The essay points out that there are two versions of Chen Yingzhen's short story "Eternal Earth," with very different endings. While attempting an analysis of the earlier version by referring to previous critical literature, it finds that the existing Chen Yingzhen studies in general is not only unaware of the differences between the two versions but highly limited by its research method, resulting in several levels of misunderstandings. In contrast, this essay goes back to the early version for a close reading of the story's original design so that Chen's political thinking in the mid-1960s (when the original version was penned) could be examined more accurately. In the end, the essay suggests that critics should continue to pay attention to this issue of the different versions of Chen's works so that we could understand better how Chen experienced and reacted to the political reality at different historical junctures, as well as to expand the scope of issues that could be covered by critical studies of such a significant author.