Chapter 1 Reborn in Nineteen Ninety-Three

  "Lift up your veil and let me see your eyes. Your eyes are bright and shining, just like the crescent moon on that tree..."

  Someone was singing a song, one that was even older than the Tyrannosaurus Rex Express. Shen Fang woke up in a daze and only felt that the person's voice sounded very familiar. After thinking carefully, it seemed like Andy Lau, but when did Andy Lau ever sing such a song? Yet he couldn't quite remember. "Was I still dreaming? No, how could Jacky Cheung jump out and sing 'Kangding Love Song'?"

  Shen Fang sat up, hanging his head, with both hands pressing on the bed frame, feeling the familiar coolness of the palm. The bed frame had some bumps and protrusions. It was an iron bed, which had been in their old home before. His father had made it from scrap metal from the factory, welding four iron pipes together, stretching steel wire across with springs, and after putting on a good mattress, it was even more comfortable than a Simmons mattress. Later, after his father went to prison, the iron bed was confiscated as evidence of corruption, probably in '93, he really couldn't remember anymore.

  When Dawn started singing "Rainbow Sister", Shen Fang's mind was a little clearer, his eyes were covered with a thin layer of white gauze and couldn't see clearly. The ground was red lacquer sanding, with some spots, the red lacquer was dotted with circles of gray sanding, looking like an old faded abstract painting. Shen Fang felt particularly close to it, his toes rubbed against the ground, thinking that if mom were still here, she would definitely scold me again for not letting me rub the good place bad.

  She smiled faintly and lifted her head, only to freeze again. Before her eyes was a 12-inch black-and-white TV set. On the screen, the Four Heavenly Kings were performing on a large stage, dressed in ethnic minority costumes, singing and dancing to the nostalgic "Youth Dance Song".

  Subconsciously wanting to rub his eyes, he lifted his hand halfway but froze. Shen Fang suddenly became aware of something and sprang up from the edge of the bed, dashing to the TV in one swift motion, staring at the screen with unblinking eyes.

  "The Four Heavenly Kings! The Great Hall of the People! Wasn't this the year of the flood, when Hong Kong artists performed a charity show at the Great Hall? Was it '93 or '94? I remember skipping class with Yaoke to watch that performance..." Shen Fang couldn't help but take a sharp breath in, his right hand trembling as he touched the TV screen, the real sensation telling him this wasn't a dream!

  What is it if not a dream? Shen Fang's heart cried out, his gaze quickly sweeping across the room. The furnishings were simple and plain, but he was shocked to see that everything overlapped with memories that had long been sealed away.

  Shen Fang stretched out his hand to turn off the TV and sat back down on the bed, feeling a bit dizzy. He couldn't help but feel excited inside, "Could it be that I really have been reborn?"

  There's someone speaking in a low voice in the courtyard connected to the room, "There's still time on this side, don't be too anxious... if the sky falls, I'll hold it up..."

  This sentence Sheng Fang almost can be sure that he had heard before, because after his father was imprisoned, he had thought countless times to infer something from this sentence.

  The person speaking is called Yao Qili, who was a comrade-in-arms with my father in the army and later worked together at the Huangzhou East Iron and Steel Factory. After retiring from the army, Yao Qili studied on his own and passed the entrance exam to the Management Department of Huanghai University. He returned and was assigned as the director of the second workshop, while my father went to Southeastern University of Finance and Economics and became the deputy director of the financial department. In 1992, a major safety accident occurred at the steel factory, resulting in many deaths, but no one knew what had happened. The incident was covered up, and the top leaders were quickly transferred away, leaving no one willing to take over. Yao Qili surprisingly stepped forward and became the factory director and secretary, while my father also converted his position and became the director of the financial department. At that time, many people said that Yao Qili and my father were foolish, as so many people had died, and if investigated, it would be a big deal. However, everything went smoothly, and after a year, some people began to feel resentful and jealous. In the second half of 1993, rumors suddenly spread that Yao Qili had embezzled a large amount of public funds. Shortly afterwards, Yao Qili committed suicide at home, and less than a week later, my father, who had been missing for half a month, suddenly returned and surrendered to the authorities after making a brief statement.

  To say that Yao Qili and his father violated organizational discipline, even colluded with the enemy across the Taiwan Strait, Shen Fang would believe it. But to say they embezzled public funds, just look at this impoverished home, look at the only electrical appliance in the house, that old black-and-white TV set discarded by Second Uncle, which still needs to be turned on by inserting a coin, where did all the money go? At the time, no one considered these things, Yao Qili was dead, his father had surrendered, and the case could naturally be closed. As for whether the embezzled public funds could be recovered, no one bothered to investigate. Were there not enough cases of lost national assets at that time? Later, Shen Fang also spent a lot of effort investigating, but because it was too long ago, after searching for half a month without any leads, he gave up.

  As Father went to prison, the whole family fell into difficulties. The Sanhe Beverage Factory where Mother worked was not doing well and was acquired in 1996, making her a laid-off worker. Brother Shen Lin dropped out of university after one year and came back home, spending his days fighting and causing trouble. In 1998, he even got into a knife fight that severed a tendon in his foot and ended up in jail, never to come out again.

