I am Wei Aimei, 26 years old this year, married, and have a son. Life has been full of ups and downs, but overall it's been ordinary.

I was loved and cared for by my family since I was young. I'm not particularly beautiful, but I'm considered decently tall and good-looking.

A matchmaker introduced me to a guy named Luo. He had a handsome appearance and knew how to make people happy. I really liked him.

Although after marrying him, I discovered that this guy has a bad temper and sometimes even hits me.

But my father-in-law and mother-in-law are nice people, so I've been living with him. Which family can have everything go smoothly anyway?

But I didn't expect that today, we had a fierce argument because our son fell and cut his face. He got so angry and beat me up.

I was upset, so I said I would go to the county town to sell herbal medicine. Actually, I just wanted to relax and buy a toy for my son to cheer him up.

The mountains near our village are beautiful, and there's a clear green river below, with exotic flowers and plants everywhere.

So most people rely on gathering plants, cultivating medicinal herbs, hunting wild animals, and selling their fur for a living.

Yang's family and my family walked more than thirty miles to finally reach the county town.

We rested and had some tea at a tea shop. Yang's husband said he needed to use the restroom.

Right at that moment, gunshots rang out, and someone shouted that the Japanese invaders were coming.

I grabbed Yang's wife and wanted to run, but she said she would go find her husband at the front gate and meet up with him. She told me to take the back door as a distraction and escape.

But I couldn't escape through the back door either. I walked a few steps and was stopped by a Japanese soldier with a gun.

While they were taking me to their military camp, I saw Yang's wife lying on the ground, crying, and her intestines spilling out as she went to confront the invaders.

I was extremely scared and was forced onto a bed with a group of women.

After a group of soldiers finished their business, we were taken to the square to be executed by firing squad.

The first two rows fell down.

I thought about what had just happened and didn't have time to recover from the shock before I died.

But then I thought about my son, crying at home with a cut on his face.

Seeing the leading officer limping, I desperately shouted, "Taishun, Taishun, I can heal him."

He was skeptical but still tried the bone-healing medicine in my backpack.

The prescription that had been passed down for four hundred years was effective, and there was a noticeable improvement that evening.

Two days later, the medicine ran out, and Officer Yamamoto said they needed more because many people needed it. He wanted to buy it from me.

I said there was no need for money. If you give me the medicine, can you let me go home?

Yamamoto nodded, and I led them back to the village.

It was raining that day, and the path halfway up the mountain was muddy. Yamamoto limped and couldn't walk well, so he asked me to support him along the way.

But I shouldn't have trusted those damn Japanese invaders.

They searched house by house for medicine, initially only shooting those who resisted.

As they continued to search, they became more playful and started randomly killing people as if it were a game.

Half of the village was gone.

The rainwater mixed with blood flowed into the green river below, no longer clear and vibrant.

When leaving, Yamamoto supported me and took me away.

I still had value because they found many plants that needed me to teach them how to make bone-healing medicine.

Once I taught those little devils how to be doctors, I would be useless.

I asked Yamamoto if he could let me go.

He said no, there was a more important task for me—to contribute more to the Imperial Army.

The next day, I was transported to a heavily guarded place surrounded by an electrified fence. There were many women inside, a few of whom came from Japan, while the rest were like me, from nearby areas.

The Japanese women trainedas nurses and medical assistants, while the rest of us were treated as prisoners.

Life in the internment camp was harsh and oppressive. We were given meager rations and had to endure crowded and unsanitary conditions. Many of the women fell ill, but there was little medical care available.

Despite everything, I tried to maintain hope and find ways to help others. I used my knowledge of herbal medicine to treat minor ailments and injuries among the women. It was a small comfort, but it gave me a sense of purpose.

Months passed, and the war raged on. The conditions in the camp deteriorated further, and many women succumbed to sickness and malnutrition.

One day, a group of Japanese soldiers arrived at the camp with a wounded officer. They demanded immediate medical attention for him and threatened severe consequences if their orders were not followed.

I was brought forward, and they instructed me to treat the officer's injuries. Reluctantly, I did as they asked, using what limited medical supplies we had.

As I tended to the officer, I couldn't help but notice his pain and vulnerability. He was just a young man, caught up in the horrors of war like the rest of us.

While I attended to his wounds, we exchanged a few words. He spoke broken Mandarin, and I struggled with my limited Japanese. Despite the language barrier, we managed to communicate on a basic level.

Over time, I continued to treat the officer's injuries, and a strange bond formed between us. He began to confide in me, sharing his fears and doubts about the war. I, too, opened up about my own experiences and the suffering I had witnessed.

Through our conversations, we discovered our shared humanity amidst the chaos. We both longed for peace and the well-being of our loved ones.

As the war drew to a close, the atmosphere in the camp changed. The Japanese soldiers became increasingly desperate, knowing that their defeat was imminent.

One night, the officer approached me with a daring proposition. He had managed to secure a small amount of money and supplies, and he asked if I would be willing to escape with him.

I was torn. On one hand, the thought of freedom was tempting, and I yearned to be reunited with my family. On the other hand, leaving the other women behind felt like a betrayal.

In the end, I made a difficult decision. I would escape with the officer, but only if he promised to help the other women in the camp. He agreed, understanding the gravity of the situation.

Under the cover of darkness, we made our escape. It was a perilous journey, filled with close calls and moments of intense fear. But we managed to evade capture and eventually reached a safe location.

True to his word, the officer used his connections to provide assistance to the remaining women in the internment camp. They were eventually freed and reunited with their families.

As for me, I was able to return to my village and reunite with my son and husband. The scars of war were deep, but we found solace in being together again.

Life moved on, and I continued to practice herbal medicine, helping those in need in my community. The experience had taught me the importance of compassion and resilience.

While I would never forget the horrors of war, I chose to focus on the positive impact I could make in the lives of others.

And so, my journey as Wei Aimei, the healer, continued, with a newfound determination to bring healing and hope wherever I went.