"Xie Ming, why did you come back alone? Everyone from the other groups is back, but where's your aunt from the same group?"
An old man carrying a hoe had just returned from the fields when he bumped into Xie Ming, who was panting heavily.
"Grandpa, Aunt Xu got weak on the way, so I came back to find someone to bring her back."
"Go to the end of the village and take a look. All the capable people in the village are over there." The old man clearly thought Xu Chunhua was alright. After saying that, he shook his head and left.
Xie Ming looked back at the unharvested grain in the field, shook his head, and walked away.
The younger people have all gone to pursue progressive ideas, leaving only the older women and men to harvest crops in the fields.
But they didn't dare do much. Those who could make decisions had all gone to steelmaking. If anything was missing from the land, it would be considered fleecing the public, a serious crime! They dared not touch it.
Xu Chunhua was eventually carried back by her sisters-in-law. She was bound to fall ill, but she managed to survive because she didn't exhaust her last bit of energy.
In her past life, her youngest son came back from town and, upon finding his mother gone, cried to Xie Ming several times, making him feel guilty for days.
His mother was saved in this life, but I don't know where that kid got five eggs to thank her.
Since he's filial, Xie Ming won't hold it against him!
The Qian family in Xiangyang Village had the best conditions in the village. Back then, Qian Youdong rose to prominence and led the Qian clan to surpass the Chen family in the village.
After Grandpa Xie arrived, he even helped build a large mud-brick house for them, making them one of the best families in the village. Naturally, Xie Ming also got a house in the Qian family.
Throughout the day, Xie Ming was busy carrying grain seeds, organizing rescue efforts, and tending the stove.
After having dinner in the cafeteria, he strolled back to the Qian family home.
It wasn't completely dark yet, and the main room was half full of women and children. When they had free time, they would sit together, do some housework, and chat about the past.
The men were still at the factory, and the women were enjoying a pretty comfortable life.
Xie Ming calculated that the Qian family now has more than 20 members. In his previous life, these people were either involved or indifferent, and every single one of them was his enemy.
Those sitting quietly all had simple, honest smiles on their faces. Who would have known that these people, under the guise of caring for their families, could so ruthlessly kill others?
How innocent he and that widow were!
Xie Ming didn't greet everyone as usual and went straight into the room. The people seemed not to see him and continued talking and chatting amongst themselves.
Back in his room, he lay on the bed, looked out the window at the dark sky, and closed his eyes in a daze.
In his bedroom in the provincial capital, Mr. Xie lay on the bed, embracing his young wife, and breathed a comfortable sigh of relief before drifting off to sleep.
The only sound in the quiet room was the faint chirping of insects outside the window. The dim moonlight shone on his face through the window lattice. The light source was sparse, but he had adapted to the darkness, which allowed him to roughly see his surroundings.
In the quiet of the night, Mr. Xie sighed at the passage of time. He vaguely sensed that his life was like the mist in the darkness, both mysterious and full of unknowns.
The fog immersed him in these distant memories, allowing him to savor every detail of the past.
His thoughts drifted to a distant place, where he fondly remembered the mountains, rivers, fields, and friends and family.
In the pitch-black night, he couldn't help but sigh, "Life is like a dream, and a dream is like life."
"Tiedan, Tiedan!" A familiar voice echoed from deep in the mountains.
"father?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Master Xie immediately perked up; it was his own father's voice.
For so many years, he had longed for his biological father. Seeing the familiar figure approaching from afar, tears streamed down his face.
"My son! You've really made your father look for you! Why didn't you come back to the village? Why did you run here instead?"
“Father! Your son has become an official and raised many descendants for you. Our Xie family has finally made something of itself.”
"Alright, alright! Now that you've stepped forward, it's time to help your father."
"What happened?"
“Back then, your father owed several great favors that he couldn’t repay, which is why he couldn’t be reincarnated.”
"Father, tell me, which families are they? I'll go and repay your kindness."
"Alright, alright, it's good that you agreed." The man, who claimed to be Old Master Xie's father, waved his hand dismissively.
The once enchanting forest has transformed into a wedding hall. Red silk ribbons fill the sky, flowers flutter on the ground, and people dressed in ancient costumes play music and dance.
A slender figure in a wedding dress slowly walked out of the darkness in the distance, getting closer and closer.
The tranquility was gone, replaced by eeriness. Even though he knew it was a dream, Master Xie was still terrified.
The bride walked up to him, lifted her veil, and called out to Old Master Xie, "Husband."
The person in front of me had a bluish-black face, long, sharp fingernails, and sharp teeth that gleamed white when they smiled. Underneath the wedding dress, their exquisitely shaped skin was not human at all.
Staring at the dripping liquid on the ground, Master Xie shouted, "Father! I don't want it!"
His father stood in the crowd of onlookers, a sinister smile on his face, and waved at him: "You're my son, so you have to help your father repay the debt of gratitude."
"That's what you owed, why should I pay it back?"
The matchmaker opposite him got closer and closer, and Master Xie was so frightened that he couldn't help but complain.
"How dare you say such a thing? You're an ingrate!" His father didn't indulge him at all, and slapped him across the face with a cold wind. He said in a cold voice, "You owed a favor, and you made your grandson repay it. So why shouldn't I make you repay it? Accept your fate. You've already agreed to repay the favor, so this marriage will follow you for all eternity."
After saying that, the old ghost nodded kindly to Master Xie.
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