Chapter 1 Rebirth

  The starry night shook slightly because the arm that had fallen asleep from leaning on it was numb, and in the instant when I saw clearly in front of me, I was stunned, and my raised hand forgot to put it down.

  She was in a hospital room, not lying on the bed, but sitting on a stool beside it. On the bed lay a thin woman with an oxygen tube, her mother, whom she recognized at a glance.

  She clenched her fist tightly in the dark of night, and tears fell silently. She wanted to rush forward and shout out "Mom", but was afraid that it would all be just a dream, and when she rushed forward, the dream would wake up.

  At night, he carefully held his mother's hand, the hand with long but rough fingers, and bulging veins on the back of the hand. It felt so real in his hands. He couldn't hold it anymore, pressed his mother's hand to his face, and burst into tears.

  "What's wrong, Yezi?" asked Yu Yue as she woke up from her nap "Had a nightmare?"

  Hearing his mother's weak words, hearing his mother call him 'Yezi' again, Xingye's emotions were almost out of control.

  "Mom..." with a thousand words and phrases in her heart but didn't know where to start.

  "Don't cry anymore, it's all mom's fault that I've held you back and held this family back. Now I've even made it so you can't go to school..."

  "No, no, mom, as long as you can get better, it's all right, as long as you don't leave Yehzi, as long as our family can be together."

  Yu Youyue lovingly gazed at her daughter, wanting to reach out and wipe away the tears on her face, but her arms were unexpectedly too weak to lift.

  "Foolish child, mom's days are numbered, I know it. Everyone has this day, don't be sad. If I go, it would be a relief, no need to suffer from the pain of illness anymore. With your dad and brother around, you will never be wronged, so I can rest assured."

  "Mom, what are you talking about? Wait for my brother to come back and marry a beautiful and virtuous wife, then give birth to a big fat grandson for you and dad. As for me, I want to attend a good university, find a good job and earn lots of money, find a handsome boyfriend, huh, not only handsome but also one who loves me, listens to my words, and is good to my family. By then your illness will be cured, and our whole family will be as happy as can be." Xing Ye said it with intentional naivety, just to prevent the conversation from becoming even more depressing.

  As expected, Yu Yue was amused and said: "How shameless, is this something a little girl like you should say? Others will laugh at you if they hear it."

  "I'm telling mom, aren't I? There's no one else, and mom won't laugh at me." The starry night snuggled up to her mother's shoulder.

  "What a silly girl." Yu Youyue smiled and accepted her daughter's hug, rubbing her face against her daughter's, at this moment she completely forgot about her illness.

  Enjoying the warmth of the night with his mother, he deliberately said some pleasant words.

  It's great to see the deceased mother again, have the love of relatives, no matter what mysterious things happen to oneself, thank God for being able to find lost happiness again.

  Yu Youyue fell asleep again under her daughter's comfort.

  ————————————————————————————

  Luoxing Ye saw her mother fast asleep and got up to leave the room, she was anxious to figure some things out.

  This is the inpatient department of the county hospital, and it's the only building. The nurse station that should have people is empty, the conditions of the county hospital are not good, the nurses on duty should be hiding somewhere to sleep.

  Luoxing night glanced around, picked up the calendar on the table. After seeing the date on the calendar, he was stunned for a moment, then hastily flipped through the medical records on the table. After confirming his doubts, a wave of sourness spread throughout his body, as if all his strength had been drained away, and he fell into the chair.

  Since she's coming again anyway, why not a day earlier? As long as it's a day earlier, that's all that matters!

  December 8th, the red letter on the calendar, unusually eye-catching.

  December 8th used to be a memorial day for my stepfather, and just a few hours ago, he suddenly passed away, the news of his death has not yet reached the hospital.

