A Couple's Rebirth to 1977 Before Marriage

"Yes, Nuonuo, go pick one," Li Xiu said to his daughter with a smile, holding up one finger. Nuonuo could now walk while holding onto things and could also say "daddy," "mommy," and her own name. She had been well-raised by him and Zhou Lian; she might be mischievous, but she wouldn’t cry and throw unreasonable tantrums.

Perhaps because she was in a hurry, Nuonuo dropped to her belly on the kang bed and started crawling. She picked up the items Li Xiu had laid out one by one, playing with each for a moment before finally clutching a book and refusing to let go.

Zhou Lian and Li Xiu exchanged a smile, both thinking the same thing. ’In both lives, our daughter grabbed the same thing.’ In their last life, Nuonuo had also chosen the book. She ended up pursuing her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees consecutively. The moment she graduated, courts and prosecutor’s offices were all fighting to recruit her. But who would have thought she’d be so stubborn? She went straight to a law firm to become a lawyer. They had tried everything—cajoling, persuading—but she simply wouldn’t listen. In the end, they had to let her have her way.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Nuonuo looked at her smiling parents, wondering why they were ignoring her and just smiling to themselves. She glanced down at the book in her arms, a baffled and utterly adorable expression appearing on her little face.

"Aww, Nuonuo, you’re amazing." Zhou Lian gave her a thumbs-up, praising her with a smile. ’Who did our daughter get this personality from? So impatient.’ She tilted her head and glanced at Li Xiu. ’Never mind, she gets it from her father.’ Li Xiu was well-known for his quick temper.

Nuonuo was at that perfectly fun and adorable age, and Zhou Lian couldn’t dote on her enough. Every time Zhou Lian came home from school, she had to play and tease her for a little while first. She spent the entire afternoon playing with Nuonuo, fulfilling all the duties of a good mother.

That evening, the family of three lay on the kang bed. Once Nuonuo was asleep, Zhou Lian whispered, "Nuonuo is so full of energy. She didn’t stop all afternoon."

"That’s a good thing. Her high energy means our Nuonuo is growing up strong and healthy."

"That’s true," Zhou Lian agreed in a low voice. In their previous life, Nuonuo hadn’t been this robust on her first birthday. Zhou Lian hadn’t produced much milk back then. When it was time to introduce solid foods at six months, she could only give her steamed egg custard, overcooked noodles, or a bit of millet porridge. Not only were they short on money, but there also wasn’t much to eat back in their old village. Nuonuo’s nutrition lagged, and she grew up thin and small. It was nothing like now. Li Xiu was always coming up with new, delicious things for her, cooking whatever was most nutritious and even following feeding methods from books. ’Of course she’s growing up well!’

"Bao’er, when I go south, will you be able to manage here at home with Nuonuo by yourself? Won’t it be too tiring?" Li Xiu asked, a little worried. He was planning to leave for the south in a few days, once his wife’s vacation started.

"I’ll be fine. Honestly. You haven’t spoiled me completely useless yet," Zhou Lian said, shooting him a glare. "Taking care of our daughter is no problem. How many days will you be gone?" ’Honestly, this man,’ she thought. ’As if I can’t even look after one child.’

Li Xiu gave Zhou Lian a reassuring kiss. "It’s pretty far," he said softly. "The round trip by train alone will take about ten days, so I’ll be gone for over half a month. I should be able to make it back in time for us to go to our hometown for the Little New Year."

"Don’t rush back. It’s fine if we don’t make it to our hometown for the Little New Year. Just be careful on your trip. But... you’ve never been to the south before. Will you be okay?" Zhou Lian asked quietly. ’He’ll be in a place where he doesn’t know anyone.’ Still, it was rare for him to be so motivated to do something. Even though his goal was to make money to provide for her and their child, Zhou Lian didn’t want to crush his enthusiasm.

