Chapter 2 (Revised)

  "Heidi, will you go out with me?"

  Sixteen-year-old Catherine stood under an old oak tree on Keel Street, blocking the way home from school for West Salem, stubbornly.

  "It's no good! Hester says we're from two different worlds, that there can be no outcome to this, and Verrani also warned me not to bother you again or she'll have Fr?ulein thrown off the Südliche Schleswig-Holstein."

  Xilem seemed somewhat constrained and uneasy, tightly grasping his backpack straps, with a guilty expression and incoherent speech.

  "Heidi, although Heather is your mother and Villani is mine, they can't decide our happiness! Love is between the two of us, it has nothing to do with parents or wealth, Heidi, don't back down, okay?"

  Catherine did not want to give up, while Silas seemed determined to reject this love. Then there was a quarrel. Catherine's eyes were filled with tears, and she saw Silas' resolute face, choked back a sob and turned to leave. Catherine was heartbroken, but didn't notice the carriage rushing out from the street corner. In an instant, people and horses overturned.

  It seemed that someone had pushed Catherine out of the way, and she narrowly avoided being hit by a speeding carriage. The strong wind disheveled her golden hair, and she closed her eyes, clutching at her wildly beating chest in shock. At this moment, passersby were screaming that a student was injured, and Catherine realized something was amiss, opening her eyes with a hint of luck, only to see Silas lying on the road, his head cracked open with fresh blood flowing out.

  "Sillem, I forbid you to see Katharina again! Katharina is the daughter of the great merchant Dick, she's destined to be a high-born princess of Kiel, while you're just a descendant of a poor fisherman from Schleswig, a penniless and powerless young man from the lower district of Kiel. You two can never be together." Hester seemed to be very ill, her face pale, propping herself up with effort as she earnestly advised her only child.

  "Heidi, join the navy, you'll fall in love with the sea, and this profession. You're a descendant of Schleswig fishermen, a successor to the Prussian Navy, born on the Baltic coast and growing up at Kiel docks. No matter how Hester opposes it, the sea is your inevitable fate!" Old sailor Freesi-Selim, who was about to set sail for whaling in early winter, enthusiastically advised with a lame leg.

  "Westphal, I know you're a good kid with excellent grades, your future can be the University of Berlin, the University of Greifswald, it can be the Imperial Army or Navy, it can also be a painter in Paris, a musician in Vienna, a scientist in Stuttgart. Catherine is not suitable for you!" Villani said coldly, wearing a luxurious sable coat and holding a lazy Samoyed dog.

  "Heidi, wake up, don't scare me... " Catherine wore a white long dress, kneeling on the cold Kirneva Street, tightly holding Heidi who was unconscious, tears streaming down her face: "Someone save him, he can't die, he can't die..."

  "Wang Haitie, I was wrong. I'll never force you to accompany me to suppress the horse road again, I'll never format your A-plate hard drive, I'll never steal your QQ password, and I'll never pretend to be pregnant to force you to get engaged with me. Please don't leave me alone." The little girlfriend clutched Wang Haitie's photo tightly, her turbid tears occasionally streaming down her delicate and beautiful face.

  "Wang Haitie, don't you dare go missing again! Your future father-in-law and mother-in-law are working in the judicial system, I can find you even if you run to another province!" Wang Haitie's father seemed to have turned white-haired overnight, looking ten years older, huddled on the edge of the bed. Wang Haitie's mother lay on the bed, with a wet towel on her forehead and an IV drip in her hand.

  "Heidi-Sylem, a student at Tim Kreger Middle School? This is the best middle school in Kiel, why don't you focus on your studies instead of coming to the dock to be a porter? Look at your small build, can you even lift dozens of kilograms of cargo boxes? The dock has never taken in useless people." The dock foreman, Lehmann, who was dressed in a gentleman's attire and holding a civilized cane, coldly sized up Sylem's thin body and evaluated him with a mercantile tone: "Ten fenni per day, if you're willing to work hard, you can stay; if you think the pay is too low, then get out of here early."

  Winter has gone and spring is here, in the blink of an eye it's already June. In the early summer of Hong Kong, there are always different voices and familiar yet unfamiliar faces that recklessly intrude into Wang Haiting's dreams, memories of past lives and future lives intertwining with each other like a dream demon entwining Wang Haiting.

  It was another nightmare, Wang Haitie woke up, her whole body soaked in cold sweat.

  Is this what I expected from crossing over?

  Wang Haitie rested her head on those unused middle school textbooks, thinking of foreman Layman's endless scolding of late workers, she couldn't help but shiver, estimated the time, and the once idle rich handsome man had to humbly jump off the hard broken bed, picked up a charcoal pen and randomly drew a circle on that German calendar, facing the densely circled calendar with tears streaming down her face.