  Past events are still vivid in my mind. On the ninth day, early in the morning, Aunt San brought news of Father's death. In order to earn more money, Father had been working overtime on the construction site, and his exhaustion from days of hard work caused him to fall from the scaffolding on the fifth floor. He died before he could be taken to the hospital. At that time, when I heard that my beloved father had left like this, I was so flustered and helpless that I neglected Mother's abnormal behavior. That night, Mother pulled out her own oxygen tube and ended her life.

  We can never let such a tragedy happen again!

  Luoxing Ye clenched his fists tightly and made a silent vow: Since heaven has given me another chance, I will do my best to change everything that happened in the past!

  ———————————————————————————————

  Returned to the ward and saw her mother still fast asleep, Xing Ye sat in front of the bed with no intention of sleeping.

  The sky was dimly lit and the stars were still out when she arrived at the gate, on this early winter morning the cold wind was biting to the bone, yet she felt more awake than ever before.

  Reborn, back to sixteen years old, still can't change the fact that her mother is ill, stepfather died early, and brother was imprisoned, but after experiencing more than a decade of social experience, Xing Ye is no longer that naive and weak little girl.

  A cold glint flashed in his eyes at night, and he couldn't let the same tragedy happen again between him and his brother.

  "Yèzi, on such a cold day, how are you sitting here?" The speaker was none other than San Shu and San Shu's wife, who had rushed over before dawn.

  "Uncle San, Auntie San, why did you come so early? You haven't had breakfast yet, right? I'll go buy some more and we can eat together."

  Third Uncle and Third Aunt exchanged a glance, looking at Xing Ye who appeared even thinner in the cold wind, neither of them willing to speak first, fearing that this little girl, who seemed like she could be blown away by the wind at any moment, couldn't withstand the blow.

  Third Aunt shot a glance at her husband and spoke up, "No need, we've already eaten. You don't have to buy anything. It's cold and windy in the morning and evening, why aren't you wearing more clothes? And what are you doing sitting outside staring off into space? Is it because of your mom..."

  "My mom is fine, Auntie San, don't worry." Xing Ye hurriedly explained, lightly sighing: "Actually, I just had a nightmare last night and today I don't know why but my heart has been uneasy, it's really scary."

  "I'm not afraid of anything, no matter what happens, dreams are just the opposite, and speaking out loud about a nightmare will dispel it."

  "My mom said that too, but when I think about the dream, Dad's bloody appearance makes me feel scared" Xing Ye said while looking at their expressions.

  As expected, both of them were stunned, "You said you dreamed about your dad, and he was covered in blood?"

  "Uh-huh, wearing that dirty work uniform, with blood all over my body and face, standing by my mom's bed... Auntie, it's been two days since my dad came back, nothing's wrong, right?" Xing Ye asked worriedly.

  The couple looked at each other again, and both saw a hint of fear in each other's eyes.

  "What else did you dream of?" San Shu didn't know his voice had already trembled as he spoke.

  "Last night, I frowned and said: 'In my dream, my mom was sleeping, I sat on the bed, just like last night's scene. Dad stood for a long time, I wanted to wake up my mom, he didn't let me, saying don't tell my mom, also said that my mom will rely on me in the future, and said he doesn't have much time left and wants to go see my brother. After finishing speaking, he left, no matter how I called him, he didn't turn back, and disappeared in the blink of an eye, so I woke up crying. Auntie, do you think this dream is not very good? It's never been as vivid as last night's!"

  Xīng yè shuō wán kàn zhe liǎn sè cāng bái de liǎng rén.

  Translation:

  Starry night looked at the two pale faces.

  It's well-known that in this mountain village, people have a deep reverence for ghosts and gods, especially some elderly folks who are superstitious. They like to ask the gods about everything, so it's natural that many people believe in dream divination.

  "Third Aunt, what's wrong with you? Speak up! Can't be a good dream, can it?"

  "Her father, you..." Third Aunt looked at her husband for help.

  Third Uncle said with a serious expression: "Yèzi! Hmm, it's cold outside, let's go inside to find a warm place to talk."

