Chapter Two: Family Bonds

After that strange voice disappeared once more, it never returned. Wei Hua slept soundly, and when he awoke, the small room was already crowded with people. They were all Wei Hua’s relatives: the sisters and brothers-in-law he had seen yesterday, as well as nieces and nephews he hadn’t met before. A couple of the children even appeared to be several years older than himself.

Upon seeing that Wei Hua had awakened, his eldest sister, tears still on her cheeks, smiled and asked, “Little Nine! How are you feeling now? Do you know that yesterday you didn’t even recognize your own sister? You frightened me terribly. Can you remember me now? Little Nine, you mustn’t let anything happen to you! If something were to go wrong, how could I ever face our parents in the afterlife?”

The other sisters all chimed in with their own anxious greetings. Wei Hua looked at these so-called sisters, brothers-in-law, nephews, and nieces. They still had no idea that the soul within this body was no longer that of their kin, but one from a later era. He himself had no idea how to face these people. Yet, he was deeply moved by their concern for him.

Wei Hua remembered his dream from the night before with perfect clarity. He knew that something strange had happened to him. His journey through time was not without cause; he had been brought to this world by some so-called biological computer from an alien universe, his soul crossing into another body. Whether the biological computer could send him back home, he did not know, but from his reading of fantasy novels, he guessed the chances were slim to none. Even if it could, the computer itself had malfunctioned and who knew how long repairs would take. All evidence suggested he would have to live in this world for some time, perhaps even for the rest of his life. In that case, these people would become his family.

“Eldest sister, I’m fine now. There’s nothing wrong with me, you don’t have to worry,” Wei Hua said.

“Little Nine, you’re alright? Eldest sister, Little Nine is better!” his eighth sister called out. The other sisters all looked toward the eldest, who stared in amazement at Wei Hua and said, “Little Nine, say a few more words so I can hear.”

“Eldest sister, I truly am well. I don’t know why, but when I woke up this morning, everything that used to confuse me became clear. I feel different than before,” Wei Hua replied.

“Wonderful! Our ancestors must be watching over us! Third, Fourth, look—Little Nine really is better, he’s not the same as before. Listen to how clearly he speaks now! We must burn more offerings for our ancestors to thank them for their blessings!” The reason Wei Hua dared to speak this way was because he’d already noticed they lived in a small mountain village. In this era, villagers were generally not highly educated; they were genuine, rural folk to their core. Even though the “Smash the Four Olds” movement had occurred, they still believed in miracles, gods, and other supernatural forces. So Wei Hua’s sudden recovery did not seem strange to them—they would attribute it all to the blessings of the divine.

Wei Hua did not bother to ask what year it was, for he’d already pieced together the general era. He deduced that he was living in the late 1960s or early 1970s. This conclusion was based on the portrait in the room, the mention of “the commune”—a term loaded with historical significance—that he’d heard from his sisters, and their talk of earning work points. Though Wei Hua had been born in the 1980s, his writing had required him to collect information about that unique period. The rural land contract system began in the 1980s, so he judged that he must be in the 1970s or late 1960s, especially since the portrait bore the words “Cultural Revolution.”

Once it was clear that Wei Hua was truly recovered, his relatives began to disperse, leaving only his seventh and eighth sisters to help him get dressed. Before Wei Hua’s arrival in this world, these two had always been responsible for dressing young Wei Hua. As his seventh sister lifted the quilt, a foul stench wafted from the bedding and from Wei Hua himself. She laughed and asked, “Little Nine, did you soil the bed again last night? Why do you smell so bad? You’re not a child anymore, you’re already ten years old. Aren’t you embarrassed? Hurry up and take off your clothes so I can wash them. Eighth sister, go heat some water so Little Nine can bathe—otherwise, his stench will suffocate us all.”

Wei Hua’s face flushed red. He knew, of course, that he hadn’t done what his seventh sister accused him of, but the stench from his body was undeniable. He was about to protest when he suddenly remembered the events of his dream the previous night. Could it be that he really had been transformed? He hastily pulled off his shirt, revealing a thin body wrapped in a grimy black layer that stank so badly even he almost vomited. But Wei Hua was overwhelmingly relieved, for he understood that he truly had been changed; everything in the dream was real. Suddenly, he no longer worried about his future.

Before long, his seventh and eighth sisters came in, carrying a large wooden tub. His eighth sister poured hot water into it, then added some cold to temper the heat, and said, “Little Nine, come here. Let eighth sister help you undress. Get in the tub and wash yourself—look at all that filth on you! Where did you even get so dirty?”

Wei Hua, who now inhabited the body of the once-feebleminded little Wei Hua, was in fact an adult at heart. There was no way he would let himself appear naked in front of girls who were, to him, still virtual strangers. Yesterday, he had been stripped by his sisters only because he’d had no power to resist. Now, he was determined not to let such an embarrassing scene happen again.