“Thank you for staying with me all these years. Before I met you, my life was gray, full of constant loss. But after meeting you, my life became colorful.”

The man was nearing death, but still couldn’t bring himself to let go of his wife’s hand.

His eyes stared at her intently: “Meeting you was the most wonderful thing in my life.”

“Even when I’m not around, don’t settle. You must eat on time every day.”

“I know!” The woman said, covering her mouth in sadness, unsure of what to say.

The man, already on the brink of death, continued to mutter: “If only I had met you sooner, how wonderful it would have been.”

Time had brought age, but it had not diminished her beauty.

Every small detail, every smile, she was still as beautiful as when he first met her.

Her beauty was so captivating that the man couldn’t tear his eyes away.

His mind was filled with the solace she had given him during the darkest, most desolate moments of his life.

But the promises he had made to her could never be fulfilled.

Life was too short, and they had met too late.

Now, staring at the inevitable separation of life and death, there were countless regrets.

“Old Nie, Old Nie!” As the man closed his eyes and stopped breathing, the woman pulled at his hand with all her strength.

She had faced so many hardships in her life, struggling on her own, and only at the age of thirty-five did she meet this man.

Since then, he had been her heart’s treasure, loving and cherishing her.

They had only just begun their good life, and their shared dream of traveling to famous mountains and rivers had not yet come true.

How could he leave her now?

“I really wish you could see what I looked like when I was young,” the man suddenly opened his eyes again, and with his rough hand, he grasped hers. “But there’s just a river between us… just a river. How come we never met before?”

This time, he truly was about to breathe his last.

The woman collapsed onto him, crying out in pain.

“Mrs. Chen, Mr. Nie has left all the shares of Zhao’s Real Estate to you. From now on, you will live a life free from worry. Of course, your stepson has also promised that he will always be respectful to you.”

The lawyer said these words with some hesitation.

The man had contributed greatly to the country, building the largest oil field with his own hands.

Later in life, he ventured into business, accumulating billions.

His life had been legendary.

Chen Lina was his second wife.

The man’s three children, who had no one to care for or teach them in their youth, had gone astray.

Two of them died young, and now only one remained, weak and often in the hospital.

Talk of respect was only empty words.

“He was the hope of this entire family, and he was my hope. How could he, how could he leave just like this?”

Thinking about her own life, drifting, alone until she met Nie Bozhao, and all the warmth he had given her, Chen Lina felt like her world was collapsing.

He was not just her husband; he was the only warmth and meaning in her later years.

Now that he was gone, how could she live on in this world alone?

Watching her husband take his last breath, Chen Lina covered her mouth and wept uncontrollably.

…….

“Lina, stop crying. Get up, your eyes will go bad if you keep crying like this.”

Chen Lina suddenly sat up, looking at the yellowed beams of the roof.

Turning her head, she saw the colorful candy wrappers pasted on the wall, clearly old with time.

She got up, felt the wall for a while, then pulled open a half-new, half-old velvet curtain.

There, she saw her mother, He Lan’er, sitting in the yard, steaming half a salted pig’s head in a large basin.

“Mom, is that you?”

“Why can’t it be me? Oh, you’ve cried yourself silly. Stop crying, look at what I’m steaming—half a pig’s head, it’s enough for you to enjoy. Your uncle loves pig’s head meat. I’ll help you with your marriage.”

Chen Lina sat up, grabbed a calendar from the table, and flipped it open—October 16, 1970.

Had she… returned to the past?

“Your cousin wants to break off the engagement. How can that be? We’ve been betrothed since we were kids. How can he just cancel it? Let’s take this pig’s head and go together, I’ll help you secure your marriage.”

“Secure it? Nie Guozhu only wants to break off the engagement with the daughter of a leader from the army. Just let him, what’s the big deal? Our Lina is at least a college student, and we’re cousins, which is already a bit too close. If they break off the engagement, isn’t that even better?” Chen Lina’s father, Chen Bingcang, came out of another room and began arguing with her mother.

“What do you suggest we do? She’s already twenty years old. She couldn’t continue her studies, so she came back home. Now, farming is the only option left. And you tell me, with our background, how are we supposed to find her a husband?”

“I say we call off the engagement, and then find someone else. Worst case, she stays single at home.”

“Call off the engagement? We’ve already broken off one engagement, and now she can’t get married anymore. If we break off another one, how can you show your face? I’ll be too embarrassed to face anyone either.”

The parents outside started arguing.

Inside, Chen Lina sat quietly, but her mind began to wander back to the past.

