In the 27th year of Huian, a devastating drought and flood struck Lingnan, affecting the entire Six Prefectures and Eighteen States. Over a thousand miles, not a blade of grass survived, the dead littered the fields; in the townships, nine out of every ten homes were emptied, either by residents fleeing north in search of a way to live or by turning to banditry, wreaking havoc among the people, bringing the disaster all the way to the Capital, causing an uproar throughout the court...
When Mo Yan regained consciousness, she felt an uncomfortable hardness beneath her. She opened her eyes groggily, only to be blinded by the glaring sunlight, which brought tears to her eyes.
"Big sister, big sister has woken up, second sister, come quickly, big sister has woken up!"
A sharp child’s voice by her ear startled Mo Yan so much that she sat up abruptly, and before she could see who was speaking, a small figure threw itself at her. She instinctively tried to dodge but failed, and she was toppled over, her head hitting the ground hard. Stars burst before her eyes, nearly causing her to pass out from the pain.
Following that, another excited shout: "Ah—big sister, big sister has woken up, she’s really woken up!"
Before Mo Yan could even ponder why she was still alive, she was thoroughly confused by the two sudden calls of "big sister": she was an only child, with no siblings!
Just as the thought crossed her mind, her head felt as if it was being pierced by needles, and a flurry of strange and chaotic memories flooded into her mind. The pain caused her to sweat profusely, and she almost fainted, her already pale face turning ashen.
Seeing their sister in pain, Mo Xin and Mo Zhen were too scared to move. Six-year-old Mo Zhen thought he had hurt his sister and cried in fear, anxiously clutching his second sister’s hand, "Second sister, big sister is in so much pain, Zhenzhen didn’t mean it!"
Nine-year-old Mo Xin, too anxious to comfort her trembling younger brother, quickly sat down and placed her sister’s head on her lap, gently massaging it over and over, murmuring, "Big sister, it doesn’t hurt, Xin Er will rub it for you, a rub will make it go away—"
Although her head hurt so much she wished she could bang it against a wall, Mo Yan was conscious. Combining the strange memories that had surged into her mind, she realized, albeit in a muddled state, that she had been reborn into the body of a thirteen-year-old girl. Coincidentally, the girl’s name was the same as hers, and the two children before her were that girl’s younger siblings!
Mo Yan looked at Mo Xin, who seemed so grown-up, and an inexplicable sourness filled her heart. She forced herself to endure the discomfort and managed a weak smile to reassure her, "Xin Er, don’t worry, sister is feeling much better now. Go and soothe Zhenzhen, don’t let him be too frightened!"
Seeing that her sister was able to talk with her made Mo Xin extremely happy, thinking that her massaging had been effective. She became even gentler in her movements and looked up to her brother, shouting, "Zhenzhen, come here, big sister is all right now, stop crying!"
Mo Zhen, who had been crying breathlessly, heard his second sister’s words and quickly wiped his face. Seeing his big sister smiling at him, he sat down on the ground and burst into tears again!
This time, he was crying from joy!
As Mo Yan had almost fully processed these memories, her headache eased. Looking around, she found herself on a small hill. Based on the knowledge of her predecessor, combined with the sight of the emaciated Mo Xin and Mo Zhen, looking as if they had just come from an African refugee camp, she had to accept the harsh reality before her.
Indeed, they were on the run, and it had been over a month now.
Originally, it was a family of four fleeing together, but now only the three of them remained. Could it be their father had deemed them a burden and abandoned them, fleeing alone?
It wasn’t that she had a dark mind, but human nature is the most unpredictable thing. Although their real father had been very loving, throughout the fleeing journey, too many people couldn’t bear it; they abandoned their sick and elderly or children on the road and left alone. She couldn’t be certain that their real father wouldn’t do the same.