Chapter 1 Chapter 1

A rain fell in Yu City for several days.

In the ward of the inpatient building, not only was there no heat typical for this season, but there was also a biting chill.

"Mom, you should eat something too. You only drank half a bowl of porridge at noon. How can you hold on?"

"We're keeping an eye on Jiaxin. Didn't the doctor say she's fine now?"

"That's right. Let's go. I'll accompany you to the cafeteria to eat something. We'll be back in half an hour."

The door blocked out most of the sound, but the girl lying on the hospital bed could hear every word clearly.

She curled her fingers slightly, matching the sounds outside with the names in her memory one by one, while trying to adapt to this new body.

Qiao Jiaxin does not belong to this world.

Before she traveled through time, she was a high school student who was paralyzed due to a car accident.

Finally, he died of multiple complications and was transported to this book called "Fireworks Alley" and became a girl with the same name as himself, fulfilling the wish of the original owner who also died of a serious illness.

The original owner was unfortunate. Her parents died in the line of duty when she was very young, leaving her alone to face this strange world.

The original owner was also lucky. She had a grandparents who loved her and protected her from the wind and rain, allowing her to grow up in a happy environment.

But……

On the third day after she traveled through time, the original owner's grandfather passed away.

The original owner contracted pneumonia a few days ago after being caught in the rain, and her grandma and grandpa have been taking turns staying by her side in the hospital.

It rained heavily on Friday.

On the way to the hospital, my grandfather heard someone fall into the water when he passed by the river.

He was a boy of six or seven years old. He walked to the river bank to help his mother, who was selling fruit, pick up apples that were blown away by the wind. Finally, he slipped and fell into the river.

The woman couldn't swim, so she could only cry and call for help.

Upon seeing this, Mr. He put down the lunch box in his hand and dived into the river. Being familiar with the water, he pulled the child out of the water in just over ten minutes.

However, due to exhaustion from saving people, when pushing the drowning child to the shore, Mr. He was swept into the surging river and never had the chance to pick up the lunch box on the riverbank...

It was only two days ago when Qiao Jiaxin heard crying outside the ward that she learned about the original owner's grandfather's death.

From the original owner's memory, she could sense that her grandfather was a very good person. She wanted to cry like her grandmother and uncle, but because she had just come here not long ago, she could not control the original owner's body well and could only digest the sadness in her heart.

After several uncles tried to persuade grandma for a long time, she finally agreed to have something to eat with them in the cafeteria.

After the uncles left, several aunts carefully pushed open the door of the ward.

The eldest aunt tiptoed to the bedside and first helped tuck in the quilt; the second aunt went to close the ventilation window a little; the third aunt saw that the medicine in the drip was almost finished, so she turned around and went out to call the nurse; the youngest aunt went out with the kettle to get some water.

In addition to Qiao Jiaxin, there was another patient in the ward who, like her, had recovered from pneumonia.

Hearing the relatives in the adjacent bed busying about in the room, the woman who was feeding her child couldn't help but part the curtain and asked softly, "Are you hers...?"

"Sister-in-law." replied my aunt.

During the days in the hospital, the woman only met the child's grandparents and spoke a few words to them. She had not met any other members of the Qiao family.

But it is understandable. After all, the old man passed away a few days ago, and his sons have to set up a mourning hall and observe mourning according to the rules. With so many things to do, they really don’t have much time to come to the hospital to visit their sick niece.

"Jinzi..." The woman paused, unable to resist gossiping, "What about her parents?"

My aunt subconsciously glanced at Qiao Jiaxin who was still sleeping, her eyes dimmed and she sighed deeply.

She didn't answer directly, but from her expression, the woman probably guessed what was going on.

"I'm sorry, I spoke too much..."

To ease the awkwardness, the woman added, "But the child is quite lucky. I've seen the old couple treat her very well, and you, as her uncle and aunt, also take care of her."

The two aunts smiled unconsciously and did not deny her compliment.

Aunt: "It's all as it should be."

Second aunt: "Yes, even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. Otherwise, we are still a family."

Listening to them chatting quietly, Qiao Jiaxin tried to use more force with her fingers again.

After a few days of adaptation, although her muscles are still a little sore, she can already move her limbs.

Slowly opening her eyes, Qiao Jiaxin first saw the mourning badge on her aunt's chest. Then she lifted her eyelids a little and saw the slightly raised corners of her lips as she and her second aunt chatted with the aunt in the next bed.

"Jin..."

After being in a coma for several days, Qiao Jiaxin's throat felt a little dry, and when she spoke, her voice sounded weak.

"Auntie..."

She was so engrossed in chatting about family matters that she didn't hear Qiao Jiaxin calling her at first. It was not until she heard two coughs on the hospital bed that she realized Qiao Jiaxin, who had been in a coma for several days, had opened her eyes.

"Wake up, wake up, Jiaxin is awake!"

