Zhu Yun Xuan hadn’t slept all night. Under the current circumstances, he really couldn’t fall asleep.
The events of his past life kept replaying in his mind. From time to time, he felt regret, a kind of regret so intense that his heart ached in waves.
His father was currently repairing bicycles, and later learned to fix motorcycles. But while others were starting businesses and even his eldest uncle was becoming prosperous, the money his father earned was really very little. And his mother? She later went to work in a factory doing the hardest labor.
Of course, in the countryside, many people lived worse lives than his parents, but he hoped his family could have the best. However, even so, what could a six-year-old child with no more than five yuan on him possibly do?
Even if he wanted to encourage his mother to start a clothing business, they would need capital…
Wait! Could his mother sell designs?
They were in Jiangnan, where every rural household raised silkworms. The most common factories were textile and garment factories. In his previous life, Jiang Yue Xiu would become a textile factory worker ten years later. So, now, could Jiang Yue Xiu make some well-designed clothes and trade with the garment factory?
Zhu Yun Xuan had a good eye for fashion in his past life. He knew some of the popular styles for the next twenty years, so making some samples wouldn’t be hard. But he feared Jiang Yue Xiu would think he was just messing around…
After thinking a lot and drifting drowsily toward sleep, Zhu Yun Xuan suddenly thought of a good idea!
Barbie dolls!
In his past life, Zhu Yun Xuan had once begged Jiang Yue Xiu to buy him a race car toy, the kind about the size of an adult’s palm, powered by two batteries. Back then, he had seen a classmate’s race car, assembled and disassembled it with the classmate, creating the fastest one. He wanted one badly. But Jiang Yue Xiu misunderstood and thought he wanted a kind of bicycle called a “race car,” so she refused to buy it.
However, although Jiang Yue Xiu wouldn’t buy that, when she went to the market, she bought Zhu Yun Xuan a Barbie doll.
Of course, it wasn’t an authentic Barbie, just a domestic knockoff that cost less than ten yuan.
At that time, Zhu Yun Xuan felt wronged and almost wanted to cry holding such a doll. He was a boy and didn’t like that kind of toy at all! But while he disliked it, Zhu Qiu Yue really liked it, and she spent all her savings, five yuan, to buy that doll from him.
Where the five yuan had gone, Zhu Yun Xuan had already forgotten, but he remembered that Zhu Qiu Yue used the leftover scraps that Jiang Yue Xiu didn’t want to make dozens of outfits and dresses for that Barbie doll!
These clothes and dresses were all very simple and rough, but just because Zhu Qiu Yue had such things, it attracted the envy of most of the girls in the village…
Ahem, maybe he could be a bit more feminine and buy a Barbie doll for her to make clothes for? Thinking this, Zhu Yun Xuan couldn’t help but shiver. Although he liked men, he was not a woman, playing with dolls and making clothes should be left to Zhu Qiu Yue!
He remembered that after he had money to buy several race cars later, the price of those cheap Barbie dolls dropped from seven or eight yuan to three or four yuan. Zhu Qiu Yue usually had at least three or four dolls to play with. However, although it was harder to make money now than a few years later, such things were actually more expensive.
Also, in his past life, Jiang Yue Xiu bought him dolls only several years later. Were such Barbie dolls even sold on the market now?
Maybe tomorrow he could follow his father to town and help his dad and grandpa with some small tasks. They would generously give him fifty cents or one yuan pocket money. Saving up for a few days like this should be enough to buy a doll, right?
Thinking of his current poor and empty situation, Zhu Yun Xuan suddenly recalled his life in his junior and senior years at university. Spoiled since childhood and knowing nothing, he suddenly lost all family support. Back then, even eating a tea egg had to be carefully planned. No matter what, his current life was much better than then!
In the height of summer, many people chose to go to town early in the morning to buy vegetables. Zhu Yun Xuan’s grandfather would leave at midnight to slaughter pigs, then start selling meat around five o’clock.
Zhu Yun Xuan’s father also went early. At that time, many people rode bicycles into town, and if their bikes broke in the morning, they would come to him for repairs.
“Dad, can I go to town with you?” Zhu Yun Xuan, having something on his mind, immediately woke up when he heard the noises outside in the morning!
Jiang Yue Xiu was already up, cooking porridge over the stove. Zhu Cheng Cai was organizing things they would need. When Zhu Yun Xuan went downstairs, he glanced at his old-fashioned big clock and realized it was only about five o’clock.
The clock needed to be wound once every other day, and it had a pendulum below. He remembered he eventually took it apart… But since his parents spoiled him, breaking things wouldn’t get him scolded.
“Xuan Xuan, why are you up so early?” Zhu Cheng Cai asked in surprise.
“Dad, I want to go to town to eat steamed soup dumplings and soy milk!” Zhu Yun Xuan immediately said. In the past, he was only willing to get up early when going to town for breakfast. If he said he wanted to help out… his dad might think he had lost his mind.
