Chapter 1: 1

The building was made of mud bricks. Long and rectangular in shape, it was divided into three equal parts. The middle section housed the main hall and dining area where people would gather, while both ends housed bedrooms. Yu Cailing stayed in the east wing in a very simple room whose yellow plastered walls were polished till they were bright and clean. A large square stove that looked like it was made from clay was built into the floor, and though its design was simple, it kept one warm enough. Although Yu Cailing was usually calm by nature, what followed had almost made her nearly faint with fright…..

There was neither bedframe nor chairs in the room, just a flat varnished wooden board laid on the floor, taking up one-third of the room. Spread over it on one side was what looked like a layer of bedding, and beside it, a few round seat cushions and a very small square table for meals. Yu Cailing had seen a few old movies by Akira Kurosawa before, and felt like she was in a similarly barren, ancient Japanese interior. When she first woke up more than ten days ago, besides having a splitting headache, this very thought so terrified her that she lost consciousness again, wishing she was dead.

Actually, she came from a very small, 1800-tiered town* in Jiangnan. It was situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains, and had its own dialect and customs. It was so remote they had never seen foreigners, other than the two who had somehow braved the mountains and the rivers. It was only when the young people working in the big cities outside returned home and described them that they learnt that those were foreign invaders. This filled old Village Chief Li with righteous indignation, and he told the villagers to give them sweet potatoes, yams and radish filled with rat poison the next time they encountered them. Unfortunately, no foreign devils came again, and the rat poison never got used.
*There’s actually no 1800 tiered town in China so author seems to be exaggerating how small her hometown was.

It was only after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, when the government cut through the mountains, laid road and built bridges and tunnels, that her village slowly emerged as a little mountain town.

“My lady, it’s time to take your medicine.” A middle-aged woman came into the room bearing a coarse wooden tray. Turning towards the small girl holding a thick pile of cloth in her hands, she said, “Ah Mei, put the curtain down. It’s cold outside.”

Yu Cailing hurriedly regained her senses and sat upright (in actual fact, knelt properly). The woman placed the tray on the table. On the tray were two bowls, one large, the other small. In the larger bowl was filled with hot medicinal soup, while the small bowl held three small pieces of candied fruit. Yu Cailing raised the clay bowl in silence and drank it all in one go, the soup’s bitterness filling her mouth. It was even more difficult to drink than DDVP*. Of course, she had never drunk DDVP before.
*An insecticide. One could probably surmise by now that Yu Cailing is from the future.

After that, she picked up the candied fruit, put it in her mouth and slowly sucked on it as she scrutinised the woman kneeling across from her. This woman asked Yu Cailing to call her Ning, but Yu Cailing wasn’t used to calling others using just one word – it reminded her of the term the hairdresser back in her town’s multicomplex used to call her, in a coquettish manner, as if she was calling one of her lovers – but since she was unfamiliar with the local customs, she dared not call her anyhow. Two days ago, she heard Ah Mei talk about how a neighbour’s child who was raving due to a nightmare was forced by a shaman to drink a burnt talisman dissolved in hot water and barely escaped with its life. Therefore, she could only swallow her words in fear and call the woman Ning.

The woman, Ning, had a strong squarish face with a solemn and respectful demeanor. Unlike her own thick cotton skirts which fell all the way down to the top of her feet, Ning was dressed in a grey linen short jacket which exposed her trousers from knee downwards, perhaps because it made it easier for her to work. As for the ten-year-old girl next to her, Ah Mei, her clothes were even simpler. She wore a short cotton coat and ran around the yard with her thick cotton trousers completely exposed.

More than ten days ago, Yu Cailing was lying semi-conscious on the mattress, her eyelids seeming to weigh thousands of pounds, when she heard a shrill female voice scolding, “You foolish and incompetent old woman! You’ve altogether neglected the task our mistress gave you. If something happens to the young lady, feeding you to the dogs won’t be enough!” Then, a girl whispered, “At the time, it was you who told me to ignore her, no matter how she shouted, scolded or threw a temper, that she’s here as punishment for her mistakes. We’re to curb her temper and prevent anyone from finding out…..” The shrill-voiced woman said, “Outrageous! Even if she committed wrongdoings, have you forgotten that she’s still the Master’s daughter?”

…..Yu Cailing felt dizzy and lay down again, only to be conscious of someone feeding her the medicinal soup. At the time, her will to live was very strong, so she did her best to swallow it down. In her daze, she heard the shrill-voiced woman laugh as she said, “….I won’t hide it from you, but this has become a hot potato and won’t be taken lightly. Now that she’s this ill, nobody wants to take responsibility so you come running to me…..”