"I know. I’ve got it all figured out," Li Xiu said softly to Zhou Lian. "You won’t even have to leave the house; I’ll buy everything we need before I go. The security around here is excellent, so you don’t need to be afraid while you’re at home."

After coaxing his wife to sleep, Li Xiu himself couldn’t fall asleep. ’I need to think this through carefully.’ If he went south and bought a batch of watches, the price would multiply several times over when he got back. He wouldn’t be greedy. He’d just bring them back and wholesale them to those few educated youths who had returned to the city. That way, he wouldn’t even have to get personally involved.

In his past life, while living at his son’s place, there was an old man in his residential complex around the same age who bragged all the time. He’d say that when he was young, right after returning to the city with no job, he had no choice but to head south to make a living. He managed to get his hands on a dozen or so radios, and that’s how he built his fortune. He claimed that if he hadn’t gotten into gambling for a while, his assets would be worth hundreds of millions.

At first, Li Xiu thought the old man was just blowing smoke. But later, he heard from the neighbors that it was all true. The old man had made a bit of money, then abandoned his wife and son, found a woman over a decade younger than him, and even got addicted to drugs. It nearly led to his complete ruin and the destruction of his family. Luckily, his son managed to pull him back from the brink, but he still lost everything anyway.

After hearing that story, Li Xiu had specifically gone online and carefully researched this current era. It was true: opportunities were everywhere, and making money was much easier. The main drawback was the hardship. After all, given the slow speed of transportation, just the time spent on the road would take up the bulk of the trip.

’When I get to the south, I’ll have to check out appliances like watches, radios, and electric fans. After all, those things don’t require ration tickets, so plenty of people will want to buy them. I’ll start small and earn a little at first. Then, in a year or two when the overall situation has completely stabilized, I’ll get a proper storefront and hire people to run it. I can’t spend all my time just making money. I need to have enough time to be with my wife.’

Glancing at his daughter on his left and his wife on his right, Li Xiu smiled, full of satisfaction. He wasn’t short on ways to make money; he just had to find the most time-efficient method. He needed to free up time to spend with his wife and to be there to watch his daughter grow up.

Thinking back on his previous life, Li Xiu felt a pang of shame. His daughter grabbing the book at her first-birthday ceremony today reminded him of how she had been dead set on becoming a lawyer in their last life. It wasn’t because she enjoyed the work, but because lawyers made a lot of money. He had failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a father, yet his daughter and son had never uttered a single word of complaint.

’In my last life, I don’t know what was wrong with my brain. How could I have been so dense, letting my wife and children go without?’ He figured if Uncle Ge knew, he would have been angry enough to crawl out of his grave and call him a blockhead. Uncle Ge had once said that a man who couldn’t provide for his wife, children, and elders was the most incompetent and pathetic man of all.

He also used to say that a real man shouldn’t be too bound by convention. He should follow his heart, live freely and without restraint, and tightly grasp whatever he desires. He shouldn’t be indecisive, because that harms both himself and others. ’In my last life, I ignored the advice I should have taken and listened to all the things I shouldn’t have.’ If Uncle Ge knew he had lived such a repressed and frustrating life, he’d probably be angry enough to beat him with a wooden plank.

Gently stroking Zhou Lian’s hair, Li Xiu’s heart swelled with gratitude. ’To be able to see my wife again, have her marry me again, and make her fall in love with me all over again... I have truly been blessed by the heavens.’

In truth, Li Xiu was being a bit too hard on himself. In his past life, stuck in his rural hometown, there really hadn’t been many opportunities to make money. It wasn’t until after 1990 that the men from the village began leaving to find work. Back then, while his family didn’t have much wealth, they never lacked for food or drink. By village standards, their life was probably considered upper-middle class.

Plus, with Grandma Li getting on in years and his own parents to consider, he had never left to find work. He didn’t realize something was wrong until his daughter got into university, and by then, it was too late. His wife, daughter, and son had all joined forces and moved forward, and he was the one left behind. It was his own fault, the cause of a lifetime of regret and remorse.