Chapter 43: The Beginning of Fate

The scenes in the dream changed one after another. Sometimes, she was five or six years old, with her hair tied in two pigtails, while at other times, she was seventeen or eighteen. Those dreams felt incredibly real as if she were reliving her life.

Yet, no matter the time, it was all dim for Su Nianmei.

From the moment she was born, she carried misfortune.

She encountered an earthquake at birth, losing her parents. By the time she was five or six, her memories began to form. The living room was always crowded with people, relatives hurriedly asking her grandmother for money.

It was chaotic and noisy.

Amid the commotion, the sound of things breaking mingled in.

During such times, her grandmother would slip a handful of candy, urging her to play at the door.

She would sit under the tree at the entrance, swinging her little feet until the candy in her mouth melted away. Would she only jump down from the stool to bury the wrappers beneath the tree?

Her grandmother said, “Trees have spirits.”

She would clasp her hands together, close her eyes, and make a wish to the big tree. Little did anyone know, this habit lasted for over a decade.

Her first wish was to hope that all the noisy people in the house would disappear.

As she grew older, her way of wishing changed. She began writing down all her unhappy thoughts on small pieces of paper, burying each one after she wrote it.

She noted things like, “Grandma is sick and has no money for treatment” and “Every morning, someone waits in that little alley to block her and ask for money”…

There were both major and minor concerns.

Strangely, one by one, these issues seemed to resolve themselves inexplicably.

By the age of seventeen or eighteen, her life finally fell into place. She successfully enrolled in college, and her grandmother’s health gradually improved. Life became smoother.

Who would have guessed that in 2022, at the age of twenty-eight, a single earthquake would once again change her life?

Having dreamt so much, her mind began to feel a little dazed.

She sat in the yard, peering through the gaps between her fingers at the sky in the distance, where large patches of white clouds floated. She recalled the metaphors she learned in elementary school—how clouds resembled cotton, cats, dogs, and even people.

Like everything in this world, but none of them resembled her.

As time passed, she found it hard to distinguish what was real from what was not. Was she the current Su Nianmei or the Su Nianmei from a past life? She could not tell.

A gust of wind blew by, and she surprisingly felt a chill under the blazing sun, pulling her shirt tighter around her.

The leaves overhead rustled in the breeze.

—o—o—o—

Gu Xiaobao was in the yard, rhythmically kicking and rolling a hoop, the sound of his footsteps echoing, “Tap tap.”

Su Nianmei closed her eyes, her consciousness growing hazy.

“Mom!” Gu Xiaobao’s voice rang out, startling her like a clap of thunder and forcing her to open her eyes.

The little guy was running around, sweat-soaked, his cheeks flushed, and his small chest heaving up and down, “Uncle is here.”

Just as Su Nianmei was about to stand up, Gu Baiting stepped into the yard.

He casually took a seat on the small stool under the tree, helping himself to a cup of tea without any formality.

Su Nianmei lay still, the bamboo rocking chair swaying back and forth.

Gu Baiting took a sip of his tea. He had intentionally asked Gu Xiaobao to wake Su Nianmei, curious about what kind of conflict was brewing between his Eldest Brother and sister-in-law. His Eldest Brother had called him specifically to probe into his sister-in-law’s thoughts and to comfort her, but before he could even get a hint, he ended up hitting a wall.

In truth, Su Nianmei was not deliberately ignoring Gu Baiting; he was her brother-in-law and older than her, so she was unsure how to address him. Deciding against it, she squinted her eyes, continuing to feign sleepiness.

Gu Xiaobao stood beside Su Nianmei, shaking her hand.

Seeing her waking up, he awkwardly remarked, “Sister-in-law, my Eldest Brother is still as busy as ever!”

Su Nianmei propped herself up slightly, looking at Gu Baiting. Since that night when he had been drunk, he seemed to have been deliberately avoiding her. After that encounter, they didn’t see each other again. For some reason, he had come over today.

That day had been dimly lit, and she had thought that Gu Baiting bore some resemblance to Gu Xichao. Now, the clearer the image of Gu Xichao became in her mind, the more her heart burned with anxiety. She covered her face with the fan as if shielding herself from the sun, feeling its coolness.

Seeing that his attempt to test the waters had failed, Gu Baiting shifted the topic and asked, “Sister-in-law, have you ever been to Qingsheng Province?”

Su Nianmei glanced at him and replied with a soft “Hmm?”

Seeing a chance, Gu Baiting smiled and continued, “We’ve secured a major client and are going to discuss a partnership. Why don’t you take Xiaobao with us? You’ve just finished your exams; it’s a good time to relax.”

Su Nianmei lowered the fan a bit to reveal her eyes, her tone neither cold nor warm, as she said, “If we go with you, won’t my Eldest Brother get mad when he comes back?”

Gu Baiting replied, “Just call my Eldest Brother to give him a heads-up when the time comes.”

Su Nianmei teased, “But what if I don’t want him to know?”

She felt a bit stifled inside. Why could Gu Xichao wander off without a care, leaving the family completely in the dark while she had to wait at home like a little wife, anxiously anticipating any news?

Gu Baiting was momentarily taken aback; he had thought something serious was happening. Upon hearing her words, he laughed.

His narrow phoenix eyes narrowed further in amusement. His sister-in-law seemed far more interesting than when he first met her.

“Don’t worry, sister-in-law. We’ll have our entire merchant team going along; we can keep this from my Eldest Brother,” he reassured her.

