"Throw her down!"
"A shameless, filthy woman like her should be washed clean."
"Bah, this ill-omened one should have died long ago; her disgraceful acts have brought shame to our entire village. If she doesn't die, the girls in our village won't be able to marry out!"
In the unconscious mind of Gu Nian, all she sees is that scene.
Because the village chief's daughter was rejected, the whole village blamed it on her family of three.
"Mother... Don't drown my mother!"
Gu Nian suddenly sat up in bed, those memories, the scene of the little girl also named Gu Nian, jumping into the water after seeing her mother being submerged, are deeply etched in her mind as if she experienced it herself!
She confusedly looked at the unfamiliar surroundings and lifted the quilt to get out of bed, only to see the thin and small body beneath it.
Gu Nian was terrified.
Holding up her tiny hands and feet, a memory suddenly flashed—a robbery where her boyfriend pushed her forward to face the knife. Could it be that Heaven took pity on her pitiful death and gave her another chance to live?
"You're awake? Still feeling unwell?" At this moment, a middle-aged man entered from outside, looking honest and sincere, holding a bowl of decocted medicine with a concerned expression, "You've had a fever for two days now, here, quickly drink the medicine."
In the original memories, there was no such person. Gu Nian obediently took the medicine bowl and asked, looking up with her little chin, "Uncle, did you save me?"
This lively little look melted Lin Sanshui's heart. He always wanted a daughter but ended up having four sons. He often wished the neighbor's daughter was his.
He looked at the obedient and sensible little girl in front of him, his eyes softened, and he nodded, "Little girl, where are you from? How did you end up in the river?"
Gu Nian's little face turned pale quickly, asking, "Uncle, when you saved me, did you see any other people in the river?"
According to memories, the original mother was tied with a big stone and put into a pig cage before being submerged in the river; the chance of survival was bleak.
Sure enough, Lin Sanshui looked at her in surprise, "Were there others who fell into the water with you?"
Gu Nian shook her little head; her original mother was submerged in the river because of having unmarried children with her brother, given the feudal society they were in, she couldn't tell strangers about this.
Thinking of her original brother, Gu Nian's pale and tender face showed a trace of worry as she clutched the edge of the medicine bowl tightly, asking, "Uncle, is this place far from Fenglai Village?"
"We are here at the lower reaches of the Great West River, Fenglai Village is upstream, probably a day's walk away. You're not from Fenglai Village, are you?" Lin Sanshui thought it unlikely, given the distance, if she fell into the river from Fenglai Village, she'd have drowned long ago.
Gu Nian nodded in disbelief at his gaze and then looked down at her only six-year-old small body, realizing the impossibility of returning by herself.
She sighed inwardly and blinked at him with wet, large eyes, "Uncle, could you please help me go home?"
Lin Sanshui glanced at her hopeful expression and smiled, "Today is getting late, eat well and drink medicine, recover your health, and I will take you home early tomorrow, alright?"
Gu Nian tilted her head and finished the medicine in one gulp, scrunching her face in bitterness, yet she didn't forget to raise her little face and gratefully look at Lin Sanshui, "Thank you, Uncle."
Everyone loves a well-behaved child, not to mention the little girl in front resembles a white dough doll, even her voice was soft and glutinous.