March 17, 2025, 3:00 a.m.
The instant Wei Peifeng adjusted the quantum collider in the laboratory, a blinding white light exploded before her eyes. When her consciousness gathered again, she was sprawled on a hard earthen kang, the smell of mildew mixed with medicinal herbs filling her nostrils.
“A Feng! A Feng, wake up!”
The hoarse voice made her jerk her head up. At the foot of the earthen wall sat an old woman wrapped in a coarse cotton-padded jacket. Her face was deeply lined, and she was wiping away tears with her sleeve. This was the original owner's wet nurse, Auntie Wang. Three days ago, her gambling-addicted son had pushed her into the river. Now she was soaked through and shivering from the cold.
Memories flooded back: the original owner was also called Wei Peifeng. She was thirteen, from the Wei Family Village in Qingyang County. Her father had died young, and her mother had caught an epidemic last month. The family's last string of cash had gone toward medicine for her mother, and now all that remained was an empty earthen house. Auntie Wang was the only one willing to look after her, but just now... She reached for her waist and touched something hard and cold: the jade safety pendant the original owner wore close to her skin, now glowing with a faint green light.
“System successfully bound.”