  Wang Haiting regretted it, really regretted it. The body he forcibly occupied was originally named Heidemarie Seiler, a good student at Timm-Kr?ger-Gymnasium in Kiel, Germany, who ranked first or second in grades. Unfortunately, she had an introverted and arrogant personality and was not good at communicating with people. Her mother, Hester, was the daughter of a fisherman from Haikendorf, a housewife suffering from terminal cancer. Her father was a former Prussian naval lieutenant who participated in the Six Weeks' War in 1864 and lost a leg in that brutal sea battle. After retiring, he worked as a whaler on an old and worn-out whaling ship to earn money for his family's livelihood. Heidemarie Seiler had few relatives and friends, mostly from the lower districts of Kiel who struggled to make ends meet. Her uncle, Schneider, was a small civil servant at the Kiel Customs Office, but he was a selfish person who didn't value kinship at all.

  "I was a top-notch rich and handsome guy before crossing over, but after crossing over I became a dockworker hauling bricks. I'm probably the most miserable one among all the crossers."

  On the small table there was a piece of black bread, which was Hester's daily ration. Wally covered her empty stomach and held back her saliva, drinking down half a cup of cold water in one breath. She pulled on a dirty little vest she had swapped from Flossie and headed to the cargo dock.

  ****

  After a brief, eerie rain shower, the tranquil Baltic Sea was filled with white, gauzy waves. A ten-thousand-ton freighter stood still beside the cargo wharf, where countless dockworkers bustled about like ants, shouldering and carrying hundred-kilogram crates onto the small train on the wharf. As the intoxicating sunset and crimson slanting sun accompanied it, the last of the Siegfried-class coastal defense ships, the Hagen, returned from its sea trials, its uniquely designed smokestack earning the scorn of the dockworkers who cared about the navy.

  "The designers of the Imperial Navy Office are also too rubbish, with money it's better to build a few more Brandenburgs......" Brant from Augsburg muttered to himself, holding a wet cigar and standing on the cargo ship with a matchbox.

  The weather in early summer is always like this, like a sentimental girl, sometimes drizzling with small rain, and suddenly clearing up to reveal a vast expanse of blue sky. Heidi-Sielem jumped onto the breakwater, took off the little white vest that was stuck to her body, wrung it out forcefully, and squeezed out a puddle of water.

  "Smelly Taoist, are you kidding me? Science students, financial geniuses, gang leaders and retired soldiers are the ones who are good at crossing over. Letting someone like me, a defective product who is lazy in four aspects and can't tell five grains apart, unlearned and useless, waste my youth, Smelly Taoist, aren't you afraid of getting in trouble with the Time-Space Management Bureau?"

  Heidi deliberately forgot some facts, as if the college student who had been eager to cross over back then was not him. Heidi rolled up his pant legs high and picked up a sea stone, throwing it fiercely into the azure seawater, as if that sea stone was the clumsy old Taoist priest. Heidi was already tired of the changeable weather in the port city, just like he was tired of his uneventful and unpromising career as a crosser.

  Small stones splashed up tiny water flowers, not stirring up too many ripples. Heidi's mood was like the waves brought by the sea stone, he jumped with his feet and pointed to the blood-red sky, saying in a hurry:

  "I have white-haired elders above, an unexpected product in my girlfriend's belly below, beautiful women on both sides, several brothers, and a pair of sworn sisters. Stinky Taoist, discuss with God, Allah, and the Infinite Heavenly Lord to see if I can return again..."

  Heidi's chatter dissipated in the Baltic Sea and the warm sea breeze. Seagulls were still circling and soaring over the nearby waters, while the sea spirits occasionally skimmed the surface, leisurely strolling and picking up a few small fish. The slightly intoxicating sea breeze caressed, and the ancient ditty sung by the late-returning sailors gradually floated over. No one paid attention to Heidi, leaving her wandering alone on the dock's breakwater.

  What is transmigration?

  Time-space traversal is a shortened term for traversing time and space. In layman's terms, it refers to the event where a character, due to certain reasons, undergoes a certain process (or without reason or process), travels from their original time-space to another time-space. (Baidu Encyclopedia)

  Unfortunately, the young and arrogant Heidi also had a taste of it. On a cloudless early summer afternoon, under the stimulation of a certain paralyzed and dark-hearted Jianghu Daoist who was not good at his skills, Heidi, who originally did not believe in evil, unexpectedly shuttled through time and space.

  "Stinky Taoist, it's fine that you couldn't send me to the home of Emperor Ama, Fourth Brother Ba, or Old Fourteenth. It's also okay that I didn't get to meet Item Xiǎo Lóng, Fang Huái, Ruò Xī and other awesome predecessors who crossed over. Not having the chance to follow Li Zhōng Táng, Yuán Dà Tóu, Jiǎng Xiào Zhǎng, or Máo Tài Zǔ is also no big deal. Living a 'three-no' life without a mobile phone, computer, or PSP is still bearable. I can even ignore the fact that my loyal heart is wrapped in a white outer shell. But, stinky Taoist, could you please not abandon me to..."

