Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The gloomy days finally cleared up. There was not much food left at home. Ah Wan carried her bamboo basket and went to dig for carrots. She was digging radishes, and some people called them carrots.

The radish wasn’t big, not even as big as Ah Wan’s fist, but it had thin skin and had a lot of water. If one bit down on it, it would be sweet to the heart. If one cut it into thin slices and mixed it with the chili sauce, it would be refreshing and delicious.

It was the best season to eat radish. When the weather turned colder, the taste of the radishes would no longer be as tender and sweet. Instead, they would become a little bitter and spicy.

“Ah Wan! Why are you still here? Your husband is here!” An auntie walked over with a dustpan.

Ah Wan, who was squatting in the ground, blushed. “Auntie, don’t talk nonsense. Who, who is my husband?”

The auntie jokes, “You’re about to get married. If he’s not your husband, could he be my husband?”

On the other side of the fields, the farmers who were picking vegetables laughed. Ah Wan’s face reddened. She might not admit it, but she knew she did have a fiancé. Her fiance’s surname was Zhao, and his name was Zhao Heng. He was the only scholar in their village.

Zhao Heng was not a local, he had fled to their village when the war started. After that, he stayed in the village. Zhao Heng’s father had died in the chaos of war, leaving him with his widowed mother and a younger sister who was the same age as Ah Wan. All these years, it was thanks to Ah Wan’s family’s help that the family of three lived in fear.

Ah Wan’s family didn’t have a good life either, especially after Ah Wan’s father was captured to join the army. Without a pillar to support the family, their spending became increasingly tight. But no matter how tight they were, Ah Wan couldn’t bear to see Zhao Heng suffer.

Ah Wan put the plucked radish into the small basket and ran home in a good mood. When she passed by a small fish pond, she squatted down and washed the mud off her hands. Her hands were frostbitten and her wounds were soaked. It was so painful that she gasped!

Then, she untied her hairband, wiped her hands with water, and combed her hair until it was shiny. She braided her hair into a beautiful four-strand braid beside her ears and carefully took out the red headband she was only willing to wear during the New Year. She tied it bit by bit.

After she was done, she used her freezing hands to wash her face with a handful of cold, fishy water.

“It’s so cold!” Ah Wan cried out.

On the other hand, Zhao Heng had been loitering outside Ah Wan’s house for a long time but didn’t see Ah Wan for a long time, and he’d decided to come back another day. Unexpectedly, when he passed by the fish pond, he coincidentally saw Ah Wan who was squatting by the shore and washing her face.

Zhao Heng frowned.?Could the water here be used to wash faces? The fishy smell was so strong.

Ah Wan also saw Zhao Heng, and she scrambled to her feet. It had only been half a month since they last met, but Zhao Heng had grown taller again. Although he was three years older than Ah Wan, he was even smaller than Ah Wan when he first came to the village. Ah Wan was glad to see that he had recovered.

“Ah Heng!” Ah Wan walked over with a smile.

The young girl was wearing an extremely bloated cotton-padded jacket with patches on her knees and elbows. She looked so shabby that she was a little embarrassed. However, her face was extremely beautiful, and there was no other girl in the world who was more beautiful than her.

Once upon a time, Zhao Heng had also thought that Ah Wan was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. But ever since he had seen those city’s noble young ladies, when he looked at Ah Wan again, he felt that she’s rustic and shabby.

Ah Wan saw Zhao Heng’s hands. They were scholarly hands, long fingers, clean and delicate. Ah Wan secretly tucked her small swollen hands that had frostbite on them into her sleeves and asked him with a smile, “Why are you here? It’s the middle of the month today, and it’s not the time to pay the tuition fee yet… Have you spent all the money you have? I’ll go get it for you.” Actually, there wasn’t much left. There were only a few silver ingots left. The New Year goods hadn’t been bought yet, but Zhao Heng’s studies were important. She thought that her mother wouldn’t blame her.

“Ah Wan,” Zhao Heng called after her.

Ah Wan turned around, a sweet smile on her red face. “Hm?”

“You don’t have to give me any more silver,” said Zhao Heng.

