Chapter 1 1989
"Why don't you ask what's going on?"
An impatient voice came in, a little sharp. Although the other party tried to lower the voice so that people outside would not hear it, her "attempt" was just an attempt, an extremely superficial effort, like dust floating on the glass window, without a trace of weight.
"I asked her what she was doing." Uncle Wang Gang's voice came in, "Didn't God say it was just that she ran into some kids outside and accidentally splashed some paint on it."
"Hmph." Aunt Liu Meilan spoke again, indignantly: "How could it be such a coincidence that it landed on her schoolbag when no one else could? That schoolbag is your father's most precious possession, brought back from the army. Mingjie asked him for it countless times, but he wouldn't give it to her. And now, as soon as this granddaughter arrived, he immediately took it out..."
Xin Tianyi didn't hear the last few words clearly. He only heard a few whimpering sounds, as if the person was struggling with his mouth covered.
Xin Tianyi sat at the desk, looking at the streaks of red paint on the military green backpack on the table, feeling a little dazed.
This is her first day back.
Coming back from the previous life, yes, the first day back.
Sunday, December 3, 1989.
The Sunday calendar is red and is placed under the desk lamp.
It contains the lunar date and various precautions.
Xin Tianyi looked at the black "Jie" character, and underneath it were: meeting friends and relatives, getting a haircut, moving to a new house, etc. And underneath the red "Yi" character were "travel, getting married, cleaning, trading..."
Xin Tianyi lived her entire life as a complete atheist. She never paid attention to the words on the calendar, not knowing that many people rely on the almanac for many things. She has always believed only in herself and acted according to her heart.
So, after so many years, it is inevitable that there will be regrets.
In the last moments of her previous life, Xin Tianyi always wondered, if, if she didn't do things just for herself and according to her heart, if she stopped her hurried steps, or even just looked back, would many things become different?
After being pushed into the operating room with regret, Xin Tianyi opened his eyes again, but was 19□□.
She followed her mother back to her grandmother's house. Her uncle greeted them at the door. Her aunt stood in a corner of the living room, squinting her eyes with disapproval. Grandpa Wang Yuxiu emerged from the room, carrying the army green backpack she had carried in her previous life. As he handed it to Xin Tianyi, he looked at her kindly and said, "It's good to be back, it's good to be back..."
…
"You're still covering my mouth? Are you afraid I'll say something?" Aunt Liu Meilan, who must have broken free from her uncle's control, shouted from the next room, "Don't you notice that your niece looks exactly like her mother and your sister? How could it be such a coincidence that her new backpack got stained with red paint? She's going to school tomorrow, and it's stained today. It's obvious that she doesn't want it and wants our parents to buy her a new backpack. I'm telling you, don't disbelieve me, I know this little girl's tricks better than you do!"
"Alright!" Wang Gang said angrily, "When did you hear Tianyi say he wanted to buy a new one? Do you think this is worth it?"
"Why isn't it worth it? Your sister is here to stay, and our son's room is gone. It's occupied, so now he has to share a room with us. Do you know how old he is? A boy of this age living with his parents?"
"Didn't I tell you to put a curtain in the middle?" Wang Gang said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll definitely put it in place."
"Get out! What's the point of drawing the curtains? Where will our son do his homework and read? And your sister is only staying for a day or two, okay? How can she leave after she stays?" Liu Meilan grew angrier and angrier, feeling that the rest of her life was ruined and hopeless. She plopped down on the bed and wiped away her tears. "This house is small to begin with, and it's so crowded for our family of five. Who knew your sister would come back? What a fate I have! I've endured so much, and finally my son has grown up, and my eldest sister-in-law has returned to her parents' home!"
Wang Gang no longer had the energy to persuade her. He sat with Liu Meilan, his hands tucking into his hair, his back hunched, and he was also very annoyed.
Although Liu Meilan's words were unpleasant, this was the reality.
The house was small and crowded. His son Wang Mingjie was already seventeen years old. Because his sister moved back to her parents' home, he moved into his and Liu Meilan's room.
The two beds are placed facing each other, and a curtain is planned to be drawn in the middle.
But what can a curtain block?
Wang Gang hung his head weakly and let Liu Meilan cry beside him without trying to persuade her, because he found that he couldn't even persuade himself.
Xin Tianyi sat at the table listening to the sounds coming from next door until the sounds died down, and then he could vaguely hear rustling sounds outside.
Xin Tianyi stood up and walked to the door, only to see his grandfather standing blankly in the living room, motionless.
Wang Yuxiu suddenly realized that someone was looking at him. He looked up and saw that it was God's will.
