He Jingyu and Wang Shuping exchanged a glance. They knew their daughter well and knew she wouldn't lie, but... but what their daughter said was just too unbelievable.
A past life?
Rebirth?
Did they return after thirty-five years?
"Sweetie, are you still sleepy?" Wang Shuping reached out and touched He Tiantian's forehead to check if her daughter had a fever, or maybe she was still talking in her sleep!
He Tiantian smiled bitterly, knowing her parents wouldn't believe her. She said, "Dad, Mom, I don't have a fever, I'm not delirious, and I'm not joking. I'm more clear-headed and serious than ever before! I'm telling the truth. Your deaths in my past life were a huge blow to me. I didn't know which family had lied to me before I married that man, and I was deceived by them my whole life. That man was infertile and said it was my problem. I never had children and lived a lonely life..."
Hearing about her daughter's tragic situation, Wang Shuping turned pale with fright and stammered, "Where's Yingjie...where's Huo Yingjie...he didn't take good care of you..."
“Yes, the Huo family and we have a good relationship. Even if your mother and I are gone, they won’t abandon you…” He Jingyu said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His daughter’s words had frightened him. Now he was hesitant about whether to send his daughter away.
He Tiantian gave a bitter smile, her face bearing a weariness beyond her years. She said, “Dad, the Huo family was also affected. It wasn't until seven or eight years later, after the resumption of the college entrance examination, that Uncle Huo came back to take charge. By then, I was already married. Not only did I miss the letters you wrote to me, but I also missed the letters Yingjie wrote to me; they were all hidden by that family. That person had someone forge Yingjie's handwriting to write me a letter saying he met a like-minded partner at work and broke up with me. After that, that person had someone forge my handwriting to reply to Yingjun. Yingjie didn't believe it and went to find me, but when he saw that person being very affectionate with me, he gave up and went back… That's how we missed each other…”
The boy rode a bamboo horse, playing with green plums around the bed. They lived together in Changgan, the two children without suspicion or doubt.
The children from both families liked each other, and the adults from both families tacitly approved. They planned to get married when the children came of age. Since both families knew each other well, this kind of marriage was the most harmonious.
He Jingyu and Wang Shuping remained silent for a long time. They didn't actually believe their daughter's words. However, her eyes, tone, and expression at that moment didn't seem like those of a teenage girl, forcing them to believe her.
“Jingyu, what do you think?” Wang Shuping looked at her husband. “Although this is not scientifically possible, I believe that Tiantian would not lie to us on purpose.”
He Jingyu rubbed his hands together, patted his pockets, took out a cigarette, took a few puffs, and then slowly said, "I believe everything Tian Tian said. Since things aren't going well over there, I'll go tell Lao Jiang now that Tian Tian isn't going."
He believed everything his daughter said. Not for any other reason than that she was his daughter, his flesh and blood.
"It's better if she doesn't go. No matter how hard things get, the family can stay together." Wang Shuping didn't want her daughter to go either. Tian Tian was so innocent. Rather than being deceived, it was better to stay together, support each other, and get through it.
He Tiantian initially wanted to stop him, but wanting to be different from her previous life, she agreed with her father's decision. Watching her father leave, He Tiantian and Wang Shuping remained silent.
Wang Shuping couldn't help but ask, "Sweetie, do you know when your father and I died?"
He Tiantian said, "In August of 1973, things were chaotic outside. You had already been dead for half a year by then. I could only stay here for one day. I only heard from the neighbors that it was about collusion with the enemy, leaking secrets, and having overseas connections. I guess it was what Father just said. My grandfather had studied in the United States and people used that against him. The letters in our house were found, which led to that. That's my guess."
When He Tiantian said these words, the scene from back then came to mind: the helplessness, the pain, and the feeling of almost not wanting to live.
He Tiantian's body trembled, and Wang Shuping felt her daughter's helplessness and pain, so she hugged her daughter tightly with both hands.
Feeling her mother's warm embrace, He Tiantian regained some clarity. She had been reborn; she was no longer the He Tiantian she once was. In this life, she would be strong and live earnestly in the real world.
A short while later, He Jingyu returned dejectedly.
"Jingyu, how is it?" Wang Shuping had a bad feeling and hurriedly asked her husband.
He Jingyu sighed, "I went to see Lao Jiang, and he said that the educated youth will be on the train tomorrow, so the list has already been submitted and can't be changed. Tian Tian has to get on the train tomorrow."
"What can we do?" Wang Shuping asked anxiously. "Are we just going to watch our daughter fall into the fire again?"
"Sigh, it's all my fault for being too hasty." He Jingyu was in a dilemma. It was all his own doing that caused his daughter to repeat the same path as in her previous life.
On the contrary, He Tiantian breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that it couldn't be changed. As long as she was careful, she could avoid the Qi family; it wasn't a big deal or a difficult problem. He Tiantian was also worried that if she couldn't become a sent-down youth, some things from her past life would also change.
Faced with more unknown threats, He Tiantian would rather choose the setbacks of her past life. Because she knew them beforehand, she could find ways to avoid them.
Now, although her parents don't completely believe her, they're starting to believe her to some extent. Since that's the case, perhaps following the path of her past life is a shortcut.
“Dad, I’ll go,” He Tiantian said. “Don’t make things difficult for me. In my previous life, the place where I was a sent-down youth was very poor and backward, but the local customs were quite good. Several elderly labor reformers were not subjected to inhumane treatment in the village. They all lived for seven or eight years, and after their labor reform ended, they were reinstated and came out to take charge of the work.”
“But what if that family bullies you again?” Wang Shuping asked worriedly, not wanting her daughter to go there.
He Tiantian comforted her parents, saying, "Now I know that family is bad. I'll stay away from them and be careful in the future, and everything will be fine. Trust me, I'm not a child, but someone older than you."
He Tiantian's serious expression, coupled with her tender little face, made Wang Shuping and He Jingyu both laugh and cry. However, they also felt that their daughter was shrewd and not like the naive and ignorant little girl she used to be.
I felt both relieved and disappointed.
"Okay, bring everything you can from home," He Jingyu said. "We don't have much time, so hurry up and pack for Tiantian."
Since there is only one child in the family, He Tiantian has a lot of clothes, and they are all the most popular styles in Nanshi.
Although we couldn't dress in bright colors in this era, the wisdom of the working people was everywhere. They added ruffles to clothes and cinched the waist, among other things.
Seeing this, Wang Shuping knew that there was no way to change the situation, so she could only suppress her reluctance and go to pack He Tiantian's things.
He Tiantian had already prepared herself mentally and wasn't as sad as her parents. Thinking that her father hadn't eaten yet when he came home, she went and made him a bowl of noodles.
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