Then came the slow and gentle voice of the woman, Ning, who smiled as she said, “If the young lady hadn’t become so ill, I wouldn’t have had this job. I just hope the master’s household will remember me and ensure a good future for my Ah Mei and Ah Liang.” After that the sound of copper coins clinking against each other could be heard, and the shrill-voiced woman said with satisfaction, “Alright, since you acknowledge this job as yours, then do it well.” With that, she left.

Despite her fever, Yu Cailing, who had an almost perfect score in logical thinking, could deduce that she was a young lady from an ancient noble family who was being punished in the village for some wrongdoing. The previous person responsible for taking care of the young lady didn’t do her job well. The young lady had fallen deathly ill, with a high fever, and so Ning had taken over the job.

When she first met the woman Ning, Yu Cailing tried using her extremely shallow knowledge of ancient times to figure things out. Based only on what she was wearing, her braids could have been from the Manchu period, or her bosom revealing costume could have been from the Tang period – she completely wouldn’t have minded being married to a dimwit or falling into into a ditch on a cold winter’s day! – but unfortunately, she could not in the least bit decipher which period the clothes were from. As a result, Yu Cailing was despondent for three days. It was only on the fourth day, after she recovered from her illness and followed Ah Mei to watch a wedding procession that she suddenly felt her spirits lift. Naturally, Ah Mei couldn’t figure out why the ordinarily despondent young lady seemed inexplicably cheerful then.
*This was a difficult paragraph to translate. I’m not sure I even got it right, because it doesn’t make sense to me. I just attribute it to the author’s unique sense of humor.

The woman Ning was also appraising Yu Cailing. In order to help her recover from her illness, they had prepared a lot of medicinal soup, which Ning herself found difficult to drink. But the young lady, other than involuntarily spitting it out the first time, always drank the medicinal soup without complaint, her jaw firm and her lips pursed in a resolute and strong-willed manner. As it was, Ning was reserved by nature, but she didn’t expect this little young mistress to be even more so. Other than exchanging a few words with Ah Mei, she was silent most of the day. This was completely different from how the others described her. This left Ning a little perplexed.

After Yu Cailing had her medicinal soup, the round-faced Ah Mei snuggled up to her and said coyly, “My lady, it’s nice and warm outside. Let’s go out and play.” Yu Cailing was also tired of tired of kneeling and nodded in agreement. The woman, Ning, smiled and said, “It’ll be good to soak in the sun, but today, the guards are not here, so don’t go far. Ask Ah Liang to follow you.”

Yu Cailing gave Ning a strange look. This woman was reserved, but today, not only did she say more than a few words, she actually allowed her to go out to play in the company of a boy not full-grown.

Ah Mei made a face at her mother before immediately helped Yu Cailing put on a pair of thick-soled cotton shoes with raised tips and wrapping her in a thick cloak, then holding hands happily, both girls went out to play.

As she walked outside the house, Yu Cailing took a deep breath, and cold icy air hit her face. The burning heat within her dissipated, and she was filled with pure, fresh, cold air. Raising her head towards the sky in this northern countryside, she realised that the blue skies and white clouds she learnt about in school weren’t lies. Looking at the sky high and wide above head, as clean and clear as iced water, Yu Cailing felt completely happy and carefree.

She turned back to look at the small courtyard. A wide fence wound expansively around it. Although it was a small country house, it had a high roof, and its three rooms stood tall and wide, without the slightest air of timidity. Such a tall and spacious house was nothing at all like those in a Japanese countryside.

Yu Cailing nodded with satisfaction. With little Ah Mei on one side, and a bouncing seven- or eight-year-old boy on the other, they were just about to leave the courtyard when she saw two horsemen approaching from a distance, cloaked in snow and dust. The sharp-eyed Ah Mei suddenly said, “It’s ah fu,…..and ah xiong.*” Then, pulling her hand loose, she raised her voice and shouted, “Ah fu! Ah xiong!“
*ah fu = father, ah xiong = elder brother

When the two horsemen arrived at the courtyard entrance, they neatly reined in their horses and dismounted. Seeing Yu Cailing, the leader, a middle-aged man, bowed his head, clasping his fists before him, and smiled as he said, “My lady.” The youth of seventeen or eighteen standing behind him followed suit in a similar manner.

Yu Cailing nodded, then raised her head, smiling as she said, “Fu Yi, you’re back.” The middle-aged man raised his bearded face, smiling broadly as he said, “My lady, are you going out to play? I just passed by a shrine dedicated to the river god. You should go and have a look.” Then, turning to his son, he said, “Deng, don’t go back to the house first. Go with them.” After replying softly, “All right”, the young man passed his horse’s bridle to his father, then followed Yu Cailing and her group out, the snow crunching under their footsteps.

