As soon as Chu Nian fell into her new body, she felt dirt falling from above her head. It seemed that she was being buried alive. She quickly opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by other living people like herself, all in a large pit.
Although several people outside the pit were shoveling soil to bury the people inside, no one dared to climb out, because a circle of Japanese soldiers were standing outside the pit, aiming their guns at anyone who tried to climb out.
Chu Nian immediately discovered that the body she had transmigrated into this time was that of a seven or eight-year-old girl, thin and weak, starving, and who knew how long it had been since she had eaten a full meal.
This weak body of Chu Nian couldn't possibly cause any trouble, so she could only quickly sort out the original owner's memories while closing her eyes, mouth, and breath to avoid inhaling the soil being thrown into the pit.
The original owner's name was Fang Nian. She was born into a commoner family during the Republic of China era. When she was five years old, due to war and the Great Khan, her whole family fled their hometown. On the way, her mother, who favored boys over girls, sold her to some poor men in exchange for ten steamed buns.
The reason these poor men were willing to trade their only steamed buns for the girl was that they wanted to eat meat. They had nowhere to get meat, and all they could get from begging every day were these steamed buns. They realized that Fang Nian's mother had actually wanted to abandon Fang Nian, this money-losing girl, halfway through her journey, so they offered to buy the girl with steamed buns.
My mother was starving, and when she saw someone willing to exchange a steamed bun for her daughter, she agreed without a second thought.
After the Fang family of three left, the poor men hid in an abandoned, dilapidated temple, lit a fire, and planned to slaughter and eat Fang Nian like livestock.
Fang Nian's fifteen-year-old brother, Fang Hao, was furious when he learned that his mother had sold his sister for a few steamed buns. He turned back to look for her and found several men sharpening knives, ready to kill her.
Fang Hao did not actually grow up with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents sent him to a theatrical troupe to learn opera. However, because of the war, his master refused to perform for the Japanese, and most of the people in the troupe were slaughtered.
Fang Hao escaped thanks to his quick wit and returned home. Unfortunately, he didn't find peace at home either, and after only a few days, he and his family had to flee again.
Although he hadn't completed his apprenticeship yet, he had learned a lot of kung fu from his master in the opera troupe. He looked thin, but when it came to fighting, those men were no match for him at all, and he took them down in no time.
He fled with his sister, thinking that their parents were unreliable, so he didn't chase after them. Instead, he took his sister and fled to the provincial capital alone. Along the way, he took good care of his sister, allowing Fang Nian to experience a sense of family affection she had never felt before.
For the next two years, although the brother and sister continued to wander, thanks to Fang Hao's care, Fang Nian never went hungry again, nor was she bullied, and she was never beaten or scolded by her parents as she used to be.
This caused Fang Nian to develop a deep dependence and affection for her older brother, Fang Hao.
The provincial capital is more prosperous than smaller cities, and there are more opera troupes. Fang Hao found a job as an extra. Although the income was low, he could barely support Fang Nian thanks to the kindness of the troupe leader.
Here, Fang Nian spent the only year of peaceful time in her short life: no hunger, no beatings or scoldings, only a happy childhood.
A little over a year later, the Japanese garrison in the provincial capital changed, and Colonel Matsumoto, who was a great admirer of Chinese culture, took over. He took a fancy to the female lead in the opera troupe, but the troupe leader couldn't bear to give her away, and as a result, the entire opera troupe was buried alive by the Japanese.
Fang Nian died in this live burial.
Fang Hao escaped disaster again because the troupe leader sensed impending doom and sent him out to procure supplies as soon as possible. However, although the troupe leader expected Matsumoto to not let the matter rest, he did not expect them to act so quickly.
When Fang Hao rushed back to the opera troupe, everyone was gone. Fortunately, he had only been an extra, and none of the Japanese recognized him as a member of the troupe. He secretly inquired and learned that the troupe members had been taken to the outskirts of the city and buried alive by the Japanese. He was thunderstruck and ran to the outskirts to dig a pit, but everyone was already dead.
Fang Hao dared not return to the provincial capital, since some people in the capital who frequently watched their opera troupe's performances would recognize him, and it would be troublesome if the Japanese were told that he was also a member of the opera troupe.
He fled to Beiping, where he joined a theatrical troupe. In fact, he had been learning opera since elementary school and had a deep foundation in the art. After joining the new troupe, he gained the appreciation of the troupe leader and became a leading male role, taking the stage name Fang Erbai.
He fell in love with Lin Xiaolou, a female impersonator in the opera troupe. However, this Lin Xiaolou was actually a male impersonator. Of course, whether Lin Xiaolou loved men or women, the original owner of this body didn't know. She only saw Fang Hao's future because of her lingering affection for her brother after her death, leaving a trace of her soul with him.
Lin Xiaolou was a very famous female impersonator, and the Japanese loved listening to him sing, but he never listened to them. Fang Erbai worried that he would follow the same path as his two predecessors as opera troupe leaders, so he advised him to be more lenient with the Japanese.
He might have acted this way out of cowardice, but deep down he truly hated the Japanese.
Lin Xiaolou was an extremely arrogant man who wouldn't listen to his advice and even looked down on him because of it. However, Lin Xiaolou's behavior ultimately angered the Japanese, who detained him in their camp, intending to force him to submit. Fang Erbai died at the hands of the Japanese while trying to save him.
This was unbearable for Fang Nian. She felt that her brother was such a good person, he should at least have a good ending.
Alright, this child has no other thoughts. All her obsessions and resentments stem from her brother: hoping that her brother can have a good ending. Thinking of this, Chu Nian felt that this child had lived a very humble life, and her wish was so simple.
However, such a simple wish would not be so easy for an ordinary person to achieve in such a turbulent era!
Because the original owner was very young, she didn't have many memories, but Chu Nian had already sorted them out in a flash: she felt that the Lin Xiaolou in the original owner's memories looked very familiar.
After burying the opera troupe alive, the Japanese soldiers tamped down the soil before leaving. It seemed this wasn't the first time they'd done something like this; they dug a very deep pit and compacted the soil tightly. After the Japanese left, none of the troupe members were able to climb out of the large pit.
What gave Chu Nian a headache was that, whether it was due to the limitations of the spatial laws of this world or the limitations of the original owner's physical body, she was unable to use any of her abilities.
"Hey Little Knife, if you don't climb out of this pit soon, you're going to die." At this moment, a voice familiar to Chu Nian came from a spatial artifact.
She recognized the egg as the one that had been stored in this spatial artifact from the previous world: it seemed to be the only one that could still see what was happening outside.
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