2: Chapter 1 Rebirth_2 2: Chapter 1 Rebirth_2 After watching for a while, Lin Xiaoguai felt a pang of sadness.
Stepping out of her regular tea house, the drizzling rain outside made her pause, and a familiar waitress had already handed her a folding umbrella.
“Aunt Lin, the usual!” The waiter’s voice carried the vibrant energy typical of youth.
Lin Xiaoguai smiled faintly, “Alright, I’ll bring it over tomorrow.”
Seeing another customer ready to pay, Lin Xiaoguai didn’t linger and stepped into the veil of rain.
The rain wasn’t heavy, but in the darkness, it obscured vision.
Luckily, the familiar path home cleared any fear of getting lost.
Watching the droplets splash at her feet, she slightly curved her lips.
It was the first rain of summer.
The lettuce in the garden had grown, and this rain would surely boost their growth.
If they grew any larger, they’d be too old and less tasty.
She couldn’t eat much alone, perhaps she’d dry them on a sunny day.
Making up her mind leisurely, Lin Xiaoguai noticed hurried footsteps from afar but didn’t give it much thought.
Although not in the city center, the neighborhood generally had good security due to its special residents.
She was pondering this when she saw a figure rushing over from the opposite side.
It appeared to be a middle-aged woman without an umbrella, possibly in some urgent situation.
A gust of wind came, and Lin Xiaoguai bowed her head to hold down her qipao, catching a glimpse of the woman passing by.
Walking a bit further, a sudden rush of footsteps from behind approached.
Lin Xiaoguai frowned and turned around, only to have a pair of hands rapidly grasp her neck.
“Lin Xiaoguai, you bitch!”
The woman was strong, and Lin Xiaoguai, caught off guard, might have fallen if not for the choking grip on her neck.
In the hazy rain, she seemed to see a face twisted into a horrifying expression.
The hands on her neck tightened, the umbrella slipped from her powerless grip, and she instinctively tried to pry the choking hands away to breathe.
Lin Xiaoguai tried to speak but only struggled vainly.
The panic and fear almost drowned her.
Driven by survival instinct, Lin Xiaoguai summoned unusual strength.
For a moment, she pried the hands slightly and gasped some fresh air, but it was only for a moment.
Perhaps provoked by her resistance, her assailant grew more ferocious.
No matter how hard Lin Xiaoguai struggled, she couldn’t free herself again and could only feel death approaching rapidly.
“Xu Meimei, what are you doing!” A voice filled with rage and panic rang in her ears.
Lin Xiaoguai strained to lift her eyelids, her eyes flashing with a complex mix of resentment and sorrow before her vision blurred, the struggle fading into darkness.
In a cramped room divided by pale yellow lime walls, a bright red Western-style bed stood against the wall, beside a similarly red wardrobe and a ginger-yellow writing desk.
At that moment, a petite figure lay quietly on the bed, the sweat on her forehead indicating her agony.
Groggily, Lin Xiaoguai forced her eyes open, felt the severe pain in her lower abdomen, and couldn’t help but groan, feeling a warm flow from between her legs.
Without thinking, she conjured a cup of water and drank it in one gulp.
Ever since that miscarriage, she had grown accustomed to this severe pain accompanying her periods…
Her consciousness didn’t stay clear for long as Lin Xiaoguai slipped back into unconsciousness.
When she awoke again, Lin Xiaoguai blankly stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar hospital room.
The light green curtains, the grey ground of alum stone, the ginger-yellow low cabinet with its vase of plastic flowers…
Once she came to her senses, Lin Xiaoguai was in tears.
This was the place, this very place where she had received the most unfortunate news a woman could hear.
Lin Xiaoguai sobbed, clutching the bedsheets, her disbelief reflected in her youthful hands as hatred welled up, making her chest ache.
She thought she had moved on, but it was only what she thought.
After a long while, Lin Xiaoguai composed herself and began to survey her surroundings.
There were only her in the hospital room, not exactly a VIP room of the future, but simply because there weren’t many patients, with five out of six beds empty.
Luckily, the nurses weren’t as abundant as in the future.
Since her awakening, no one had disturbed her; otherwise, her earlier breakdown would have been witnessed.
Lin Xiaoguai bowed her head, trembling slightly as she touched her abdomen, closed her eyes, and tears uncontrollably overflooded.
Even experiencing it again, the agony of losing a child hadn’t lessened much.
She took a deep breath and then exhaled, wiped away her tears, and gazed directly at the calendar on the opposite wall—
Just as she had thought!
Lin Xiaoguai pressed her chest firmly.
She had truly returned.
Back to an age where she could still make changes…
Having cultivated her character for decades, although momentarily losing composure due to unexpectedly returning to her most painful moment, Lin Xiaoguai didn’t wallow in turbulent emotions for long.
She soon got a grip on herself and began analyzing her situation.
It was 1980, she was only sixteen then, and she had time to change the upcoming events.
And the first thing to do was to find a way to end the marriage with that man.
Lin Xiaoguai pursed her lips, gazing quietly at her slender fingers.
Thinking about her previous life…
well, let’s call it her previous life for now, Lin Xiaoguai always had a clear stance on people and matters: love or hatred, like or dislike were distinct, except for one exception.
Shen Chi, her husband then.
To put it affectively, she couldn’t love him nor hate him; if she had to describe it precisely, it was disfavor, a desire to distance herself.
Just as she was thinking about that man, footsteps and muffled conversation sounds came from outside the door.
Having experienced it once before, Lin Xiaoguai knew well who stood outside and what was about to happen.