C1 He Borrowed the Body to Return to Life

A hot summer night.

With no fan or air conditioning, the stifling heat made it hard to breathe. Lingyan lay on the hard wooden bed, her stomach empty, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She should have been grateful to be alive, but the poverty of her new home made it hard to feel any joy.

Before this, she was a junior art student. One day, she and her best friend went with the art club to paint in the mountains. She slipped and fell off a cliff, only to wake up in the body of a 16-year-old girl named Yan.

"Yan, it's almost dawn. If you're too hungry, there's a potato under the bed you can cook," said Yan's mother, Mrs. Chunfang.

"Mom, you must be hungry too. Are your injuries any better?" Lingyan felt grateful, even though Mrs. Chunfang had protected the previous Yan, not her. Mrs. Chunfang had been severely injured by a leopard while trying to protect her daughter.

Aside from some bruises on her arm, Lingyan had no other visible injuries. The previous Yan must have died from shock.

"I'm much better," Mrs. Chunfang replied, but Lingyan could tell she was trying to sound more optimistic than she felt.

Upon getting out of bed, Lingyan tied up her long, black hair. As she opened the door, a cool breeze swept in, easing the heat within her. Seeing her clothes nearly soaked with sweat, she couldn't help but sigh softly.

From under the bed, Lingyan retrieved four potatoes. Seeing the egg-sized potatoes, she shook her head, "Mom, is this really all we have to eat besides these four potatoes?"

The Luo family consisted of five siblings and Mrs. Chung, totaling six people, and this amount was hardly enough to fill their stomachs.

"That's all," Mrs. Chung replied quietly.

"Should I cook the potatoes?"

"Hey sis, don't start cooking yet. I need to run to the bathroom, so don't eat them all."

Hearing the voices, the second and third siblings of the Luo family began to get up.

"Not cooking yet, go ahead!"

The Luo family home had four rooms: a bedroom, a kitchen, a storage room, and a bathroom. Lingyan took the only potatoes to the kitchen across the way. She washed them clean and cut them into small pieces. Just as she picked up the ladle to scoop some water, she caught a glimpse of her reflection.

Beneath her bangs were slender eyebrows, with large, round eyes. Her small, oval face was pleasing to the eye, with a delicate nose and pink lips. Her complexion wasn't particularly fair, but it was smooth like a baby's...

“Hey, sis, are you done yet?” asked Feng, returning from the bathroom.

“Almost.” Lingyan replied as she rinsed the pot clean and added the diced potatoes. As she crouched by the stove to start a fire, she hesitated, unsure of what to do next.

“Feng, I need to use the bathroom,” Lingyan said, pretending to have a stomachache, and gestured for her 13-year-old sister, Fengjiao, to start the fire.

“Go ahead, sis!”

Lingyan didn’t leave. She watched as Fengjiao picked up a piece of metal and a stone from beside the stove. When she struck them together, a spark ignited the tinder.

So that’s how people used to make fire.

“Weren’t you going to the bathroom, sis? Why didn’t you go?” Fengjiao asked with concern.

“The pain suddenly went away.” Lingyan thought to herself, having barely eaten in days, there wasn’t much to digest anyway.

In less than fifteen minutes, the potatoes were cooked. Lingyan added a pinch of salt, stirred them a few times, and then served them into six bowls on the counter. One bowl was noticeably fuller than the others.

“Don’t touch that one, it’s not for you,” Lingyan quickly said as she saw Zixuan reaching for it.

“I know, sis. Mom’s hurt badly, so she should get the big bowl,” Zixuan replied. He and Fengjiao were twins. Zixuan was small and thin, with dark skin, wearing clothes patched in more than ten places.

Luo Lingyan felt a wave of comfort, surprised at how mature Zixuan was. She thought to herself: Being poor doesn't matter, as long as the family loves each other and works together, they can definitely have a good life.

Since the younger ones, the fourth and fifth, hadn't gotten up yet, Luo Lingyan set aside their portions in the kitchen cabinet.

As she was carrying her own bowl back to her room, a voice reached her ears: "Hey, I'm starving here. Whatever delicious thing you're cooking, give me two bowls of that."