“Why? Don’t you study anymore?” Ah Wan asked, surprised.

Zhao Heng paused. “No…”

Ah Wan thought that he was worried about his future tuition fees, so she hurriedly patted her chest and said, “Don’t worry, I have money! I… I can earn money! When spring comes, I’ll go pick wild vegetables! I can also chop wood! I can farm…”

“Ah Wan, where did you get the silver?” Zhao Heng interrupted her.

Ah Wan froze.

Zhao Heng said with a gloomy expression, “You don’t have to hide it from me. I already know that your silver didn’t come from proper methods… Two years ago, you actually didn’t go to your cousin-in-law’s house. You… you entered a brothel!”

A bolt from the blue struck Ah Wan’s head! Ah Wan swayed and the basket on her back fell to the floor. The red radishes rolled all over the floor.

Ah Wan looked at Zhao Heng with a pale face. “Who? Who told you that?”

Zhao Heng clenched his fists tightly and said, “You don’t care who told me, just say yes or no! Did you enter a brothel?”

Ah Wan’s eyes turned red. She grabbed Zhao Heng’s arm. “Ah Heng…”

Zhao Heng was caught off guard when he saw this pair of swollen hands covered in frostbite. He was so frightened that he pulled his arm back!

Ah Wan felt his disdain and did not dare to touch him with her hand again. She only sobbed even more and said, “I… I didn’t enter a brothel! Ah Heng, believe me, my money is clean! I exchanged it with a jade pendant!”

Zhao Heng looked at her coldly. “Where did you get the jade pendant from?”

“I picked it up!” Ah Wan said.

Zhao Heng ridiculed, “Can a random jade pendant be exchanged for so much silver?” He had once naively thought that his expensive tuition fees were all earned by Ah-Wan from farming and chopping wood, but who would have thought… she actually traded her body for it! How shameless was she?! She was already engaged to him, yet she still went to do unspeakable things with another man! Why was she so dirty?!

“Ah Heng, believe me, I didn’t enter a brothel, I can swear!” Ah Wan cried until her heart was about to break. She really didn’t enter a brothel, really didn’t…

The two of them grew up together as childhood sweethearts. For a very long time, Zhao Heng and his younger sister ate at Ah Wan’s house and lived at Ah Wan’s house. He still remembered the days when the entire village was in famine. It was Ah Wan who saved her food and fed it to him bit by bit. If not for Ah Wan, he might have starved to death. He still had some feelings for Ah Wan.

“Don’t worry, on account that we know each other, I won’t tell anyone about this. It’s just that I can’t marry you anymore,” he said kindly. Zhao Heng thought that he had already done his best. After all, to a woman, there was nothing more important than her reputation. Since he was willing to protect her reputation, she should be content.

Zhao Heng said righteously, “I’m a scholar. Teacher said that with my talent, I’ll definitely be able to become a government official in the future. I can’t marry an indecent woman… I’ll visit your house to cancel the marriage. Don’t come looking for me anymore.” As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Heng didn’t dare look at Ah Wan’s heartbroken face and fled.

But he had only taken a few steps when a loud splash came from the fish pond behind him.

“Ah Wan—”

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

“Spring has come. All things have been revived. It’s time for animal mating again…”

Yu Wan was woken up by the devilish ringtone again. She knew without thinking that it was her aunt that was urging her to get married who did it. Yu Wan’s parents passed away early. She was raised by her aunt. Her aunt was the zoo director. She was 1.8 meters tall and had a loud voice.

Yu Wan swiped the answer button and brought the phone a meter away.

“What’s going on?! What time is it?! The childcare provider has been waiting for you for two hours! Do you still want to get married? Do you want to?! Are you planning to stay by my side forever? Let me warn you, you’re already 18 years old. My obligation to raise you has been terminated! If you don’t get married this year, I’ll…”

Yu Wan’s eardrums were going numb. She could guess what she was going to say without even hearing it. It was an ultimatum that was given once a month. Her aunt had threatened her for three years, but she had not fulfilled it.

