“Waa—, waa—, waa—…”
The infant’s cries grew louder and louder, leaving Li Cuimei frantic as she tried every method to soothe the child, but nothing worked. The little one seemed deaf and blind to her efforts, crying incessantly without pause.
“Aunt, what’s wrong with Fang’er? Why won’t she stop crying?”
Her daughter had always been well-behaved and easy to care for, but today, from the moment she woke up, she had been crying nonstop. Li Cuimei was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.
Tong Shi was also puzzled, frowning in silence. She had never seen Lin Fang cry so uncontrollably before. Checking the child’s pulse, she found no signs of illness, so it must be some other need. The baby couldn’t speak, and perhaps her earlier gestures had gone unnoticed, leading to this desperate crying.
“Little sister wants to go outside.”
Lin Wu’s words struck a chord with the adults. Indeed, Lin Fang had been squirming and stretching her tiny arms toward the door while crying. Tong Shi picked her up and stepped outside, and sure enough, the crying subsided. But the moment Tong Shi turned to go back inside, Lin Fang began wailing again.
Tong Shi chuckled. “Haha, stop crying. Let’s go back inside to bundle up, and then Grandmother will take you to town today.”
After shamelessly throwing a tantrum, Lin Fang finally got her way and stopped crying. But having cried for so long, her nose was now stuffy, and her face was sticky with tears and snot. She wanted to ask for a wipe but could only produce more cries. Frustrated, she buried her face in Tong Shi’s chest, leaving a shiny wet patch on the front of her clothes.
Tong Shi didn’t mind. She patted Lin Fang’s bottom and teased, “You little rascal, it’s like you understand me. The moment I mentioned going out, you stopped crying.”
Lin Fang felt a bit embarrassed. With a soul in her thirties, resorting to such childish tactics to manipulate her elders was truly shameful. She buried her head even deeper into Tong Shi’s embrace. Tong Shi pulled her out, gently washed her face, and changed her clothes. After crying for so long, her inner clothes were soaked with sweat, and leaving them on would risk a cold.
Before dawn, Lin Dalang had already hitched the oxcart and set off. It was now the villagers’ winter leisure period, and Dalang and Guicheng had begun their daily routine of leaving early and returning late to purchase cloth from families who hadn’t signed contracts with merchants, while also trying to secure deals for the next year. Li Cuihong was skilled in cooking and managed the small restaurant. Before daybreak, she and Lin Erlang rode Dalang’s black horse to town. Liangping Town wasn’t far from the village, but preparing everything before breakfast customers arrived still took considerable time.
At eight months old, Lin Fang could already babble and occasionally utter a word or two, though her pronunciation was unclear. Expressing herself fully was still a long way off. Lately, with the adults busy and no time to take her out, she had grown restless. Seeing her father, Uncle Erlang, and Aunt Hong leave, her elder brother Lin Wen dragging a reluctant Lin Meng to school, and even Lin Wu and Lin Xia running around inside and outside the house, Lin Fang suddenly felt stifled. Watching Lin Juan silently practicing embroidery with a hoop, she longed to go out for some fresh air. Exploiting her advantage as a “helpless baby,” she threw a tantrum, hoping just to stroll around the village. To her surprise, Grandmother Tong decided to take her to town—an unexpected delight.
“Grandmother, Wu’er wants to go too!”
“Grandmother, Xia’er wants to go too!”
The two little ones looked up at Tong Shi with hopeful faces.
Tong Shi smiled warmly. “Alright, let’s all go. Today, we’ll all go out—Juan’er too, and your aunt as well.”
Lin Juan lifted her head briefly. “I won’t go. I’ll stay home,” she said before lowering her gaze back to her embroidery hoop.
The eldest granddaughter was quiet and disliked outings, so Tong Shi didn’t press her. Turning to Li Cuimei, she said, “You’ve been cooped up at home for months. Come along and see Dalang’s shop. ‘Lin’s Cuiji’ is his pride and joy.”
Li Cuimei was tempted but hesitant. “I’ve been staying with you under the pretense of being too ill to move. If I go out now and my mother-in-law finds out, she might cause trouble.”
Tong Shi scoffed. “Let her cause trouble. I’m not afraid of her. Go without worry—I’ll handle her.”
“But…” Li Cuimei touched her hair, her meaning clear. Her hair was gray, dry, and curly, starkly different from the smooth, dark locks of other women her age. Her plain features made her self-conscious about standing beside Lin Dalang in public.
Tong Shi understood her niece-in-law’s concerns. She guided Li Cuimei to a mirror. “Do you doubt my medical skills? Look—is this not you in the mirror?”
“This…?” Staring at her reflection, Li Cuimei saw the same face, but her hair was now glossy and healthy, her skin dark but smooth. The overall effect made her appear far less plain. After a long pause, she finally whispered, “Is this… me?”
