The Vegetative Mother of the Social Butterfly Little Male Supporting Character [1960s]

In 1960, Qin Zhan, a twenty-three-year-old deputy company commander in the Chinese military, leads a high-stakes mission that results in a tactical victory but at the cost of his subordinate, Ji Aihua. Ji Aihua sacrifices himself by blocking a bullet intended for Qin Zhan, leaving behind a pregnant widow, Ning Xin, and a mother, Widow Ji, who is raising five children alone. Qin Zhan feels a profound sense of guilt and responsibility, deciding to take leave to personally deliver Ji Aihua’s belongings and support the family. Upon arriving at the Yangguang Production Team, Qin Zhan discovers that Ning Xin has gone into premature labor due to the shock of her husband’s death. During the journey to the commune hospital, Ning Xin collapses and appears dead, only to revive moments before reaching medical care. Inside the hospital, Ning Xin realizes she has transmigrated into the body of a character from a novel she once read. In the original story, the original Ning Xin died during childbirth, and her son, Ji Dong, became a male supporting character raised by Qin Zhan after his grandmother fell ill. Now inhabiting this body, Ning Xin faces the immediate trauma of a cesarean section and the psychological burden of her new identity. The birth is successful, and both mother and child survive, but Ning Xin falls into a coma that persists for days. Her soul remains conscious, trapped within her unresponsive body, able to hear and feel but unable to move or speak. The medical staff at the commune hospital and later the county hospital are baffled by her condition, as all physiological functions remain normal despite her unbroken unconsciousness. Qin Zhan, refusing to accept that no treatment is available, leverages his military connections to transfer Ning Xin to a prestigious military hospital. At the military hospital, a renowned professor, Yang, examines Ning Xin and identifies her condition as a unique medical anomaly with no known precedent. He proposes a radical solution: using Ning Xin as a test subject for a new medical research project. The professor explains that while the tests will not harm her physically, they require her to be monitored continuously and subjected to various stimuli to determine if her consciousness can be reactivated. This proposal places an immense burden on the family, particularly Widow Ji, who must decide whether to allow her daughter-in-law to undergo experimental procedures. Widow Ji, though uneducated and deeply worried, trusts Qin Zhan and the military doctors. She agrees to the plan, hoping it offers the only chance for Ning Xin to wake up. Meanwhile, Qin Zhan continues to support the family financially and emotionally, providing ration coupons and money from Ji Aihua’s condolence funds. The story establishes a tense atmosphere as Ning Xin remains trapped in her body, aware of the research being conducted on her, while her family navigates the hardships of life in 1960s China. The narrative sets the stage for Ning Xin’s struggle to regain control of her body and her integration into this new reality, with Qin Zhan serving as a pivotal figure in her recovery and the upbringing of her son, Ji Dong.