Chapter 1: Hunger Strike

Daylight had broken. Qiu Yuruo had already gone three days without food. Her stomach burned with hunger as if set on fire, waves of heart palpitations rolled through her chest, but she still wanted to hold on a bit longer.

Everyone who needed to leave the house had already gone out, and the courtyard quieted down. In a daze, Qiu Yuruo fell into a dream, she dreamt that she had really starved to death, and afterward, for reasons unknown, was tossed into a river. With a startle, Qiu Yuruo woke up.

She wasn’t sure if the dream had scared her awake, or if her body had reached its limit, but she felt a deep, unbearable panic in her heart.

Hearing no movement at the door, she forced herself to bear the palpitations and dizziness, and reached under the straw mat to pull out a half piece of flatbread about the size of her palm that she had hidden earlier. She tore off a piece and slowly chewed.

Only after eating half the flatbread did the heart palpitations ease slightly.

She finally had the strength to crawl to a corner under the bed and take out a cracked clay jar—the water she had hidden in advance.

The jar wasn’t big, and there was even a hole in the middle. The water she had stored had already been partially drunk the day before when she couldn’t hold out any longer. There wasn’t much left now.

Qiu Yuruo took a small sip first, then a bigger mouthful, before putting the nearly empty jar back and slowly swallowing the water bit by bit.

After drinking, she returned to bed and lay down quietly, recalling how the girl from the front street, Xiao’er, had gone on hunger strike for three days, and in the end, her mother’s heart had softened and didn’t force her to marry that old widower.

Qiu Yuruo repeatedly encouraged herself in her heart: just hang on a bit longer. Maybe Grandpa and Grandma would soften their hearts too!

Just as she was thinking this, the door suddenly burst open with a loud bang, followed by her grandmother Old Lady Zhou’s shrill scolding, “You’re trying to scare me with a hunger strike, huh? I’m not afraid! You damn girl, let me tell you— even if you starve to death, you’re still getting carried to the Su family!”

These words, like needles, no longer made Qiu Yuruo feel heartbroken, but they pierced through the last bit of her hope.

Qiu Yuruo sighed. Looks like the hunger strike plan was going to fall through.

She closed her eyes, ignoring the unrelenting stream of curses, and began to think about what to do next.

Qiu Yuruo had transmigrated into the Dayong Dynasty, a period that never existed in history, for seven years now. The original girl who shared her name had been eight years old when her parents and younger brother all died unexpectedly. She succumbed to grief and fever with no one to care for her, and followed them soon after.

When she next opened her eyes, she had become the modern-day Qiu Yuruo—also just come of age, also orphaned and also dead from an unfortunate accident.

In this era, the original girl’s parents and younger brother had died because the three-year-old brother developed a high fever. It was harvest season, and only in the evening did her parents receive permission from her grandmother to take him to see a doctor. They tried to take a shortcut and ended up falling into the river. Their bodies were only found the following afternoon.

In a single day, the little girl lost her entire family. Instead of being comforted, her grandmother scolded her as a jinx—a cursed star who had killed her family.

Little Qiu Yuruo couldn’t understand. It was clearly Grandma who didn’t want to delay the harvest and refused to let her parents take her brother to the doctor during the day. That’s why they went at night, couldn’t see the path clearly, and fell into the river. Why was she the one being blamed?

The girl was heartbroken, frightened, and powerless. That’s when she realized that no one in the family would protect her anymore. It was then she understood why her childhood playmate Xiaocao died half a year after her mother’s death—even though she herself had been healthy.

Turns out that without parents to protect them, it was terribly hard for children to survive.

Overwhelmed with sadness and fear, the girl eventually developed a high fever and convulsed.

The modern Qiu Yuruo, who had been hit by a gravel truck, woke up in ancient times and received the little girl’s memories—reliving her past joy, her present grief, and all of her fears.

Memories from both lives played in her mind like a movie. In the end, she saw her parents from the modern world, and the parents of this life, saying together, “Ruoruo, you must take care of yourself. Eat well, grow up strong.”

Qiu Yuruo gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. She had to live and not to waste this second chance heaven had given her, and not to disappoint her parents, from both lives.

She had endured so much, heard countless insults, suffered endless cold looks. She had finally grown up safe and sound. How could she possibly give up on life now just because she was being forced to marry someone she didn’t choose?

Old lady Zhou continued to scold for a few more minutes before being persuaded out by Third Aunt Guo, who had followed her in.

The room quieted down again and Qiu Yuruo officially declared her hunger strike plan a failure. Now, she could only agree to marry into the Su family.

Originally, the Su family was a match far out of reach for an orphaned girl like her.

The original engagement had been arranged for her cousin. Given both families’ statuses at the time, her cousin marrying into the Su family could be considered a step up.

The Qiu family was only slightly better off than typical farming familys. Most of their assets had been passed down from their ancestors. Her cousin’s advantage was that her father was a scholar.

The Su family, on the other hand, was a newly risen family in the region. Their earlier generations had lived difficult lives. Later, Su Yunting, the young man originally engaged to her cousin—had a father and relatives who went out to do business and earned considerable wealth. They even funded Su Yunting’s education.

The engagement was initially considered because Su Yunting’s grandfather didn’t want his grandson to marry someone from another area. He wanted to secure a local bride before his grandson left for further studies.

But before the engagement could be finalized, Su Yunting’s father’s health began to deteriorate. The Qiu family initially wanted to cancel the engagement, but then Su Yunting passed the Xiucai exam and became a scholar.

So the Qiu family wanted to settle the engagement again, but this time Su Yunting’s father objected. Before either side could settle the matter, Su Yunting’s father passed away.

Qiu Yuruo originally thought that with Su Yunting in mourning, the marriage would be off the table.

