Chapter 31: Transmigration

Chapter 31: Transmigration

The road construction team worked day and night, not daring to slack off for even a moment.

The road started from the top of the mountain and advanced down the mountain little by little. Seeing that only the last five miles were left, the members of the road construction team took the initiative to work overtime and extend their working hours, wishing to make use of every minute and every second.

The more hope we see, the more urgent we feel.

Tao Nanfeng handed the thatched house construction work over to Hu Huanxin. Since Hu Huanxin was proficient in the techniques of making earthen bricks and pressing thatch, he and Xiao Aiyun continued to join the road construction team.

Although he became the head of the infrastructure department, Tao Nanfeng preferred working on the construction site.

You can touch and bump into it. Every hoe can dig out a piece of soil. Every hammer can chisel out a piece of stone. Watching the road take shape little by little before your eyes, this feeling - is really great!

It was not until this moment that Tao Nanfeng truly understood why his father was never at home, because he was also fascinated by this feeling, right?

When I was a child, my father was busy with work, and I lived with my stepmother and Tao You day and night. At that time, I felt excluded and had a little resentment towards my father. But now, even though we are thousands of miles apart and connected through letters, the little bit of resentment in my heart has dissipated into nothingness.

At night, under the kerosene lamp, Tao Nanfeng would write letters to his father.

"The Mountain Construction Manual you sent me is very useful. I made some improvements based on the design. Now the thatched roof won't be blown away by the wind, and it won't leak. It's quite rustic. The picture is attached below."

My father wrote back: "The thumbnail has been forwarded to the author of this book, Qin Weiqing. Your uncle Qin was very pleased to hear that this book is useful to you. The thumbnail will be added to the book when it is revised."

Tao Nanfeng: "Road design is not as complicated as building design, but there are still many issues to consider. Mountain roads have many curves, and we need to think about how to adapt to the terrain, avoid obstacles, and make the route smooth, smooth and beautiful.

Professor Tao: "I have sent you two copies of the Road Design Code. I hope you will study them carefully. The head of the Infrastructure Section has a heavy responsibility and needs to be attentive, do his best, and fulfill his responsibilities."

Tao Nanfeng: "I've been so busy this year. I wonder if everything is okay at home. If the road can be opened before the snow, maybe I can find time to go home for the New Year."

Professor Tao: "Everything is fine at home. I still travel frequently. I haven't seen my son Nanfeng for a year and a half. I miss him very much. I hope the farm road will be open to traffic soon. I will wait for you to return home."

When Tao Nanfeng saw his father's words "My son Nanfeng... I miss you so much and wait for you to come back", his longing for his family surged up in his heart and he stared at the letter in a daze.

In my memory, my father always had a cold face, with the corners of his mouth slightly turned down, and he looked very serious. Only when his stepmother brought him the steaming hot meal and Tao You pulled his sleeve and acted coquettishly would he smile helplessly.

Whenever this happened, Tao Nanfeng would stay away.

It was as if his father, stepmother, Tao You and the others were the family and he was just a guest staying here.

Tao Nanfeng and Tao You exchanged work arrangements. Tao Nanfeng came to the hard-working farm and Tao You went to the quiet library. All this was a decision made by the stepmother without authorization while his father was away.

The father seemed to realize something, and he no longer spared words to Tao Nanfeng, expressing the love and longing hidden deep in his heart through words.

——Father loves me.

Feeling this, Tao Nanfeng felt that everything was worth it.

Although my mother is no longer in this world, the blood ties between me and my father are still deep.

Thinking of this, Tao Nanfeng walked to the place where luggage was piled in the dormitory, opened the dark red rattan box, and searched for something in the dim light of kerosene lamp.

"What are you looking for? Let me hold the light for you." Xiao Aiyun came over holding a kerosene lamp. Under the light of the bean-sized lamp, a hint of green flashed deep in the wicker box.

Tao Nanfeng quickly put the jade button into his palm, responded, and closed the rattan box.

It feels warm to the touch, and this is the little thought my mother left for me. Although wearing it will give you nightmares, every dream helps Tao Nanfeng.

The first dream warned her that the thatched house would collapse;

The second dream gave her great strength;

The third dream gave her the skill of digging holes.

It was only after the third dream that she took off the jade button and hid it in the rattan box because she had stayed in the apocalypse for a long time and had suffered psychological trauma.

Now……

Tao Nanfeng didn't hesitate any longer, and quietly unfolded the red string of the jade buckle and hung it around his neck again. With love in your heart, why fear the end of the world?

That night, the dream came as expected.

Tao Nanfeng found himself in a strange world. After looking around, he let out a long sigh: Fortunately, it’s not the end of the world.

There was a vast expanse of white all around, and only a golden book could be seen floating in the air.

When I got closer, I saw ten big black characters on the cover: "I'm the Protagonist in the 1970s".

Transmigrating into a book, the 1970s, and I’m the heroine? This inexplicable title left Tao Nanfeng confused. As I approached slowly, the pages of the book began to turn slowly without any wind.

"When Tao You first met Tao Nanfeng, she was wearing a light green dress with puff sleeves and a little yellow chicken embroidered on the hem. She was as pretty as a doll in a department store's glass window.

At that time, Tao You thought, all of this... could be mine.

University professor Tao Shouxin is elegant, polite, gentle and respectful. When he saw Tao You, he smiled and touched her head, put a candy in her palm, and said with a smile: We will be a family from now on.

At that time, Tao You was thinking, this is the father I want!

He is not the dad who drinks and brags as soon as he gets off work, he is not the dad who goes crazy when he drinks, he is not the dad who wears work clothes that smell of motor oil, and he is not the dad who only knows how to pull his braids and curse at others for losing money.