Lin Fang thought, *Mom, who else would it be? After months indoors, with Grandmother Tong and Aunt Hong’s careful care, of course you’ve changed. You never looked in a mirror—whose fault is that?*
Having never seen her own reflection since waking in this life, Lin Fang was curious about her appearance. She strained toward the mirror, and Tong Shi indulged her, playfully moving her closer and farther away.
The baby in the mirror had large eyes, long lashes, and fair skin tinged with red—no, not tinged, but covered in red bumps, especially on the cheeks. Some were large, some small, some even overlapping, looking terrifying. They resembled the hemangiomas her nephew had in her past life—thin-skinned like grapes, as if a slight squeeze would release blood. The area around her eyes and mouth was also covered, obscuring any distinct features. Her thick, curly black hair was tied into two perky pigtails, and her bright red clothes contrasted sharply with the red bumps on her face.
*So this is what I look like. No wonder Shilang called me a monster. I hope I don’t scare other kids.* In her past life, Lin Fang had studied nuclear physics and later worked as a medical physicist in a hospital, creating treatment plans for cancer patients. She’d seen many unusual appearances, so while her current face was startling, it didn’t frighten her. She even found humor in it.
As usual, Li Cuimei reached for a scarf to cover her hair, but Lin Fang began fussing, tugging at the fabric whenever her mother tried to wrap it. *Mom, your hair is gorgeous—people pay to get curls like yours! Why hide it?* Tong Shi, amused, also advised Li Cuimei to leave it be and embrace her natural look.
Soon after, Tong Shi returned with an elderly couple. The man and woman knelt before Li Cuimei, but she stopped them, addressing them as Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian. The scene felt oddly familiar to Lin Fang—like servants paying respects to their masters in period dramas. She was intrigued.
Later, she learned that the couple had been Tong Shi’s retainers. When Tong Shi freed her servants, these two refused to leave. Tong Shi had no choice but to build them a small house in the village, allot them some land, and give them silver to live independently. They stored the family’s excess belongings there and helped Tong Shi when needed, living in a limbo between servants and guests.
Today, since Tong Shi and Li Cuimei were taking the three little ones to town—and fearing the cold for the children and Li Cuimei’s fragile health—they had Uncle Tian prepare a covered carriage to shield them from the wind. With Lin Juan staying home alone, Tong Shi asked Aunt Tian to keep her company.
The carriage was spacious, comfortably holding two adults and three children. Though the doors were shut and curtains drawn, Lin Fang didn’t mind. She was in high spirits, knowing she’d soon see the town. Still, the rocking motion and the children’s chatter lulled her to sleep.
When she woke, she was in bed, with her mother chatting with Dong Panyu.
Dong Panyu had lost both parents at eight, with no siblings. Passed among relatives, she worked hard but never properly learned needlework—only picking up bits by observation. Now pregnant, her husband Guicheng had told her not to bother sewing, but what mother wouldn’t want to dress her child in clothes she made herself? Over months, her fingers bore countless needle pricks, yet even her best work was, in Li Cuimei’s eyes, barely passable.
“Madam, how about this one?”
“Hmm, not bad. The sleeves could be more even.”
“And this?”
“Better, but the knots are too visible. Hide them in the seams—it’ll look nicer and won’t chafe the baby’s skin.”
“Sigh. None of them are good enough.”
“Panyu, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve never done this before. With time, your child will proudly wear clothes made by your hands.”
“Thank you, Madam.”
*Babble babble—Mom, you’re so encouraging.*
Tong Shi had dropped Li Cuimei and Lin Fang at the shop’s back courtyard before taking Lin Wu and Lin Xia out to explore. Though disappointed to be stuck in the yard, Lin Fang didn’t dwell on it. From overheard conversations, she knew this dynasty was relatively lenient toward women. Aunt Hong’s restaurant employed two female servers, one unmarried, without gossip. She was still young—there’d be plenty of chances to explore later.
Dong Panyu, heavily pregnant, stayed behind, and Li Cuimei had no plans to go out alone. After feeding Lin Fang, she carried her around the yard, pointing things out and babbling to her.
The courtyard was vast—about two acres—with buildings lining all sides. The main house had five rooms each on the east and west wings, flanked by five side rooms each, plus smaller annexes. The shop faced the main house, its back door aligned with the east wing. If a wall divided the yard, it would neatly split into two self-contained compounds.
*No wonder the shop was expensive. This isn’t a shop with a backyard—it’s a mansion with a shop attached!*
As Li Cuimei carried Lin Fang toward the shop’s back door, a girl’s furious shout rang out:
“Lin Liulang, stop right there! Why are you running? What’s your answer to what I asked you two days ago?”
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