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Xiao Ya heard the noise and came out from the partition, asking with concern. Although her older brother used to be simple-minded, he always listened to their mother, unlike now when he seemed more dependable. She felt much closer to Jiang Yizhou.
Rubbing his eyes and wiping the sweat from his forehead, Jiang Yizhou took a moment to catch his breath. It wasn't that the dream was too terrifying, but rather that it felt so real, as if it had actually happened. The saying "character determines destiny" was particularly true for Jiang Yizhou.
For him, whether he was reborn or not made no difference; the only distinction was that he had died once. Many things could be understood better now. In his past life, he had been most afraid of death, yet what he wanted to experience most was the feeling of being on the brink of death.
In the face of life and death, there is great terror that can lead one to understand many things. If someone still remains unchanged after such an experience, they are truly wasting air.
“Xiao Ya, it's fine, you don't need to worry about me!” Jiang Yizhou sat up in bed. It seemed dark outside; only the living room and kitchen had light bulbs on. Their bedroom was quite dim, with flickering flames from the partition casting light into the room.
“Mom asked me to tell you that when you wake up, go to the kitchen. She saved dinner for you and kept it warm!”
Hearing this, Jiang Yizhou realized he was a bit hungry and waved his hand dismissively before getting up and heading toward the kitchen.
As he ate, Jiang Yizhou found himself unwittingly moistening the corners of his eyes. The impact of what happened in the dream was too great; it reflected how he had evaded reality in his past life and the consequences of that evasion!
In this life, he must not let down the hopes of those close to him!
Before long, it was New Year's Eve. Jiang Yizhou still couldn't enjoy fresh meat as he had hoped; the few pounds of pork they bought were predictably salted by his mother and hung up to dry.
Sitting on a stool at the door while listening to his mother chatter about past events as she knitted, Jiang Yizhou increasingly felt that this was his second life—awakened memories due to an accident.
He recalled the difficulties of growing up, amusing stories from childhood, wetting the bed for the first time, and how he and his siblings fought over snacks. It seemed that in their mother's stories, he often ended up being the one who got robbed of snacks more frequently. However, as Jiang Yizhou grew taller and taller, such incidents became rare.
Suddenly, Mother slapped her thigh and said, "Oh right, do you remember Jiang Xiaojuan? She used to follow you around and call you 'brother' all the time?"
Jiang Yizhou, who was of the same age, felt a bit uncomfortable. He had dropped out of school too early in life and didn't have much in common with peers who were only a few years younger. Later, he went to work in another town and then to the capital, so he didn't have many memories of her. Jiang Yizhou didn't pay much attention to it.
"Oh, I remember her now. What happened?" Jiang Yizhou seemed to have an epiphany and brushed off the past.
In contrast to her usual warm and friendly demeanor when interacting with others, Gao Qingzhen's expression became much more animated as she leaned toward Jiang Yizhou. "Her mother came to see me not long ago, asking if I could help Jiang Xiaojuan find a job with you. I didn't agree right away; I planned to wait for you to come back and let you decide!"
After hearing this, Jiang Yizhou fell into thought. Was there a suitable position for her? Moreover, bringing relatives into his business might be more trouble than it's worth. He was still somewhat reluctant.
Seeing that her son was silent, Gao Qingzhen continued, "Your Aunt San isn't exactly a good person. She caused quite a stir at her in-laws' place. After her husband died, she made a fuss over some money and returned to her family here. She's quite troublesome, but her daughter is sensible, even if she's a bit slow. If you can help, then help; if not, that's fine too!"
Listening to the older female relatives sitting in a circle sharing stories, Jiang Yizhou figured he could probably get the gist of all the village gossip. His mother might not know much on her own, but they were chatting about various things, and he could still learn quite a bit.
"Alright, after the New Year, I'll find some time to meet up with her. I'll also contact people in the capital to see if there's anything suitable for her!"
Jiang Yizhou picked up his fully charged e-reader from the coffee table and turned it on only to discover that it had no signal. This was somewhat disappointing; it seemed that the base station hadn't been repaired in this area, making the e-reader useless.
He reminded himself to take it slow; he had come home to rest for a while and shouldn't constantly worry about issues in the capital or even problems happening in America. Jiang Yizhou comforted himself by thinking that maybe he could make a phone call while passing by the street where they sold firecrackers and paper money on his way to visit the graves.
"Mom, I'm going out for a bit!" Jiang Yizhou clapped his hands and tossed the peanut shells and peeled peanuts aside. This was also part of their small side business; the land near the riverbank was suitable for growing peanuts. Every year they relied on this little harvest for peanut oil instead of spending money buying it from the market—many families did just that.
"Okay, come back early!"
Jiang Yizhou took out a few gifts from his luggage, packed them into a bag, and walked out of the house. He recalled the directions and headed over to Tiger's place. Tiger probably hadn't separated from his parents yet; he likely didn't have enough money to build a house, even a mud-brick one.
"Tiger, are you home?" Jiang Yizhou called out, and as expected, he heard Tiger's response from inside. It was already the twenty-ninth day of the lunar new year, and everyone was at home preparing for the celebrations. Even if they were visiting relatives, it was mostly within the village; traveling far would have to wait until the second day of the new year, relying on foot or riding a bicycle.
"When did you come back, Pork Knuckle?" Tiger joyfully walked out of the house, giving Jiang Yizhou a hearty pat on the shoulder, his face beaming with a smile that revealed more than eight teeth.
"I just got home a little while ago. I slept for two hours and then came out to see you! Here, this is a little something I prepared for the kids!" Jiang Yizhou handed the bag to Tiger, which contained a Rubik's Cube, a Magic Ruler, and a Bubble Ring Game Machine—the kind where pressing buttons makes rings bounce around on a closed screen and land on vertical sticks. It was a simple game that he had once loved very much.
Tiger looked at it and politely pushed it away. "This looks pretty expensive; I can't accept it!"
Jiang Yizhou smiled and explained, "These toys are quite common outside and pretty simple too. They aren't electric, so just take them. If I don't have kids at home to give them to, it would just be a waste!"
The rural custom of polite refusal was much like an emperor abdicating power with three rounds of formalities; in the end, the toys ended up in Tiger's happy hands. He might not understand how to play with the Rubik's Cube just yet, but he would surely enjoy the Bubble Ring Game and the twisting Magic Ruler.
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