Chương 5: Chapter 5: Back to 18 Years Old_1

Groggy and disoriented, He Tiantian slowly opened her eyes, feeling a searing pain in her back.

Ah? The ability to feel pain, does that mean she didn't die?

Yes, very painful, that's right!

She actually didn't die? Who saved her?

Ouch, that's not right! She clearly remembered being bitten by a snake on her left ankle, so why was it her back that hurt?

This isn't scientifically plausible!

He Tiantian looked around the room. It looked somewhat familiar yet foreign. The old wardrobe, the simple desk with a floral tablecloth, the chair with a freshly repaired leg...

This was unmistakably the room from her childhood!

He Tiantian couldn't believe it, and she turned her head to look outside the window. There... there she saw the familiar persimmon tree.

But at this moment, the persimmon tree was only as thick as an adult's arm, although robust with dense branches and leaves, and not far was a stone table, on which lay freshly cut watermelon.

The scene was too idyllic, too comforting—it had to be a dream!

He Tiantian smiled bitterly. Ah, so she was dreaming! She lay back down, powerless, closing her eyes. She coveted the beauty of the dream, not wanting to wake up.

Just then, a gentle voice of a woman came from outside the door.

"Tiantian ah! Come and eat watermelon." The woman pushed the door open and came in, looking attentively at He Tiantian lying on her side in bed.

"Still dreaming! I dreamed of Mom..." With her eyes closed, He Tiantian didn't want to open them, hoping that her mother's voice in the dream would say a few more words for her to hear.

The woman standing by the window, hearing her daughter's murmur, smiled and pinched He Tiantian's face, saying with feigned annoyance, "You, still daydreaming?"

He Tiantian felt someone pinching her face, so real!

And so, He Tiantian opened her eyes, and there was her mother, truly her mother!

"Mom..." He Tiantian hastily sat up, her hands tightly hugging her mother's neck and not letting go, even if her back was in extreme pain.

In her past life, she didn't even get to see her parents for the last time, which became a lifelong regret. Learning that her parents had written her letters that Mother Qi had kept without telling her, He Tiantian felt even more remorse and resentment.

If the Qi family had only deceived her emotionally, He Tiantian would feel resentment but no hate. But by concealing her parents' letters and keeping her uninformed about her parents' welfare, not letting her see them for the last time or know why they died, He Tiantian harbored intense hatred for the Qi family.

Wang Shuping smiled and gently caressed her daughter's back, asking, "Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt anymore," He Tiantian replied, then all at once, a thought struck her—if this was a dream, why could she feel pain now?

Her daughter's body shook uncontrollably—how could it possibly not hurt?

"Since it hurts, then you can't be naughty anymore," Wang Shuping scolded lightly. "As a girl, you're still as mischievous as when you were a child, even climbing the big elm tree at the end of the alley. You fell from the tree. If it weren't for your Brother Yingjie coming back to save you, you would have either died or been seriously injured."

He Tiantian listened and was briefly stunned. She had fallen from a tree when she was eighteen in the summer. She wasn't being mischievous, but rather, she had found a small bird at the base of the tree that couldn't fly. Overwhelmed with compassion, she climbed the tree to return the bird to its nest, but accidentally fell.

The cause wasn't important; what mattered was that she realized this wasn't a dream, but a real situation. She had returned to the year she was eighteen, back in the 70s.

Her hands were not dry, rough, and calloused, but were instead the delicate, tender fingers of youth.

Although unbelievable, it was true.

Letting go of her mother's hands, He Tiantian looked carefully at her mother, Wang Shuping—the fair, oval face, large almond eyes, a high-bridged nose, and rosy lips. This was her mother in her youth.

"Mhm, mhm," He Tiantian agreed, her voice choked with emotion, "I won't be naughty ever again."

Wang Shuping smiled and said, "Oh, my little girl is so obedient today, isn't she?"

"I'm always this obedient, okay?" He Tiantian retorted coquettishly. Like a beloved child with her mother, she couldn't help but act playfully in her mother's presence.

