"Son, wake up, wuwuwu..."
"If you want to marry an educated youth, I'll sell everything I have to get you one."
"Why bother, why bother going to Zhou's house again!"
This voice... had a strong local accent, but it surprisingly made him feel at ease.
Chen Changyuan suddenly opened his eyes.
What came into view was a dilapidated wooden house with sparse thatched roof. Sunlight came in through the cracks, casting mottled spots of light on the ground.
The wall paint was peeling off badly, revealing the yellow mud underneath.
There was nothing in the room except a lame table, two benches, and a wooden bed covered with a sheet.
A pale and thin face full of worry appeared before him. It was his mother, Fang Suxia, whom he had felt guilty about all his life.
Next to my ears, I could faintly hear the sounds of gongs and drums and suona playing outside. It was very lively, as if someone was holding a wedding.
He remembered!
Today is May 18, 1978, the day where his nightmare in his previous life began - the day when Zhou Dazhui, the son of the Zhou family next door, got married.
The person he married was his ex-girlfriend, the educated youth Lin Xiaoya who had once been coquettish in his arms and said that she wanted to be with him forever.
A month ago, the original Chen Dazhu, now Zhou Dazhu, went to Zhou's house in a swaggering manner and became the biological son of the Zhou family, a wealthy family in the village. He, the original Zhou Changyuan, became the widow's son Chen Changyuan overnight.
The hospital mixed up the name tags of Zhou Dazhui, who was born on the same day as him. Zhou's father became suspicious when he saw that the widow's child looked more and more like himself, and secretly used his connections to do a paternity test.
The conditions of the two families are as different as heaven and earth.
The Zhou family was a wealthy family in the village. Their granary was full, they had white rice for every meal, and they could even slaughter pigs and sheep during the New Year.
The Chen family had no food to eat and rarely saw meat throughout the year.
Since they had made a mistake, the two families decided to exchange their son back.
But Chen Changyuan simply couldn't accept this reality. How could he, a spoiled child, tolerate such a gap?
He insisted on returning to the Zhou family and refused to recognize Fang Suxia as his biological mother.
During this month, his unreasonable behavior, coupled with Zhou Dazhu's instigation, made Zhou's parents increasingly disgusted with him.
Even Lin Xiaoya, the educated youth who had been in a relationship with him for two years, was snatched away by Zhou Dazhu and married him!
In just one month, he suffered the double blow of being abandoned by his parents and betrayed by his girlfriend, and his spirit almost collapsed.
After returning to the Chen family, he became even more aggressive in torturing Fang Suxia, either using her money to buy alcohol or demanding to eat refined rice and flour.
The countryside in the 1970s was extremely poor. How much money could a widow have?
It took Fang Suxia all her energy to raise that ungrateful Zhou Dazhu until he was eighteen years old.
In desperation, Fang Suxia did the work of two people alone, and also took a job in the town making stickers and pasting paper boxes. She was exhausted like an old ox all day long, and she collapsed from exhaustion and passed away within two years.
After his mother's death, Chen Changyuan finally woke up from his dream, and regret overwhelmed him like a tide.
He joined the army and eventually became successful.
But for many years he still had nightmares all day long, dreaming of his mother's cloudy eyes before her death, and dreaming of his own past absurdity.
Chen Changyuan pinched himself hard, and the intense pain made him sure that this was not a dream!
God was kind to him and gave him a chance to live again.
Chen Changyuan sat up suddenly, and his vision went dark.
He held onto the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths before he recovered.
"Changyuan, are you awake? I was so scared!"
Fang Suxia grabbed Chen Changyuan's hand, her rough palm trembling as if she was holding a lost treasure.
Just now, Chen Changyuan heard that Lin Xiaoya was going to marry Zhou Dazhui, and he was furious. He rushed to Zhou's house and made a big fuss without caring about anything.
As a result, he was beaten like a mad dog by the Zhou family, foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
Fang Suxia wanted to seek justice for her son, but the Zhou family pointed at her nose and scolded her: "It's someone's wedding, and you, a fake, come to cause trouble. I'm lucky I didn't beat you to death!"
In this era of weak legal awareness, even if such matters are reported to the commune, there is no guarantee of getting an explanation.
Fang Suxia could only grit her teeth and swallow her anger, hugging Chen Changyuan and crying. She could do nothing but cry.
At this moment, seeing her son wake up, Fang Suxia's heart finally settled down.
Chen Changyuan endured the dizziness and hugged his mother carefully. The thin shoulders and rough fabric of her clothes made his nose ache.
Why was he blind in his previous life and couldn't see this motherly love as high as a mountain?
"Mom, I've figured it out," Chen Changyuan said in a hoarse voice, "From now on, I'm not the Zhou family's son, I'm just your son! My last name is Chen, and my name is Chen Changyuan, not Zhou Changyuan!"
Fang Suxia was stunned and stared at Chen Changyuan blankly.
In the past month, although Chen Changyuan was sent back, he has never been nice to her, let alone calling her "Mom".
She even thought it was a dream, and was afraid that her son had been stimulated by something and said such words.
"Son, have a good rest. Mom doesn't blame you," Fang Suxia choked up, "It's Mom's fault for not letting you live a good life..."
Chen Changyuan felt a pang of pain in his heart again, and he wanted to slap himself twice.
Look at the mother in front of me. It’s autumn now and she’s only wearing a thin coat with patches on top of patches, like a rag.
In my previous life, I was always making trouble for the world. What a beast!
"Mom, don't go, I'll get you something to eat!"
Fang Suxia was about to go to the kitchen when Chen Changyuan grabbed her.
He knew that his mother had not had a full meal for a long time.
He ate refined rice and white flour, but his mother could only drink corn porridge.
Chen Changyuan stood up, his steps were a little unsteady, but his eyes were extremely firm.
Now that I'm reborn, the first step is to let my mother live a good life!
In his previous life, he had acquired many skills in the army. How could he starve to death?
This village is nestled between mountains and water. He doesn't believe that they can lose to the Zhou family's bastards by relying on the mountains and the water!
He walked into the kitchen and looked around.
The kitchen was bare, with only a chipped iron pot, a broken cupboard, and a few pieces of firewood that were almost burned out. That was all the family had.
The rice jar was empty, with only half a bag of rough cornmeal in the corner.
Chen Changyuan felt upset. This life was too hard!
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