A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

When she woke up again, Huo Xinxin found herself lying on a slope by the river, with only a tattered mat beneath her. She moved and found that her head still hurt, but it was much better than before. She raised her hand and looked at her small palm, finally accepting that she had indeed traveled through time.

Thinking back to the clothes and appearance of the people she had seen before, which seemed a bit like those of the old society, she sorted out her thoughts. She must have been seriously injured in the car accident and now she was also injured. The first priority was to restore her body to health and then make other plans.

"Gui'er, you're awake! That's great! I thought you were dying." Huo Xinxin heard someone calling from behind. She turned around and saw the little girl named Taohua from yesterday. She was holding some sweet potatoes and taro and said with a smile, "Sister Qiuju had a great guest today, and my mother was so happy that she gave me two extra sweet potatoes. Let's eat some."

Hearing her say this, Huo Xinxin realized how hungry she was, so she took the rice, peeled it, and started eating it. Taohua looked at Huo Xinxin eating happily and said, "You're finally better. After you fainted again that day, your mother said you might not be well again and couldn't die on the boat, so she moved you here. I had to beg her for this mat with great difficulty."

Huo Xinxin nearly choked when she heard this and kept coughing. Taohua quickly reached out to stroke her back and said, "Wait a moment." She then trotted to the river, scooped up a handful of river water with both hands, and came back saying, "Drink some water, it will calm you down."

Huo Xinxin had never drunk raw water since she was a child, and she asked, "Is this river water drinkable?"

Taohua smiled and said, "Are you sick and confused? Isn't this how we've been drinking since we were little?"

Huo Xinxin thought about it and realized that it made sense. Since she had traveled through time, she should adapt to the local customs. So she drank the water, ate a little, and drank some water, and then felt much better.

Taohua said happily, "I'll go tell my mother right away." Then she turned and ran away.

Soon, Taohua returned with the middle-aged woman from last time. Huo Xinxin remembered the beating she'd received from her last time. Now she was just a child, and her strength was no match for hers. She subconsciously shrank back. The middle-aged woman walked up to her and scanned her whole body with her triangular eyes, expressionless. Her eyes were bulging, and even though her face was expressionless, she still shone with a fierceness.

Suddenly the middle-aged woman laughed and said, "Guier, you're finally feeling better. I hit you hard that day, and I didn't expect you to be injured so badly. I thought you were no longer well, but now you've made it through. How about this, you should move back to the boat and take care of your sister Qiuju with Taohua. Don't be so stubborn in the future. We are all miserable people. I, your mother, have been through the same thing too. How can I not feel sorry for you?" As she spoke, she reached out and wiped her eyes in a serious manner, but Huo Xinxin didn't see any tears in her eyes at all.

Seeing that Huo Xinxin didn't react, the middle-aged woman carefully examined her face again, then turned to Taohua and said, "Did you hit your head? You've become an idiot. This is of no use."

Taohua said anxiously, "Gui'er, please promise your mother."

Huo Xinxin finally reacted and nodded to the middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman stared at Song Xinxin's eyes for a few seconds and said, "Maybe your illness has not been fully recovered, you are a little dazed. Consider it my kindness. Just rest for the next two days. Taohua, you take her back and teach her if you have any questions." Then she turned and left.

Taohua was still shouting behind her: "Thank you, Mom. You are such a kind-hearted person."

After Huo Xinxin waited until the middle-aged woman had walked away, she asked Taohua, "Who is she?"

Taohua was stunned for a moment and sighed, then said in one breath, "It seems that your head was hit really hard and you don't remember anything. This is the owner of our flower boat, He Ergu, nicknamed Living Yaksha. We were all sold to her as daughters, so we have to call her mother."

Huo Xinxin suddenly remembered the so-called flower boats in the old society, which were actually brothels on the water. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but stop. Taohua turned around and looked at Song Xinxin puzzledly and said, "Why don't you leave?"

Huo Xinxin looked at her childish face and said, "Do you know what flower boats are used for?"

"I know, isn't the flower boat the place where my sisters pick up guests and make a living? This year, the crops in our hometown have been poor for two consecutive years, and we really can't afford to feed the people. My other brother and I were sold. My mother said it's good for me to be on the flower boat. I have a lowly life anyway, and at least I can have enough to eat here." Taohua said calmly.

"Where was your brother sold? Do you know about my family's situation?" Huo Xinxin was eager to know the information of the original owner of this body.

Taohua asked in surprise, "You really don't remember anything at all? My younger brother was sold to the wealthy Liu family at the east end of the village to herd sheep. Your family is from the village next door to ours. Our surname is Wu, and we have four siblings. Our names are Ronghua, Fugui, and the three above are brothers. We used to go to the village opera troupe together. You said your father disliked you because you were a girl and said there was no point in being precious as a girl, so he changed your name to Gui (Gui) as in Osmanthus fragrans. Your family had two acres of thin land, which was originally much better than what we had as tenants, but the crops failed, and your father said that you, a little girl, couldn't go out to work, so if he sold you, you could survive, and so could the rest of the family."

Huo Xinxin was stunned after hearing this. She had read books about the darkness of the old society before, but she was still shocked when she had to face it herself. Taohua saw that she had stopped again, so she came over and took her hand as they walked forward, saying, "Anyway, we have come to this point now. Don't think too much. Just heal your wounds first."

The two walked to an open river bank. Huo Xinxin looked up and saw several exquisite cruise ships with carved beams and painted buildings floating on the shore. They should be the flower boats that Taohua mentioned. Next to each flower boat were several simple and shabby small boats. On each flower boat, there were young women wearing gorgeous clothes, rouge and powder, and bound feet. They were standing at the door with handkerchiefs in their hands, half covering their faces, but looking towards the shore. If they met the eyes of a neatly dressed man, they would smile, and the two of them would walk into the cabin together as if they had reached some kind of agreement.

Seeing this, Huo Xinxin really didn't want to go forward, so she asked Taohua, "Are we going back to the flower boat?"

Taohua was stunned for a moment and said, "You're dreaming. The flower boats are where my sisters live, and we live in the small boats next to them. During the day, we have to cook and wash clothes for them. At night, they are busy with their business, and we can only rest for a while. But don't worry, you are injured, and mother just said that you should rest for two days, so you should rest well."

When Huo Xinxin heard this, she felt relieved.