out of it.

Xu Wanchun pursed her lips, took two deep breaths, and forced down her wild thoughts.

After a while, Cao Xiu said in a low voice: “Switch hands.”

She promptly obeyed.

“What’s with Dani? How come she doesn’t remember anything? She’s not stupid, is she?” Xu Lancao couldn’t hold back anymore, blurting the question the moment the doctor withdrew his hand.

Xu Hehua couldn’t restrain herself—she smacked her sister’s arm. “Look at the nonsense you’re spouting.”

Knowing she was in the wrong, Xu Lancao grimaced, rubbing the spot but dared not speak again.

Unbothered, Cao Xiu carefully checked her head after the pulse: “There’s no internal bleeding, no trauma. The memory loss is likely psychological.”

“What does that mean?” Xu Hehua and Xu Lancao asked in unison.

While packing his medicine box, Cao Xiu thought for a moment, then explained in simpler terms: “She probably suffered some kind of shock, so her brain is protecting itself.”

Xu Hehua half-understood, so she cut to the key point: “Will it affect her body? Does she need medicine?”

“Yeah, yeah, what kind of shock? Is she really stupid? If she is, then she can’t be adopted.” Xu Lancao jumped in again—only to earn another smack.

“Medicine is three parts poison. Best not to medicate. Food will do. As for her memory… hard to say. She might never remember, or she could recover in a few days. Physically, nothing seems wrong. If anything comes up, just call me.”

Compared to the others’ confusion, Xu Wanchun—herself a doctor—understood very well. In short, it was post-traumatic stress.

Of course, that didn’t matter—she only needed a reasonable excuse for not having any memories.

Xu Hehua finally let out a breath of relief: “As long as it doesn’t harm the child. Besides, it’s not like her past held good memories—forgetting is better. Oh right, Doctor Cao, how much for the visit?”

Cao Xiu waved it off: “Forget it, I didn’t prescribe medicine.”

“That won’t do.” Saying this, she stuffed two eggs into his hand.

She knew well that neighbors who always tried to freeload would be ignored when real trouble came. Xu Hehua was practical and knew how to handle people.

Cao Xiu, unfamiliar with the habit of polite refusals, saw her sincerity and accepted them frankly, though he couldn’t help but ask: “You’re going to adopt this child?”

Xu Hehua smiled: “Yes, Dani already agreed. I’ve even thought of her name—Peach Blossom, Xu Taohua.”

Xu Lancao immediately chimed in: “So pretty.”

Xu Wanchun: …

Cao Xiu: …

Straightforward by nature, Cao Xiu couldn’t help blurting: “Why Peach Blossom?”

Xu Hehua looked puzzled: “Isn’t that normal? Everyone names children after flowers and plants. And the peach blossoms are blooming behind the house right now…”

Full of literary refinement, Cao Xiu couldn’t tolerate it: “Tacky!”

But Xu Hehua wasn’t offended. Her eyes spun, and she smiled: “Doctor Cao, you’re an educated man. Would you please give the girl a more refined name?” As she spoke, she pulled out another two eggs from the cupboard and stuffed them into his hands.

Xu Lancao’s heart ached—Peach Blossom was such a lovely name. Was it really worth wasting two eggs just for another?

“No need for the eggs.” Feeling sympathy for the widow and the frail little girl, Cao Xiu pondered only a few seconds before speaking: “You two became family in spring, and April is late spring. Let her be called Wanchun—Late Spring. Do you like it?”

Wanchun… with the surname Xu. To live a second life under the exact same name—what kind of fate was this? Xu Wanchun’s heart surged with shock, but outwardly she only showed a shy smile: “I like it very much. Thank you, Doctor Cao.”

Such a well-behaved child. Cao Xiu nodded in satisfaction, picked up his medicine box, and prepared to leave.

Xu Hehua followed to see him out before returning.

Seeing things were settled, Xu Lancao also excused herself: “I have to go cook dinner.”

“I’ll walk you out.” As she spoke, Xu Hehua scooped up her new “daughter” from the stool.

Startled by the sudden embrace, Xu Wanchun stiffened all over.

Sensing her unease, Xu Hehua squeezed the girl’s bony shoulder: “Don’t be nervous. From now on, I’m your mother. There’s nothing strange about a hug.”

Those words made Xu Wanchun even more uncomfortable.

Although a life-saving grace was as great as rebirth itself, calling someone “mother”… that was another matter.

But in her past life, she had already lived to the age of twenty-eight. She wasn’t any younger than the person in front of her. Even if she acknowledged it in her heart, she still couldn’t bring herself to call out the word at this moment.

That tiny figure with a serious face looked particularly amusing. Amused, Xu Hehua explained again:

“I’m taking you over to Uncle Tun to make things official, and while we’re at it, we’ll shave your head. The road’s a bit far, and since your body’s so weak, carrying you will be faster… And the hair must go. This child isn’t just thin, she’s filthy. Just now, I didn’t even dare to cover her with a new quilt.”

Before Xu Wanchun could reply, Xu Lancao—standing to the side—had already agreed:

“Yes, it has to be shaved. Looks like dried grass, and there are even lice.”

Xu Wanchun: …ah!!!

=

Since she knew the child had lost her memory, on the way Xu Hehua kept explaining the situation in the village.

