“Xiaoguo, Xiaoguo, one helping of braised pork for table two.”

“Okay!” A crisp and pleasant voice sounded from the room within. The thin woman in the room seemed to have three heads and six

arms

. She juggled various tasks in the kitchen-cutting the vegetables, lighting the fire, seasoning the dishes and serving customers-with quick and swift movements.

After sending off the last group of diners for the day, Qin Xiaoguo could finally sit down and have a good rest. Although she possessed self-healing superpowers and could replenish her energy at any time, she was still completely worn out after a hectic day at work.

With hands rubbing at her waist, Xiaoguo stood up and looked at the dishes that were piled up around her like a small hill. “I will wash them tomorrow.” She thought to herself as she turned around to switch off the lights. In her state of exhaustion, Xiaoguo had failed to notice a flickering of lights within the darkness.

Xiaoguo returned to her room and washed up before going to bed. Moments before dozing off, she tilted her head and glanced out of the window. The fog was dense and Xiaoguo sighed in desolation. “It has been three years… .”

Three years ago, Qin Xiaoguo was a fourth year senior who was about to graduate. During her graduation trip with a group of classmates from the agricultural science and technology faculty, there was a zombie virus outbreak. For this reason, she got separated from her group of friends.

Xiaoguo was alone when she was accidentally discovered by the soldiers in the national camp. A few days after she was brought back to the camp, a few people around her suddenly developed superpowers. Xiaoguo secretly hoped that she would eventually join their ranks and be able to defend herself. But contrary to her wishes, that did not happen. Out of the dozen or so who were rescued and brought to camp, she was the only one who had no superpowers.

Xiaoguo was secretly anxious. This was after all the end of the world. Before she was rescued, she had seen the dark side of humans outside of the camp. When there was no food, those with no superpowers would be preyed on. Some of those who were attractive would be controlled and bullied by those with powers. It was a state of anarchy. No one could predict what would happen in the next moment.

Fortunately, with her agricultural knowledge and the culinary skills she had picked up from her father, she was able to set up a small restaurant. As there was a shortage of food, Xiaoguo cultivated all kinds of vegetables using her professional expertise. In an era where compressed biscuits were the common staple food, Xiaoguo’s restaurant was able to thrive with its offering of fresh green vegetables and flavorful food.

Xiaoguo had been looking for her parents for the past three years. Even though there had been no news of their whereabouts, she didn’t stop searching. Xiaoguo didn’t dare to imagine what could have happened to them. In the second year after the apocalypse broke out, Xiaoguo developed her superpower. It was her initial plan to go on a search for her parents with the soldiers from camp, using her new-found ability. But to her dismay, what she had was only a beginner, self-healing power which was pretty much useless. If she were to come face-to-face with any zombies, it would be as good as meeting death.

Xiaoguo was bent on leveling up her powers subsequently, but as fate would have it, she was still stuck at the beginner level after two years.

Time flew by swiftly. It had been almost three years since Xiaoguo arrived at this camp. Being the biggest camp in the world, it had the widest range of weapons and the largest group of superpower beings. In such a safe environment, Xiaoguo was able to live without worries during her three years there.

A while ago, one of the residents from the camp brought back some unfortunate news. They had found their parents-but had later beat them to death-as their parents had turned into zombies. Thereafter, they found a quiet place and buried the bodies.

Although she was upset by what she heard, Xiaoguo took the news in her stride. There wasn’t much that could be done under such circumstances.

Xiaoguo continued living her life in a daze. There seemed to be no end, being in such a situation. All she could do was devote her energy to cooking and growing vegetables. Every day, she would spend her time cultivating new varieties of vegetables and researching the flavors of the produce. Beyond that, she also helped rear the chickens, ducks, and pigs which she found when she went out of camp. She went about this routine day after day and year after year.

One day, Xiaoguo had just fallen asleep when she was roused out of her slumber by a series of violent shakes. In her daze, she heard a tender voice in her ear crying, “Mother, mother, mother… .”

Filled with exhaustion, Xiaoguo could not open her eyes. She wanted to see where this voice was coming from. Xiaoguo wondered to herself. “This doesn’t seem right. I am really tired but why can’t I open my eyes.” Xiaoguo felt like her body was floating and that her eyelids had been glued shut.

In her state of discomfort, something was still tugging on her arm. She could still hear persistent crying in her ears. On the brink of losing her consciousness, Xiaoguo heard a voice calling, “Mother.” Using the last of her strength, she asked, “Who’s your mother?”

Three heads and six arms is a saying. It refers to someone with remarkable abilities

Still in a daze, Xiaoguo felt like she had a very long dream.

