pjbooks Chapter 1: Revisiting That Year
Chapter 1: Revisiting That Year
In the late autumn of 85, in a village near the western side of Anling, in the eastern Inner Mongolia region, below Tongliao.
Although the weather looks sunny, the sunlight is not warm; instead, it feels chilly on the skin. There is often frost in the mornings, and it looks like it will snow in the next few days.
Shan Yaowen wrapped his thin clothes tighter around himself; he felt like he was going to die.
He vaguely saw his elderly mother, who had passed away more than forty years ago, and heard his younger sister calling out to him.
"Is this what death feels like?"
Shan Yaowen smiled with relief. He never thought that after living alone his whole life, he would be able to see his family before he died. It didn't seem so bad.
Just as Shan Yaowen was quietly waiting for death, a warm feeling enveloped him. His mouth first encountered something cold, then his lips were rudely pried open, and a warm current forced its way in.
Ok?
wrong?
As the hot water entered his mouth, his body instinctively swallowed, and his mind, which was about to be frozen, gradually thawed.
He opened his eyes, forced himself to sit up, and was stunned when he saw his surroundings.
"this……"
Isn't that his hometown?
The people next to him were his mother, his younger sister, and a beggar.
Oh, it's that old Taoist priest who died a long time ago.
"He's awake! He's awake! Erguo is awake!" The thin, frail little sister by the kang (heated brick bed) exclaimed excitedly when she saw him sit up.
"Wen, how are you? Does it still hurt?" His mother asked with concern.
Shan Yaowen patted his head, his mind feeling foggy and muddy.
Does he remember sleeping at home?
The landlord was discussing selling cattle with a boss from the south, and invited me to join him while they were drinking. As a result, I got a little drunk, and this is how I ended up after waking up from a night of heavy drinking.
Was I dreaming again?
He pinched himself hard again, but the pain didn't feel like he was dreaming.
The little girl beside her blinked, watching her second brother's actions, and slapped the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed): "It's over, Mom, Erguo (her second brother) has gone mad!"
The woman next to her slapped her on the head impatiently, "Pah, pah, pah, don't talk nonsense."
After saying that, she looked at the disheveled Taoist priest beside her and asked, "Uncle Bai, what's wrong with my son?"
The man was wearing a tattered Taoist robe and holding a whisk that was almost completely bald. He pretended to do some calculations with his fingers and said, "This is a sign that the soul has just returned to its place and hasn't adapted to the body yet."
"What should we do then?"
The old Taoist priest reached out and touched Shan Yaowen's forehead. "It's alright, the fever has gone down, and he's woken up. He just needs to rest and recover."
Hearing this, Mother Shan breathed a slight sigh of relief and then warmly saw the old Taoist priest out.
Hearing this familiar conversation, Shan Yaowen, sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), gradually matched everything with a scene from his memory.
This happened when he was twenty years old. That autumn was unusually cold, the snow came earlier than usual, and there was even a rare snow disaster.
This snow disaster was only slightly less severe than the one in 78. That autumn, he fell ill, and his mother invited an old Taoist priest from the village to perform a ritual.
Although he recovered from his illness, he became all alone in that year. One winter, his parents, elder brother and sister-in-law, and younger sister all passed away, and even his eldest nephew died in the womb.
A family of six, with five graves.
"Hiss~"
He was truly reborn?
Although Shan Yaowen thought about going back to this day and changing everything countless times in the days and nights that followed, he never expected it to come true. Was God really that kind to him?
"Erguo?" The little girl tilted her head and looked at Shan Yaowen on the kang (a heated brick bed). "Do you want more water? I'll get you some."
After regaining his senses, Shan Yaowen picked up his younger sister and placed her on the kang (a heated brick bed). He held her and couldn't help but shed tears.
He still remembers that it was a freezing cold day when his younger sister said she was going out to find him something to eat. When he found her, she was frozen stiff and was still clutching the two potatoes she had left for her second brother.
"Don't cry, Erguo." The younger sister wanted to reach out to comfort her second brother, but her hands were held tightly, so she could only rub her head against his face.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" As soon as Mrs. Shan entered the house after seeing off the old Taoist priest, she saw the brother and sister hugging and crying.
"It's okay, Mom."
Upon seeing familiar faces, Shan Yaowen couldn't help but want to cry.
It's wonderful that the scene I've dreamed of countless times has come true; everything is still salvageable.
