Chapter 2: Awakening
Gu Jinli’s head ached terribly, and her ears were filled with noisy sounds—people talking, footsteps of travelers, shouting, cursing, and the sounds of banging woodblocks and drums.
Gu Jinli was puzzled; she was already dead, so how could she still hear sounds and think normally?
She wanted to open her eyes to see what was going on but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t open them. Her mind was like a revolving lantern, constantly flashing with many memories, some hers and some of a little girl in ragged hemp clothes.
At first, she had no idea what was happening, until three days later, she figured out what these memories in her mind represented.
She had been reborn, reborn into the body of this little girl after death.
The little girl was also named Gu Jinli, sharing both her first and last names... but the villagers all called her by her nickname, Gu Xiaoyu, a villager from Gu Family Village in Gaoshui County of Long’an Prefecture, Northwest Great Chu Dynasty.
Her father, Gu Dashan, her mother, Mrs. Cui, her elder sister, Gu Jinxiu and elder brother, Gu Jin’an who were twins, both fourteen this year, and a younger brother, Gu Jincheng—all of them were currently escaping famine on the road.
The Old Gu Family had four branches; her father was from the first branch, followed by the second, third, and fourth uncles.
𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Besides, there were three aunts, with only one biological aunt named Gu Daya, a twin to Father Gu, who married in Lin County and didn’t join their escape.
Granny Gu was a widow who remarried; the eldest aunt was brought by Granny Gu, and the youngest aunt was a late-life daughter of Elder Gu and Granny Gu, greatly favored, now escaping famine together with their family.
The little girl was beaten by the five Niu brothers over a sweet potato and died like that; she had been born again and had been unconscious all along.
During these three days of unconsciousness, Father Gu and Gu Jin’an had been carrying her as they traveled on foot. Many disaster victims advised them to abandon her, and Granny Gu even cursed harshly, mocking that they were dragging along a dead person, but Father Gu and his son didn’t listen and insisted on carrying her with them... This kindness, she remembered and would definitely repay.
As for the five Niu brothers, since she had taken over the original owner’s body, she would avenge her!
In her previous life, Gu Jinli was a military doctor, knowing that the growing clarity in her mind indicated that the blood clots in her brain were dissipating, a sign that she would soon wake up. Indeed, on the evening of the third day, her heavy eyelids finally opened.
What she saw were fires, each surrounded by a group of ragged, skeletal disaster victims; some were exhausted and resting on straw mats, some nibbling on dry rations, some chewing dry beans, and some families, out of food, had to eat boiled tree leaves for sustenance.
The Gu Dashan family didn’t even have boiled tree leaves but just chewed dry leaves, bitter and astringent, yet they seemed very satisfied.
The youngest, Brother Cheng, even said smiling: "Dad, Mom, tonight’s leaves are half-green, they’re juicy." Unlike yesterday’s ones, all withered and dry, with a rotten taste of dry leaves.
Gu Jinli felt a stab of heartache and opened her mouth to call out: "Dad... Mom... elder brother, elder sister, little brother."
Her voice was hoarse, and speaking made her throat feel as if it was splitting with pain, but she persisted in calling out.
Hearing her voice, Mrs. Cui, shocked, dropped the tree leaves from her hands and turned around, crying as she saw Gu Xiaoyu, awake and sitting up, and rushed forward to embrace her: "Mom’s Xiao Yu has finally awakened."
Gu Dashan was so excited that his hands trembled—Xiao Yu had finally come back to life.
Gu Jincheng was terrified that Second Sister would die, and when he saw her wake up, he threw himself onto Gu Jinli, crying, "Wuu, Second Sister is alive, Second Sister didn’t die... Second Sister, don’t die, Brother Cheng can find food for himself now, you don’t need to find food for Brother Cheng anymore."
Second Sister was knocked out by the Niu Family brothers for protecting the sweet potatoes she had exchanged for him.
"Xiao Yu." Gu Jinxiu’s voice choked, she had been worried about Gu Xiaoyu all these days, fearing that she would not wake up.
Gu Jin’an was the happiest. The fourteen-year-old teenager, starved so that his body was thin and his face sunburnt and peeling but red and black, showed a joyful smile and asked, "Xiao Yu, are you hungry?"
Gu Jin’an glanced towards where the Old Gu Family were, and seeing that the whole family had already gone to sleep, he dared to take out a small bag of beans he had hidden and handed it to Gu Xiaoyu, "Quick, eat. These beans are what Brother kept for Xiao Yu, they have already been roasted under the firepit."
Everyone was lacking water, and these past few days, very few families had been cooking; they were all eating roasted food.
After experiencing the ordeal of not being able to obtain essential food, Gu Jin’an became shrewd and started to hoard food secretly, although he didn’t hide much, just a bit at a time.
Gu Jinli looked at the beans wrapped in a few dry leaves—twenty or so soybeans, mung beans, and black beans—and then looked at the surrounding family members who were all severely lean, grabbed the beans, distributed a few to each person, and said, "Let’s eat together." Her voice was still hoarse and difficult to understand.
Gu Dashan hurriedly took out a bamboo tube, opened the plug on the tube, and handed the bamboo tube to Gu Jinli: "Xiao Yu, drink quickly, this is our family’s water."
On the run from famine, water was as precious as food. There was only a little left in the bamboo tube; they had been enduring as much as they could and only dared to sip a little, fearing that once the water ran out, Xiao Yu would not survive if she had nothing to drink.
Seeing that they had not eaten the beans, and she had not drunk the water, Gu Jinli insisted, "Let’s eat together."
Gu Dashan and the others couldn’t persuade her otherwise; they ate the beans and each drank a mouthful of water. Gu Jinli then ate the remaining beans, drank two more sips of water, and returned the bamboo tube to Gu Dashan.
Gu Dashan said, "Xiao Yu, drink a few more sips, Daddy will go find water tomorrow, our family won’t run out of water, feel free to drink."
Gu Jinli knew that the current water was very precious, and there were only a few sips left in the bamboo tube, intended for emergency use. So, she shook her head, "Daddy, I’m not thirsty, I don’t need to drink too much water."
Gu Jin’an, worried about Gu Jinli’s injuries, told Gu Dashan, "Daddy, I’ll go and bring Doctor Du to see Xiao Yu."
"Daddy will go with you." Brother An was just fourteen years old, and as a father, it was proper for him to make the visit to the doctor.
Mrs. Cui handed the bamboo tube to Gu Dashan, "Take this water with you, for Doctor Du."
Over the past three days, Doctor Du had been coming daily to perform acupuncture on Gu Xiaoyu to reduce her blood stasis; their family had only managed to give half a bowl of mixed grains on the first night. Now they could only offer water as a consultation fee.
This was the last of the water they had, crucial for their survival, yet Gu Dashan did not hesitate; he took the bamboo tube and headed off with Gu Jin’an to fetch Doctor Du.
Doctor Du, hearing that Gu Xiaoyu had awakened, hurried over, took her pulse, examined her pupils, and checked her bandaged wounds. He asked her a few questions, "Do you feel dizzy? Does your head hurt? Are there things you can’t remember?"
Gu Jinli answered one by one, "Not dizzy, my head still hurts a bit... Some things I can’t remember very clearly."
She had Gu Xiaoyu’s memories in her mind, but she had not personally experienced those recollections. Concerned she might give herself away, she followed Doctor Du’s questions.