[The whole village's darling + a lucky star from heaven + heartwarming story set in the 1970s + mutual affection and doting + parents' long road to winning their daughter back]
In the winter of 1972, three-and-a-half-year-old Lin Suisui is “returned” by her city-dwelling uncle's family.
The day they bring her back, her aunt tosses down a bundle of old clothes and says, “Wild little brat. You can't raise her right.”
Everyone in the village feels sorry for the child. The city family didn't want her, and now she's back with no parents. How will she get by?
But Suisui doesn't feel like she's having a hard time at all.
Wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket altered to fit her, she holds the tin frog her grandpa made and squats beneath the village entrance's old pagoda tree, watching ants carry things home. She stays there all afternoon.
Then she lifts her little face and points at the village secretary's land. “Grandpa, there's something noisy underneath.”
Three days later, a construction crew digs up military supplies from the War of Resistance era.
People come from the county, then the province, and even Beijing calls.
Only then does the whole village realize that this little mite, the girl they'd been “returning,” is a lucky star.
The family next door loses a chicken and comes to her. The family on the other side gets sick and comes to her. Even the geological survey team insists on holding her little hand before they'll go into the mountains.
Later, her aunt comes crying to take her back, but Grandpa drives her out with a pair of iron tongs. “My granddaughter's a treasure. You want her? Bring me ten carloads of gold!”
Later still, the parents who were separated from her while carrying out a special mission all those years ago come looking for her. Seeing Suisui doted on by the entire village like a little princess, they fall silent for a long time.
Her father speaks with red-rimmed eyes. “Dad, I want to take Suisui home.”
Grandpa slaps the iron tongs down on the table. “Who are you calling Dad? Get in line!”
