From Starvation to a Peach Blossom Haven in Ancient Times

When Shen Nan opened her eyes, a man was lying beside her. Cheng Huai’an opened his eyes at the same moment. They looked at each other and asked the question that pierced their very souls. “Who are you?” “Who are you?” Seven heads popped up in unison, the oldest twelve or thirteen and the youngest still swaddled. Together, they cried, “Papa! Mama!” Cheng Huai’an: “…” Shen Nan: “…” Seven pairs of eyes gazed up at them pleadingly as the children cried, “Papa, I’m cold! Mama, I’m hungry!” Cheng Huai’an spoke first, sounding like he was giving a project update. “Our current predicament: famine, no food stored, seven mouths to feed, a dilapidated house full of drafts, and cold weather on the way. “I can repair the house and solve our shelter problem. What about you?” Shen Nan gazed at the untouched mountains in the distance, her eyes full of longing. “I can hunt and solve our food problem.” Cheng Huai’an held out his hand to her. “Good. Clear division of labor. Looking forward to working with you.” Shen Nan glanced at the handsome man before her, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. “Likewise. I look forward to working with you.” Later, an odd couple appeared during the famine. The man spent all day drawing diagrams on the ground with a stick and measuring angles with branches. He worked with his sons to build heated brick beds, dig cellars, and fire bricks to make cement, transforming their decrepit courtyard into a refuge amid the chaos. The woman went into the mountains every day with a bow and arrows on her back. One day she hunted rabbits, the next she hauled home a wild boar. She dared to fight wolf packs and drive away refugees, turning their poor little mountain village into an idyllic paradise that everyone longed for.