Feeling groggy, He Tiantian opened her eyes groggily, feeling a burning pain in her back.
Huh? I can feel the pain, does that mean she's not dead?
Yes, it hurts a lot, that's right!
She didn't die? Who saved her?
Oh wait, that's not right! She was bitten on the left ankle by a snake before, so why does her back hurt now?
That's not scientific!
He Tiantian looked around. This room felt both familiar and strange! An old-fashioned wardrobe, a simple desk covered with a floral tablecloth, a newly repaired chair with a broken leg…
This is clearly her room when she was a child!
He Tiantian couldn't believe it. She turned her head and looked out the window. She... she actually saw that familiar persimmon tree.
However, at this time, the persimmon tree was only as thick as an adult's arm. Fortunately, it was lush and growing strong. Not far away was a stone table with freshly cut watermelon on it.
The scene is so beautiful and heartwarming, I must be dreaming!
He Tiantian smiled bitterly. Sigh, it turns out she was just dreaming! He Tiantian lay down weakly, closed her eyes, and lingered in the beauty of the dream, unwilling to wake up.
Just then, a gentle woman's voice came from outside the door.
"Sweetie! Get up and eat watermelon." The woman pushed open the door and walked in, looking at He Tiantian, who was lying on her side on the bed, with concern.
"It's still a dream! I dreamt of my mother..." He Tiantian closed her eyes, not wanting to open them, hoping that her mother's voice could say a few more words in the dream so that she could hear more.
The woman standing by the window heard her daughter's soft murmur, smiled gently, pinched He Tiantian's cheek, and said with a playful laugh, "You, are you still daydreaming?"
He Tiantian felt like someone was pinching her cheek; it felt so real!
Then He Tiantian opened her eyes. It was her mother, it really was her mother!
"Mom..." He Tiantian hurriedly sat up, hugging her mother's neck tightly with both hands, ignoring the pain in her back.
In her past life, she didn't even get to see her parents one last time, a regret that haunted her for the rest of her life. Upon learning that the letters her parents had written to her had been hidden by Qi's mother without her knowledge, He Tiantian felt even more remorseful and resentful.
If the Qi family had only deceived her feelings, He Tiantian would have resented them, but not hated them. However, their concealment of her parents' letters, preventing her from knowing their whereabouts, seeing them one last time, and understanding why they died, made He Tiantian hate the Qi family intensely.
Wang Shuping smiled gently, stroked her daughter's back, and asked, "Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt anymore," He Tiantian said. Suddenly, a thought struck her: if it was a dream, why was she in pain now?
My daughter's body was trembling uncontrollably; how could she not be in pain?
“Since it hurts, you can’t be naughty anymore,” Wang Shuping said reproachfully. “You’re a girl, yet you’re still as naughty as when you were little. You actually climbed the big elm tree at the entrance of the alley and fell off. If your brother Yingjie hadn’t come back and saved you, you would have been half dead, if not dead.”
He Tiantian was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. She had fallen from a tree in the summer when she was fifteen. It wasn't out of mischief; she had found a small, flightless bird under the tree. Overwhelmed with kindness, she climbed the tree to take the bird to its nest, and accidentally fell.
The reason isn't important; what matters is that she discovered this wasn't a dream, but a real situation. She had returned to the year she was fifteen, the year 1970.
Her hands weren't dry, rough, and calloused, but rather fair and delicate, with slender fingers.
It's unbelievable, but it's true.
Releasing her grip on her mother's hand, He Tiantian looked closely at her mother, Wang Shuping. A fair, oval face, large almond-shaped eyes, a pert nose, and rosy lips—this was her mother when she was young.
"Mmm, mmm," He Tiantian replied, her voice choked with emotion, "I'll never be naughty again."
Wang Shuping smiled and said, "Oh my, my little girl is being so well-behaved today?"
"Have I always been this obedient?" He Tiantian said coquettishly. Children with mothers are like treasures, and she unconsciously acted coquettishly in front of her mother.
