Chapter 2

Ding Gui raised his sleeve, looked at his torn clothes, and then glanced at the simple headgear on Li Dafeng’s head.

In his past life, although he was the owner of a supermarket, he liked to study history and knew quite a bit about it. However, these clothes no longer resembled their original style, so he couldn’t figure it out at first.

Ding Xiaodie said, “I’ll go ask.”

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, they had suddenly found themselves transported from a big city to a refugee convoy. The soft bed and pillow had turned into dirt and rocks, and the various delicious foods that used to be delivered by just ordering takeout were now unreachable, leaving them hungry and desperate.

No choice, the most important thing now was to understand the situation.

Ding Xiaodie noticed that the village chief, Laifu, seemed to be literate, so she decided to ask him.

But as soon as she stood up, her legs were like noodles, unresponsive, and after taking just two steps, she collapsed with a thud.

“Xiaodie.”

“Bao’er.”

Ding Gui and his wife both jumped in shock.

Zhang Xiu hurriedly went to help her daughter, but she too felt dizzy when she moved and didn’t know how many days the original person had gone without eating. Sweat broke out all over her face.

Ding Xiaodie had no choice but to slowly sit up by herself.

What was going on? Was there something wrong with the original person’s legs?

She anxiously looked down to check, and when she saw herself, she was shocked.

When she woke up earlier, she had been so sad that she hadn’t properly examined herself. Now, looking at her body… Oh my god, these thin arms and legs—was she a child?

No wonder her parents had looked at her strangely earlier.

With a face full of astonishment, Ding Xiaodie turned to look at them. Zhang Xiu awkwardly pulled at her lips, while Ding Gui laughed and said, “It’s fine, Bao’er, you look even cuter this way.”

“……”

Cute, my foot! She was a sharp, capable female police officer in her past life!

Unable to hold back, she asked, “How old am I now?”

Ding Gui held up his hand and gestured, “Twelve.”

Twelve years old?

What the hell!

She had worked hard to study and entered the police university, then gradually worked her way up to become the first female detective at the police station. And now, just like that, she had been sent back to being twelve years old?

Ha, the heavens sure had a good sense of humor!

Ding Xiaodie couldn’t help but flip the bird to the night sky.

Immediately, Zhang Xiu said, “Hiss, put that down.”

Their chatter annoyed Li Dafeng, who muttered, “Why are you all talking so much? Aren’t you hungry yet? Shut up.”

“Mother, what’s our country’s name now?”

Ding Gui put on a meek expression and cautiously asked.

Li Dafeng, already fed up, replied, “I told you since you were a child, you’re just like your father—useless! Always asking me everything. It’s the year 220 of Qi Yan, now go away and don’t disturb me while I sleep.”

Ding Xiaodie saw her father’s face turn grim after hearing this.

She quickly moved closer and asked, “What’s going on?”

Ding Gui snapped out of it and quickly found an excuse to take his daughter and wife to a place far from the villagers.

“It’s over, it’s over!” Ding Gui rubbed his hands, his face turning pale with helplessness.

“Just tell me what’s going on!” Zhang Xiu, being the more calm one, urged.

Ding Gui finally said, “Based on what Mother said, we are now in the year 220 of the Qi Yan period during the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Qi Yan.”

Ding Xiaodie quickly asked, “What do you mean? We’re not in the Five Continents Qi Yan Country, are we?”

“We are in Qi Yan, but it happens to be the era when an important historical figure died. This period is full of constant wars, which caused the population of Qi Yan to decline rapidly, and the economy was severely damaged. To make matters worse, it coincided with the chaos caused by the Mongol nomadic tribes. At this time, nearly all the Han people in the north were slaughtered, with the death toll reaching over ten million!”

“Ah, stop talking!” Zhang Xiu felt goosebumps all over her body. It was too terrifying.

Ding Xiaodie, without hesitation, rolled her eyes and sent another middle finger to the sky.

“The only luck is that we are in the south, right?” she asked, retracting her finger.

But she was shocked when she saw her father sigh and shake his head. “No… Based on our clothing, I can tell that we are most likely in the north.”

“…” Zhang Xiu froze in place.

Ding Xiaodie’s scalp went numb. “So, not only have we encountered a once-in-a-lifetime drought, but we’re also being pursued by Mongol nomadic troops who might massacre the people of Qi Yan at any moment?”

Ding Gui nodded gravely.

It’s over.

It seemed the heavens had brought them here to experience what it meant to cross and die quickly.

While the family was struggling to make sense of this potentially disastrous time-travel experience…

Wang Dafeng yelled from the distance, “Ding Gui, where are you?”

It turned out that this old woman had been sleeping with her son’s legs as a pillow ever since the refugee journey began. Despite her impoverished life, she couldn’t bear the discomfort of the stone pillow. Since her son and his family had been gone for a long time, she worried they would abandon her and flee on their own, so she insisted on seeing Ding Gui at all times.

With her loud call, Ding Gui, who had retained the original memories the most, remembered the past.

It turned out that the old woman didn’t just have him, Ding Gui, as a son. She had three sons in total. The eldest had married early, and when the second and third sons, Ding Gui, were the family’s labor force, the eldest suggested splitting up.

Well, over the years, the hardships had all ended up in the eldest’s pocket, and after the second son got married and needed a dowry, the eldest immediately proposed dividing the family. When it was Ding Gui’s turn, the family had nothing left but a run-down grass hut and empty cupboards.

It wasn’t until Zhang Xiu married him that their little family started to see some hope, though every year they barely had enough to fill their stomachs.

As for why the widowed Wang Dafeng had chosen to live with her poorest youngest son…

The reason was simple. The eldest and second daughters-in-law weren’t easy to deal with, but she had been able to beat and scold Ding Gui since he was young, and the third daughter-in-law was easy to bully. So, she took pleasure in scolding him, and why not?

Even the day they were preparing to flee the refugee camp, the only five cakes made from the family’s food were kept in Wang Dafeng’s arms, and now she wouldn’t even let Ding Xiaodie, a skinny little child, eat one.

Talking about this, Ding Gui sighed, “That old woman is so vicious. It’s bad enough that she treats me like this, but she won’t even give one bite to her own granddaughter, who’s so thin.”

Zhang Xiu couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “What kind of life do I have? I had to deal with your parents in the modern world, and now I’m stuck with this weird mother-in-law in this place. Is this what they mean by playing with time travel?”

Ding Xiaodie knew her mother was recalling past painful memories.

Her grandparents had been the type who believed that as long as they had their retirement pension, they never needed their daughter-in-law, so her mother had suffered a lot at home.

But those old memories didn’t need to be dwelled on now.

She quickly shifted the topic, saying, “The most important thing now is to find something to eat.”