And with all that information, Xu Wanchun finally wasn’t completely blind to her surroundings.

For instance, Xu Family Village wasn’t small—more than eighty households in all, most of them surnamed Xu.

Uncle Tun was an old man in his fifties, very capable. In his youth, he did trade runs, fought the Japanese, did whatever was most daring.

Even though two years ago, during the class-struggle classification, his family’s “Xu Family Distillery” (which sold liquor) in the county had been shut down, he was still the most respected figure in the village.

The villagers went to him whenever something happened.

Xu Wanchun had grown up in the south in her past life. She didn’t know much about northern culture, and found the stories quite interesting.

Of course, it wasn’t only her ears that were busy—her eyes, too.

The village was poorer than she expected. Everywhere she looked, most of the houses were made of mud mixed with straw.

There were even small triangular huts called wo sheds, her adoptive mother explained, without kang beds inside, and they cost less than half a silver dollar to put up.

In her previous life—or to be more precise, in her real life—the Xu family wasn’t rich either.

But they ran a fruit shop. At least they never worried about having enough to eat. As their only daughter, Xu Wanchun had actually grown up quite pampered. The worst hardship she suffered was studying.

Compared to that, the environment before her was absolute poverty. Too harsh.

Thinking of her past life, Xu Wanchun couldn’t help but sigh.

She was never especially gifted, but she understood early on that for a family like hers, studying was the only way out.

And the best way not to worry her parents was to bury herself in her books. In primary and middle school, she even skipped two grades.

Later, in high school, she realized becoming a doctor was the most secure path for an ordinary person with no background, so she charged toward that goal without stopping.

The regret was that the year she got into her dream university, her parents were killed when the road collapsed while they were buying stock. They never lived to see their daughter succeed.

As for her—she had just survived the grueling years of residency training… only to die. Truly a miserable, tragic fate.

“…We’re here. Why are you dazing off again? And sighing too? Such a tiny child, yet with so many thoughts.”

Setting down the light, bony little thing in her arms, Xu Hehua found her expression blank and couldn’t help but pinch her cheek with a laugh—only to discover there was nothing but skin left, not satisfying to pinch at all.

Snapping out of it, Xu Wanchun didn’t realize her adoptive mother was “disappointed,” and instead lifted her head to take in the house before her.

It was quite large.

Other than her adoptive mother’s and Doctor Cao’s homes, this was the third brick house she’d seen—and it was even a courtyard house.

But before she could examine it closely, a man came out of the main hall.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark skin and a scar across his square face—really not looking like a good man.

A normal child might have been scared into tears. Xu Wanchun wasn’t afraid. Instead, she focused intently on his clothes.

“Why are you here at this time? Whose child is this? Not lacking in guts though.”

Amused by the little radish-head’s unblinking stare, Xu Jingjun laughed, revealing yellowed teeth—making him look even less like a good man. Still chuckling, he gestured to the stone table in the courtyard:

“Sit down and talk.”

Xu Hehua led her daughter to sit on a stone bench and instructed:

“Call him Uncle.”

So this was Uncle Tun. He didn’t look fifty-something; more like a few years younger. Xu Wanchun didn’t hesitate:

“Hello, Uncle.”

“Well now, brave one.” Xu Jingjun pulled a candy from his jacket pocket and handed it over. He’d meant it for his eldest grandson, but though this girl was a bit ugly, her temperament was pleasing.

After stuffing the candy into her daughter’s hand, Xu Hehua explained the situation. She ended with a sigh:

“…I’ve seen with my own eyes the kind of life Wanchun had in Li Family Village these years. If she goes back, she won’t last long.”

Xu Jingjun puffed his pipe:

“That’s not hard to settle. But…” He looked at the little girl obediently eating her candy before continuing:

“Are you sure about this? You’re still young. If you take on this child, finding a good match for yourself later won’t be easy.”

Xu Hehua instinctively glanced at the girl by her side. Seeing no reaction—assuming she didn’t understand—she was relieved:

“Since I found Wanchun by Tiedan’s grave, it must be fate between us mother and daughter. As for marrying… I already have a house, land, and a donkey. We won’t lack food or clothes. Once in a lifetime being muddle-headed in marriage is enough. Good husbands aren’t easy to find anyway.”

Xu Jingjun wasn’t an old-fashioned man. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let a divorced woman live back in the village. So he didn’t argue further:

“As long as you’ve thought it through. Tomorrow morning I’ll go to Li Family Village.”

“What time?” asked Xu Hehua.

Another puff of smoke. “No need for you. I can handle it alone.”

Xu Hehua had faith in Uncle Tun’s abilities, so she didn’t insist. She went into the kitchen to leave half a basket of eggs as a thank-you gift.

When she came back out with the empty basket, she mentioned another matter:

“Uncle, could you also look at the calendar for a good day? My new house is finished. I should invite relatives over for a gathering.”

That was a happy occasion, so Xu Jingjun didn’t refuse. He went back into the hall.

When he reemerged, he carried a thick book in his hand.

Feeling embarrassed—since her adoptive mother had already given away so many good things in just half a day—Xu Wanchun suddenly brightened when she saw what it was.

A calendar!!!

And at the very top, the date was written clearly—

April 18, 1950.