After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Doctor Zhou squatted down, examined Lin Qianqian's eyelids, and took her pulse, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. After a long while, he sighed, "She's lost too much blood. I'll stop the bleeding first, then prescribe some medicine. Whether she wakes up... depends on her fate."

He took some herbs from his medicine box, mashed them, and applied them to the wound on Lin Qianqian's head, then wrapped it tightly with strips of cloth. Lin Qianqian remained motionless, as if she were dead.

Lin Yulong stared at his sister's face, his eyes unblinking.

Dr. Zhou wrote out a prescription and then took out a few packets of medicine from his medicine box: "This medicine, decoct in boiling water and take three times a day. Feed it as much as you can."

Tiger's mother took the medicine, took out a few copper coins from her bosom, and stuffed them into Doctor Zhou's hand. Doctor Zhou waved his hand, glanced at the brother and sister on the ground, sighed, and left.

Tiger's mother put the medicine away and turned to look at Lin Yulong: "Ah Long, your injuries are quite severe. Why didn't you have a doctor take a look at you earlier?"

Lin Yulong shook his head: "Auntie, it's just a superficial injury, nothing serious. Just let my sister see it—I can't pay back any more money."

Tiger's mother opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back. After a while, she stood up with the medicine in her hands: "You can't brew the medicine like this. I'll take it back to your sister to brew, and have Tiger bring it over later."

"Thank you, Auntie." Lin Yulong was about to kneel again when Tiger's mother grabbed him.

"Stop kneeling, just stay and protect your sister."

Tiger's mother and Ding Xiaohu left.

The woodshed fell silent, save for the sound of the wind whistling through the pigsty and the faint barking of dogs in the distance. Lin Yulong leaned against his sister, gazing at her face. As the light grew dimmer, her face became increasingly blurry, until finally only a pale, indistinct outline remained.

He gripped her hand even tighter.

"Sister, wake up quickly..." he whispered, "I'm all alone, and I'm scared."

Outside the woodshed, Ding Yuxiang and Lin Yuanyuan were peering through the window and heard the whole conversation.

Once everyone had gone far away, Ding Yuxiang straightened up, patted the dirt off her knees, and showed an expression that was hard to describe as either relief or something else.

Lin Yuanyuan tugged at her sleeve: "Mother, she also called a doctor. Where did she get the money? Did she buy it on credit?"

"Who cares?" Ding Yuxiang walked into the house. "I don't have the money to pay her back anyway."

It's good that she's not dead. If she were, there would be no one to do the work at home. In another year, we'll find a matchmaker and sell this girl—she's thirteen, we can get quite a bit of money from her.

As she thought about it, a slight smile appeared on her lips.

Ding Xiaohu ran in from the woodshed carrying a bowl of medicine.

"Quick, quick, feed him while it's hot!"

The two men helped Lin Qianqian up, and she leaned against Lin Yulong's shoulder. Ding Xiaohu spooned food into her mouth. Half of it went in, and half came out, but at least she swallowed some.

After feeding them, the two of them stayed by their side.

"He should be able to wake up by now, right?" Ding Xiaohu asked.

"Definitely," Lin Yulong said decisively, then paused, adding somewhat uncertainly, "Brother Hu, don't you think so?"

Ding Xiaohu paused for a moment, then scratched his head: "Of course! Sister Qianqian is a good person. My mother said that good people are always blessed."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Qianqian suddenly coughed.

He coughed twice, then coughed again, and then suddenly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Lin Yulong was startled, then overjoyed: "Sister! Sister, you're awake!"

Lin Qianqian ignored him. She stared blankly at the dark beams above her head, as if she didn't recognize where she was.

Wasn't she just listening to a stand-up comedy show at the theater? Laughing so hard she was breathless, then everything went black—how did she end up here? What kind of backwater film crew is this? The set is so realistic! This dilapidated roof, this musty smell, these straw mats…

"Sister Qianqian?" Ding Xiaohu leaned closer, waving his hand in front of her eyes. "How many is this?"

Lin Qianqian's eyes darted around, and she saw a finger poking in front of her face. She blurted out instinctively, "Two?"

Ding Xiaohu's face turned pale. He turned to look at Lin Yulong and said, "It's over, it's over, he's lost his mind!"

Lin Qianqian: "..."

No, what kind person would point to a single finger and ask, "How many is this?"

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, when suddenly a sharp pain shot through her head, as if she had been hit with a hammer—a flood of memories rushed in, making her see stars.

She's no longer going to film sets.

She traveled through time.

I laughed so hard I almost died. I was watching a stand-up comedy show and I was so excited I could hardly breathe.

She transmigrated into the body of a thirteen-year-old village girl. This girl, also named Lin Qianqian, had just been knocked unconscious by her stepmother with a stone; blood was everywhere, and she was on the verge of death—

She's here.