Laboratory
"We did it! We really did it! Haha, we finally succeeded!"
"Really?"
"Yes, we finally made it! I'll input the program right away. Once it's done, you quickly install the energy source."
"Alright. We can die without regrets now."
"Yeah, it worked. We have no more worries. Huihui will take care of our son." The two smiled at each other.
They pressed the switch together, wanting to see the final result and make any needed changes.
As they pressed the switch, there was a loud "boom" as an explosion erupted, and the whole place collapsed.
China, 1969.
"Old man, let's bring Sienna home. She's all alone now. I really like that girl."
"Alright, let's go check on her first and see if she's willing." They walked toward the east end of the village.
Knock, knock
"Sienna, are you home? Open the door, it's Aunt Cuilan."
Footsteps quickly approached, and the door opened. "Auntie, what's the matter?"
She stepped aside to let them in and offered them a seat in the house, then poured them two cups of water.
"Sienna, I came to talk to you about something."
"Go ahead, Auntie."
Looking at the tired girl, Aunt Cuilan felt a wave of sympathy.
"Sweet girl, would you be willing to come live with me? Be my daughter? I'll treat you like my own."
"No need, thank you, Auntie. I don't want to leave this place."
"Sweetie, listen to your aunt."
"You're a girl living alone, it's not safe. You're also old enough to get married. There are some bad people around the nearby villages, and even our own village isn't completely safe."
"If you come live with me, I'll prepare a dowry for you. You can marry whoever you want. I won't force you. Your uncle is the team leader now. No one would dare bother you."
"Auntie, thank you for your kindness, but it's okay. After what's happened, I've decided to ask someone to help find a match for me. When the time comes, you can help me take a look."
"Alright. Then I'll send my oldest granddaughter over to stay with you these next few days, to keep you company. Don't say no, I'll worry if you're alone."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie."
Auntie went back home, and soon sent her granddaughter to keep Sienna company.
"Old man, should we ask our third son to come home and get married?"
"Get married? He doesn't even have a fiancée. Where are we going to find him one?"
"What about Sienna? She didn't want to be my daughter, but she can be my daughter-in-law instead. After they get married, she can follow him to the army base. He'll protect her."
"You're always talking nonsense. Never mind whether our third son agrees, Sienna might not agree either. Being a soldier's wife is hard."
"Send him a telegram first, tell him to come back and meet her. If Sienna doesn't like him, then fine. We'll keep treating her like a daughter."
As she spoke, she stepped outside and shouted, "Oldest son! Oldest son!"
"Yes, Mom, what's up?"
"Go to the county town and send a telegram to your younger brother. Tell him his parents are dying. He needs to come back for the funeral."
"Mom, what are you talking about? You're fine. Don't say unlucky things like that."
"I know whether it's unlucky or not. Hurry up and go."
Seeing no reaction, Cuilan got angry. "What are you doing? I told you to go, right now. Don't go to work this afternoon."
"Okay, I'll go now."
"What are you trying to do? If our son hears this kind of news, he'll be scared to death."
"I told him to come home before, and he didn't. I want to see, if I say I'm dying, will he come back or not?"
"You should ask that girl if she agrees first. Don't just push things by yourself. Maybe she doesn't even like our third son."
"That's true. Sienna is so pretty. Marrying our third son might be a bit unfair for her. I'll treat her better in the future."
Military Camp
At the training ground, a group of soldiers was being pushed very hard. It seemed like the captain was in a bad mood. He had been training them non-stop for days.
Seeing how tired they were, Felix walked over and said, "Captain, let them rest. If this keeps up, someone will get hurt. It's not your fault, don't blame yourself."
"Felix, I couldn't protect them. I took them out, but I didn't bring them back. I don't want that to ever happen again."
"It's not your fault. I know you want them to be stronger so things like that won't happen again, but it needs to go step by step. Look at them now, they can't take this anymore."
Just then, a soldier ran into the training ground. "Captain Rowan! Captain Rowan! There's a telegram for you, urgent, from your family."
When he heard that it was urgent and from home, Rowan ran over quickly. After reading it, he rushed to the commander's office.
"Commander, I need time off. Please approve my leave."
"What's the rush? You didn't even knock before coming in."
"Commander, it's urgent. I got a telegram, my mom is seriously ill. I need to go home now."
"Alright, I understand. Go buy your ticket. We'll handle the leave paperwork. Don't worry."
"Thank you, Commander."
Meanwhile, in the Changqing Brigade
Something had happened. A little girl was crying loudly as she ran home.
"Grandma! Grandma!"
Hearing her voice, Cuilan rushed out. "Daya, what's wrong?"
"G-Grandma… big sister…"
Seeing her granddaughter could barely speak, Cuilan guessed something serious happened. She quickly called her husband and two sons to go with her to Sienna's house.
"Old man, eldest son, second son, come out! We're going to the east side of the village to Sienna's place!"
Because Daya had cried so loudly, many villagers came out to see what happened. When they saw the brigade leader's whole family running, they followed.
Everyone saw Cuilan trying to save Sienna. Some women came to help.
One woman checked and found that Sienna wasn't breathing. She was shocked.
"She… she's not breathing."
Hearing that, everyone was surprised. Why would this girl try to end her life?
Cuilan saw that she wasn't breathing and asked two women to help carry her inside and change her into clean clothes. Then everyone left the room.
What they didn't know was, after they left, the person on the bed opened her eyes.
"Where is this? Where is the owner of this body? She needs to find her and protect him."