Xin Tianyi stood at the door, looking at Wang Yuxiu. The old man was wearing a clean sweater and a military green jacket. It was his favorite color; even after leaving the army, he still liked to wear military green.
Seeing Tianyi, Wang Yuxiu's originally confused and helpless face immediately showed a slight smile, and he walked towards Xin Tianyi.
"Your mother hasn't come back yet?" Wang Yuxiu asked.
"No." Xin Tianyi supported Wang Yuxiu, "Grandpa, come in and sit down."
Wang Yuxiu nodded and walked in with a smile.
Although the room was small, it was tidied and clean.
He was very satisfied and said to Tianyi: "You cleaned it up by yourself. After your mother brought you here, she went to work."
"It's not a lot, we can pack it up quickly." Xin Tianyi said, "Grandpa, where did you go just now?"
Both of them avoided talking about the quarrel next door, and Xin Tianyi helped Wang Yuxiu take off his heavy coat.
"I went to buy some things." Wang Yuxiu said, taking out a pen and a bottle of ink from his pocket.
Xin Tianyi looked at him, "For me?"
"Yes. You will go to the new school tomorrow. This is a gift from your grandpa. I hope you can study hard."
Xin Tianyi took the pen and ink. It was a very familiar pen, exactly the same as the one in his previous life.
"Hero pen?" Xin Tianyi tried hard to hold back tears. "Grandpa, thank you. I will study hard."
Wang Yuxiu nodded, looked over, and saw the fuse of the dispute between his son and daughter-in-law.
The military backpack was lying on the table, streaked with red paint.
"How did this happen?" Wang Yuxiu asked.
Xin Tianyi immediately picked up his backpack and said, "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I was carrying it out to buy homework books and accidentally bumped into someone, and got paint on them. It was my own carelessness."
"Let me see." Wang Yuxiu took it and said with some regret, "This backpack was issued to me when I was in the army. I never wanted to use it. But it's not very noticeable. I'll take it out and wash it later to see if it can be washed off."
Xin Tianyi nodded and said, "I'll go wash it right away."
"But whose child is playing with paint? When I just came from the yard, the trees and the ground were all covered with red. These naughty kids, eh." Wang Yuxiu stood up and walked to the door. Suddenly, he remembered something and said to Xin Tianyi, "Tianyi, we have a few boys here who are naughty. They have been climbing up the roofs and tearing down the tiles since they were young. Stay away from them. Especially that guy, the son of Liangpeng. What's his name? He's the leader of the kids. He's a real troublemaker. He's a troublemaker."
Wang Gang heard his father's voice and had already come out of the bedroom. He walked to the door and just heard this sentence, so he said, "Call Zhang Yang."
"Yes, that's Zhang Yang. That kid..." Wang Yuxiu said, and suddenly remembered what Wang Gang had said in the room before, so he stopped talking, rolled his eyes at him, and went back to his room.
Wang Gang stood there in a daze, not knowing how he had upset his father again. He rubbed his hands, then stood at the door and asked Xin Tianyi, "Tianyi, who did that paint on you? Don't be afraid, tell your uncle and he'll go get them. The paint on this backpack might not be washable. I'll take you to them and ask them to compensate you for a new backpack!"
Xin Tianyi had already walked out with his backpack and said to Wang Gang, "Uncle, I was careless and bumped into someone, so the paint got on me. It has nothing to do with them. I'll go wash it, and if it can't be washed off, I'll just leave it there. It's just for books anyway, and it's not broken, so it's okay."
Wang Gang looked at Xin Tianyi with a smile and said awkwardly, "How about I buy you a new one?"
Before Wang Gang could finish his words, Liu Meilan pinched him from behind.
He yelled, jumped up, and looked back at Liu Meilan. Liu Meilan just rolled her eyes at him and walked out.
"Meilan, where are you going? Wait for me."
"Buy groceries! With two more mouths to feed, there won't be enough food." Liu Meilan walked out, complaining, "I'm destined to be a hard worker anyway."
Wang Gang immediately chased after him, and the house finally quieted down.
Xin Tianyi seemed not to hear and took his backpack to wash.
Same backpack, same red paint.
Xin Tianyi didn't expect to see Zhang Yang just after returning to 19□□.
What she didn't expect was that when the paint was thrown at her, she had clearly dodged it, but because of this dodging, she happened to collide with Zhang Yang.
In the previous life, there were only dots of red paint, but in this life, it has turned into several solid red lines.
But the boy in front of her was still the same as she remembered, his eyes wide open, looking at her in disbelief. It was as if he hadn't expected her to bump into him, and after a long while he managed to utter a question, "Who are you?"
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