In the early 1990s, everyone was still using coal stoves. In winter, every household had to boil water in advance and fill their thermos flasks so that they wouldn't run out of hot water.

As for taking a bath, people usually go to the bathhouse inside the cement factory. Most of the people living nearby are cement factory employees or relatives. The cement factory provides free baths, the only restriction being the time when hot water is available.

After the whole family has finished washing up, they will lean against the bed and chat, or teach Xia Minmin to recognize characters or recite poems. This is the only leisure time in their busy lives.

The family of three squeezed into a cramped rented room. The dim lighting was far inferior to the bright white incandescent bulbs of later generations, but it made Xia Minmin feel a rare sense of warmth.

As Xia Minmin read aloud in her childish voice, Xia Jianguo would occasionally correct her mispronunciations.

Li Chunmei started knitting sweaters. Nowadays, sweaters are still handmade and come in many colors and styles. Li Chunmei is not the type to be particularly skillful with her hands. She is a great cook, but she tries knitting every year, and without exception, all of them end in failure. All the sweaters for the family of three are paid to be knitted by others.

It took Xia Minmin half an hour to memorize all ten Tang poems for today. Xia Jianguo then had her review the ten Tang poems she had memorized yesterday, and she memorized them all successfully.

Xia Minmin had nothing to do all day, so she could only repeatedly recite those Tang poems. The Tang poems that Xia Jianguo taught seemed like a lot, but ten of them were actually no more than five hundred words.

Li Chunmei glanced at the time on the wall clock, then took off Xia Minmin's cotton-padded coat and helped her to sleep.

Lying in bed, Xia Minmin reflected on her experiences over the past two days and finally accepted that she had returned to 1994. She wanted to start her life anew and make up for the regrets of her previous life.

Xia Minmin had many regrets in her past life. For example, when she was two or three years old, she got very tanned from helping her parents set up a stall. No matter how much she tried to whiten her skin after growing up, it didn't work well. When she was one year old, Xia Minmin still had fair skin, just like Li Chunmei. This time, she needs to take good care of herself and not go out in the sun carelessly.

Xia Minmin was very dissatisfied with her height; she was the shortest in her family. Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei were both tall, with Li Chunmei at 168cm and Xia Jianguo at 175cm. The only person she could definitively say was her grandmother. Drinking more milk and exercising more, Xia Minmin refused to believe she wouldn't grow taller this time.

Xia Minmin's biggest regret is not being able to study properly. Her brain was really good during her early childhood, and with the added comprehension of an adult, she memorized all twenty Tang poems she had memorized in the past two days. She doesn't know if this counts as a cheat code. Xia Minmin remembers that memorizing books was very difficult when she was in high school.

As she thought about it, Xia Minmin fell asleep.

Xia Jianguo glanced at Xia Minmin and whispered to Li Chunmei, "Observe Xiaomin more recently and see if her memory is really that good. We should nurture her."

Li Chunmei yawned and mumbled an "Mmm".

Xia Jianguo watched as his sleepy-eyed wife lifted the covers, got up, and turned off the light.

Even though the lights were off, Xia Jianguo couldn't fall asleep for a long time. He graduated from junior college, but because his mother was seriously ill and his family couldn't afford the tuition, he was unable to receive his graduation certificate. This was his regret. He often said that if he had taken the college entrance examination again, the result might have been different.

Xia Jianguo always paid close attention to Xia Minmin's studies. He spared no expense in sending her to any tutoring classes that were helpful for her learning. As a result, Xia Minmin spent every weekend of elementary school going back and forth to tutoring classes, with no time to rest or play.

When Xia Minmin was in junior high school, she was sent to a private school in a county town far from her home to board. In fact, she did not want to stay in the private school. She was very tired every day while studying at the private school. Her homeroom teacher at the time was also very irritable and often got angry and hit people.

Xia Minmin had a female classmate who was slammed against a desk by the teacher for being disobedient. As a result, she suffered from back pain for a year. The girl was too afraid to tell her family, and her parents wouldn't believe it either. They would only think that their child was unrepentant and had angered the teacher.

Xia Minmin is introverted and has few friends at the private school. She is also not used to telling others about her private affairs, so she can only cry under the covers every night, wanting to go home and transfer schools.

But she didn't dare tell Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei about wanting to transfer schools, because they would definitely not agree. That private school was a prestigious school in the area, with many excellent teachers and foreign teachers, and the tuition was four times that of a regular junior high school.

Xia Jianguo would be crazy to agree to let Xia Minmin transfer from such a good school back to the town's junior high school. So Xia Minmin had no choice but to stay at the private school. Although weekends were supposed to be holidays, there were tutoring sessions on Saturdays and Sundays, requiring her to travel back and forth to the county town. This situation lasted for three years.

Judging from Xia Jianguo's upbringing, he believes he provided Xia Minmin with the best learning environment. He himself had a difficult time studying, having to borrow money from various sources every year to afford his education. He doesn't want his daughter to experience the same thing.

However, he overlooked the fact that everyone is a different individual and needs different emotions. Xia Minmin, who was in her teens, was not an extroverted person. She was sensitive and insecure, and any unfamiliar environment would make her anxious. She needed a long time to adapt to unfamiliar environments.

It is undeniable that Xia Jianguo loved Xia Minmin. However, Xia Minmin could not understand the love he expressed at the time. In addition, neither of them was good at expressing themselves, and they missed many opportunities to communicate during Xia Minmin's growth.

In winter, dawn comes late, but the roosters don't crow late. It's still pitch black outside. The neighbor's rooster has been crowing for several rounds, making it impossible for Xia Minmin to sleep. She has no choice but to tuck her head under the covers and try to go back to sleep.

Seeing this, Li Chunmei immediately pulled Xia Minmin out of the quilt. Sleeping under the covers would make the quilt damp when she breathed. In winter, it's not easy to find sunny days to air out the quilts. If the quilts are damp, it will be cold, and both adults and children will catch a cold.

The family of three took a half-hour nap before getting up. Today was another busy day. Based on past experience, they would not be able to rest until the day before Lunar New Year's Eve.

Around the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, Xia Jianguo will start writing and selling couplets again, and the business at his stall will depend on Li Chunmei.

To encourage Xia Minmin, Xia Jianguo promised yesterday to take her to a breakfast shop today. Xia Minmin wobbled like a little roly-poly toy as she walked along the road. Li Chunmei had dressed her in too many clothes, making it difficult for her to move around.

Xia Minmin recited poems as she walked, as it concerned whether she could have breakfast outside the next day. Although breakfast in 1994 was not as elaborate as in later years, it was still plentiful and clean, without much technology or hard work involved.

After reciting the poem, they arrived at the stall. Xia Jianguo started setting up the goods, and Li Chunmei took Xia Minmin to order breakfast. Xia Minmin had decided yesterday that she wanted to eat wontons today, as she had been craving pure meat wontons for a long time.

Xia Minmin saw the breakfast shop owner greet her warmly, "Hello, Auntie, good morning!"

"Good morning, little one. Did you come to the market with your mom and dad today?"

"Uh-huh."

Li Chunmei ordered food from the proprietress, "Sister, two bowls of pork rib noodles and one bowl of wontons. This little guy wants to eat wontons today."

The proprietress smiled and said, "Little one, you can order food by yourself now, that's so good. Auntie will pack you extra meat later."

Li Chunmei led Xia Minmin to sit down and prepare to have breakfast.