RGL – Chapter 1

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“That Changrong’s wife is really clueless. She couldn’t give birth to a son herself, so what if Changfu took over his father’s job? Who says the job has to go to the eldest son? And she even went back to her mother’s house over it. If she hadn’t made such a fuss, would the girl have gotten sick from the rain? Now it’s going to cost money again. She just took two yuan from me!”

“Mom, I just saw her boiling noodles with eggs for her daughter. Canran wanted to eat some yesterday and I didn’t even give him any.”

Grumbling voices drifted in from the outer hall.

Inside the room, Su Min listened to these all-too-familiar voices, eyes scanning her surroundings. All she could see were dirt walls, exposed beams on the ceiling covered in decaying rice husks, and a musty, moldy smell filling the air. In the corner of the room was a small bed. Su Min recognized it instantly—it was the one she’d slept in until she was fifteen.

Later, when her second uncle’s family moved out, their family took over this old house, and she moved into her cousin Su Can’s room.

Until her father passed away from illness and her mother, overwhelmed by grief, also fell seriously ill. To earn a living, Su Min had taken her mother and left this place to work in another city. She never came back.

She never expected to see that bed again.

“What… what’s going on with me?” Su Min touched her face and slowly sat up, only to feel a wave of dizziness wash over her.

With a creak, the door opened, and a woman in her thirties entered the room. Seeing Su Min awake, her face lit up with joy. She quickly came over with a bowl in hand. “Minzi, you’re awake? Feeling any better?” Setting the bowl aside, she reached out to feel Su Min’s forehead.

Su Min stared blankly at the woman before her, her eyes filled with disbelief. “Mom?”

Weren’t she and her mother already dead? The house they’d rented was a dangerous one. During a heavy storm, it collapsed. It was night, and they didn’t even have a chance to escape.

“Minzi, thank goodness you’re alright.” Sun Qiufang’s tears wouldn’t stop as she looked at her daughter. When she gave birth years ago, it hurt her body badly. In all these years, Su Min was her only child. No matter what others thought, her daughter was her entire world.

She had been blaming herself endlessly. If she hadn’t thrown a fit earlier, maybe her daughter wouldn’t have gotten caught in the rain and fallen ill.

Su Min stared at her mother, still in shock. The warmth of her mother’s hand told her this wasn’t a dream—her mother was really here, alive, and over ten years younger.

What on earth is going on? She looked at her hands—still slender and delicate, unmistakably the hands of a young girl.

“Minzi, I won’t make a fuss anymore. If your grandpa wants to give the job to your second uncle, then so be it. Let’s not fight. Don’t be angry with Mom anymore, okay?” Sun Qiufang held her daughter tightly, weeping as she spoke.

Second uncle? A job?

Pieces of memory began to return to Su Min.

She had fallen seriously ill at thirteen, and that was because her grandfather had given the supply and marketing job to her second uncle instead of her father. Her mother, furious, had caused a scene and gone back to her parents’ home. On the way, it started pouring. Though they hurried back, both got soaked and cold. That night, Su Min developed a high fever that lasted for days.

Could it be… she had returned to that moment when she was thirteen and sick with a fever?

Su Min’s heart pounded wildly. Afraid it was all a dream, she bit her finger. A sharp pain shot through her, confirming that this was real.

Seeing her daughter bite herself, Sun Qiufang gently held her hand and stroked the bite mark. “Silly girl, why are you biting yourself?”

“Mom.” Su Min threw her arms around her mother, overcome with emotion.

It wasn’t a dream. This was real. Her mother was alive and healthy—not the sick, worn-down woman tormented by poverty and illness.

Being hugged like that, Sun Qiufang felt a little awkward. Her daughter was already thirteen, practically a young lady. Though they were close, they didn’t usually act so affectionately. Still, awkward or not, she felt deeply happy inside. Smiling, she picked up the bowl on the table. “Come on, eat while it’s hot. Didn’t you say you wanted egg noodles?”

Su Min looked down and, sure enough, saw an egg sitting on top of the noodles in the bowl.

“Eat quickly,” Sun Qiufang urged. “If Canran finds out, you won’t get another bite.”

“Mm.” Eyes red, Su Min took a bite.

The noodles were just boiled in salted water—there were no real seasonings—but to Su Min, it tasted better than anything she’d eaten later in life.

As the two talked, Su Min’s grandmother’s voice rang from outside. “It’s getting dark! Why isn’t dinner ready yet?”

Sun Qiufang gritted her teeth and stood up. “Finish eating and lie down again. Sweat it out, and you’ll feel better.”

Su Min nodded obediently, and her mother hurried out. Her grandmother’s grumbling could still be heard through the walls.