My second aunt hurried out of the ward to call for help, while my eldest aunt symbolically tested her forehead with the back of her hand and asked with concern, "Are you feeling better? Is there anything wrong with you?"

Looking at the concerned expression on her aunt's face, Qiao Jiaxin was not too moved.

She didn't know why.

It was clear in the original owner's memory that her four uncles and four aunts were quite nice to her. Every time they came to her grandmother's house for dinner, they would bring her some delicious food and give her some pocket money, but she did not feel as close to them as she did with her grandparents.

"Jiaxin? Jiaxin is awake?"

It's grandma's voice.

She was always thinking about her granddaughter. Perhaps it was because of the bond between grandmother and granddaughter, but Mrs. Qiao was anxious to come back after just taking two bites of food in the cafeteria.

Sure enough, as soon as I went upstairs, I ran into my second son's wife who went to the nurse's station to call for help. She said that the child had woken up.

Grandma's face looked older than I remembered. In just a few days, she seemed to have aged ten years, and there were a lot more white hairs on her temples.

She was still wearing the brown cloth shirt that the original owner had worn before she fell into a coma, but her increasingly thin shoulders could hardly support it.

"Grandma!"

The moment she saw her grandma, Qiao Jiaxin's tears burst out.

Throwing herself into her grandmother's arms, she spoke hoarsely about her grandfather, "I heard it all when I was asleep. My grandfather, he, he..."

Patting her granddaughter's back, Mrs. Qiao also felt a puddle of moisture. However, she did not let the tears flow. Instead, she sighed deeply and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Even if Grandpa is gone, you still have Grandma. Grandma is still here."

After Qiao Jiaxin recovered a little, her uncles told her in detail what had happened in the past few days.

Mr. Qiao acted bravely and it was an honorable thing, but according to the rules, the funeral could only be held for five days.

So early this morning, Grandpa Qiao was buried, and Qiao Jiaxin missed the chance to see her grandfather for the last time.

Using her sleeve to wipe Qiao Jiaxin's tears, Old Lady Qiao also wiped her own eyes with her sleeve: "Don't cry, you just recovered from your illness, you can't hurt yourself by crying again."

Boss Qiao sighed and then advised, "Your grandfather is blessing you in heaven, that's why you recovered so quickly. Stop crying and don't make him worry."

Walking to the bedside and picking up the receipts from the past few days, Qiao Laoer tried to change the sad topic: "I'll go pay the bill first. The nurse just said that I can be observed for another night. If I'm fine tomorrow, I can be discharged."

"I'll go." Qiao Laosan took the initiative to reach out to take the documents. "Your family is not having an easy time either. I'll pay for Jiaxin's medical expenses."

"You must be hungry after sleeping for so long, right?"

Qiao Laosi also opened the meal he brought back from the cafeteria and handed a pair of chopsticks to Qiao Jiaxin, "Come, eat something. You will get better faster if you have food in your stomach."

First, four aunts surrounded her, and then four uncles cared about her. Looking at this whole family in the ward, Qiao Jiaxin was a little flattered.

She was really not used to the kindness of her uncles and aunts.

Looking at Qiao Jiaxin lowering her head to eat the porridge in the bowl, the forced smile on Old Mrs. Qiao's face was a bit bitter. She didn't want to be sad just because her granddaughter recovered from her illness, but she couldn't control her emotions and there was always moisture in the corners of her eyes.

"Grandma."

Seeing tears in her grandma's eyes, Qiao Jiaxin felt uncomfortable.

In order not to let her grandmother worry about herself, she wiped her tears with a tissue, straightened her chest and said, "Grandma, don't cry. I'm grown up now and can take good care of you in the future. When I make money, we will definitely go out for a good trip."

"What's the big deal about making money?" Mrs. Qiao wiped away her tears. "Just study hard in high school and get into a good university."

"Even if your grandfather is gone, don't you still have these uncles?" Looking back at her sons, Old Mrs. Qiao said casually, "And your aunt, she won't ignore you either."

Old Mrs. Qiao said it easily, but she didn't notice the expressions on her sons and daughters-in-law's faces.

Almost in that instant, the corners of everyone's mouth twitched.

Nervous? Scared? Avoiding?

It's just like seeing a quack doctor accidentally drop the plaster from his hand. Everyone is afraid that this black and smelly thing will stick to their body and they won't be able to get rid of it.

However, they did not show it too obviously, but tried hard to hide their inner panic, pretending to pour water or go to open the window, deliberately avoiding what Mrs. Qiao said.

When Qiao Lao San came back after paying the fees and everyone in the family was present, Mrs. Qiao repeated, "Don't you agree, Lao San?"

"What?"

Seeing that everyone in the room looked unhappy, Qiao Laosan was a little confused.

Mrs. Qiao: "Now that your father is gone, you brothers won't ignore Jiaxin and me, right?"

Qiao Laosan didn't say anything.

Just like before, the room fell into an awkward silence again...