But… childcare provider? Professor of Biology who raises pandas? This was something worth seeing. Maybe she could steal a panda and be in prison for life.

Yu Wan washed up and went downstairs. However, the moment she opened the car door, a flower pot fell from the sky…

...

Yu Wan was awakened by a cold chill. When she woke up, she found herself lying on a dilapidated brick bed. Under her was a mattress that emitted a moldy smell, and on her body was a blanket that smelled even more moldy.

The biting cold wind squeezed through the cracks in the wall, making the already cold house even more cruel than before.

Her mind was in a mess. Strange images and sounds flashed past her mind, but they were all too blurry. She could not tell if they were real or if she had broken her brain and made up some imagination.

There was a flickering light in the house.

Yu Wan looked in the direction of the fire and saw a very thin little boy squatting on the ground in front of the wall facing the window sill. He was wearing tattered ancient clothes. In the brazier in front of him was a half-dried piece of wood. As the wood was not fully lit, the little boy was trying his best to add withered grass and leaves. Although the wood wasn’t lit fully, it was still burning.

Seeing this, the little boy got up and went to the table to take an old iron pot filled with water and placed it on the edge of the iron basin.

Yu Wan was confused.

“Hey,” Yu Wan called the little boy.

The little boy turned around and his eyes lit up. “Sis, you’re awake?” He put down the fire tongs and ran towards Yu Wan.

The little boy called her Sis. It seemed that the memory in her head was not her imagination. She had really become another person—

“Sis, are you feeling uncomfortable?”

Yu Wan shook her head against her will. “I don’t feel bad. Where’s Mom?”

“Mom fainted,” the little boy said.

“How did she faint?” Yu Wan asked. Although the memories in her mind told her that her mother’s body had never been strong, it was not so serious that she would faint.

The little boy lowered his head and said sadly, “When they said you were dead, Mom cried. She kept crying and then fainted.”

So it was because she was too sad…

Yu Wan looked at her brother and felt the deep worry and fear in his heart. It was really hard on him. One of the people closest to him had died and the other had fainted. She really did not know how he managed to survive.

Yu Wan reached out and stroked his dirty little head. “See, I’m not dead, am I?”

The little boy looked up, his eyes shining brightly. “Yes!”

Yu Wan glanced at the brazier and iron pot near the wall, which could hardly be called cooking utensils, and asked, “Can you pour me a cup of water? I saw you boil water.”

“Okay!” The little boy rushed over excitedly. He was very happy to be useful. Of course, he was still too young and did not know that water could only be drunk after boiling. When he saw that the water was steaming, he felt that it had been boiled.

He poured the half-frozen water into a chipped porcelain bowl and carefully brought it to Yu Wan.

The water had only boiled halfway. If it was in her previous life, her aunt as the director would probably have nagged her until her ears grew calluses. “Drink raw water? Aren’t you afraid of parasites? You young people just don’t care about your bodies!”

Yu Wan was not as particular as her aunt. She had drunk raw water before, but now that she thought about it, she could not tell if her actions back then were really not particular, or if she was too rebellious and deliberately to be not particular. Her aunt was a nice person, but sometimes, she was so fussy that she couldn’t stand it.

Yu Wan let out a bitter laugh. After transmigrating to such a place, she would not even have a chance to be scolded by her aunt.

Suddenly, she felt a chill beside her hand. The little boy thought that the water was too hot when he saw that she did not drink it after a long time, so he quickly blew at it with his little mouth.

Yu Wan finished the water in her bowl. After drinking it, she felt much more energetic. She said to the little boy, “By the way, how many days have I slept?”

“Three days.”

In that case, their mother might have been unconscious for three days??Yu Wan looked at the skinny little boy and probed, “Have you eaten anything these few days?”

“I ate it! I ate in Grandma’s house!” The little boy said.

“Are you full?” Yu Wan asked.

The little boy stopped talking. His lips were cracked and he looked weak and pale. He must have not eaten her fill.

Yu Wan lifted the blanket, put on a patched cotton jacket, and said to her starving brother, “Let’s go and see Mom first, then I’ll make you something to eat.”

