Chapter 1

January 10, 1993.

It was also the 18th of December in the lunar calendar, just after the Minor Cold.

In these few days, with the strong southward movement of cold air, the weather in Shaoshi suddenly turned cold. Although it was sunny today, the bone-chilling cold was hidden in the gentle light, freezing people unexpectedly.

"Half a year has passed, and it's almost the New Year," said 17-year-old Zhang Xuan, getting up from the hospital bed and looking out the window, somewhat lost.

It had been half a year since Zhang Xuan, carrying the memories of his previous life, was reborn.

Half a year, not long, but not short either.

However, instead of making life better or changing the fate of his family and friends, Zhang Xuan ended up in the town health center.

Acute enteritis, with a high fever and over ten episodes of yellow watery diarrhea each day, containing large amounts of thick foam and a small amount of pus and blood.

He even went into shock!

Fortunately, in this era, in this remote and poor mountain village, his mother was a woman with some knowledge and a protective nature. If it were a different family with many children and a cold-blooded father, he might have really lost his life due to the shock.

Just thinking about it makes him shudder!

This isn't an exaggeration. Last month, in the neighboring production team, a 27-year-old woman gave birth. Because she was unwilling to spend the money at the hospital, she ended up having an accident during delivery with just a pair of scissors and a kerosene lamp. She bled out and died before the ambulance could arrive.

In another production team, a girl developed a hernia. Her parents, who had many children and were already very poor, were unwilling to borrow money to treat her, leading to her becoming infertile.

Ah! Both the poor and the rich face difficulties, but only the poor face the most helpless of difficulties.

Thinking about it, he feels as if he has been cursed. In his previous life, he didn't suffer like this; this time, he narrowly escaped death, which is truly distressing.

However, compared to his gradually improving health, there is something even more distressing for Zhang Xuan—money.

Yes, money!

Don't believe it? Look at this...

Two years ago, his older sister, who was an apprentice tailor in Shaoshi, was hit by a car for running a red light, and the accident was entirely her fault. She was in a coma for half a month and was taken to Xiangya Hospital, where it cost about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan to save her.

50,000 to 60,000 yuan in 1991! Not only did it deplete the meager savings of this single-parent family, but it also left them heavily in debt.

Last summer, his second sister, who was just 3 points short of the university admission line, could not afford to continue her studies. After failing to persuade her mother, Ruan Xiuqin, she silently worked in the fields for a week and, in the end, unwilling to accept her fate, she ran away with a male classmate.

Ran away!

In other words, they eloped.

This caused a great deal of panic! Both families searched frantically, and in the end, all clues pointed to Shanghai.

Whether they really went to Shanghai or it was a decoy, both families were furious.

You see, the boy was an only child, and his parents were local elementary school teachers. But this only child was taken away by a pretty classmate.

Gone! After being cherished for over a decade, he left a letter and ran away with a classmate, leaving the family in disbelief.

Wouldn't they be angry?

Of course, they were.

The old couple had hoped their precious child would bring glory to the family and take care of them in their old age, but they haven't heard from him for over a year.

Based on his previous life's memory, Zhang Xuan knows that it will be many more years before these two show up...

However, he feels this is a stroke of luck amidst the misfortune. In this era, many girls who follow the path of "walking their own way, letting others say what they will" end up becoming Dongguan girls.

Fortunately, his second sister went to Shanghai.

To make matters worse, not only was the boy's family furious, but his mother, Ruan Xiuqin, also suffered greatly, tossing and turning at night, filled with regret and secretly shedding tears.

After months of guilt and self-torment, Ruan Xiuqin's health also deteriorated.

Tests revealed a benign tumor in her abdomen, and according to the doctor's advice, surgery was necessary.

At the time, Ruan Xiuqin asked the doctor, "How much will the surgery cost?"

The doctor roughly estimated, "The tumor's location is somewhat complex. From preoperative preparation to postoperative recovery, it will cost about 3,000 to 4,000 yuan to fully recover."

Hearing the cost, Ruan Xiuqin immediately backed out. It was only after her sister-in-law's heartfelt persuasion and her older sister's desperate pleading that she finally borrowed more money and entered the hospital again.

Zhang Xuan, during the winter break, was busy running back and forth between home and the hospital, and he accidentally contracted acute enteritis.

This cost several thousand more.

Actually, he was lucky. Severe acute enteritis, for which the town health center had no specific treatment, was only managed because his classmate Du Shuangling's sister, a doctor at Xiangya Hospital, urgently brought back a few boxes of imported German medicine.

Although the imported medicine was expensive, it was effective. After three intravenous drips, the disoriented Zhang Xuan not only regained consciousness but also recovered from the high fever that the local doctors were helpless against.

Several thousand, a few thousand, and then a few thousand more... Thinking about the family's mounting debts, Zhang Xuan, standing by the window, rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache.

He knew that if it weren't for his aunt Zhang Ru, who was the mainstay of the family, their household would have already fallen apart.

However, Aunt Zhang Ru also had her own difficulties. At over 60 years old, she and her husband, who had retired from the railway station, could have enjoyed a peaceful retirement, but they encountered an unprecedented wave of layoffs.

Her four sons, named "Yunhua Fugui" (Prosperity and Wealth), had not yet achieved prosperity and wealth; instead, three of them were laid off from their public sector jobs. Only the eldest, Yang Yun, remained a small leader at the Shaoshi railway station, struggling to make ends meet.

The four "Yunhua Fugui" were already middle-aged, with families to support. Zhang Xuan knew that his aunt's family had already done their best by providing over 10,000 yuan to help Ruan Xiuqin.

In fact, Zhang Xuan had another uncle who worked at the customs in Shenzhen.

Due to the special period, Ruan Xiuqin, from an intellectual family in the city, saw her family's fortunes decline. After learning that her parents had died unexpectedly in a neighboring province, she married a young man in the countryside, with the only condition being that she would take care of her younger brother.

The young man from the countryside, who was Zhang Xuan's deceased father, was so overjoyed to marry such a beautiful and unfortunate phoenix that he readily agreed to take care of her brother, no matter what.

Logically, since his uncle was raised by his mother and sent to school by her, Zhang Xuan had considered seeking further help from him.

However, the world is not a utopia, and everyone has their own struggles.

Zhang Xuan, having lived two lives, knows that every family has its own difficulties. Moreover, his uncle, for his own future, married a divorced woman from the city, where the wife's status is higher than the husband's. After providing 3,000 yuan to help Ruan Xiuqin, he was also unable to do more.

"Zhang Xuan, your mail!"

Just as Zhang Xuan was lost in thought, the ward door suddenly opened from the outside.

A sweaty postman, wearing a military green shoulder bag, enthusiastically handed him a mail package, which seemed to contain books or newspapers.

Then, the young postman took out two money orders for Zhang Xuan. The first one was for 20 yuan, and the second one was for a larger amount, 583 yuan.

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