Volume One, Chapter Two: Repay the Debt or Risk Your Life

Since they were relatives, Yu Nian'an did not come straight to the point. Instead, she spared him a shred of dignity and called him aside after Yu Dingguo came out.

“The money you borrowed from me, all told, comes to two hundred yuan. I’m giving you three days to gather it.”

Yu Dingguo froze, not quite understanding what she meant.

Yu Nian'an, noticing the auntie over there casting glances their way from time to time, saw that he still had no reaction and had no patience left to circle around with him.

“If, after three days, you still don’t return the money you swindled out of me, I’ll go to the commune and accuse you of sexual misconduct and trying to cheat a child out of her inheritance. If it comes to it, we’ll both go down together!”

When Yu Dingguo had gone looking for Yu Nian'an, several times he had been seen by villagers passing by. If this really blew up at the commune, there would surely be talk.

By then, no matter how eloquent he was, the outcome probably would not be any better.

She was betting on the fact that Yu Dingguo was afraid of trouble.

“Nian'an, what’s gotten into you today?”

Yu Dingguo thought she was joking and did not take it seriously.

“Two days.”

Seeing that he was still acting like this, Yu Nian'an could not be bothered to waste words. “If you still don’t agree, then in two days I’ll go to the commune.”

“Nian'an, you—”

“Tomorrow.”

As she spoke those two words, Yu Nian'an even found time to give the auntie over there a reassuring smile. Seeing that Yu Dingguo still had not made up his mind, she turned to leave.

Realizing she was serious, panic flared in Yu Dingguo’s heart. He hurriedly grabbed her arm. “Nian'an, Nian'an, don’t make a scene. I’m begging you. From now on, I’ll come see you every day.”

Clearly, Yu Dingguo had pinned all of this on the fact that he had not come to see her these past few days.

Yu Nian'an let out a mocking laugh, shot him a glare, and pulled her hand free.

“Come see me if you want, but don’t forget to bring the money.”

Every word was about money. Yu Dingguo snapped in exasperation and lowered his voice to roar, “Where am I supposed to get you that much money?”

“I don’t care whether you steal it, rob it, or trick your own mother out of it. If I don’t see the money tomorrow, then we’ll meet at the commune!”

With that, Yu Nian'an waved to the auntie and turned to leave.

Once she was gone, the auntie walked over with a worried look. “Son, could it be that the girl got angry because of that matter with the door?”

Yu Dingguo did not answer. He stared fixedly in the direction Yu Nian'an had left until, after a long while, he finally let out a heavy breath.

“It’s nothing, Mother. I’m going out for a bit.”

The auntie nodded and returned beneath the clothesline to continue hanging laundry.

By then, Yu Nian'an’s stomach had also begun to protest. It made sense; since waking up in this body, she had not taken a single sip of water. Thinking of this, she quickened her steps back home and headed straight for the kitchen beside the house.

There was an old-fashioned bellows stove, a few scattered pieces of firewood stacked to one side, and only five earthen bowls in the cupboard, three of them chipped. Looking further down, she found plenty of coarse rice in the grain jar, along with several palm-sized sweet potatoes. It seemed this was the original owner’s diet all along.

Aside from these, she found nothing else.

At the back door of the kitchen stood a makeshift shed. Yu Nian'an stepped outside to take a look; it was a dug-out latrine, screened off with a cloth curtain, with a ditch cut along the outer edge. Bathing was also done there.

The kitchen and the toilet were connected. Yu Nian'an’s expression shifted repeatedly, but for a long while she could not overcome the discomfort in her heart and eventually turned back to the main room.

Sitting on the kang and eating a peeled raw sweet potato, Yu Nian'an began to think about what to do next.

The kitchen could no longer be used. The urgent thing was to get that money back and hire someone to renovate these two places properly.

She made a rough estimate; every step ahead would cost a great deal.

What was more, if she remembered correctly, the original owner still had to go out to work.

Though she had always believed that once one was here, one should settle here, and her adaptability was strong, she had always been a desk-bound wage worker before. When had she ever done farm work?

At the thought of that, Yu Nian'an’s headache only worsened.

How she wished time could turn back. Then she would definitely restrain herself and never type out that scathing review.

But then a whistle sounded outside, shattering that fantasy.

It was time to go to work.

With resignation, she climbed down from the kang. It was July, and the wheat had just been harvested. Now they only needed to go to the fields and weed the sorghum, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and other crops still standing.

The work was considered light. Yu Nian'an followed her memory to the field, where many people had already arrived one after another.

The original owner had been a quiet sort, so no one came up to talk to her.

The sun was still rather fierce. Yu Nian'an wiped away a sheen of sweat and began bending down to pull out the weeds sprouting from the field.

Fortunately, the work was simple and required no skill for the time being. She found her rhythm after only a short while, and with the novelty of the experience, she worked with real energy.

Before long, one-third of the area had already been cleared.

“Well now, what’s gotten into our little An’er today? Working so hard, are you?” The aunties in the neighboring fields took a break from time to time, and when they glanced over, they were surprised to see her behaving so unlike usual.

Yu Nian'an also knew that the original owner, shaken by the death of her parents, had lost all interest in everything. Half the time during work she would simply stare into space. Her actions now had surely shattered that image.

But if she was to live here for the long haul, sooner or later people would notice the difference. Rather than hiding and covering up, it was better to lay it all bare at once.

“Auntie, everyone else is working. I can’t very well slack off and drag people down, can I?”

Her words were flawless, leaving no room for fault. The aunties nearby all looked startled, and a few exchanged sly looks.

Had the girl from the Yu family been stimulated by something again?

Ignoring the occasional scrutinizing glances from around her, Yu Nian'an focused only on her own task.

Now that she occupied the status of an orphan, the production brigade had relaxed its policies for her, and her work points were calculated according to male labor. If she completed a full day, she could earn four fen more than the other women.

Thinking of the empty cupboard at home, Yu Nian'an moved even faster. Only when the whistle for the end of work sounded did she finally straighten the stiffened ache in her back and go to the scorekeeper to have her attendance recorded.

Altogether, she had earned six work points, which came to twelve fen. However much or little, it was still income, and that greatly soothed the fatigue left by the day’s labor.

By the time she returned home from the fields, the sun had completely set. Yu Nian'an was exhausted to the point of collapse. Fortunately, with the weather so hot, she simply used the cool water in the cistern to wash up. After a quick tidying, she bolted the door and lay back down on the kang.

With no other form of entertainment in the seventies, Yu Nian'an could only review the plot before sleeping.

By her reckoning, the male and female leads were almost here. After that, the female lead would clash with another female educated youth, be ostracized and framed, and in the end be forced to move out.

Fortunately, she had arrived early, and this house had been saved.

Just as she was on the verge of drifting off, a strange sound came from outside. It was the creak of that decrepit wooden door, sharp and grating in the stillness of the night.

It startled Yu Nian'an so badly that she jolted awake and sat up at once.