She was born in 1950.

In 1968, she passed the entrance exam for Hongyan Women’s Normal University, but unfortunately, after just one year, she was expelled when it was discovered that her great-grandfather had been a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, which placed her family in a “bad class” category.

As a result, the school advised her to leave.

After being expelled, she had no diploma, and since there were no part-time job opportunities in the city, she had no choice but to return to the countryside.

Once back in the village, Chen Lina, like every other villager, became involved in the agricultural work of rural construction.

Her family’s “bad class” background had a profound impact on her fate.

First of all, because of her family’s background, her older sister, Chen Lili, had her marriage fall apart.

Now, she had also returned home, waiting for someone to arrange a new marriage for her.

As for Chen Lina, she was the first girl in the whole village of Qisi Township to attend a women’s normal university.

She studied in the provincial capital for a while, and the Yellow River’s water had made her skin fair, almost like freshly squeezed milk.

Her education had refined her character and manners, and when she was in high school, before the formal break in Sino-Soviet relations, she had learned excellent Russian from a radio program.

Whenever an expert group visited the school, she would be the one to present flowers.

She even had a pen pal from the borderlands, with whom she exchanged letters in Russian.

But that was all a long time ago.

This excellent girl, whose future seemed bright, was now unable to continue her education and couldn’t get married, all because of her background.

It seemed like a series of unfortunate events.

Her cousin, Nie Guozhu, had become her last hope after spending a year struggling in the countryside.

However, Nie Guozhu, who was in the military, had caught the attention of the daughter of a senior official.

The official had talked to him several times, hoping he would break off his engagement with Chen Lina and marry his daughter instead.

After much internal struggle, Nie Guozhu sent Chen Lina a letter recently, intending to break off their engagement.

This was the reason why Chen Lina had woken up crying that morning.

In her memories, her mother, He Lan’er, once brought half a pig’s head to the Nie family to ensure the marriage was saved.

In the end, she married Nie Guozhu.

After their marriage, Nie Guozhu was demobilized and returned to his hometown.

Chen Lina tried very hard to please him, but he only drank and became violent.

He would often criticize her, saying that she was corrupting his thoughts, or complain about his regret at marrying her instead of the senior official’s daughter.

Later, after the reform and opening up, Nie Guozhu entered business, but he indulged in drinking, gambling, and womanizing.

His business never grew, and eventually, he died in a car accident on the way to a brothel.

How could he compare to a man who, years later, would rise to prominence in the business world, with billions in assets, but still remained virtuous?

Chen Lina suddenly pushed open the door and stepped out. “Mom, I’ve made up my mind. I’m calling off the engagement.”

…

It was early morning, and the Qi Si River was shimmering.

In the distance, tractors were busily plowing the fields for the autumn harvest.

The villagers of Niejia Village were working hard, and the air was filled with the sounds of the revolutionary song: “On Beijing’s Golden Mountain, the light shines far and wide. The leader is the golden sun…”

Chen Lina took a deep breath of the crisp air in the early autumn of the countryside and finally confirmed that she had truly returned.

She had returned to 1970.

As for Nie Bozhao, she wouldn’t meet him until she was thirty-five, but when she did, he would cherish and protect her for the rest of his life.

She jogged along the sparkling river, passing rows of golden birch trees, with tractors racing across the fields.

Each household had its dark blue tile roof, now bathed in the golden light of the morning sun.

This was Niejia Village.

Could it be that the man, when he was young, really lived here, just separated from her by this river?

Suddenly, a child around five or six years old ran toward her from the field, and she watched as the child rushed forward and pulled apart two other children who were fighting. “Nie Xiaoqiang, who told you to hit my San Dan?”

Chen Lina’s eyes lit up, and she walked over. “Wei… Nie Weimin?”

The angry little boy was protecting a toddler, while another child around four years old stood behind them.

Despite being only five or six, the boy looked defiant and cautious, glaring at Chen Lina.

Chen Lina smiled. “This is Nie Weimin, Nie Bozhao’s eldest son.”

But when she married Nie Bozhao, he had already passed away.

She had only seen a few pictures of his children.

Yes, her husband was ten years older than her.

Before meeting her, he had already been married, but his wife had died, leaving behind three sons.

These three sons should have been successful, but the ten-year cultural revolution, along with poor education, had turned them into troublemakers in society.

And now she was back.

She was back!

Could it be that this time, she could meet Nie Bozhao earlier, marry him, and live a happy life with him, making up for those lost fifteen years?