Reborn during the early days of China’s reform and opening, the narrator finds himself in the 1980s countryside. In this setting, the past is still a cold reference, yet it is also a fresh start....
Han Guangjia stood on the main road south of Xiaoshutun, looking at the majestic mountains and rivers with a puzzled look.
After serving in the army for five years, when he was discharged and returned to his hometown, he no longer recognized anything here.
In the autumn of 1980, he packed his backpack and joined the army with honor. Because of his good physical fitness, courage and tough style, he was transferred to a secret unit.
After a year of hard training, he fought with agents from a southern country in the southern jungles and fought with Indians in the snowy areas. He was awarded the third-class collective merit and the second-class individual merit several times.
After a serious injury, his body was no longer fit to fight the enemy on the front line. The army wanted him to stay and serve as an instructor, but he could not let go of the mountains and rivers of his hometown and resolutely chose to demobilize.
Now, he has been back to his hometown for five days, but he still feels like he is in a dream. He has asked himself countless times: Is this my remote hometown?
He wouldn't even dare to dream of the changes here.
Almost every household in Xiaoshutun has a side job, and this alone brings each family an annual income of more than 1,000 yuan, and some families even earn several thousand yuan.
He originally returned to his hometown and planned to lead his fellow villagers to the road to prosperity, but he fell into deep confusion and didn't know what to do.
He didn't even notice when a tricycle stopped beside him.
As soon as the tricycle entered the territory of Jiangwei and crossed the small bridge leading to Wohu, Wan Feng saw a man standing upright beside another small bridge in front of Xiaoshutun Village.
Just from the way he stood, Wan Feng could tell at a glance that he was a soldier or had been a soldier.
The person standing here like a nail is definitely not from other teams.
Wan Feng quickly recalled the people from the nearby teams who were serving as soldiers outside.
There are no Crouching Tigers. There is one active-duty soldier in front of the valley, and two recently demobilized soldiers behind the valley. So there is only Xiaoshutun left. In Xiaoshutun, there is only one person named Han Guangjia who is serving in the army.
The mysterious thing is that no one knows what kind of soldier he was and there has been no news of him for five years.
Then the soldier in front is most likely Han Guangjia.
Wan Feng and Han Guangjia first met in 1990, when his family had just moved to Xiaoshutun. They met each other while living in the same team.
"Stop right where that person is." Wan Feng said to the tricycle driver.
The tricycle stopped right next to Han Guang's house. Wan Feng paid the fare, got off the car, and waved to the driver.
After the tricycle left, Wan Feng said to Han Guangjia with a smile: "If I'm not mistaken, you are Han Guangjia, right?"
Han Guangjia was stunned, and a dazzling cold light flashed in his eyes.
Holy shit! What the hell are you doing? I just asked you if you were Han Guangjia, why are you looking at me with such murderous eyes?
What kind of soldier Han Guangjia was, Jiang Wei and his men didn't know, but Wan Feng, who had experience as a prophet, knew. Although Han Guangjia never talked about what he had done in the army, there were still some hints in his daily words.
Wan Feng believed that the eyes of soldiers who had been baptized by blood and fire could kill people. He had also seen this terrifying look in Yang Jianguo's eyes.
"Third brother! Don't get excited. This is not the military base anymore, and I am not the enemy."
Han Guang is the third child in the family, and Wan Feng used to call him Third Brother.
Han Guangjia finally came to his senses and forced a smile on his face: "Sorry, I'm used to it."
Wan Feng took out a pack of Da'anshan cigarettes from his pocket, took out a cigarette and threw the whole pack over.
"I don't smoke!" Han Guangjia threw the cigarette back.
There are almost no soldiers like him who smoke. If he gets the urge to smoke and smokes a cigarette while out on a mission, he might lose his head.
"How about drinking?"
"The wine is OK."
"This place is quite far from Wahou. It takes a long time to walk there for a drink. For now, let's just stay in the inn. We can have a good drink together some other day and then go sit in the inn for a while."
"But who of yours do I still not know?"
"My last name is Wan. I bought the house in the brigade. Next year, my family will settle in Xiaoshutun. Now we are considered members of the same team. From now on, we will be brothers!"
Upon learning that Wan Feng was also from Xiaoshutun, Han Guangjia followed Wan Feng to the shop.
Just outside the gable of the shop, under a tree, canned fish, canned meat, and luncheon meat filled a newspaper.
"Third brother, do you want white wine or beer?"
"Let's have some beer. White wine makes me sick."
A box of beer was placed aside, and each person blew the horn with a bottle.
He came up and drank a bottle without saying a word.
Seeing Han Guangjia finish a bottle of beer without taking a breath, Wan Feng secretly groaned, why are there beer barrels everywhere?
After drinking a bottle of beer, the relationship between the two seemed to be much closer.
After a conversation, Wan Feng knew that Han Guangjia had been demobilized and would never leave again, but he was in a state of confusion.
"Xiao Wan! You don't know, I still feel like I'm in a dream. I always feel like I've come to the wrong place. Jiang Wei is no longer the Jiang Wei I was before I joined the army."
Han Guangjia probably could not have guessed that the person who had instigated the change in threat was sitting opposite him.
"Third brother! The world is always changing. When you look back in ten years, you won't recognize this world anymore."
"But the changes are too fast. When I left, Jiangwei Brigade could barely get enough to eat, but now, not to mention Wahou, even in Xiaoshutun, almost every family has moved to a tiled house. This was unthinkable before. Every family with young people used to worry about finding a wife, but this time when I came back, that guy named Da Mutou doesn't want a good wife anymore. There's no reason for this."
It was such a coincidence that just as Han Guangjia finished saying that Da Mutou didn't want a wife, a woman came out of Xiaoshutun Village, seeming to be crying all the way towards them.
When I got closer, I saw that it was the big wood that Han Guang's family had mentioned, the daughter-in-law who was going to marry him in the fall.
The girl's home is in Xiaoliutun, Pingshan Brigade, which is not far from here.
Da Mu's real name is Han Xiguo. In fact, he is the nephew of Han Guang's family. He can do all kinds of work, but he has one shortcoming: he likes to gamble.
The girl walked pitifully along the road towards Cuitun, wiping her tears. Perhaps she was too sad and did not notice Wan Feng sitting under the tree on the gable of Shuangqiao Store.
"Look, my nephew is such a rotten guy, but he can still find a wife like this and still act so arrogant. I really want to kick him until he becomes paralyzed." Han Guangjia said hatefully.
"Why don't we go to Mutou's house after we finish drinking? Why did he drive his wife away when they were about to get married? As the saying goes, it's better to destroy a thousand temples than to destroy a family's marriage. Why don't we go and persuade him?"
"Okay! It's nothing to worry about anyway."
Da Mu's wife also works in Wanfeng's garment factory. She took a leave of absence because she is planning to get married next month.
She was a pretty nice girl, her name seemed to be Ling Yue'e. Wan Feng had met her a few times, and her appearance was all right. When Da Mu Tou was dating her, he had to jump over the wall of the garment factory.
Damn it, now you want to leave her after sleeping with her. Wan Feng thinks he needs to ask about this.
If he doesn't explain it clearly, if this guy acts like a scoundrel in the garment factory again, Wan Feng will definitely break his legs.