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The residence of this family wasn’t large, there were only two rooms in total. They were on both sides of the central room, and they wouldn’t go wrong even if they closed their eyes.

Yu Wan sorted through the memories in her head as she walked. Coincidentally, this family also had the surname Yu. The Host was called Ah Wan and had the same name as her.

The Host’s family had a very simple population: a father who was captured to be a soldier, a mother who was bedridden and sick, a yellow-skinned and skinny younger brother, and her with a different soul.

In her impression, this family treated her quite well. They did not treat her unfavorably just because she was a girl. Even her younger brother knew how to be humble. Her food and clothing were always the best in the family. This was almost impossible in the village where they value males and belittle females. Of course, the original owner herself was quite capable. Since her father was no longer around and her mother could not work, she carried the heavy burden of supporting her family at a young age. Compared to Yu Wan who only knew how to be a couch potato in her previous life, they were worlds apart.

These were all the memories Yu Wan inherited from the Host. It could be said that this was the most precious memory the Host wanted to keep before she died.

“Sis, be careful.” Little Bruiser, who was helping Yu Wan to the door, reminded her crisply, interrupting her thoughts.

Yu Wan patted his little head. After assimilating Ah Wan’s memories, she had become even more compatible with this body. Little Bruiser was no longer just a strange little boy. This was her younger brother, and the woman in the room was her mother. From now on, they were a family that she was willing to protect with her life.

She was new to this world. The reason she had such thoughts was most likely because of the Host’s will. Perhaps it was because of this strong will that she could summon a soul from another world after her death and help the Host complete her life.

There were no braziers or lights in the room. It was pitch black, and a gust of cold wind blew over. It was as warm as the outside.

Yu Wan walked to the bed in the dark.

After adapting to the light in the room, Yu Wan could vaguely see the woman’s face. It was a pale, bloodless face. She was so thin that her cheeks were slightly sunken, and her cheekbones were prominent because of this. Even so, her facial features were not inferior at all, especially her eyebrows and nose.

The Host’s mother was fine. She fainted because she was too sad. Moreover, she hadn’t eaten for several days so she was barely breathing.

After looking at Madam Jiang, Yu Wan brought over the brazier in her room. She also carried the quilt over and covered her.

When she was done, Yu Wan carried the oil lamp and went to the kitchen.

Although it was called a kitchen, it was actually just a small kitchen that was built with a straw shed in the backyard. In the middle of the kitchen, there was a large rusty iron pot placed on the rough and cracked stove. Right in front of the stove was a bundle of firewood that had been mostly used up.

Even the firewood was so little… Yu Wan had an ominous feeling. As expected, when Yu Wan opened the rice jar, she saw that it was empty.

Yu Wan poured out the entire rice jar, but only a few dozen grains of rice were poured out. It does not even cover the bottom of the bowl.

Yu Wan rummaged through the cupboard for a while, but found nothing other than half a bowl of spicy sauce. Little Bruiser walked in with a basket. “Sis, radish!” There were a few not-so-fresh radishes in the basket and a big sweet potato that had somehow mixed in.

In her previous life, she would not even take a look at these things. But now, she could not be picky at all. Not only was Little Bruiser and the woman in the house hungry, even she was starting to feel hungry.

Yu Wan washed the radishes and sweet potatoes clean and removed the skin. The sweet potatoes were cut into pieces and boiled in a pot of sweet potato porridge with the pitifully little rice grains. The radishes were chopped and mixed with chili sauce.

It was Yu Wan’s first time using a large stove, so she wasn’t able to control the fire properly. The sweet potato porridge was a little burned, but fortunately, sweet potatoes were a natural crop that came with its own sweetness, so it was still delicious even if it was burned.

Little Bruiser stood at the entrance of the kitchen, occasionally sticking his little head in and looking around. The aroma of piping hot sweet potatoes wafted out of the big pot. It was mixed with the faint fragrance of rice and rice crust, making the little fellow drool.

“Sis, I’m hungry,” Little Bruiser said as he took a deep breath.

“Done,” Yu Wan said.

There wasn’t a lot of porridge, but it could be divided into three bowls.

