Chapter 3 Rebirth in 2006
"It hurts." Zhang Wanwan opened her eyes faintly, her brain seemed to split apart, she struggled to turn over, and after seeing everything clearly in front of her, she was completely dumbfounded. Didn't she fall into the water? Was she rescued? But it was not right, this was not a hospital at all, and the environment gave her an inexplicably familiar feeling.
Just as Zhang Wanwan was lost in thought, a familiar voice came from outside, "Wanwan, the porridge is in the thermos bucket. Drink it when you wake up. I will clean up when you come back. I will be late for work. If you still feel uncomfortable, call me. I am leaving first!"
Just as she finished speaking, there was a bang outside, a familiar sound that made Zhang Wanwan shed hot tears. She curled up on the bed and hugged herself tightly, mumbling, "Mom."
If this was a dream, she hoped she would never wake up, but how could it be true? Her mother was diagnosed with cancer when she was a freshman, and she became emaciated in just one year. Before she fell into the water, her mother was so weak that she couldn't speak. How could she be so full of energy? It seemed that she also died with Cao Ji'an, that scumbag!
Thinking of that bastard Cao Ji'an, Zhang Wanwan gnashed her teeth, full of hatred and regret. If she had known, she would not be so impulsive. There are so many ways to retaliate against the scumbag. Why did she use this stupid method? Now, she is also involved! She has not yet properly repaid her parents who have worked hard to raise her, and the big brother who loved her. He must be very sad to hear the news of her death!
As she thought about it, Zhang Wanwan became overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears with her head buried in her legs.
I don't know how long I cried, but suddenly there was a deep and rich bell sound outside. Zhang Wanwan raised her head blankly, her swollen walnut eyes full of surprise. She had heard this sound for more than ten years, and she would definitely remember it correctly. This was the old pendulum clock in her home. It was said that it was her mother's dowry. She had been surrounded by this evil sound since she could remember. When she was young, she was scared to tears by this sound. Later, she got used to it when she grew up. However, the pendulum clock in her home "died" when she was in high school. It was sent for repair but could not be repaired. Later, it was put away by her mother. What was going on now? Could it be that the pendulum clock was also a ghost?
Zhang Wanwan was full of doubts and didn't care to cry. She got out of bed and ran out. Her room faced the front door of her house. There was a mirror behind the door. When Zhang Wanwan saw herself in the mirror, she was completely dumbfounded. A minute later, Zhang Wanwan's scream was heard in the room.
As soon as she finished shouting, the door of her house was slammed, and a woman's sharp roar came from outside, "Zhang Wanwan, what are you doing so early in the morning? You are already a grown-up girl, why are you still so crazy? You don't know the seriousness of the matter at all! Young girls nowadays are really, outrageous! I tell you, when your mother comes back, I will have a good talk with her and ask her to take good care of you, really..."
The cursing voices lasted for ten minutes before fading away, but Zhang Wanwan was not angry at all, and even cried for joy. She was so familiar with the owner of the voice. It was Wang Chunhua, who lived across the street from her, a woman in her forties. Their home was in an old neighborhood. The old house had almost no sound insulation and the environment was poor. Most of the people living here knew each other well, and they were used to keeping their doors open during the day to facilitate neighbors to visit and talk. Women and the elderly liked to get together and gossip about other people.
Wang Chunhua is the best among them. Whenever there is any movement in her house, that woman will poke her head in to find out. Sometimes she even blatantly pushes the door open to watch the fun. She can describe things that don't happen in a vivid way as if they were real. Over time, her mother no longer opens the door, and even if there are people at home, the door is closed to prevent Wang Chunhua from gossiping all the time.
Perhaps it was because her mother's behavior made Wang Chunhua dissatisfied. Since her family had the habit of closing the door anytime and anywhere, Wang Chunhua always disliked their family. Whenever there was something, she would make indirect complaints outside. Anything that interfered with her family would be the first to be blamed at her house. In the past, Zhang Wanwan had been so angry that she retorted to her a few times, and then Wang Chunhua would spread her words everywhere in the community, saying that the little girl was sharp-tongued and hot-tempered. Her mother was so angry after hearing this that she had a dispute with Wang Chunhua for the first time and smashed the iron gate of Wang Chunhua's house in anger. It was also at that time that people in the community realized that her mother was not easy to bully, and they dared not discuss the right and wrong of her family so blatantly. Wang Chunhua, that woman, gradually calmed down.
Thinking of this, Zhang Wanwan felt so sad that she wanted to cry. If her family wasn't poor, others would not dare to bully her so blatantly. Also because her family was poor, her inferiority complex was deeply engraved in her bones, so that when she found out Cao Ji'an was cheating on her, the first thing she did was not to rush up to question and beat up the scumbag like Yan Qian and the others, but to lurk and wait for an opportunity to take revenge. On the one hand, she envied Yan Qian and the others for being able to show all their joys, sorrows, anger and happiness on their faces, and on the other hand, she despised her own inferiority complex, darkness and cowardice.
After going crazy for a while, Zhang Wanwan's feverish mind finally calmed down. She looked around and found that in the small and dark three-bedroom, two-living-room suite, the living room, which was less than ten square meters, was furnished with a set of old-fashioned solid wood tables and chairs, which were covered with scratches and half of the paint had fallen off. There was a ten-inch TV that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Because of its excellent quality, it still broadcasts several programs. Next to the TV was the pendulum clock. In the corner were some large cardboard boxes containing many sundries, most of which were still useful. Outside the balcony were piled those useless cardboards that were ready to be sold. The living room was connected to the dining room. It was called a dining room, but in fact it only had a garden table and four chairs and no other space. The kitchen was even smaller, and two people couldn't even turn around when they entered. The bathroom was next to the door and was also not big. The same was true for the three rooms. There was almost no extra space after putting a bed and a wardrobe. Her brother and her room had to be squeezed to fit a desk. Things were placed above the wardrobe and under the bed, wherever there was space.
She had a strong sense of self-esteem and never brought her classmates home before. She always felt that such a family background would make her classmates look down on her and make her feel inferior. After she went to a private school for high school, she rarely came back. She always felt that it was depressing and suffocating here. But now she is greedy for everything in this house, and even the old furniture that she hated most before seems so familiar to her.
After looking at everything in the house, Zhang Wanwan finally set her sights on the calendar on the wall. It happened to be torn to the page of April Fools' Day, April 1, 2006. Zhang Wanwan was stunned for a moment when she saw this date and muttered to herself, "Is he playing a trick on me?"
Although she said that, Zhang Wanwan was very sure that she had indeed returned to the year of the high school entrance examination. The examination would be held in three months. Theirs was the last class to take the examination on July 1st. Since 2007, the examination had been moved to early June. Suppressing her inner excitement, she sat in the dining room and drank the porridge in the thermos.
(End of this chapter)
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