She didn't want to think about why she had reached the age of eighteen; she just wanted to fully enjoy the happiness of having loved ones around.

"Yes, Mom's little girl is always so obedient," Wang Shuping said. "Alright, you've slept for several hours now, hurry up and get up, have some watermelon to cool off. When your dad comes back, we can have dinner."

He Tiantian nodded, kissed her mother's face, and said, "Okay, Mom is the best."

He Tiantian got dressed, got out of bed, and washed her face in the courtyard. Even though it was almost evening, Wang Shuping still braided He Tiantian's hair into two pretty braids.

Huo Yingjie came in with a few washed peaches in his hand and said, "Aunt Wang, my mom got some peaches and asked me to bring a few for you to try."

Wang Shuping, who had just finished cutting the watermelon, said, "Yingjie, come have some watermelon. These are from our yard, big and especially sweet. Take half of it back with you later."

Eating watermelon in the heat of summer felt so refreshing.

Huo Yingjie didn't stand on ceremony and sat down to eat two slices of watermelon. Taking advantage of the moment when Wang Shumin went inside, he pinched He Tiantian's cheek.

At eighteen years old, the young man was tall, handsome, and radiant with positivity, dazzling He Tiantian so much that she couldn't look him straight in the eye.

"Does your back still hurt?" Huo Yingjie asked. "If I ever find out you're climbing trees again, see if I won't spank you!"

Spank her?

Just a moment ago, she was reminiscing about seeing Huo Yingjie's back, and now she could see his youthful face.

However, Huo Yingjie's words made He Tiantian's head full of black lines, shattering the mood she had been brewing for a long time.

"Brother Yingjie, I've grown up, and if you spank me, I won't be friendly with you anymore," He Tiantian pouted. Just half a month ago, eighteen-year-old Huo Yingjie had confessed to eighteen-year-old He Tiantian, and she had accepted. Although she didn't understand what love was at the time, looking at her affectionate parents and thinking that she could live with Yingjie forever, she felt it was very nice.

Her acting coy was perfectly normal and didn't arouse Huo Yingjie's suspicions.

"Oh, so I can't even scold you when you've done something wrong!" Huo Yingjie pinched He Tiantian's cute little nose. "Even if Aunt Wang finds out, she wouldn't blame me."

"I know I was wrong, so you can't spank me," He Tiantian said, finding that talking with her childhood friend, her 'brother', brought such happiness.

In her previous life, even though she had accepted Huo Yingjie's confession, she had acted very childish, always making him laugh and cry with her behavior.

"To recognize your faults and be willing to change is truly a virtue, so I won't spank you," Huo Yingjie said. "By the way, I'm going to the factory in a few days. I'll write to you, and you must reply to my letters..."

He Tiantian bowed her head, her heart skipping a beat, and said, "I know, I know..."

Good heavens, how could she have forgotten? She remembered that in her previous life, it seemed that right after she had fallen from the tree, she boarded a train to the countryside the next day.

Everything happened so suddenly. At that time, she was so naive, crying and making a fuss, and she got on the train in tears. It was hot, and she suffered from heatstroke and didn't get to see Huo Yingjie one last time.

"Behave well at home, and in a couple of years, find a job in a factory. When you come of age, I'll marry you," Huo Yingjie said, looking tenderly at his proud little girlfriend.

"Oh..." He Tiantian replied, not daring to lift her head, afraid that Huo Yingjie would see her upset.

Seeing He Tiantian's unhappy look, Huo Yingjie thought she was sad about him leaving and smiled like a fox who had just eaten a candy.

Wang Shuping came out of the house and brought the watermelon for Huo Yingjie.

Upon seeing Wang Shuping arrive, Huo Yingjie thanked her and left with the watermelon in his arms.

Busy cooking, Wang Shuping didn't notice her daughter's odd behavior. She lit some mugwort to repel mosquitoes and went to the kitchen.

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