Sixty's Woodshed Connects to Modern Times: Siblings Survive by Scavenging

In the harsh winter of 1968, nine-year-old Su Jin and his five-year-old sister Su Xiaoxiao face starvation in Sujiatun Village. Their father, Su Jianshe, disappeared a month prior, leaving their mother, Li Guiyun, bedridden after a difficult twin delivery. The family was forcibly separated from the main household by their grandparents, who provided only a meager grain allowance and a dilapidated thatched hut. With no food and bitter cold, the siblings huddle by a fire, their stomachs gnawing with hunger.

Their survival changes when Xiaoxiao cuts her hand on straw in the woodshed, and her blood touches a faded Door God image pasted on the door. A flash of white light transports both children to an unfamiliar location. They discover they are in a modern, warm village where wild vegetables grow even in winter. By touching the same Door God image, they can return to their own time. Realizing the potential to save their family from starvation, the siblings begin using this portal to gather food.

They quickly learn that the other world is a bustling agricultural wholesale market in a more prosperous era. The market is filled with discarded vegetables, eggs, and meat that are deemed unsellable due to minor blemishes, bruising, or being close to expiration. For the starving children, this is a treasure trove. They scavenge through trash bins, collecting cabbages, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and even discarded formula milk samples. They also learn to collect recyclable materials like plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard to sell for cash, which they use to buy discounted rice and meat.

Back in 1968, the siblings bring back fresh food, significantly improving their mother’s health and their own strength. The formula milk allows the twin infants to survive, and the extra nutrition helps Li Guiyun recover enough to move with a stick. The family’s neighbor, Aunt Hehua, continues to provide small acts of kindness, such as saving milk and hazel mushrooms for them, highlighting the meager support available in their impoverished village.

The children become adept at navigating the market, learning from locals about expiration dates and where to find the best discarded goods. They establish a routine: gathering vegetables in the morning, collecting scrap in the afternoon, and returning home to cook nutritious meals. They also begin to build relationships with market vendors, such as Yu Tong, who moves cabbages, and Zhang Deren, the butcher who sells them discounted meat and pork skin.

As they continue to bridge the two worlds, the siblings plan for the future. They save money to buy more rice and ingredients, and they begin to store food and rendered lard for the long winter. The contrast between their harsh reality in 1968 and the abundance of waste in the modern market drives their daily efforts. They are no longer just surviving; they are building a sustainable source of food and income, hoping to weather the winter and eventually find their missing father.

The story follows their resourcefulness and determination as they exploit the temporal loophole to care for their family. Each trip through the Door God portal brings them closer to stability, transforming their desperate situation into one of cautious hope. The narrative focuses on their practical efforts to gather, sell, and prepare food, illustrating a struggle for survival against the backdrop of two vastly different times.