Chapter 3

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Li’s father was an ordinary man among the countless masses—born in the countryside, with limited education and experience, average ability, simple thoughts, and a sincere, honest heart. But his greatest virtue was that he supported whatever his daughter chose to do.

Of course, this was as long as she didn’t stray down the wrong path.

Since Li Shanshan entered high school, he naturally began to treat her as an adult.

When he learned that she had earned 800 yuan translating English, he not only found it unsurprising but was genuinely pleased.

“Shanshan, you’re right—education is the key to a bright future. You must study hard, get into university, and settle down in the city, just like your brother Heng,” he said, bringing up other children as examples, hoping his daughter would follow suit. “I brought home over five hundred yuan from work today. Once you sell these two wholesale bags of socks, you can use the money for tuition and return to school quickly.”

“Dad, I was afraid I wouldn’t raise enough for tuition, so I asked my homeroom teacher for a week’s leave,” Li Shanshan replied.

Her father hesitated.

Eight hundred yuan had been spent in one go to buy two large bags of socks, but he had never sold at a market stall before and wasn’t sure the socks could all be sold before school resumed. If they didn’t sell, there’d be no tuition money.

But Li Shanshan smiled, “Don’t worry, I can study at home.”

“But you didn’t bring your textbooks,” her father pointed out the obvious.

The cloth bag for textbooks looked different from the one holding clothes and lunch boxes—it was clear at a glance.

Li Shanshan had no answer.

After a few seconds, she smiled, revealing a pair of dimples, her eyes sparkling like stars. “Dad, missing this week won’t hurt! I’m taking translation jobs mainly to improve my English. English is much harder than Chinese or math. The teachers teach ‘mute English’ with inaccurate pronunciation—it’s not as good as what I learn outside school.”

In truth, she was not worried about her final exams.

Why? Because before her rebirth, Li Shanshan was already tutoring her youngest brother in high school subjects.

Her youngest brother’s academic talent was poor. Despite numerous highly paid tutors hired by Zhou Yuqi, all had given up, secretly calling him hopeless. Out of love, Li Shanshan had to teach him herself, painstakingly breaking down every subject, but his results remained disappointing.

Those days were past; no need to dwell on them.

Li Shanshan persuaded her father until he agreed she could return to school after the weekend.

Back home, the first thing Li’s father did was wash his hands, then head to the kitchen to heat oil in a wok. He added chopped scallions and quickly stir-fried cabbage leaves, poured in water to boil, cracked two poached eggs into the broth, and finally added hand-rolled noodles cut before she left.

“Smells so good!” Li Shanshan washed her hands and brought a bowl, waiting to be served.

The family was poor; they rarely ate meat. Her father had specially bought pork fat, rendered it into a large jar of lard, which made the dishes and noodles especially fragrant.

When the noodles were cooked, Li’s father scooped out the two tender poached eggs into Li Shanshan’s bowl, then the noodles. “I boiled more water in another pot; after you eat, you can wash your hands and soak your feet. I bought you some chilblain cream.”

Standing near the earth stove, the heat made the itching on Li Shanshan’s hands worse. “Does it work?”

“Others say it does, so I went all the way to Lotus Town to get it,” he replied.

Li Shanshan doubted its effectiveness.

She remembered that before she moved to the city at eighteen, her hands would get chilblains every year—red, swollen, sometimes oozing pus and bleeding. She had tried every cream her father bought and countless folk remedies, all to no avail.

She even once rubbed fresh pig’s blood on them—the kind that comes right after slaughter, dipping her hands into the pig’s neck cavity, the greasy sensation still vivid in her memory.

Looking back, it was unbelievable.

After marrying Zhou Yuqi and living a life of luxury, she never had chilblains again.

Why did she think of him now?

Quickly, Li Shanshan withdrew her drifting thoughts, took the bowl in both hands, and joined her father in the main room. Before eating, she moved one poached egg to his bowl. “One each.”

“Ah!” Her father’s heart warmed deeply as a broad smile spread across his tanned face.

Outside, the night wind was biting cold; inside, the walls were bare. Even eating plain noodles with pickles tasted sweet.

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After dinner, he washed the pots and dishes and urged Li Shanshan to soak her feet.

When she finished, he rinsed the water, poured it out, and refilled the basin with hot water, placing it on the washstand by the door. “Shanshan, come wash your face and hands, then get to bed early.”

“Coming!” Li Shanshan took the soap and went over.

With no facial cleanser, she made do with soap. Her skin tightened after washing, so she quickly applied a thick layer of loose snow cream and rubbed ointment on her hands. Worried about smearing, she wrapped them in clean gauze.

Tomorrow, once she earned some money, she would buy a proper skincare set and visit a dermatologist about her chilblains.

Before sleeping, Li Shanshan found a piece of stiff cardboard, cut it into a square, and with a brush wrote: [Pure Cotton Socks, 2 yuan per pair, 5 yuan for 3 pairs, 10 yuan for 8 pairs].

“Dad, hang this sign on the stall tomorrow,” she said, fearing he might be shy to call out prices.

“Got it, now go to sleep.”

Li Shanshan slept soundly that night.

She had no time to mourn the wealth and splendor she once possessed.

Rebirth meant a new beginning.

At five the next morning, before dawn, the alarm rang.

Li Shanshan forced her eyes open, got up, and put on her padded cotton clothes tucked between two quilts. She had changed into clean underwear last night and now swapped out her outer garment.

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