Transmigration: A Lifetime of Waiting, Reborn in the Past with Children and Grandchildren

Li Lanxiang, a seventy-five-year-old woman who spent her final decades in lonely waiting and unfulfilled anticipation, dies alone in her home in 1995. Upon closing her eyes, her consciousness is violently thrust into a new existence. She awakens in the body of another Li Lanxiang, a peasant woman in the Dajing Dynasty, who has just suffered a fatal head injury after tripping over a threshold while rushing to help her daughter-in-law with childbirth. The original owner died three days prior, leaving behind a fragile, impoverished household in Kaoshan Village. The new Li Lanxiang must navigate this sudden rebirth, integrating fragmented memories of her predecessor while grappling with the physical weakness of a body that is barely thirty years old.

The household she inherits is on the brink of collapse. Her husband, Wang Dashan, is a taciturn hunter whose back is bent from years of labor in the mountains. He is not home when she wakes, having gone out to hunt to provide food for his pregnant daughter-in-law, Liu Xinghua, and the newborn granddaughter. The family consists of Wang Dashan, their eldest son Wang Tiezhu and his wife, their ten-year-old son Wang Shizhu, and their seventeen-year-old daughter Wang Xiaocao, who has recently married into a distant family. There is no farmland, only a small vegetable patch, a pen with a hungry pig, and a coop of hens that serve as the family's only source of cash for salt and needles. The grain bins are nearly empty, and the family is in a precarious state of survival as winter approaches.

Li Lanxiang’s transformation begins with a shift in domestic management. Upon Wang Dashan’s return, covered in the scent of blood and sweat, she does not complain as the original wife would have. Instead, she gently instructs him to wash and takes charge of preparing the meager hunt—two rabbits, three pheasants, and a badger. She cooks a hearty stew with wild mushrooms and chestnuts, a meal that brings a rare sense of warmth and togetherness to the family. This change unsettles Wang Dashan, who is accustomed to his wife’s extreme frugality and self-denial. He watches her with a mixture of confusion and cautious assessment, noting that she is using ingredients they would typically save for sale.

As days pass, Li Lanxiang systematically improves the family’s living conditions. She discovers a hidden stash of savings—three taels of silver and some copper coins—hidden in a cabinet, a sum that represents years of dangerous hunting and extreme thrift. Rather than hoarding it out of fear, she uses it strategically to buy better rice and red dates for Liu Xinghua’s recovery. She also takes charge of the household’s livestock, instructing her son to castrate the pig to ensure it gains weight for future slaughter. Her actions are methodical and grounded in a desire to secure the family’s future against the coming winter.

A significant turning point occurs when Wang Dashan and his eldest son return from hunting with a large wild boar. While the original Li Lanxiang would have sold the animal whole to a merchant for quick cash, the new Li Lanxiang insists on processing it themselves. She directs the slaughter and rendering of the fat, creating a large jar of golden lard that promises to transform their cooking and nutrition. She also processes the intestines and stomach, ensuring nothing is wasted. This decision marks a clear departure from the past, prioritizing long-term sustenance and quality of life over immediate, meager profit.

The story follows Li Lanxiang as she adapts to her new role, balancing the demands of a growing family with the harsh realities of rural life. She explores the surrounding mountains with her youngest son, gathering wild ingredients like bracken roots and cinnamon to diversify their diet. Her relationship with Wang Dashan evolves from awkward unfamiliarity to a quiet, mutual respect. He begins to trust her judgment, following her instructions in the kitchen and the field. The narrative focuses on the daily rhythms of survival—cooking, hunting, farming, and managing resources—highlighting Li Lanxiang’s determination to live fully in this second chance, free from the empty waiting that defined her previous life.

As the autumn deepens, the family’s situation stabilizes. The wild boar provides meat and fat for the winter, and the household begins to show signs of prosperity. Li Lanxiang’s leadership brings a new energy to the home, replacing the previous atmosphere of scarcity and hardship with one of careful planning and shared labor. The story concludes with the family gathered around a meal, a stark contrast to the loneliness of Li Lanxiang’s past life, as she looks forward to the challenges and opportunities of the coming year.