But misfortunes kept striking the Su family. First, Su Yunting accidentally fell and fell into a coma. Then, his mother, unable to bear the string of tragedies also passed away.

Old Master Su, not wanting to take on the burden of caring for Su Yunting and his younger siblings, thought back to the engagement with the Qiu family.

Su Yunting had been unconscious for over two months. The doctor said chances of waking were slim and that he could die at any time. Naturally, Qiu Yuruo’s uncle didn’t want to go through with it.

But the Su family was determined to marry someone to Su Yunting, just to pass off the burden of the children. So Old Master Su came to make a scene at their door every day.

Grandfather, afraid their family reputation would suffer if this dragged on, finally promised the Su family that a girl from their side would be married into theirs.

And that girl ended up being Qiu Yuruo.

Just as Qiu Yuruo was thinking about how to negotiate her terms with the family, Third Aunt Guo returned carrying a bowl of noodle broth.

She set it on the table, came to the bed, and said to Qiu Yuruo, “Get up and drink some broth. If you’re not afraid of dying, how bad can marrying into the Su family really be?”

Even though Qiu Yuruo had already decided to go through with the marriage, she couldn’t show it now.

Listlessly, she said, “That pit they’ve got, what difference is there between jumping in and dying?”

Madam Guo sighed. “Child, weren’t you always the clever one? Why are you being so stubborn this time? No matter how big the pit, there’s still hope as long as you’re alive. If you die now, who’ll burn paper money for your parents at Qingming and Zhongyuan festivals?”

At the mention of her parents, Qiu Yuruo couldn’t help the tears that spilled from her eyes, even if she tried to act indifferent.

Her tears let Madam Guo breathe a quiet sigh of relief. If she could still cry, then she hadn’t truly given up. What scared her most was when a person stopped caring entirely.

“Marrying into that family might be hard, but your husband is a scholar. Others won’t dare bully you easily. It might be bitter now, but if he wakes up and becomes a top scholar in the future…”

Qiu Yuruo interrupted her fantasy, “If he were going to wake up, the family wouldn’t be marrying me off to him.”

Madam Guo fell silent for a moment. “Still, only the living have a future.”

Qiu Yuruo tugged the corners of her mouth into a weak smile. “No one wants to die if they can live.”

Seeing that she was softening, Madam Guo quickly added, “Life might be tough at first, but it’s not unbearable. Just make it through these few years and things will get better. In any case, you need to eat something first. If you starve yourself sick, you might never recover.”

Qiu Yuruo used reason to suppress her body’s desperate hunger, reflecting on what Madam Guo had said and finding a reasonable excuse to abandon her hunger strike. Slowly, she said, “This engagement was originally Elder Sister’s. If not for her negotiations with the Su family, they wouldn’t be pestering us now. You’re right. For the sake of honoring my parents and younger brother, I can’t die. If I’m replacing her in the marriage, then I need to be given her dowry, just like she would have gotten.”

Madam Guo hesitated. “…I’ll go speak to the old lady for you.”

Qiu Yuruo looked at her and said, “It’s not for me. If there’s no dowry, even if I marry over there, I’ll live a miserable life. Better to die now than suffer endlessly. If I do die, who else are they going to send to the Su family?”

Madam Guo’s eyes widened. “You—!”

But Qiu Yuruo said nothing more and closed her eyes.

Madam Guo calmed herself. In order to avoid this fire being redirected to her own daughter, she gritted her teeth and said, “Fine. I’ll find a way to make sure you bring that dowry with you.”

Only then did Qiu Yuruo open her eyes and return to her gentle smile. “Then I’ll have to trouble Third Aunt.”

That smile, once so pleasing to the eye had now left Madam Guo feeling choked.

Qiu Yuruo added, “If Grandma had been willing to find me a proper match, I wouldn’t need to trouble you like this.”

So don’t blame me for threatening you. If you want to be angry, be angry at the ones who brought this on.

Madam Guo silently cursed the eldest branch of the family a thousand times. Looking at Qiu Yuruo, frail and exhausted from three days without food, her anger finally eased a little.

“I can’t be the one to bring up the dowry. You eat first, then go talk to the old man yourself. I’ll back you up when the time comes.”

Whether or not Third Aunt would be of help when the time came, Qiu Yuruo no longer intended to starve herself. She responded, “Alright.”

Madam Guo breathed a sigh of relief, helped her sit up, and, fearing Qiu Yuruo might not be able to hold the bowl, fed her herself.

Qiu Yuruo drank half a bowl of noodle broth and stopped. She asked her aunt to leave the bowl on the table; she’d drink the rest later.

Three days without eating, her stomach was so empty it couldn’t even produce acid anymore. Drinking too much at once would only make her sick.

Since Qiu Yuruo had finally eaten, the hunger strike could be considered over. Madam Guo said, “Drink slowly. There’s more in the pot. I’ll bring you another bowl later.”

Qiu Yuruo replied with a soft “Mm.”

After leaving, Madam Guo went straight to the main hall where her in-laws lived.

Inside, the elderly couple were discussing matters. Before they could say anything, Madam Guo spoke up: “Father, Mother—Yuruo’s willing to eat now.”

Old Lady Zhou snorted, “I knew she was trying to scare me—just like that damned jinx of a mother she had. Doesn’t learn anything good, just these manipulative little tricks!”

The old man knocked the ash from his pipe and said, “Enough. That’s enough.”

Old Lady Zhou pursed her lips and said no more.

Cultural Notes:-

• Xiùcái: A title earned by passing the lowest level of the imperial civil service examination in ancient China. While not high-ranking, it brought prestige and legal privileges.
• Qīngmíng / Zhōngyuán: Traditional Chinese festivals honoring the dead. Qingming (Tomb-Sweeping Day) is in spring; Zhongyuan (Ghost Festival) is in summer.