In the early days of autumn, 1975, in Dahe Village under Victory Commune, Anhui Province.
Emily Bennett rode her trusty black bicycle slowly along the dirt road, humming a little tune to herself. Two big bundles were tied to the back seat, and her side bag swayed gently as she pedaled home, clearly in a good mood.
She had the day off from teaching, so this morning she’d ridden into the county to hang out with her best friend, Claire Carter. They’d been desk mates since high school and had stayed close ever since.
Claire now worked at the County Culture Center. Her family was doing well—dad was the director, mom worked for the county party committee, and she was an only child. She was engaged to a guy with a similar background who also worked at the center. They were getting married at the end of the year.
At noon, the two of them grabbed lunch at the state-owned restaurant before chatting some more back at the center. Then Emily decided to stop by the recycling depot.
"You’re a teacher now, Emily. Still running off to dig through junk like before?" Claire teased, smirking. "At least try to look the part of an educator."
"I heard Mr. Davidson picked up a load of stuff from the hospital housing last week," Emily said, grinning and blinking playfully. "Might be some old medical books in there I could use."
Even in high school, she loved rummaging through junkyards for old medical texts and calligraphy pieces. That never changed. After all these years, she'd gotten pretty tight with the scrap dealers. When she stumbled on any good medical books or old art, she kept them for herself. The rest? She sold off for extra cash.
Back then, she never once asked her folks for allowance money. She paid her way by flipping what she found. Over the years, she'd managed to save up quite a bit. Not that she'd ever talk about it—she wasn’t about to let anyone know how much she had stashed away. She had her own plans.
After about ten minutes of riding, she got to the scrapyard. As she parked her bike, a man in his forties came out with a big, friendly smile.
"Emily! You’re here!"
"Hi, Mr. Davidson. Heard you got some items from the hospital area—any medical books in the lot? I’ve been looking for a few."
"Sure do. There’s a pile over there—go ahead and take a look," he said, pointing to a stack nearby.
"Thanks, Mr. Davidson!" Emily said, quickly heading over.
When she saw the heap, she could tell right away this must’ve belonged to some old Chinese doctor. There were medicine cabinets, jars, medical books, newspapers, notebooks—all kinds of things, stacked up like a mini mountain.
She flipped through a couple books and found just what she was hoping for. Her luck was holding.
Then she noticed some notebooks next to a medicine cabinet and casually flipped through them. Underneath them was a wooden box that looked out of place—it resembled a vintage medicine case an old doctor might’ve used for house calls.
Carefully, she pulled the box out from under the pile of notebooks.
Sure enough, it was an old-fashioned medical kit, dusty and a bit grimy, but definitely interesting.She gently wiped away the dust, and her eyes lit up—it was huanghuali wood! The craftsmanship on this old medicine box was exquisite, and despite the thick layer of dust, the detailed carvings were still visible if you looked closely.
Emily Bennett felt a rush of excitement and had to bite her lip to keep from shouting out loud. What a lucky find!
She couldn’t help thinking about that huanghuali medicine box her adoptive parents used to have. It looked almost exactly the same—same size, same style, and just as finely carved. That one had been passed down for over a century. A collector once offered two million for it, but her adoptive parents turned it down.
Emily forced herself to stay calm. She casually set the medicine box beside the medical books she had picked out.
It took her about half an hour to sort through and pick the two bundles of books she wanted.
While weighing them, she said nonchalantly, “Mr. Davidson, can I buy this wooden box too? I think it’d be useful after a good wipe—great for holding random bits and bobs.”
Mr. Davidson glanced at the dusty box and, figuring it wasn’t worth much, just waved a hand. “Sure, two dimes for the box.”
“Thanks, Mr. Davidson.” Emily grinned and thanked him.
Just like that, a potentially priceless medicine box became hers for next to nothing. The two stacks of medical books and the box cost her only one yuan and twenty cents.
She also picked out a mortar and pestle and handed over two yuan in all, happily bundling everything up to take home.
Almost home, she ran into Mrs. Gardner carrying a hoe. The older woman smiled and said, “Emily, better hurry back—there’s a visitor waiting at your place. Came all the way from the big city. Young girl, looks about your age, real neat and fancy.”
Emily nodded with a smile, still pedaling at her usual pace.
But inside, she was full of questions. A visitor from the city? And a girl her age?
She racked her brain the whole way but couldn’t think of any city relatives.
When she reached her house, Emily froze. The gate was shut tight. She parked her bike and pushed the gate—didn’t budge.
Just as she was wondering what was going on, she heard the muffled sound of a young girl crying inside.
What’s going on?
In the main room, Olivia Harrison sat sobbing, tears running down her cheeks, looking completely heartbroken.
Margaret Buchanan’s eyes were red too. After twenty years, their biological daughter had come back—but not in the way she’d imagined.
Mr. Bennett held his tobacco pipe tightly, brows furrowed. “Kiddo, why come back all of a sudden like this? Did something happen with the Harrisons?”
"Yeah, and does your adopted family even know you’re here?" Margaret asked, full of concern.
Olivia wiped her face and muttered, almost pouting, “Dad, Mom, you’ve been so cold. You only saw me once when I was little, and since then, nothing. You act like I don’t exist. You only care about that fake daughter and never wanted to recognize me. Some parents you are.”
With that, she started crying all over again.