  After the rain, the dusk of Kiel Bay in the Baltic Sea presents a busy scene. The lighthouse on the high coast is lit up early, and the tens of thousands of tons of ships are shuttling back and forth. In the suburbs of Kiel Port, the winding railway lines on both sides, accompanied by the beautiful sunset, large patches of small chrysanthemums are in full bloom; In Kiel University, there are Gothic buildings with brick-red exterior walls that appear and disappear among the lush Bodhi trees; Holtenau, two high ship locks are gradually taking shape, and the opening of the Wilhelm Emperor Canal is imminent. In the Kiel Military Port area, the Brandenburg-class battleship, the ultimate enlarged version of the German industrial essence and sea defense ironclad warship, is quietly moored at the dock, with several marines standing guard with guns.

  Germany, this is Kiel, Germany in 1894!

  Heidi in her past life wasn't exactly a degenerate who indulged in all vices, but she was still a typical representative of the "lost generation" of post-90s. However, no matter how lazy and unmotivated Heidi was, or how lacking in ambition and knowledge, she was still vaguely aware that Germany had started two world wars under the leadership of certain emperors and presidents, and lost both times.

  Wang Haitie came rushing to build his career, but this doesn't mean he's willing to let himself be wrapped in horsehide and buried in the yellow sand of a hundred battles, wearing golden armor, breaking into the blue tower only to never return, isn't that the temperament of an otaku.

  "But, Smelly Taoist, can't you please not send me to pre-WWI Germany? Even if I had nine lives, it wouldn't be enough for the devastation of war. Uncle/Master Taoist, I won't mock you again, I believe in you now, is that not enough? I'll even worship you like a Spring Brother, just please let me go back..."

  Graduated with a degree in psychology, I don't know chemistry or physics. I don't understand astronomy or geography. I have no idea how to make guns or cannons. I'm not clear about the production process of glass soap. I don't understand investment or pyramid schemes and I don't have the talent for it either. In my past life, Heidi's greatest personal value was boosting domestic demand and consuming national goods. After crossing over, Heidi didn't gain any superpowers like wearing red underwear or spitting spider silk. What she had was a mother with late-stage cancer, a father who worked as a whaler on the high seas, and a total family fortune of four marks and thirty-five pfennigs, along with a wooden shack in the slums that couldn't even keep out the wind or rain.

  "Even if you defy the heavens and change your fate, have you ever seen such a low starting point for entrepreneurship? The Bohemian lower officer is at least not worried about food and clothing. What about us? Wearing old school uniforms or Freya's altered old clothes forever, having a lunch with a few pieces of pumpkin pie and black bread spread with butter has become an unattainable luxury; As a child, I have to take care of Heather who has cancer, and worry about Freya who is hunting whales in the South Atlantic; As a student, I want to go to Berlin University but am afraid of increasing the burden on my family, wanting to give up my studies but fearing that Heather will be heartbroken."

  Heidi had also downloaded a copy of "The Glory of Germany", but that book was still on Heidi's starting bookshelf and hadn't been read yet. He had also bought a pirated copy of "Re-forging the New Sea Power Era of the Third Empire" at a street stall, but unfortunately it was borrowed by his roommate, and he didn't even have time to remember the color of the cover of the pirated book. Heidi rubbed his bruised and purple arm, grasping his small wheat-colored blond hair in despair:

  I was wrong, I really was wrong. If I could go back, I would study hard and strive for the modernization of socialism for my whole life. I would take good care of my parents, love and protect my little girlfriend, and take care of my unborn child. I would help any elderly person who has fallen to the ground, if Zhou Zhenglong says it's a South China tiger, I believe it, and if the government is going to demolish and relocate, I will fully support it...

  "Xilem, it's been raining for so long, how much longer do you want to slack off?! Come over and move the cargo boxes quickly, or I'll deduct your wages!"

  The sharp and sarcastic shouting of the foreman, Leeman, came from afar. Heidi had to stop her complaining, nodding and bowing with a forced smile, and slipped onto the cargo ship like a grandson.

  Taking a deep breath, she spat on her rough hands covered in calluses, slightly bent her knees, and with a low growl like a beast, she tightened her throat, exerted force with both hands, and swiftly lifted the heavy cargo frame weighing fifty kilograms onto her right shoulder.

  Heidi's frail body sank down heavily, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling with golden lights. After a few gasps, she finally caught her breath. Under Leiman's urging, Wang Hei Di, who had once fantasized about saving the world and creating a great era, now trudged listlessly along, carrying heavy goods towards the dock with great difficulty.

  Note

  1. Bohemian corporal: namely Hitler, Bohemian corporal was a derogatory term used by Paul von Hindenburg to refer to him.