She didn't want to think about why she was fifteen; she just wanted to enjoy the happiness of having family.
“Yes, my little girl is always so obedient,” Wang Shuping said. “Alright, you’ve slept for several hours. Get up quickly, eat some watermelon to cool off, and we can have dinner when your father comes back soon.”
He Tiantian nodded, kissed her mother's cheek, and said, "Okay, Mom is the best."
He Tiantian got dressed, got out of bed, and went to the yard to wash her face. Even though it was almost evening, Wang Shuping still braided He Tiantian's hair into two pretty braids.
Huo Yingjie came in with a few washed peaches in his hand and said, "Aunt Wang, my mother got some peaches and asked me to bring you a few to try."
Wang Shuping and He Tiantian had just finished cutting the watermelon when they said, "Yingjie, come and eat some watermelon. This watermelon grew in our yard. It's big and very sweet. We'll take half of it home later."
Eating watermelon on a hot summer day brings a refreshing coolness to your heart.
Huo Yingjie didn't stand on ceremony and sat down to eat two slices of watermelon. As Wang Shumin entered the room, he reached out and pinched He Tiantian's cheek.
The eighteen-year-old boy was so tall, handsome, and radiant that He Tiantian dared not look him in the eye.
"Does your back still hurt?" Huo Yingjie asked. "If I find out you've climbed a tree again, I'll spank you!"
Spanking?
She was just recalling the sight of Huo Yingjie's back when she first saw him, and now she sees his face when he was young.
However, Huo Yingjie's words left He Tiantian speechless; with just one sentence, he ruined the emotions she had been building up for so long.
"Brother Yingjie, I'm all grown up now. If you hit me, I won't be friends with you anymore," He Tiantian pouted. Just half a month ago, eighteen-year-old Huo Yingjie confessed his love to fifteen-year-old He Tiantian, and she accepted. At the time, although she didn't understand what love was, seeing her loving parents and thinking that she could live with Yingjie like this forever, she felt wonderful.
Her coquettish behavior was perfectly normal, which is why Huo Yingjie didn't suspect anything.
"Oh dear, you did something wrong, and I can't even scold you!" Huo Yingjie pinched He Tiantian's cute little nose. "Even if Aunt Wang finds out, she won't blame me."
"I know I was wrong, so you can't hit me," He Tiantian said. Talking with her childhood sweetheart brother was such a happy thing.
In her past life, although she accepted Huo Yingjie's confession, she acted very childishly, and her words and actions always left Huo Yingjie both amused and exasperated.
"It's good to admit your mistakes and correct them, so I won't spank you," Huo Yingjie said. "By the way, I'm going to the arsenal in a few days. I'll write to you then, and you must write back..."
He Tiantian lowered her head, her heart skipped a beat, and said, "I know, I know..."
Good heavens, how could she forget? She remembered her past life; it seemed that after she fell from the tree, she boarded a train to send educated youth to the countryside the very next day.
Everything happened so suddenly. She was young and didn't understand anything. She cried and made a fuss, and got on the train in tears. It was hot, and she even suffered heatstroke. She didn't get to see Huo Yingjie one last time.
“Be a good girl at home. In two years, find a factory job. When you come of age, I’ll marry you,” Huo Yingjie said, looking tenderly at his proud little girlfriend.
“Oh…” He Tiantian replied, not daring to look up, afraid that Huo Yingjie would notice her lapse in composure.
Seeing that He Tiantian seemed unhappy, Huo Yingjie assumed that He Tiantian was reluctant to let him go, and smiled like a fox who had just eaten candy.
Wang Shuping came out of the house and brought the watermelon to Huo Yingjie.
Upon seeing Wang Shuping arrive, Huo Yingjie thanked her and left with the watermelon.
Wang Shuping was busy cooking and didn't notice anything unusual about her daughter. She lit some mugwort to repel mosquitoes and then went to the kitchen.
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