Spring, 1988. The South China Sea.
A rust-streaked medium-sized freighter, its engines roaring at full capacity, was steaming toward the Philippines.
"Help! Someone help us! Please, let us go!"
In the sweltering, cramped hold, which reeked of rust and machine oil, sat a large animal cage. Inside were two bound women; one was screaming at the top of her lungs, while the other lay motionless on the floor.
The woman lying down was Chen Rou. Amidst the stench of rotting fish wafting up from the bilge, she was surreptitiously testing the ropes binding her hands. They were aramid fibers—durable, heat-resistant, and possessing an incredibly low break rate. Commonly used for mooring ships, marine research, and deep-sea operations, they were, in short, among the strongest rope materials in the world. The knots were also tied with expert precision; a single touch revealed the work of professional kidnappers or military personnel.
The girl who kept screaming received no response, so she turned to Chen Rou: "Sister A-Rou, what's wrong with you? Are you dead?"
She lifted her head and shrieked again, "Help! Someone save us!"
***
Chen Rou had been a special forces soldier in the 21st-century Zhonghua South China Sea unit. Just yesterday, she had received orders to meet with the Hong Kong tycoon Nie Zhao and take on a terrorism-related case involving the Nie Family.
Because it was her first time handling a case for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and because her superiors had urged her to solve it as quickly as possible, she had spent the night poring over the files, only nodding off at her desk just before dawn.
When she woke up, her hands and feet were bound, and she was on this ship.
Overwhelming memories flooded her mind. She had transmigrated back to 1988 in Hong Kong. The woman whose body she now occupied shared her name, Chen Rou. Her husband was none other than Nie Zhao, the very man she had just been tasked with helping.
It was true. She had just met Nie Zhao in the 21st century, and upon waking, she had become his young wife.
The Nie Family was a wealthy Hong Kong dynasty led by Nie Rong. He had two wives, and Nie Zhao was the youngest son born to his late first wife, Han Yuzhu. Nie Zhao and the original Chen Rou had been betrothed by their parents since childhood. As both were now adults, their marriage had been a natural progression; they had registered their marriage just three days ago and were in the middle of planning the wedding ceremony.
But on the very night they registered, they went out for a meal on a boat and were kidnapped by bandits. According to the files Chen Rou had read before she crossed over, the kidnappers were a group of private mercenaries from the Philippines. Their destination was the Philippines, where they intended to humiliate and eventually torture the original Chen Rou to death. Nie Zhao would survive only by clawing his way out of a grave with his bare hands after being buried alive.
Having processed these memories, Chen Rou lay silently, conserving her strength. Her family had been in the police force for three generations; her father had died in anti-narcotics work, and she herself was the top soldier in the Jiaolong Commando Unit, frequently executing special missions in the Red Sea and the Caribbean. Her physical endurance was, of course, impeccable. However, the original Chen Rou had not undergone such training and was an ordinary person; in the blistering heat of the hold, one slip could lead to dehydration and total collapse. She had to remain quiet to preserve her strength.
She and Nie Zhao were being held in separate locations. The girl beside her was Nie Han, the daughter of Nie Zhao's late eldest brother. Though the original Chen Rou had registered her marriage to Nie Zhao, they had seen each other rarely while he was studying and working overseas, and they had yet to develop any real affection for one another. Concerned that his wife might feel uncomfortable being alone with him, Nie Zhao had brought his niece, Nie Han, to dinner—and she had been kidnapped along with them.
Nie Han was four years younger than Chen Rou, only eighteen, and was a plump, bubbly girl. Terrified by the sudden kidnapping, she had not stopped screaming for help.
The hatch suddenly opened, and two armed men entered. The leader, a man with a thick beard, cursed in Cantonese: "Shut up, you bitch! What are you yelling for?"
Nie Han sobbed, "Where did you take my uncle? I want my uncle!" She added, "My grandfather is the wealthiest man in Hong Kong, Nie Rong. He has money! If you let us go, he will pay you!"
The Beard gave a lewd grin and thrust his greasy hand through the iron bars to stroke Nie Han’s face. Sensing the malice in his eyes, she tried to dodge, but he grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the iron bars. "The richest man, huh? Nie Rong, huh? So you're the golden daughter of a billionaire?"
"Help! Uncle, please, save me..." Nie Han’s forehead was split open, blood streaming down, and she wailed in pain.
Behind the Beard was a man with an eyepatch—the One-eyed Dragon. He reached through the bars and violently grabbed the waistband of Nie Han’s jeans, trying to pull them down, while the Beard continued to yank at her hair.
As her pants began to slip, Nie Han struggled wildly. With a loud *rip*, the Beard tore a chunk of hair—scalp and all—from her head. She twisted to escape, but the One-eyed Dragon drew the knife from his belt and stabbed the scabbard through the bars at her repeatedly, roaring, "Get over here and let us have you!"
Nie Han’s forehead was broken and her scalp was torn; blood rolled down like beads from a broken string. She curled into a ball, begging, "Please, I beg you, just let us go!"
The two bandits didn't have the key to the cage, so they couldn't enter. Impatient and lustful, the One-eyed Dragon drew his long blade and thrust it through the bars toward her. "Don't be stupid, bitch! Get over here now!"
The cage was small. Just as Nie Han dodged the One-eyed Dragon’s blade, the Beard drew his own.
"Get over here!" both bandits shouted in unison.
Faced with the choice between death and violation, what was a girl to do? Nie Han curled tightly into a ball and closed her eyes, sobbing. Both blades stabbed toward her, and it looked as though blood would be shed.
But at that exact moment, Chen Rou, who had been lying still, suddenly began to thrash her legs violently, rolling her eyes back and foaming at the mouth.
The Beard withdrew his blade. "Damn it, that one looks like she's dying! Let's go!"
The One-eyed Dragon replied indifferently, "Who cares? They’re going to die sooner or later anyway."
The Beard was more pragmatic. "That one was a candidate for Miss Hong Kong. The boss specifically asked to play with her. If she dies on the way, he’ll definitely hold us accountable. Don't let it blow back on us."
The original Chen Rou came from an average background, and her parents had passed away long ago. However, she was a master’s graduate in media studies from the University of Hong Kong and had once been a top-ranked contestant for Miss Hong Kong. Although she had withdrawn from the competition, she had gained some fame as a minor celebrity. If she died before the boss got to her, he would certainly be furious.
Fearing trouble, the two bandits finally gave up and left. A moment later, they tossed some items into the cage. "Hey, bitch, give Miss Chen Rou some water. Don't let her die!"
***
Both girls were bound, but seeing the two bottles of distilled water and two Snickers bars thrown into the cage, Nie Han, desperate with thirst, used her knees to pin a bottle and struggled to unscrew the cap with her mouth.
Just as she was working on it, an opened bottle of water appeared in front of her. She looked up and saw Chen Rou holding it out. Nie Han wept with joy: "Sister A-Rou, you’re not dead?"
Chen Rou was, of course, not dead; she had remained silent to conserve energy, and her simulated fit was merely a tactic to help Nie Han escape harm. Since they were both bound, she could only gesture for Nie Han to stretch her neck out and drink from behind her.
After Nie Han finished, she pushed the bottle back, and Chen Rou leaned over in the same manner, drinking the water in long, steady gulps.