In her dream, she was born 3,000 years ago in the State of Shao (42 BC) within the Peach Blossom Village. Her name was also Qin Xiaoguo. Xiaoguo was famed for her beauty in this village. She had been married for 3 years to Jiang Danhe, a well-known burly man in the Peach Blossom Village. Jiang Danhe was handsome and tall. Many matchmakers were eager to find him a bride once he came of age.

It was a time when food was scarce. Therefore, with a bag of grains as her bride price, Xiaoguo was married off to Jiang Danhe, a total stranger. On the day of her wedding, Xiaoguo went through the rites wearing a veil. After which, she sat in the bridal chamber and waited for the groom to enter and lift her bridal veil.

After the wedding night, the sound of gongs and drums could be heard at dawn. Before Qin Xiaoguo could get up, two men in military uniforms suddenly rushed in and grabbed her husband who had just woken up.

Still in shock, she heard her mother-in-law shouting from outside, “Sir, you can’t, you can’t. My son has just gotten married and has no descendants yet. Please show us some mercy and let him go!”

“Madam, all men from each and every household have to serve the army. Since he is the only man in your house, we have to bring him along.”

Hearing her mother-in-law’s heart-wrenching cries, Xiaoguo knew that these men were gathering male commoners to join the army.

At the thought of this, Xiaoguo threw on a coat and ran out. She wrapped her arms around her mother-in-law, who was kneeling in the courtyard. She could only see the back of her husband as he was being grabbed by the officials. He was held down and could not turn his head. Without looking at them, Jiang Danhe told the two women to take care of themselves and wait for him to return.

Thereafter, officials came on a periodic basis to fetch able, young men to the army. Constant cries could be heard from the old and the young within the village. The villagers were devastated to part with their loved ones. Seeing this, the officials felt a bit sorry for them, and consoled them. “Hey, hey! This is a good opportunity for everyone. If they survive the war and secure a good post in the future, it will make your ancestors proud.” As soon as he finished speaking, he commanded the army to leave the village. There were no more men left in the village except for a handful of those who were weak and old. From then on, only women, children and weak elderly men were left in Peach Blossom Village.

Xiaoguo helped her mother-in-law into the house. “Mother…”

“Xiaoguo, all hope is on you now.” Her mother-in-law sobbed as she pointed at Xiaoguo’s abdomen. She had been crying so hard that she was panting as she spoke. Even as she said that, she felt unsure. After all, it was only one night…

Her mother-in-law’s words gave her great pressure and fear. Deep in her heart, she knew that there were very few people who could survive and return from the battlefield. Being a newly-wed and having her husband taken away, all she has now is her mother-in-law. Besides… Her mind was filled with thoughts, Xiaoguo looked at her stomach. What are the chances… after just one night.

After the men were taken to join the army, their families would be paid a tael of silver every month as compensation. This was also evidence that they were still alive and fighting on the battlefields. Qin Xiaoguo took this monthly payment as a form of consolation. As long as there was money each month, it meant that her husband was still alive. This provided everyone in the village with hope and comfort, knowing that their loved ones were safe.

By a stroke of luck and her mother-in-law’s prayers, Xiaoguo got pregnant after her wedding night. Her mother-in-law, who was full of sorrow, had at least something to look forward to. Throughout her pregnancy, Xiaoguo was free to rest and did not have to do any household chores.

Very soon, it was time to deliver the baby. Xiaoguo gave birth to a healthy and chubby boy. The arrival of the baby made her mother-in-law so happy that she could not stop smiling for three days. The child grew day by day, and payments from the army came in continually each month. Their lives gradually got better as the days went by.

Then one day, the money did not come in. Knowing the implications, her mother-in-law fell ill. As much as she was mentally prepared that such a day would come, she could not accept the bad news and became really sick. As the village was stricken by famine during that time, she didn’t manage to overcome her illness and died shortly after.

Qin Xiaoguo held back her grief and made arrangements for her mother-in-law’s funeral. Before she could start grieving, she had to pull herself together and start gathering food. Due to a major drought, all the crops had wilted and there was no harvest. Those with some money would travel to town to get their supply of food. At a time like this, food prices in the city had already skyrocketed.

Xiaoguo didn’t have any money left. She had to take care of her son, who was just three years old. They lived from hand to mouth and soon her child became thin and malnourished. In order to let her child eat more, Xiaoguo often went without eating for three to four days in a row. This quickly led to health problems in Xiaoguo over some time.

Some time passed and the drought finally ended. Rain fell and filled up the rivers. The soil became moist again and life slowly got better for everyone in the village.

One morning, when Xiaoguo was about to leave the house and look for food, she fell and died on the spot.

At the next moment, Xiaoguo ‘s eyebrows twitched. The child sitting by the bed shouted excitedly, “Mother! Boohoo, wake up! Mother… Boohoo.”