Finally, holding his mother's hand and walking into the professorial building of Jiangcheng University of Architecture, Tao You thought to himself: This is the life I want. I will love my father more, be more sensible, and be more likable than that spoiled Tao Nanfeng. I... am the protagonist of the Tao family! ”

Tao You, Tao Nanfeng, Tao Shouxin!

This is actually a book? My family’s name and my name actually appear in a book?

There was a flash of golden light, Tao Nanfeng's eyes blurred, and he was suddenly thrown out of this white world.

The morning light is breaking outside the window and the day has dawned.

Tao Nanfeng was feeling a bit worried the whole day, and seemed distracted while working in the road construction team. Xiao Aiyun looked at her worriedly: "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Tao Nanfeng raised his eyes and looked at Xiao Aiyun: "Is it possible for us to live in a book?"

Xiao Aiyun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Illusionary Realm? You must have been confused after reading Dream of the Red Chamber. It's like a dream, not a dream, like reality, but also like an illusion."

Xiao Aiyun's laughter was clear and crisp, attracting the attention of the road construction team members: "What are you laughing at, Xiao Zhiqing, tell us something to make us happy."

Xiao Aiyun rolled his eyes at them and said, "Tsk!"

Everyone in the road construction team laughed. Some were carrying soil, some were digging mud. In the midst of the busy work, someone took the lead in singing a labor song.

"Is the sun coming out?

Little half, fire, fire, fire

Pick up the yellow soil and pile it up

Go up the hill, fire, fire, fire"

(Adapted from: Hubei Daye dialect folk song "Da'ao Song")

The plain language, simple melody and loud singing give Tao Nanfeng a sense of reality.

Regardless of whether you are living in a book or not, at least the bustling construction site covered in dust and the people working hard in front of you are real.

Perhaps, this was just another reminder from the dream, telling her to be careful of Tao You. She was full of ambition and coveted everything she had. Although her surname was Wang, she still dreamed of becoming the protagonist of the Tao family.

My father and I are not fools, we are... just kind.

Thinking of this, Tao Nanfeng smiled slightly, rolled up his sleeves, picked up a load of yellow mud, exerted a little force on his waist, took steady steps, and joined the team carrying soil.

The mud and dust were flying. The simple and repetitive physical labor gradually made her mind relaxed, and the familiar warm current filled her whole body with a sense of strength. Because he was tone-deaf, Tao Nanfeng didn't dare to sing at the top of his lungs. He could only hum a tuneless tune and walk with his head held high on this gradually flattened road.

In the following days, I worked during the day and dreamed at night, and the stories in the book became clearer little by little.

It was a cold January in 1975.

When the last meter of the road leading to Quping Town was paved and connected to the road in the town, all the road construction team members threw away their tools, hats, coats... and cheered like crazy.

"Fixed!"

“Our road has been repaired!”

"The road to Xiufeng Mountain has been repaired—"

The first car, decorated with red ribbons, drove into Xiufengshan Farm and stopped at the open space at the farm. The long horn sounded and attracted the attention of all the farm workers.

"Our Xiufeng Mountain is finally accessible by car!"

“In the future, the postman will drive up directly and can receive and send mail every day.”

"Our corn can be hauled down the mountain by car. How convenient!"

"No longer afraid of heavy snow blocking the mountain—"

Yes, we no longer have to worry about heavy snow blocking the mountains, and we can go home for the New Year.

Tao Nanfeng stood in the crowd and heard Xiangbei loudly announce: "Three days later, Xiufeng Mountain and Quping Town will be officially open to traffic!"

Thunderous applause and cheers rang out.

Tao Nanfeng put his hands behind his back, and what he saw in his dream flashed through his mind.

Tao You is the heroine of the book, while Tao Nanfeng is a cannon fodder female supporting role.

After signing up to go to the countryside, Tao You realized her mother's intention. When Feng Qing'e deliberately pushed her, she fell and broke her collarbone. The mother and daughter staged a play together to coax the inexperienced Tao Nanfeng into agreeing to go to the countryside as an educated youth, while Tao You naturally stayed in school and became a librarian.

Destiny began to change from here.

In the book, Tao Nanfeng did not take away the jade button left by his mother, but put it in the drawer of his father's study.

Because of her frail body, Tao Nanfeng in the book suffered a lot on the farm. She was drenched by the rain and frightened on the day the thatched house collapsed. She has been bedridden ever since and did not survive the first winter. She died before she was eighteen years old.

Because of Tao Nanfeng's early death, Tao Shouxin remained silent and blamed himself, and instantly aged ten years. Tao You knelt in front of him, cried and apologized, but Tao Shouxin remained indifferent. He moved out of the dormitory and lived alone. He died five years later.

Tao You is very resilient. When Tao Shouxin was sick, he accompanied and took care of him wholeheartedly, and received praise and recognition from everyone. Tao You took over Tao Shouxin's personal connections and a room full of calligraphy, paintings and ancient books.

In 1977, the college entrance examination was resumed and Tao You was successfully admitted to university, where she met Qiao Yadong on campus. Qiao Yadong blamed himself for neglecting Tao Nanfeng at the educated youth center and transferred all his affection to Tao You. The two fell in love, got to know each other, studied and started a business together, becoming famous real estate developers in the 1990s and reaching the peak of their lives.

The first pot of gold she earned from starting her own business came from the stunning jade button in Tao Shouxin's study.

…

From anger to calmness, Tao Nanfeng gradually grew up in his dream.

——It’s time to go home and take a closer look at the faces of the mother and daughter!

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