Chapter Five Rebirth

  When Qiu Ye woke up again, her first thought was that she was in trouble. She had really overslept and was going to be late for work, which meant she would lose 30 yuan. That was enough money to buy a cake her son had been craving. She sat up in bed with a sigh, reaching out to grab the clothes she usually kept beside her, but felt nothing. Confused, she turned to look at the headboard, but didn't see any clothes - just an old iron bed with a wooden board in the middle, covered in rust spots. This wasn't right; she hadn't used this kind of bed in nine years. Her current bed was a solid wood bed her brother had saved up for months to buy for her as a wedding gift, which had touched her heart at the time.

  She looked around again, and her eyes widened in surprise. This... this... how could it be so familiar? The room had three white walls, a single iron-framed bed, two desks made from old school tables put together, and a yellowish-brown cabinet attached to one wall.

  This isn't the home she's lived in for 25 years, what's going on? How did she end up back here? Isn't she supposed to be sleeping in her own bed at her own house? She pinched her leg with a somewhat dazed expression, ouch, it hurts so much that it can't be a dream. Looking at the hand that just pinched herself, this definitely isn't a rough hand from years of doing household chores. The fingernails still have black mud on them and are too small. She looked down at her own body with some difficulty bearing the stimulation, suddenly falling back onto the bed. Because she used too much force, the back of her head knocked against the hard bedboard, knocking her teeth together in pain, curling up her body, using her small hands to rub her head fiercely. However, this wave of pain once again confirmed that she wasn't dreaming - she had really shrunk down.

  Qiu Ye lay on the bed waiting for the dizziness to pass, and also digesting the shock in her heart. Looking at this house, it was her former home. Had heaven finally opened its eyes and seen her unhappiness in her past life, allowing her to return to her childhood?

  As soon as this idea emerged, it was like a weed that had taken root in her heart and grew wildly. She didn't care about the discomfort on her head, got out of bed, didn't even have time to put on slippers, opened the door and ran out.

  Looking at the cement floor in the corridor, looking at the wall with white and black pencil marks drawn by pencils, looking at the new but old-fashioned furniture in my parents' room, looking at the black and white photos of my young parents on the table, most importantly, I saw the date displayed on the calendar on the table, May 12th, 1986. Qiu Ye couldn't help but shed tears, finally sitting on the floor with her legs wrapped around her, wailing in pain.

  Qiu Ye couldn't hold it in anymore, she urgently needed a way to release the pent-up frustration that had been building up inside her.

  Qiu Ye cried about the past disappointments, and also cried about the joy of being able to relive her life. She went back to her childhood, which means she can start again, and as long as she works hard, she may be able to live a happy life without worrying about money, not shrinking from it, and not having to bow down because of poverty. As long as she tries hard, she won't walk the same old path as before, and in the future, she can find a job she likes, rather than just working for food and clothing every day. She also won't naively think that Wang Wei is her good man, thinking that getting married means having one more person to struggle together with, and escape from poverty. This life, let him and his mistress's mother go away! In this life, she wants to earn enough money herself, and then use the money to live the life she wants. As for men and marriage, she really has no interest now, perhaps because her only experience of married life was too painful. Although she doesn't think about being single in this life, she also doesn't plan to easily enter into marriage again.

  She now only feels heartache for her own son, if she doesn't marry Wang Wei in the future, then her son will also lose the opportunity to be born. Qiu Ye thought that she would never see her son again and burst into tears.

  Qiu Ye cried for a whole hour, venting the depression in her heart and firming up her determination to correct the mistakes of her past life. She thought about how she would live this life and vowed to make the most of it.

  It wasn't until then that she realized, it seemed like there was no one at home. She had been crying and wailing here for so long, but no one came to bother her. But this was also pretty good, as she couldn't adapt to the fact that she had become smaller all at once. She also wanted to use some time to think carefully about how she would face her younger parents.

  Qiu Ye got up from the ground, barefoot and returned to her own room, lying on the hardboard bed, staring at the fluorescent tube above her head, but thinking about all sorts of things from her childhood.

  She has some vague memories of her childhood, only remembering a few important things, with several unforgettable scenes still in her mind.

  It is now May 12th, 1986. She will be 7 years old this year, and 8 years old in virtual age. She should start school this September.

  When I was a kid, my family was poor. My father, Qiu Yanlin, was a logistics worker at the teachers' college, and he could only bring back a fixed salary every month. My mother, Qiao Fengqin, was a dependent and worked in the dependents' team. If there were tasks to be done, she would get some money; if not, she would just wait around without getting paid a single cent. So our family always struggled financially.

  Qiu Ye also had an older brother Qiu Feng who was four years older than her and was in the fourth grade of elementary school at that time.

  Qiu Ye is now alone at home, because all the adults in her family have gone to work and her brother has also gone to school. She knows that she usually plays by herself at this time, because Qiu's mother thinks it's a waste of food to send her to kindergarten, so Qiu Ye has never been to kindergarten. When she was old enough to start school, her parents sent her to the primary school affiliated with the Normal University, where children of university staff can attend for free.

  Qiu Ye lay in bed for an hour, simply setting a few life goals for herself. The first was to start working hard from now on and earning money. Her family had several schools to support, so if she used her brain, making money was a sure thing. She set a goal for herself: by the time she graduated from high school, she wanted to be able to buy an apartment in Beijing for herself. Of course, if she could earn even more money, that would be even better. The second goal was to start studying hard from now on. Her parents were honest and down-to-earth people, but she didn't think it was possible to rely on them to become rich or a wealthy second-generation heir. Men were unreliable too, so she could only rely on herself to create a beautiful future for herself. However, it wouldn't hurt to remind her parents from time to time, letting them make some small fortunes would be okay.

  Qiu Ye thought it through and then sprang out of bed in one swift motion, since she had already figured out what she wanted to do, she didn't want to waste any more time.

  Now Qiu Ye was thinking about what she could do to earn her first pot of gold in life.

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