Unable to bear the sound of crying, Xiaoguo opened her tired eyes and slowly turned to look at the child who was hugging her. What she saw jolted her into consciousness. ”

Where did this little black monkey come from?

”

The little boy pouted and sobbed in indignation. “Mother… .”

Qin Xiaoguo looked at the dark-skinned little boy in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that everything in her dream was real. Those memories from her dream had been experienced by this body, and this body had just passed away. Even though she had left the end of the previous era, her soul has entered this new body. She was still a married woman with a child.

“Mother?”

The boy called out to her in a cautious tone. He looked at his mother’s strange expression and felt even more uneasy. ”

Could she have injured her head

?”

“Mom… Are you alright? What am I to do if something happens to you?” The little boy spoke in a childlike voice. “Mom… I won’t eat so much in the future. I can go out and find food.”

The young child blamed himself, thinking that he had eaten too much and caused his mum to collapse from hunger.

Xiaoguo snapped back to reality and looked at the boy, who was suddenly crying. “Hey, don’t cry…” She really didn’t know how to get along with a child. She looked at the crying child and wondered what his name was. “Jiang? Jiang? “Jiang… Qingwen.”

Xiaoguo uttered his name carefully. The boy, who had been crying uncontrollably, stopped instantly when he heard his name. His mother would only call his name when he got into trouble.

“Mother?”

Hearing the boy call her mother in such a soft voice, Xiaoguo felt like her heart had melted into a mess. “Zhuang Zhuang, Mother will be fine. Don’t worry about me.” She consoled the child.

XIaoguo had just recalled that when the boy was born, her mother-in-law had called him by this nickname, Zhuang

Zhuang

. She had hoped that he would grow up to be fit and strong.

Looking at him now, he was so skinny and dirty-looking. ”

How did I manage to have a son this age when I am still a maiden

?”

“Gurgle, gurgle… .”

Xiaoguo could hear her stomach growling in protest. She was feeling very hungry. This body had not eaten in three days. Xiaoguo pressed on her stomach, and tried to get out of bed to find food. Before her feet could touch the floor, she felt her head spinning and almost fell off the bed. Xiaoguo desperately tried to reach for the bed to avoid falling. Zhuang Zhuang—who had his eyes on her—quickly leapt to her side and grabbed onto her clothes tightly with both hands.

He had been so affected by Xiaoguo’s previous fall and was worried that she would have another accident.

Don’t worry, Zhuang Zhuang. I just lost my balance. It’s fine.” Xiaoguo gently stroked Zhuang Zhuang’s back.

“I’ll hold you, Mother,” the child said solemnly.

“Okay.”

Xiaoguo walked with Zhuang Zhuang to the kitchen. She looked at the empty grain bags and thought long and hard trying to recall what she had eaten before the famine. There had been rice before the drought, but when the rice ran out, she had to dig wild vegetables for survival. There was no more food left in the house.

Xiaoguo searched high and low in the kitchen, and she finally found a grain bag containing a handful of rice. It was a very small amount of rice, but every grain of rice now was so rare and precious. Xiaoguo was delighted. She poured some water and the rice grains into a pot and lit the stove.

Zhuang Zhuang, who was following Xiaoguo closely, asked in a hesitant tone. “Mother, didn’t you say that this bit of food is saved for emergencies?”

The previous owner of this body had said that this bag of food was set aside for Zhuang Zhuang. But in the current situation, Xiaoguo felt that if this were to go on, both of them would definitely starve to death. Since she was here in the present, she would not let Zhuang Zhuang starve. That would be the priority for now.

“Yes, that’s right. This is an emergency. Shall we have porridge?”

Upon hearing the word porridge, Zhuang Zhuang began to crave it. It had been a long time since he had tasted any porridge. He could still remember its aroma. He smacked his lips and nodded slowly in agreement.

XIaoguo ruffled his hair—it was a sticky mess. She decided to prepare some water for him to wash up afterwards.

As they were speaking, the water started to boil. The fragrance of cooked congee wafted out from the sides of the pot lid. The both of them sighed in contentment simultaneously, taking in the aroma of the boiling porridge. “Ah… ”

Upon hearing each other, they exchanged glances and laughed sheepishly.

Xiaoguo stood up and looked around the kitchen for some oil and vegetables to make a vegetable porridge. She managed to find a stalk of vegetables and a cube of lard in the oil can.

She started to rinse and chop the vegetables. When it was done, she threw the greens and lard into a pot and started stir-frying with a spoon. The delightful aroma of freshly cooked food filled the kitchen in an instant. Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang could hear their stomachs growling in anticipation.

Zhuang means strong