There was little hint of spring in the Shen family courtyard. A woman’s muffled groans came from the west wing. Midwife Zhao lifted the curtain and told the gaunt, dark-skinned man crouching by the wall, “Changlin, it’s a girl.”
The pipe in Shen Changlin’s hand clattered to the ground. He opened his mouth, but it took a long while before he managed to say, “A girl... that’s fine too.”
The east-wing door creaked open, and his mother-in-law, Madam Chen, poked half her body out. Her sharp eyebrows shot up. “Another useless girl? Third daughter-in-law is going to make sure our branch dies out!” With that, she slammed the door shut.
Shen Changlin shrank his neck and rubbed his hands together as he went inside.
On the heated bed, Su Yuniang, pale-faced, cradled a red, wrinkled baby. There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. “Look, dear. She has your eyes and brows.”
Shen Changlin leaned closer. The baby had her eyes shut and her fists clenched tight. Suddenly, she let out a wail.
Her cry was so loud that the old hen outside the window squawked and ran away.
Su Yuniang hurried to soothe her, while Shen Changlin awkwardly poured a bowl of warm water. Neither of them noticed the baby open her eyes and dart them around. She looked at the thatched roof, the earthen walls, and the patched quilt, a hint of confusion flashing in her gaze.
Shen Wanwan thought, Where am I? Wasn’t I writing my thesis in the lab?
Memories of her past life surged back like a tide, mingling with fragments of memories from this life. She froze for a moment, then finally accepted reality. She, Shen Wan, a PhD in agricultural science, had become Wanwan, a newborn girl in a farming family in Yangzhou Prefecture during the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty.
The family had nothing. Her relatives were callous, she had two older sisters, and her parents were honest and easily bullied.
Wanwan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Oh well. I’m here now.