Su Min gripped her blanket tightly. In her past life, her grandparents had always favored her second uncle’s family because her mother had only given birth to a girl. Her parents’ hard-earned money from farming had been taken by the old folks to help Su Changfu build a house in town. Her own family had been crammed into this old place. When her father got sick, there wasn’t even enough money to treat him, and he died early. Later, she and her mother left to work in the city, but as uneducated rural people, they earned little. Her mother fell ill, they couldn’t save money, and they ended up in a dangerous building—until tragedy struck.

This life, she would not let her parents go down the same path.

Though burdened with thoughts, Su Min knew she was still ill. If she didn’t recover properly, her parents would have an even harder time. She wrapped herself tightly in the quilt and forced herself to sweat it out.

By nightfall, the dinner table was set.

The door creaked open again. This time, her father, Su Changrong, came in.

At this point in time, he wasn’t yet bent from years of toil. His back was still straight, and though thin, he looked full of energy. Su Min looked at him, and the resentment from her past life faded away. “Dad.”

In her past life, she had resented him for being weak, for never standing up to his parents, for not providing a better life. But after he died, she realized nothing mattered more than having family together.

After a long day in the fields, Su Changrong had come to check on his daughter, expecting the usual cold shoulder. But she greeted him first, and his face lit up with a goofy grin. “Minzi, how’re you feeling? Still dizzy?”

“No,” she shook her head, eyes red, staring greedily at her father’s familiar face. “Dad.”

“Good.” His smile widened. “If you’re not dizzy, come eat. I caught a fish in the fields today—we’ll have fish for dinner.”

“Changrong! What’re you doing? Come move the table!” the old man’s voice called from outside.

Su Changrong rushed out to help.

The Su family had three sons and a daughter. The youngest, Su Lan, was beautiful and had married into town. The third son had gone to college and married elsewhere. The eldest, Su Changrong, and second, Su Changfu, still lived at home. Since there wasn’t enough housing, everyone lived together without dividing the household. The old couple controlled all the income, and everyone ate together.

When Su Min stepped out after dressing, the table was already full of people.

Sun Qiufang walked in carrying a bowl of rice. Seeing her daughter, she quickly set it down and called out, “Minzi’s up! Come eat!”

“She just had egg noodles this afternoon. Already hungry again?” Su Changfu’s wife, Li Yulan, said sourly.

Sun Qiufang’s face changed, but Su Min ignored it and pulled her mother over to sit and eat together.

A boy around eleven or twelve sitting nearby pouted, “I want egg noodles too! Why does she get to eat them and I don’t?”

Su Min remembered—that was her second uncle’s son, Su Can.

“What are you whining about?” Li Yulan smacked his head. “She’s lucky to get it. Are you? Eat your fish.” She shoved a big piece of fish belly into his bowl.

Grandma’s thin, wrinkled face scrunched up. “If he wants to eat, let him. Why hit him?” She gave the remaining fish belly to Su Can.

Seeing the little meat left, Sun Qiufang quickly placed some in Su Min’s bowl.

Grandma’s face darkened. “She already had an egg and still wants more? Canran’s growing! As the older sister, what’s she fighting over food for?” A girl’s just a burden—feeding her is a waste.

Su Min looked at her grandmother. Still the same—smiling at outsiders but mean-faced with her granddaughter. Just because she was a girl, they saw her as a loss.

Memories of past grievances boiled up. She clenched her chopsticks and, staring her grandmother down, took another big bite of fish.

“You dare eat more after I just said that?” Grandma slammed her chopsticks down, face twisted in rage.

Grandpa wasn’t happy either. “Changrong, you better control that daughter of yours. What kind of attitude is that?”

Su Changrong looked awkwardly at Sun Qiufang’s stern face but said nothing. After all, he caught the fish himself—why shouldn’t his daughter eat some?

Su Min didn’t care what they thought. She ate heartily.

Seeing her like that, Grandma was furious. Pointing at Sun Qiufang, she yelled, “Look how you raised her! So big already and still doesn’t care for the younger ones. Might as well stop school and make her do housework. Girls don’t need school anyway—just marry off in the end.”

“Mom, it’s just a little fish. Not a big deal. I’ll catch more next time. Let’s just have a peaceful meal, alright?” Su Changrong tried to smooth things over.

Sun Qiufang also spoke up for her daughter, “Minzi just recovered. Can’t she eat something to build up her strength?”

“Hmph. You dare talk about her getting sick?” Grandma seized the chance. Her face went cold as she glared at Sun Qiufang. “The job went to Changfu, and you threw a tantrum over it. If you hadn’t, would Minzi have fallen ill?”