  Thinking of what was about to happen had already happened, Shen Fang felt a chill run down his spine, but his heart was like a raging storm. He rubbed his cheeks hard with both hands, took a deep breath to calm his racing heartbeat, and slowly got up and walked towards the gate leading to the courtyard. He vowed silently that since he had been reborn, he would never let tragedy strike again!

  On the door hung a curtain made of calendar prints, grey-green gauze. Behind the door, two middle-aged men, one tall and one short, sat side by side under a fig tree, cigarette butts scattered all over the ground.

  Slightly taller was Father Shen Yun, because of the door screen and gauze window blocking his view, Shen Fang couldn't see clearly, but that figure in a brown work uniform sitting up straight was so familiar and dear, his nose involuntarily turned sour, and with great difficulty he held back the tears that were about to overflow from his eyes.

  "...hoping for good news from Shen Yan's side..."

  Upon hearing his father's words, Shen Fang was stunned for a moment. "Second Uncle? Is there something about Second Uncle in this too? Why has Second Uncle never mentioned it before?"

  Shen Yun and Yao Qili didn't say anything else, Shen Fang saw them sit for a while then got up and walked into the house, hastily crossing the room to the living room, grabbing the Qinghua porcelain vase on the table, and pouring a mouthful of cool water down.

  "Ah, Shen Fang is up?" Yao Qili smiled and came over to lift his sleeve to touch Shen Fang's head.

  "Uncle Yao..." Shen Fangzhen felt a bit uncomfortable being treated like a child, with someone ruffling his hair, and he smiled awkwardly, turning his head away. Unintentionally, he caught sight of Yao Qi's open work uniform, revealing only a white tank top underneath. The red characters "Labor is Glorious" on the tank top had long faded, and there were several holes on the straps. He couldn't help but think, does he really have the nerve to embezzle public funds, to the point of being so poor?

  Yao Qili glanced at the sweat on his palm and smiled, "See, I told you so, Fangzi's physique is tough. He had a high fever of 39 degrees this morning, but after sleeping for a while, he was fine again. If he didn't know how to read books, he would definitely become a soldier like us in the future!"

  Shen Yun smiled and didn't say a word, came over and patted Shen Fang's back, "Go to the house to pour a bottle of glutinous rice wine for your grandfather."

  "Hmm." Shen Fang turned around and entered his parents' room, almost getting a big scare from the mirror in the center of the closet. The reflection showed no bulging belly or double chin, but instead a healthy young boy with a bowl cut and slightly slender build.

  "He's still young and handsome!" Shen Fang muttered to himself, then went to the side cabinet to grab a soda bottle, filled it with rice wine from a large glass jar in the corner, put on the rubber cap and walked out. He saw his dad and Yao Qili whispering to each other, just as he was about to perk up his ears to listen, his dad turned around and took the wine from him, casually touching Shen Fang's forehead, which indeed wasn't so hot anymore, before letting out a sigh of relief and saying, "Your mom has overtime tonight, you're on your own for dinner."

  "Oh." Shen Fang responded with a sound, and suddenly felt his stomach was very hungry. He thought that he probably didn't eat at noon either, so he waved his hand and quickly entered the kitchen. He heard his father laughing and scolding him from behind, "This guy is getting more and more rude. In the future, when he marries Yuer, you two will have a hard time."

  "Anyway, I'm a daughter-in-law, out of sight, out of mind... Ha ha... Yu'er is not an easy-going person either. If those two really get together, I think our family will be in chaos from now on."

  Yao Yu is Yao Qi Li's daughter, grew up with her childhood sweetheart, a standard tomboy, but she is actually very pretty, only later... never mind, since I'm back, can't I make things go back to their original track? Or else I'd be too useless!

  When he heard his father and Yao Qili leave, Shen Fang dug out the leftover rice from the electric rice cooker, added a little soy sauce, picked up a few salted bean sprouts from the pickled jar, and squatted at the door with a bowl. It was as if he hadn't eaten for years. However, Shen Fang really missed this flavor, feeling it was more enjoyable than fresh seafood.

  A bowl of rice was finished in the blink of an eye, and when I returned to the house, I scooped some water from the water tank to wash the bowl and chopsticks. At that time, my family was very particular about conserving water, and the faucet would only open a tiny bit at a time, with each drop able to fill up the water tank, but the meter wouldn't move, so in a year we could save quite a bit of money - I don't know if this counts as stealing national property.

  Returned to the living room and took a glance at the beautiful calendar on the wall, Yang Yuying, pure and lovely, was holding a string of red firecrackers and laughing so sweetly that it could kill. Shen Fang couldn't help but feel a little melancholic, but didn't want to indulge in sadness, so he just glanced at the date and roughly knew that today was June 1993. He walked through his own room to the courtyard. In one corner of the courtyard, there was a plastic shed with a pile of miscellaneous items underneath, including a wicker basket of Stone Forest cigarettes. If I remembered correctly, I always liked to hide my pocket money in the cigarette box.

  After a flurry, Shen Fang finally didn't disappoint, and all 10 yuan and 70 cents were stuffed into the pocket of his shorts. He then put on a vest with the words "Donggang Red" printed on the back, kicked off his slippers, grabbed his keys, and walked out the door with a clang.