"Oh goodness! My stomach hurts" Cao Dai Lu's eyes flutter but she couldn't properly open them. She could feel a sting in her stomach that hurts into her back. She tried her best to keep her eyes open and fight back the pain so she could beat the living hell out of the idiot that pushed her off the stairs but it was getting harder to do so by the second.
She got into an argument with a local when the latter accused her of stealing from his house. Cao Dai Lu tried to explain to her that she doesn't steal people's things and there were many other beggars who could have stolen her things. The local got mad and they got into a fight. The local pushed her down the nearby stairs out of anger.
Replaying the event in her head, she fought her pains and opened her eyes, gathering her strength to beat the local until he begs to let him go. As her eyes open, she found herself not in the street where she was just getting beat up, but in a dimly lit room. There were no light bulbs. The only light coming into the room reflected from the curtains. The floor was wooden, the bed she was sitted on had curtains that had tiny golden dragon embroidery.
"Where in the world am I? Who would decorate their house like this? So old school. Did I pass out? The owner of this house must have brought me here" she murmured, touching her wounded stomach only to find a bandage wrapped around it. "Did that idiot stab me too? That coward! Beating a girl in broad daylight. When I get my hands on him.."
She heard footsteps coming from outside the door. Getting ready to thank the one who saved her, she sat up properly on the bed. The door opened and a young little boy, no older than 7 years old came inside. He went straight to the curtains and opened them so that more light could come in.
'He must be the child of the house owner' she thought. "Hey there, little boy" she called out
The boy jumped, a little startled. He walks over to her. "Hòumā, you're awake"
Cao Dai Lu was confused, the boy just called her, stepmother. "Where's the person who brought me here? I'd like to thank them" she gently told the boy
"The man left after he brought you and father back. Grandfather already treated them well as gratitude for saving you" the boy said, as if trying to tell her that she doesn't have to do anything
'Is this a sane boy? What's he saying?'.
"I'll go tell grandfather that you're awake". The boy left the room and closed the door
"Is this boy pulling my legs? What's the point of the lunacy when you could just go get your grandfather in the first place?" She scoffs. "I knew it must be an old man who owns this house. It looks old yet so neat".
She gets off the bed and held her wounded stomach as she checked around the room. "Wow, this room is so pretty. I could act pitiful to the old man and make him let me stay here. He wouldn't refuse a homeless innocent wounded young girl like me"
She walked to the vases. "This old man must me a fan of collecting relics. If I sold these, I should be able to get a few thousands out of them"
"What are you doing?" A man said from behind her. She almost dropped the vase. She didn't even notice the door open. She gently placed it back on the shelf and turned to face the old man who did even look old at all. He looked more like a man in his late thirties. His attire was interesting. Matching the decor of his house.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to touch your things I just wanted to admire it more up close and I must say, you have good taste" she quickly explained to the man. She was accused of stealing before she was knocked out, she didn't want the man to think that she was about to steal his things too.
"What are you talking about? You're wounded. You should be in bed" the man helps her walk back to the bed and sits her down. "If my son wakes up and found his wife not recovering because she keeps walking about with a stab wound, he'll scold me before he scolds you"
"His wife?" She was trying to wrap her head around what he said because she knew he was talking about her. Was he planning to marry her off to his son? "Sir, I might be a beggar, but I'm a woman of dignity. Just because you saved me, doesn't mean you can marry me off to your son"
"Fang'er, what are you talking about? Did you hurt your head too?" The man touched her head and tried to find wounds
Cao Dai Lu was confused. First a child calling her, stepmother, and now a man calling her the wife of his son. What was wrong with this family of idiots?
"Sir, it seems you have the wrong person. I'll leave now" Cao Dai Lu stood up from the bed swung the door open and was shocked to find that the outside was a lot different than what she remembered.
There were carriages moving about and people dressed up in Hanfu and Shenyi, outfits wore by ancient China. No signs of a bicycle not to talk of a car.
What's going on?
Cao Dai Lu was confused. Who's pulling such an expensive prank? It was only when she saw the change in environment that she checked what she was wearing. She also had a Hanfu on. She saw a tall tree nearby . She was going to climb it and check beyond the neighborhood where she was. She dragged her wounded body to the tree and despite the man pleading to her not to climb, she climbed it anyway.
Two little girls came out of the mansion and started shouting after her. "Mother! Mother!"
"Shut up! I'm not your mother. What's going on today?" Cao Dai Lu shouted back at them and continued to climb the tree.
"Fang'er, you're going to get hurt. Come back down" the man also started shouting after her but Cao Dai Lu didn't show signs of coming down anytime soon.
She went to the top of the tree and scanned the neighborhood with her eyes. There were no signs of modernity. There were old houses everywhere and tarvens, carriages and people dressed as though in a historical drama.
Cao Dai Lu was frightened. She went back down. The two little girls started crying and the man was scolding her. Murmurs of the passers-by as well filled her ears.
"Fei Fang has gone mad"
"She's finally out of bed and she's causing such ruckus"
"I didn't know such a fragile looking thing could climb a tree"
Cao Dai Lu was even more confused. Why were they calling her Fei Fang too?
The man stopped scolding her and asked her to go back inside. "Come, Fang'er, let's go inside. You've worked yourself too much"
One of the little girls pulled her garment. "Mother, what's wrong with you? "
"Hòumā, you're acting weird" the young boy from earlier said.
"Fu Rui, don't say that to your mother. Go and fetch the physician" the man told him
"Yes, grandfather" the young boy quickly left
The man took her back inside the house with the two little girls grabbing her garment as they followed behind.
Cao Dai Lu was in a daze. Her mind was trying to grab unto possibilities that could explain how she ended up in such an uncivilized and underdeveloped place that lacks technology. Was this a dream? Did she get knocked out so badly that she was having such a stupid dream? She pinched herself hard in the face.
"Ouch! That felt real. What's going on?"
"Quit hurting yourself. I'll go get you some food". The man said and left
"Mother, I'm glad you woke up. I missed you so much" the taller little girl said
"I also missed you very much, mother" the shorter one added.
A servant came in with a bowl of water and left it at her feet. "Madam Fu, some water to clean your face". The servant said and left.
Cao Dai Lu looked inside the water in the bowl and it was not her reflection she saw inside. She jumped from the bed and hid behind the little girls. The girls looked at her wondering what she was doing.
"This is witchcraft. It wasn't me in my reflection". She walked back to the bowl of water just to be sure. It still wasn't her reflection. She moved above the water and the reflection moved with her.
"This surely can't be me. What happened to my face? How come my reflection is not me?" Cao Dai Lu cleaned her eyes with the water and waited for the water to be still again, but it still wasn't her reflection that was syncing with her.
Who is this? Where am I?