Fu Yi was Ning’s husband. Previously, Yu Cailing had heard two guards referring to him as Leader Fu, so she had followed suit and called him Leader Fu, but that had frightened the man half to death, and he insisted that she can never call him that, no matter what. The first time she saw him, he had seemed intimate with Ning, and she thought he was her lover. It was only after some gossiping that she learnt that he was her legal husband.

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After leaving the courtyard, they headed west for about ten minutes before hearing the sound of running water from the stream and a gathering of people. Ahead of them was a small stream about ten meters wide. At its shallowest, it was about half a meter and so clear you could see the bottom. At its deepest, it was about three to four meters deep. Although it was a small stream, it was bountiful, with an unending supply of fish and shrimp throughout the year, supplying the villagers’ livelihood. On the shore not far upstream, the three elders of this small countryside village had urged the villagers to build a small shrine to worship the gods of the mountains, forests and streams, to seek their protection and pray for abundance.

As soon as she saw the shrine ahead, Ah Mei pulled Yu Cailing forward impatiently. Taking out two bunches of coins, Ah Mei bought a bamboo tube of joss sticks from the old shaman at the entrance, then bought some fruit Yu Cailing could not identify from a lady peddling out of a basket. Seeing Fu Deng’s handsome face, the lady peddler tossed a tangerine at him, flashing him a smile, and Fu Deng’s face immediately turned redder than the orange. However, Ah Mei smiled and said, “My brother is going to get married!” Yu Cailing said teasingly, “Since you like him, why do you still charge us for the fruit?” The girl replied cheerfully, “Although he’s handsome, I still need to put food on the table.” This made the villagers and Yu Cailing’s group laugh.

The so-called shrine was essentially a building with two rooms, one facing front, the other facing the back. The villagers had seen Yu Cailing and her group several times. All they knew was that she was the daughter of a great family nearby, so they made way, asking them to enter. The front room was filled with smoke from the incense. Laid out on a high platform were a few grotesque and ferocious looking statues. Guanyin didn’t look like Guanyin, Jesus didn’t look like Jesus. There were even a few bloodstains at the feet of the statues. Beside it was a large wooden basin that held three to five chickens and ducks still in the throes of death, their legs still moving. Yu Cailing shook her head for the hundredth time. At the time, with the statue of gods so frightening, and methods of worship so primitive and crude, how did believers get into the spirit of worship and have an emotional connection? She wished she could teach these shamans to make several statues of kind-looking gods, to put some flowers and goldfish on the altar, and put on a show of singing hymns and reciting scriptures. This would have ensured a prosperous business with money that kept flowing*.
*translation of a Chinese couplet that literally translates to “prosperous business across all four seas, with money flowing through all three rivers”

But this was obviously just her own opinion. The women, children and old folk around here were obviously very comfortable. They were either kneeling or standing solemnly, their hands clasped before them as their lips moved in silent prayer. Ah Mei quickly handed her a few sticks of incense and pulled her down to kneel beside her on the straw mat.

Yu Cailing sighed with some emotion. The last time she worshipped in her previous life was when she went to climb a mountain with three roommates. The four young ladies had bowed devoutly before the statue of the Sanqing Buddha. Text message sister prayed for a full scholarship at the end of the term. Blogger sister prayed for the guy next door on whom she had a crush to break up with his girlfriend and get together with her. QQ sister hoped for an internship opportunity at NZND company. As for herself, she prayed that her 11th application for Party membership submitted the day before will be successful. Her uncle said that if she manages to join the Party, he will give her a (computer) notebook.

After a few repetitive prayers, the four of them stood up, recited Amitabha in unison and happily went out to play, none of them paying attention to the old woman kneeling beside them whose face bore a strange expression.

After her prayer, Yu Cailing stuck her joss sticks into the pot and sighed softly. From her point of view, it’s not clear if her prayer from her previous life had been realised. Her righteous and courageous life then had been cut short. If it hadn’t ended, would she have been admitted into the Party?! She also wondered if her three roommates realised their wishes. She really hated her bad luck. Well, the cooked ducks had already flown away*, and she was stern in her refusal when Ah Mei asked her to go into the main room to listen to the shaman explain the latest omens.
*Chinese phrase that’s similar to “missed the boat”, i.e. lost opportunity

The last time she encountered that shaman, he tricked her into conducting some witchcraft to get rid of demons and spirits. He probably heard that she was the daughter of a great family who had been driven out by her elders. Bah! He must have thought her a fool. Even if she was rich, she would rather learn from her frivolous nouveau-rich father to “save the wind and dust”* rather than relying on the gods. After all, “saving the wind and dust” can contribute to a harmonious society.
*救风尘, literally translated to “saving the wind and dust” is a comedy centred around a prostitute and her brothel. Loosely translated, it means “bringing laughter to those in the brothels”, which I guess in this context, author alludes to paying for the services of prostitutes.

