Nearly 60 years old, Dong Qing got out of the car with offerings and paper money and walked towards his ancestral graves in his hometown.

When I arrived at my deceased wife's grave, I saw that the grave mound had been there for many years. It was covered with vines and shrubs that were over a meter high, with lush and verdant branches and leaves, full of vitality.

The familiar yet unfamiliar tombstone in front of the grave has witnessed many cycles of reincarnation. Clumps of vines surround the desolate and lonely tombstone, which stands forever, while the person has long since passed away and the house is empty.

Today is the anniversary of his late wife's death. Dongqing specially drove back from the city to visit his wife's grave, who passed away nearly forty years ago.

He knelt down and placed the offerings on the altar. He lit some paper money for his deceased wife in front of the grave. His aged body knelt before the grave and kowtowed several times to his wife who had been dead for many years.

He stood up and walked to the tombstone, stroking his deceased wife's name on it. Tears streamed down his face as endless longing welled up in his eyes, forming tears of remembrance that dripped down his aged cheeks onto the tombstone.

The tombstone is inscribed: "Li Yuzhu, born on the sixth day of the third month of 1962, died on the sixteenth day of the sixth month of 1984, at the age of twenty-two. Her first husband was Dong Qing."

Dong Qing was diagnosed with cancer six months ago. When a person is about to die, they are most likely to miss their deceased loved ones. The woman he felt indebted to throughout his life was his late wife, Li Yuzhu.

After his wife passed away, Dongqing shed tears silently countless times in the lonely nights, tears of guilt and remembrance for her life.

On the evening of June 15, 1984, the weather was hot and humid, and the sky was so overcast that it seemed as if water could seep out. Li Yuzhu, heavily pregnant, sat at the dining table with her husband to eat.

After dinner, Dongqing said, "Yuzhu, you go to bed, I'm going out to play for a while!"

Li Yuzhu held her large pregnant belly in her arms, her eyes filled with tears, and said, "Dongqing, you don't come home every night. I'm about to give birth and you still go out gambling. What will I do if I give birth at night and I'm home alone? I've wanted to ask you for a long time, are you even my man? Do you even have me as your wife in your heart?"

Dongqing said impatiently, "Why are you so long-winded? It's not like we can just have a baby anytime soon. I'll stay out a little less tonight and come back, is that alright?"

Li Yuzhu cried, "My darling, I beg you, please stop gambling! Are you determined to gamble away our entire family before you're satisfied?"

Dong Qing was spoiled since childhood and often played mahjong and cards with a few friends. They gambled very little and the winnings and losses were not much. They just sat together and played.

Not long after the marriage, he seemed to have become a different person. He got into gambling and stayed out all night every night. He gambled away his entire family in just over a year after the marriage.

No one could persuade him to change his mind. Later, his relatives and friends were so scared that they dared not lend him money. They knew that the money they lent him would never be recovered. He was a bottomless pit that no one could fill.

He said, "Stop being so fussy. Have I ever neglected you in terms of food or drink? Lie down and go to sleep. I'll be back in a little while."

Amidst his wife's weeping, Dongqing left home to play cards in Wangcun. Little did he know that this departure would mean losing his wife for the rest of his life.

Around 10 p.m., lightning flashed and thunder roared, a strong wind picked up, and then a torrential downpour began.

Li Yuzhu was awakened from her sleep in the middle of the night by abdominal pain. Dong Qing still hadn't returned. The pain was a sign that the baby was coming, and she knew she was about to give birth.

She screamed in pain on the bed, but her screams were drowned out by the thunder and lightning and the torrential rain; the neighbors couldn't hear her at all.

She was in so much abdominal pain that she couldn't even get out of bed. Besides, with the heavy rain outside, she didn't dare go out to call for help; she would die in the rain from the pain if she did.

The rain stopped the next morning. Dongqing played cards all night and lost all the money he had.

He returned home dejectedly, the door tightly shut, thinking to himself: Why hasn't my wife gotten up yet at this hour?

He reached out and pushed the door, which was bolted inwards. He called out for a long time but there was no response from inside. Sensing something was wrong, he decided to remove the door.

After removing the door, he ran into the room and saw his wife lying in a pool of blood. He didn't know when she had died; her body was already cold.

Dongqing held his wife's body and wept bitterly, crying, "Yuzhu, wake up! I promise I'll never gamble again. If I gamble again, I'll chop off my own hand! Wake up!"

However, his cries went unanswered, and Li Yuzhu could no longer hear them. His promise came too late.

Dong Qing snapped out of his reverie and cried, "Yu Zhu, I'm so sorry. I killed you and our child. If there's an afterlife, I'll still marry you. I'll take good care of you and protect you for the rest of my life to make up for my infidelity in the last one."

Dongqing knelt before his wife's grave and wept for a long time. Overwhelmed by grief and with his condition worsening, he eventually died in front of his deceased wife's tombstone at the ancestral grave in his hometown.

Dong Qing was playing mahjong late at night. Outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a torrential downpour raged. Yi Xiaofan said, "Dong Qing, what are you thinking about? Hurry up and play your card!"

Dong Qing snapped out of his daze upon hearing this. He glanced at the calendar on the table: June 15, 1984.

He was shocked when he saw this. How did I get back to June 1984? I was reborn.

He suddenly remembered that today was June 15, 1986, and tomorrow was the anniversary of his deceased wife, Li Yuzhu's, death.

Even after his rebirth, it was still the same three people who played cards with him back then, the same house, the same calendar on the table, and the same rainy night more than thirty years ago—nothing had changed.

If anything has changed, it's that I've been reborn and am no longer the Dongqing of over thirty years ago. Everything is the same except for myself.

Li Yuzhu should also be alive; tonight is the rainy night of her childbirth in her previous life.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!