  Third Uncle led the way to the first floor corridor and sat down on a wooden bench against the wall. The entire first floor was made up of clinics, and since it wasn't yet time for the doctors' consultations, the whole corridor was quiet.

  It's good that I didn't go straight to the ward, and now I can rest a little easier tonight.

  "Uncle?" Looking at him just rubbing his hands together, without even lifting his head, Xing Ye urged.

  "Your dad, your dad had an accident at the construction site yesterday." Luo Jia's third uncle hung his head even lower, afraid that he wouldn't be able to say anything more if he saw Little Ye.

  "What's wrong with my dad?" Yezi didn't know how to answer either, so she just pretended to be stupid.

  "Your dad was working overtime last night and fell from the scaffolding. He was sent to the hospital but died."

  Xīng yè jué de zhěng gè xīn dōu zài chōu zhàn, wèi shén me? Wèi shén me míng míng zǎo jiù zhī dào de shì, zài cì tīng shuō hái shì zhè yàng ràng rén wú fǎ jiē shòu? Shì le, zì jǐ xīn lǐ hái xī wàng néng gòu yóu zì jǐ de chóng shēng ér gǎi biàn zhè bēi jù de fā shēng.

  "Leaf, leaf!" Luo Jia's third aunt stared blankly at the night sky, looking anxious, fearing that she had been frightened. She quickly hugged her in her arms. In her heart, she couldn't help but blame her husband, why he wouldn't speak more tactfully. This one sentence was too much for the child to accept.

  "Auntie, Dad, yesterday..." The starry night sought help from Luo Jia's third aunt.

  "Uh-huh." Luo Jia's third aunt nodded silently, but her eyes reddened.

  "Wah" burst into loud wailing in Third Aunt's arms

  "Cry, cry, it's all right once you've cried" Third Aunt hugged Xing Ye, and she herself began to shed tears.

  The starry night made her cry even harder, and in just these short dozen hours or so, she had experienced the confusion of poisoning herself to death in her past life, the inexplicable rebirth, the joy of seeing her mother, the helplessness of being unable to change her father's death, and the hopelessness of knowing that her mother would not recover. All sorts of pressures weighed on her, yet she had nowhere to vent them, and this one cry caused tears to gush out uncontrollably.

  Third Aunt thought she was just shocked by her father's accident, so she just hugged her and patted her lightly, letting her vent.

  After a long while, Xing Ye gradually stopped crying. San Shu hastily consoled her: "Yezhi is dead and can't come back to life. Your brother is not here, your mother still needs you to take care of her, you can't have anything happen to you."

  "Yèzi, look at this thing your mom......" Third Uncle said hesitantly.

  "This must not be known to my mother." Xing Ye's firm and decisive words made Luo Jia San Shu and San Shu stunned, Xing Ye quickly softened his voice and said: "You all know about my mother's physical condition, I'm afraid she can't withstand this blow."

  "Yes, we're also considering this, but after all it's such a big thing"

  "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, my mom has been feeling like a burden to the family since she found out about her illness and my brother's accident. If she finds out that dad died because of her medical expenses, I'm afraid she'll lose hope... if that happens, I..." Xing Ye couldn't continue and burst into tears again.

  "Xīng yè nǐ shuō de duì, kǒng pà nǐ bà tā yě shì zhè yàng xiǎng de, zuó yè de mèng pà shì……” Sān shěn rèn tóng le tā de shuō fǎ.

  "Wasn't last night's dream just that?"

  "It's your dad who can't set his mind at ease, seeing you kids like this. Ah, my brother is a rare good person in the world, how come he... Ah, never mind, but what to say to your mom? This matter can't be hidden for long either." Third Uncle also felt more and more embarrassed as he thought about it.

  "How long can this be hidden, anyway? Just ask Uncle and Aunt to help with the aftermath, and I'll slowly tell my mom."

  Luo Jia's third uncle nodded in agreement.

  Looking at the starry night, a wave of emotion, alas, it's too hard for kids, a teenager has to bear all this.