Yu Wan gave the bowl with the most sweet potatoes to Little Bruiser and the thickest bowl of porridge to Madam Jiang.

Madam Jiang was still unconscious and could not eat on her own. Yu Wan tried to wake her up, and Madam Jiang woke up. However, after taking a look at her daughter, she thought she was dreaming and closed her eyes to sleep.

It was no wonder that tMadam Jiang thought this way. It was really because Ah Wan was on her last breath not long after she was pulled out of the water. She could not believe that Ah Wan had come back to life unscathed.

Yu Wan fed the muddle-headed Madam Jiang some porridge. By the time she returned to the dining table with the empty bowl, Little Bruiser had already finished the sweet potato porridge and put down the spoon.

Then, Yu Wan noticed with her sharp eyes that there were a few large sweet potatoes in her bowl of porridge.

Little Bruiser sat there obediently, blinking at her as if to say, “Eat, Sis!”

Yu Wan’s heart softened. She clearly realized that this feeling did not come from the Host, but from herself.

“Sis.” Seeing that Yu Wan was not moving, Little Bruiser swallowed his saliva and pushed the bowl of porridge forward. “Eat quickly, it’s not hot anymore.”

Yu Wan knew that he was not full yet, but she did not reject his good intentions. She picked up the bowl and finished the porridge without leaving a single drop.

The cold wind outside the room was biting, causing the window lattices to rattle. Yu Wan was lying on the innermost side of the bed. She looked at the sleeping Little Bruiser and then looked at the sleeping Madam Jiang. She secretly swore that she would not let them go hungry again.

...

Yu Wan had difficulties sleeping in a bed other than her own and thought that she would not be able to sleep that night. However, she did not have a single dream. When she woke up, the sky was already bright.

Little Bruiser was sleeping soundly, his cheeks flushed. It was unknown how long it had been since he had such a warm sleep.

Madam Jiang was still unconscious, but her breathing was calmer than last night.

Yu Wan did not wake the two of them up. She quietly got off the bed, tidied herself up, and drank a mouthful of cold water to alleviate her hunger. Then, she went to the kitchen to get a kitchen knife and a basket. She stepped on the frost and walked towards the field in her memories.

This was a vegetable field that the Host had been farming. She had planted some garlic sprouts, radishes, and cabbage. She had collected most of the cabbage. There were only a few sporadic cabbages growing here and there. Some chickens had even pecked at them. There were still some radishes. Yu Wan plucked one from the ground. She didn’t care if she washed it or not. She used a vegetable knife to remove the skin and started eating it.

There was no rice or food at home, so eating radishes alone was definitely not enough. Just as Yu Wan was wondering how to fill the family’s stomach, her sharp eyes caught a claw mark on the radish field.

It was a chicken claw print. Judging from its size, it was already an adult. The cabbages in the ground had been pecked by the chickens, so it was not surprising to see a claw print on the ground. However, what caught Yu Wan’s attention was the sapphire blue chicken feather swaying beside the claw print.

Chickens didn’t have such beautiful feathers.

This was a pheasant!

The pheasant actually came to her vegetable field…

This discovery shook Yu Wan’s heart. When a person was poor, even a chicken would bully her. Coincidentally, she was worried about not having anything to eat. Since the other party delivered itself to her door, it could not blame her for being impolite.

The pheasants lived in packs and had a relatively stable range of activity. They would not easily walk down the mountain, but it was winter and resources were scarce. Even the pheasants found it difficult to find food. Coincidentally, Ah Wan’s land was the most remote, closest to the foot of the mountain, and the land that no one wanted to farm.

Usually, other than Ah Wan, no one would come here. It was because of this that the pheasants dared to barge in.

This was probably not the first time seeing how familiar the pheasant was with her field. However, the Host had to cook for her brother and mother in the morning and would go to the field late. And each time, she missed the pheasants. Today, Yu Wan went out early and bumped into it.

The pheasant pecked at the vegetable leaves without a care in the world, unaware that it was in danger.

Yu Wan tiptoed over and reached out to grab it into the basket!