Su Nianmei set the fan down, playfully patting Gu Xiaobao’s little head, and asked, “So when do we leave?”

Gu Baiting replied, “The earliest we can go is tomorrow afternoon.”

Gu Xiaobao rubbed his head, a bit confused by the back-and-forth between the two about “telling” or “not telling.” However, he couldn’t help but smile, knowing that he would finally get to go out and play.

Once they arrived in the capital, it would be his first summer vacation. The little guy had felt nearly suffocated at home; it was hard-won to seize this opportunity to get some fresh air.

Gu Xiaobao was bubbling over with joy.

In contrast, Gu Xichao’s life was far more difficult.

After the results were revealed on his birthday, Gu Xichao felt a constant unease. He was happy about the outcome but unsure how to face Su Nianmei.

He closed his eyes, and the number “2” floated before him.

This was his secret; no one knew.

In his previous life, he had married at twenty-eight, believing he would have a perfect family and live happily ever after. However, his newlywed wife took her own life before he returned from a mission.

During that time, Xiaobao had suffered from a fever with no one to care for him, and by the time they discovered him, it was too late; he had died as well.

He returned home, joyous from completing his mission, only to be met with the tragic news of his wife’s death and the loss of his son.

At twenty-eight, he had aged considerably in an instant.

After handling the funeral, Gu Xichao left the military.

Upon retiring, he rode the wave of reform, investing his life’s savings in business, only to lose everything and become bankrupt.

In his lifetime, he worked as a mechanic and a tile worker, drove long distances, and even dug sand. He had experienced various industries, been wealthy, and been in a high position, but he also knew poverty and hardship.

His parents lived in their hometown and passed away without ever holding a grandchild. His only younger brother ended up in prison due to his own troubles.

It was as if he was alive yet also dead.

His heart felt like it could no longer beat; he felt no emotions and didn’t understand love. He drifted through life in a fog, existing in a daze.

At forty, a serious illness took his life.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the year 2000—seven years after his death.

That was the first year he stepped into the future: the year 2000.

During his lowest moments, a little girl gifted him a piece of candy. She was small and pink-cheeked, holding a red strawberry candy that she pressed into Gu Xichao’s hand.

At that time, the child appeared to be only five or six years old, dressed in a floral-patterned dress, her hair styled in pigtails, and she smiled cutely.

Her voice was soft and sweet as she said, “Brother, candy is sweet. Once you eat it, you won’t feel bitter anymore.”

Looking at her smile, he couldn’t help but think of Gu Xiaobao and his family. In that unfamiliar world, he found the courage to live.

Drawing on his previous experiences, he worked as a repairman to make a living, not caring about how much money he earned.

He thought it was enough just to be alive, but he didn’t understand the purpose of living.

His body was stuck at age twenty-eight, and over the years, he had not aged at all—not even a wrinkle.

Fearing misunderstandings, he changed his place of residence frequently.

One day, he passed through a narrow alley and saw a few delinquents cornering a little girl.

The girl was pressed against the wall.

Gu Xichao immediately recognized the red birthmark behind the girl’s ear; she was the same little girl who had given him the candy.

He saved the little girl, but she constantly wanted to thank him, while Gu Xichao avoided her.

He felt like a monster as if he were an ill-omened person who shouldn’t pass his misfortune onto the child.

The little girl waited in the alley where they first met every week. Gu Xichao watched her with a heavy heart but did not reveal himself.

Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling inside him.

Eventually, the little girl might have forgotten him, but he secretly kept an eye on her.

He wanted to repay her kindness.

After being met with the world’s malice for so long, even the slightest kindness from the past warmed his heart.

He noticed that the little girl had a habit of making wishes and burying notes under the old tree outside her home every morning.

In the dead of night, Gu Xichao would quietly dig up the notes, read them, and then bury them again.

No matter how trivial the wishes were, he did his best to help the girl fulfil them.

He seemed to find meaning in his existence; seeing the girl’s joy also made him happy while witnessing her disappointment tightened his heart.

Through their gradual interactions, he realized that his heart began to beat again. He slowly found himself developing feelings for the little girl.

However, the age gap and his unusual identity led Gu Xichao to choose silence, even avoiding Su Nianmei.

He secretly watched as the little girl graduated from university and became a civil servant, succeeding in her career. Just as he prepared to leave entirely, a disaster struck—the earthquake.

He was merely a passerby to the little girl, but to Gu Xichao, she was his light.

With that light gone, what was the point of his existence?

Yet, he did not die. When he opened his eyes again, he returned to age twenty-eight.

The number “3” in front of him transformed back into the number “2.”

He had no idea what the future held, but he thought this was a chance for a fresh start. He should forget the past and live a normal life.

He needed to stop things from worsening; he intended to divorce his wife and reclaim his life.

He rushed back to the hospital, determined to divorce her, but upon seeing his wife, Gu Xichao felt that she was the same little girl he had encountered in the future.

He set a trap, slowly confirming his suspicions.

Now that his guess had been validated, he found himself at a loss. He didn’t know how to face Su Nianmei. He loved her, yet it felt like he was deceiving her.

A few days ago, he had asked Gu Baiting to check on his little wife’s situation, but he hadn’t received any news.

In the end, Gu Xichao couldn’t hold back any longer and returned home.

As soon as he stepped through the door, he found a note pressed down on the dining table. After reading the contents of the note, his mind went blank with a resounding “buzz.”

—o—o—o—

T/N: WHAAAAAT?!