"This child, how old are you? It's just a little illness, why are you crying for no reason?" Mother Shan glared at her second son on the kang (a heated brick bed) with annoyance. "I'll go tidy up the room. If you're still not feeling well, you should rest."
"It's alright, where are my dad and older brother?" Shan Yaowen put his little sister down and prepared to get off the kang (heated brick bed) to stretch his legs.
"They went to Sandao Lake."
"Sandao Lake?" Shan Yaowen was taken aback. "To chop firewood?"
"Hmm, looks like his brain isn't damaged yet; he can still remember things."
Upon hearing this, Shan Yaowen glanced at the calendar on the wall, then quickly dressed and rushed out of the room without looking back.
"Mom, I'm going out for a bit..."
When the mother came out, she could only hear the second son's voice; he was already gone.
"Looks like he's alright now, running so fast." Muttering to herself, Mother Shan stopped caring. Anyway, her second son had been unreliable for a long time, so she let him be.
Only the little sister, looking bewildered, remained by the kang (heated brick bed); she still wanted to play with Erguo (the second brother).
Dan Yaowen hurriedly went out, and after figuring out the direction, he ran wildly towards Sandao Lake.
If he remembered correctly, his father and older brother got into trouble while chopping wood.
My dad and my older brother were fine when they went out, but when they came back, the villagers brought them back. My dad was a mangled corpse, and my older brother was barely alive. In the end, my older brother didn't last long at the clinic either.
Because her eldest brother was gone, her sister-in-law became confused and lost her mind. In winter, she fell into a well and died.
His mother couldn't bear the successive blows. She lost her husband and eldest son. Her eldest daughter-in-law was pregnant with a grandson, which was a source of hope, but that was also lost. She was already in poor health and didn't survive the winter.
In the end, only Shan Yaowen was left all alone.
Dan Yaowen only hated himself for being so slow. If he could do it all over again, he would run until his legs broke to prevent the tragedy from happening again.
"Mosquito, where are you going? Why are you running around like that?"
As he passed by a house, a voice called out to him.
"Gou Dan?" Upon seeing this person, Shan Yaowen was momentarily dazed. After all, Gou Dan was his childhood friend. In his past life, when he was alone, besides his married older sister, Gou Dan was the only one who had always helped him.
"By the way, could you lend me your horse and hunting rifle?"
Seeing Gou Dan brought back many memories for Shan Yaowen.
In his past life, his father and older brother accidentally bumped into a litter of wild boars that had come down from the mountain to forage for food while they were chopping wood. An accident ensued, and this was the only news his older brother brought back.
Shan Yaowen needs to hurry and get there before something happens to take his father and older brother away. Of course, it would be best if he had a gun.
His family didn't have a hunting rifle, and his father had taken the family's horse-drawn cart out to haul firewood, so he planned to borrow it from Gou Dan when he met him.
"You lent it to me last time and I almost got into trouble, so my dad won't let me touch it anymore."
Although he didn't agree, Gou Dan seemed very interested. "What are you up to this time?"
"Let's go hunt wild boar."
"Wait here, I'll go get the gun. You go to the backyard and fetch the horse, together."
"Are you going too?"
"Of course, I have to keep an eye on my own things."
The situation was urgent, and Shan Yaowen didn't have time to think about anything else, so he immediately agreed to Gou Dan's request.
The two rode together on one horse, galloping towards Sandao Lake at full speed.
There was no way for Shan Yaowen not to be anxious.
He didn't know when his father and older brother had their accident. In his previous life, they were found and brought back by the villagers at night, but they had left this morning. It was already noon, so he had to hurry.
He didn't want the tragedy to repeat itself if he had the chance to do it all over again.
This is the area around Sandao Lake.
The father and son of the Shan family were chopping wood when the elder brother, Shan Yaowu, discovered a group of wild boars drinking water by the lake.
"Dad, there's a wild boar!"
Upon hearing this, Shan's father paused in his wood-chopping, glanced at the group of wild boars, and said, "Don't mess with them. We only have two machetes; we can't take down wild boars."
Upon hearing this, Shan Yaowu could only watch the wild boars with regret as he prepared to load the firewood onto the cart and drive away.
They had just finished loading the firewood and were about to leave when they suddenly heard a gunshot.
Then, to the father's horror, the group of wild boars charged straight at them.