Li Wei felt as though she was floating in the vacuum of space. No matter how much she struggled and screamed, no one could hear her.
The void was devoid of light and direction, and she had no idea where she was.
Suddenly, she heard the voice of a little girl saying: “Take my place and live on.”
“Who are you? Why do I have to live in your place?” Li Wei asked, but the voice had already disappeared. It was at the moment that Li Wei noticed a hint of light in the distance. As she walked towards it, it grew brighter and brighter.
She finally opened her eyes and saw a massive glass bottle, propped on a vertical metal stick, beside her. Below the glass bottle was a long tube. There seemed to be a fluid streaming down the tube, all the way to… the back of her hand! Was it flowing into her body?
Li Wei turned her head and noticed that she was in a white room. She was on a strange looking bed and a young man sat in front of her and according to her new memories, this was Li Jianping, the original body's big brother.
Li Jianping began comforting his sister immediately after he noticed she had woken. “It’s okay. The doctor said you were a little anemic. You should be fine after getting a bit more vitamins. When we go back, let’s have a good meal. Don’t do something so study again. Let the past go; It is no longer important.”
Still, a little confused, Li Wei glanced at the long tube and pondered, 'what sort of evil magic is this?' Li Wei's thoughts shifted to her earlier encounter, that timid voice… Who was she supposed to replace… the teenage girl? But, she still has to… ah! She still has to enact vengeance on her enemies. Besides, the emperor was still young. If he is left at the mercy of those people, it would be very unfortunate for him.
Suddenly, the voice hidden deep in her heart replied gently, “Take my place here, and I will live as you, back in your time.”
Was this an exchange of souls with some else? Li Wei felt strange; her situation was beyond belief.
Perhaps, due to a lack of food the past few days, Li Wei had no strength. As soon as the fluid in the glass bottle finished, Li Jianping hollered, “Nurse! The drip has finished!”
A short while later, a woman — dressed in a white gown and wore a white hat — walked over. Li Wei became a little scared and stared at the strange woman nervously.
The nurse traced the tube to a needle at the back of Li Wei's hand. She slowly pulled out the needle and pressed a cotton wool over the emerging drop of blood. The nurse turned to Li Wei and said, “Hold the cotton and press down gently, for a little while.”
Li Jianping turned to his sister and said, “Let's go back."
Li Wei nodded and instinctively followed her brother out of the white room, down the stairs, and through a small garden.
Li Jianping took out a small key from his back pocket, unlocked a chain, and pulled his bicycle out. He turned back and found his sister acting a little strangely. She stood quite still and watched the people on the street, with wide eyes.
“Umm… let's go back” He asked. Startled, Li Wei quickly came over to the bicycle and stood still again. Li Jianping was puzzled; he had never seen Li Wei act this strange before. "Why don’t you hop on the bike?"
Li Wei felt confused and embarrassed. Did he want her to sit on the iron rack? Maybe it’s called “cart”? She hesitated for a moment. Although she found this contraption new, she still thought it was quite strange. However, she followed Li Jianping’s suggestion and quietly sat behind him.
“Sit tight!” Li Jianping instructed and immediately began to peddle — almost shaking Li Wei to the ground. In a panic, she grabbed Jianping's shirt, in time, and didn't fall. She was startled stiff and squeezed his shirt, refusing to let go.
The bell of a bicycle echoed down the road. By then, Li Wei had calmed down and now found the bicycle quite interesting. No horses, no donkeys, and this thing could still move. As long as someone stepped on the pedal, the front and rear wheels would rotate and move the bicycle forward.
And it wasn't slow at all!
The confusion and unease in her heart were soon replaced by the astonishment.
Liu Chunzhi and Li Minghua were both at home when the siblings arrived. When Liu Chunzhi saw the siblings’ return, she asked, “Is Wei alright?”
Li Jianping replied before Li Wei could say a word. “The doc said she’s fine. She just needs to rest awhile, and she'll be fine.”
“Amitābha” Liu Chunzhi whispered.
Li Minghua didn’t speak to his daughter. Instead, when he looked outside and saw that the bicycle had been returned, he got on it and left.
A short while later, Liu Chunzhi had set up the table and proceeded to serve the siblings their meal.
As she sat by the table, made of who knows what kind of wood, Li Wei felt really hungry; she needed to eat a hearty meal. (T/N: That's the exact translation from the raws, weird huh?)
Liu Chunzhi proceeded to serve her daughter a bowl of rice. Li Wei took the rice and gazed at the two dishes on the table. A bowl of stir-fried cabbage, and a bowl of mixed dried tofu. Her empty stomach didn't allow her to be picky. With her chopsticks, Li Wei dug into the bowl of rice. Surprisingly, the rice contained rich components: beans, peanuts, chopped pork skin, and pickles. Suddenly, she remembered what she had heard from the box — today is Laba Festival.
…
After a long day, Li Wei had realized something; she may never return back to the Qi Dynasty. Had she really exchanged souls with someone in this strange time? Would she still be able to return and have her revenge? The emperor was young and still needed her support. The previous emperor had entrusted everything to her. She couldn’t abandon all these.
Late night arrived, but Liu Chunzhi didn't share the bed with her daughter again, so Li Wei was alone. However, she couldn't sleep.
Voices could be heard from the next room
On the other side of Li Wei's room, the Li family's husband and wife had not slept. Liu Chunzhi informed her husband that she had redrawn Li Wei from school.
Li Minghua finished smoking a cigarette, snuffed it out and casually replied, “If she doesn’t have to go to school anymore, she can stay at home and help out, for a few years. As soon as she's 18 years old, she can be married off; then, she won't be our problem anymore.”
Li Minghua never really cared about his daughter; he only cared about his eldest son, Li Jianping.
Liu Chunzhi retorted, “It was me who had to go see to her withdrawal. Today, while I was there, I almost died of shame. I was so embarrassed to even raise my head.”
Li Minghua didn't reply, but Liu Chunzhi continued to talk, “This is good. Now that she’s back, I can watch her so she won’t do any more stupid things. This time, she really stirred up some trouble. If she jumps into the river again, our family will become a laughing stock.”
“I do not care what our daughter thinks. That is for you, her mother, to worry about. However, if you think about it, your actions were a bit too cruel. If you had used a bit more strength, you would have broken her leg. If she became disabled, how could we marry her off?"
Liu Chunzhi bowed her head in regret: “Her jumping into the river has already stirred up so much trouble; I won’t dare to hit her again. Let us just hope she becomes more sensible as she grows up.”
Soon, the conversation between husband and wife grew softer. Li Wei didn't hear all of it; however, the bit she did hear left her heart full of roaring waves. What crime had the original body committed to such a huge beating from her mother? She tried to recall, the memory was vague and incoherent.
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