“Alright! Then Xuan Xuan will go with dad,” Zhu Cheng Cai agreed right away.
Jiang Yue Xiu had already finished cooking the porridge, so she took an enamel tea cup and filled it with porridge. Then she added quite a bit of pickled vegetables before packing it up, this was breakfast to be taken to Grandpa Zhu. At that time, eating breakfast in town was an occasional treat for them.
Speaking of which, selling meat should have been quite profitable, but in the past, the people selling meat in town were long-established residents. Grandpa Zhu was a rural outsider who squeezed in. No one taught him the ropes, and he was unwilling to deceive customers who bought meat from him. Also, due to his older age and other reasons, although he earned a little more money compared to Zhu Cheng Cai, making less than 500 yuan a month, how could he afford to spend two or three yuan every day on breakfast?
Although Zhu Yun Xuan thought of this reason, having already endured hardship and wanting to save money, he didn’t actually plan to go eat breakfast. So when his dad was drinking porridge, he also drank a bowl with him, claiming he wanted to play a while before going to eat the steamed soup dumplings.
At this time, the front door still used a bolt lock. After eating, Zhu Cheng Cai opened the front door. Zhu Yun Xuan took the lead, squeezing through the gap in the door, then suddenly exclaimed in shock, “Dad! There’s someone here!”
Sure enough, in the corner by their doorstep, curled up, was a person, looking by their figure, still a child.
When Zhu Yun Xuan called out, the child seemed to wake up. In the light spilling from inside the house, Zhu Yun Xuan saw the child was wearing decent clothes and had a backpack on. It looked like one of those children in town who were doted on by their whole family…
But how could such a child appear at his doorstep?
Li Rui was awakened by Zhu Yun Xuan’s voice. Upon waking and seeing the miniature version of Zhu Yun Xuan, he struggled hard to suppress the urge to call out to him, since he wasn’t supposed to know Zhu Yun Xuan now.
Yesterday evening, he had argued with his dad. The final result was that his dad flipped him over onto his lap, spanked him a few times, and then sent him back to his room to reflect.
In his previous life, Li Rui was probably spanked much less than his cousin, because compared to his constantly quarrelsome cousin, he was introverted and obedient and rarely disobeyed adults. However, now, deliberately, he was injured.
Li Yue spanked Li Rui, but only on the buttocks and not hard enough to injure him. Still, being hit for no reason…
After spanking his son, Li Yue took his things and went upstairs to his two older brothers’ houses. Li Rui packed some of his own belongings and then rummaged through Li Yue’s bag. Sure enough, he found some ten-yuan bills, known at the time as “Great Unity” notes, and surprisingly, he also found several brand-new one-hundred-yuan bills.
With money in hand and a backpack on his back, Li Rui left home. He originally planned to take the bus to Wende Town, which is 40 kilometers from the provincial capital Hangzhou, just like in his previous life. But he suddenly realized something was off.
In his previous life, when he ran away from home, he was already eleven years old. At that time, he went to the station and boarded a bus bound for Shanghai, only getting off midway and staying in Wende Town. But now it was 1993, and he was only six years old…
There should be vehicles available, Shanghai Pudong was under development at this time and was the hottest spot, with plenty of trains, buses, and ships heading there. Naturally, there were many buses from Hangzhou to Shanghai. But his age was just too young… this trip would probably be much more troublesome than before.
After some thought, Li Rui also took his father’s “big brother phone” (a large early mobile phone) from the bag. Anyway, this time when he ran away, he just wanted to get his mother’s attention and also see Zhu Yun Xuan. He planned to come back eventually. Under these circumstances, bringing such a device would be convenient. If he encountered someone with bad intentions, he could ask his mother for help. He wasn’t afraid someone would covet the phone, because at that time there were many toy “big brother phones” that looked exactly like real ones. He even had one in his room. Who would believe the one in his hands was genuine?
By the time he left home, it was already 1 PM. Li Rui hired a tricycle to take him to the station. Then he queued and asked a young man behind him to help buy tickets for his parents and himself while they were at the restroom. Afterwards, he boarded the bus with a middle-aged woman…
Even though Li Rui had an adult’s intelligence, the journey was exhausting. When he finally arrived in Wende Town, he felt completely at ease.
Decades later, people strictly watched over their children, but back in 1993, motorcycles were rare in this town, so naturally no one would stop a child from wandering around. His presence didn’t attract too much attention.
Running away from home in his past life had been more than a decade ago. His memory wasn’t clear enough to recall exactly where Zhu Yun Xuan’s home was, but before being reborn, he had memorized the address on Zhu Yun Xuan’s ID card and roughly knew the direction. Comparing it with his memory, he had actually found it! But by the time he found the place, it was already night.