“Everyone says that the shaman inside is powerful,” said Ah Mei while tugging on Yu Cailing’s sleeve. Yu Cailing’s expression was serious as she replied, “If he was really so powerful, then all the important people would have invited him. Why would he still need to remain in this small place?” Actually, after her frivolous father’s business started picking up, he began to believe in such supernatural matters, but the key is in finding the real McCoy in order not to end up putting your money on the wrong god.

“It’s hard to say. My mother told us that the Immortal Yan who once told His Majesty’s fortune, refused to be an official. He now lives in seclusion in the countryside, fishing every day, dressed in furs.” Ah Mei seemed to be quite knowledgeable about such things.

Fu Deng was not satisfied with this explanation and said, “That Immortal Yan was actually a Confucian master who was a first-class scholar several decades ago. Fortune telling was just his pastime and he wasn’t a shaman.”

In response, Ah Mei pulled a long face and said she was going to the stream to play. This made Ah Liang very happy, and both brother and sister dragged Yu Cailing out of the temple with them, making their way toward the stream.

The stream was full of children and teenagers, laughing and joking noisily. At the time, folk customs were simple, and their playing was limited to either skipping stones across the water, or braving the bone-chilling water to touch a few little crabs and shrimps. At the very most, they would step into the stream to play using homemade tall clogs. Seeing Ah Mei and Ah Liang playing by the shore, Yu Cailing took a few steps back, looked around, then spotting a large and dry boulder sitting in the sun, she went to sit on it with Fu Deng accompanying her, both in silence.

Yu Cailing glanced at him. The woman, Ning, was calm and never said a word unless it was necessary. Of the three children, only Fu Deng was most like her – in other words, it will be as difficult for her to enquire about her own current situation. Ah Mei and Ah Liang were still too young to be discrete, but if she asked too much, it might alarm their mother.

It didn’t take many days before Yu Cailing discovered that this society was a very superstitious one.

After she recovered from her illness, Ning had invited two shamans to sing and dance to praise the gods. She had also set up a new kitchen in the courtyard, sacrificed a lamb, and offered several plates of fruit to the kitchen god. Two days ago, when it was snowing heavily, Ning had solemnly offered up two jars of winter wine; Yu Cailing didn’t know whether it was for the snow to stop or for it to fall more heavily. The day before, the thick snow gradually melted revealing undergrowth, Ning happily sacrificed a pair of chicken and duck. Although Yu Cailing had never seen anyone sacrifice livestock before this day, she dared not simply ask questions. The most pitiful thing is that she didn’t even know the name of the person whose body she inhabited.

From ahead, the sound of laughter and Ah Mei’s shouting carried over. It sounded like a boy was bullying Ah Liang. To avenge her brother, Ah Mei picked up a piece of unmelted ice from among the grass and stuffed it into the back of the boy’s neck, causing him to leap around like a shrimp as the surrounding children laughed at him.

Yu Cailing smiled as well. Actually, she was very grateful to Ning’s family.

More than ten days ago, although she was groggy, she could tell that the surrounding environment wasn’t very good. She was lying on a very hard board, with very thin cotton wadding for padding. The entire room was cold and damp, and the air was filled with a very unpleasant smell. However, since Ning’s arrival, all her clothing and bedding were replaced with warm and thick quality materials. She had also found some village women and, with their help, carried a large stove over with great difficulty, so the room was now warm and cosy. After cleaning the room several times, Ning even fumigated the room, inch by inch, with mugwort, inspecting it after to make sure there were no bugs left behind. After that, she piled it high with wood and used it to boil medicinal soup to nurture Yu Cailing back to health. As Yu Cailing got better day by day, Ning herself got thinner and more tired.

But such a life-threatening illness was not so easy to cure, especially in ancient times, when the level of medical care was so low. Although Yu Cailing was in good spirits that day, she would still feel occasionally breathless, and she couldn’t walk fast, managing only a slow stroll. In order to keep her spirits up, Ning found an ox cart, and got two guards to use it to bring her and Ah Mei around for walks in the countryside.

Although Yu Cailing didn’t understand ancient customs very well, she knew that the servants of great families were of higher rank. For such an extraordinarily upright and careful woman like Ning to serve here in the countryside, there must have been a problem somewhere.

Well, since she was already there, she might as well make the best of it. One has to stay alive before one can begin thinking about how to live well. And it’s only when one is forced to leave one’s home that they feel cold and alone. Yu Cailing was self-centred and practical by nature. She couldn’t afford to be sentimental, not when she couldn’t even understand how to survive at that very moment.

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