Lin Yue's fingers sank into the thin quilt,but it offered no comfort. Her back ached, muscles stiff from yesterday's hard labor. She swung her legs over the bed and pressed her palms to the floor wishing the weight in her chest would lift.
She leaned against the tiled wall, water dripping from her hair. A hot bath did little to chase the ache away.
Lin Yue was cutting pieces of meat in the crowded kitchen. Oils smelling,knives slicing on chopping boards, some rinsing vegetables,some serving the customers,the heat kept increasing more than usual.
She felt her chest heavy, hands trembling her co-worker noticed, are you okay Lin..she didn't respond and boom she fell on to the ground.
When she woke,the scent of earth and rain greeted her. Dim light fell across a low rough room with an old mat on the floor,a tiny table and two crooked chairs. An elderly woman hoovered nearly,eyes wide with worry.
You're awake, Aunt Han ,she was a neighbour from across.
The storm almost took you along. You've been lying for three days. Fell in the mud and hit your head.. Lin Yue's head throbbed but she tried to sit. I..l'm okay .
Han wan set a steaming cup of tea in her hands. "Drink. Your husband went to the farm. Didn't come back last night. I had to check.' l'm leaving since you are okay now.
Lin Yue is now conscious; she remembers her grandma He Zehn offering an envelope with money so that Lin Yue can start her own eatery.
She declined the offer.
"Then the fall in the kitchen at work,her dream of being a Top chef is no longer possible because from 2024 now she is in 1999,l surely will try it here.
Memories that aren't hers flood ,Lin Yue is married here to a 25 year old man Zhao Chen, the owner of this body had a difficult life.
Married for 6months , working with Zhao Chen from morning till evening.
The first time she failed to keep up,whispers followed her down the dirt path ,some villagers whispered calling her lazy ,endless hours spent on the fields,the hands were full of blisters and aching from labor and in that moment Lin Yue from 2024 knew this was a second chance ,after all she's 20 years.
She closed her eyes breathing in and out, took the tea set before her