This was the winter of 1970, in a small northern village. Snow had fallen all night, draping everything in silver white. From afar, the occasional crow of a rooster could be heard, and some villagers were already up and moving about.
Wu Jun lay on the kang (heated brick bed), staring blankly at the basket hanging from the beam, trying to figure out where he was. The surroundings felt both familiar and strangely foreign. After some deep thought, Wu Jun was overcome with surprise and joy—he had actually returned, back to when he was sixteen. He never imagined the time-travel and rebirth plots from TV dramas could really happen to him.
Reflecting on his past life, he realized he had spent it all paving the way for others. After his parents’ accident and being dumped by his childhood sweetheart fiancée, his life had veered onto a completely different track. It seemed his entire existence was dedicated to serving his ex-fiancée—whenever her family had any trouble, he would rush to the front lines, shielding her from every storm. Only at the moment of his death did he learn the truth: that his ex-fiancée was the darling of destiny, a heroine, and he was nothing but the legendary second male lead, existing only to build her up with his own life.
Fortunately, Heaven had eyes, and he had somehow returned.
“Junjun, are you up yet?”
His grandfather’s voice boomed from outside.
Hearing his grandfather’s call, Wu Jun gained a fresh understanding of his situation. How wonderful. He had really returned—to a time when his grandfather was still alive. Though he wished he could go back to before his parents’ accident, he knew he had to be content. Returning to the days when his grandfather was still here was already a blessing from Heaven. It must be karma—a reward for all the good deeds he’d done in his past life.
“Coming! Wait for me, Grandpa. I’ll get up and make breakfast.”
Opening the old wooden door and gazing at the rising sun in the distance, Wu Jun felt as though he had been reborn. He silently made a vow: this time, he would stay far away from the so-called heroine and take good care of his grandfather.
Wu Jun fetched three sweet potatoes from the cellar and scooped a bowl of corn grits from the kitchen cupboard, planning to make sweet potato porridge with grits. Judging by the amount of snow outside, there probably wouldn’t be any work duty today.
The brigade he belonged to was called Red Star Brigade. Located in a small, remote northern village, supplies were scarce. However, the village was close to the mountains, so villagers often went hunting, foraging for wild fruit, and gathering firewood—life was still manageable. Now that the Lunar New Year was approaching, just ten days away, farm work had come to a halt. Occasionally, the brigade captain would organize teams to clear snow from the rooftops of a few elderly, solitary villagers. Otherwise, there wasn’t much to do.
After breakfast was ready, Wu Jun carried it to the main hall. His grandfather sat there weaving corn husk mats. The mats were made by soaking corn husks in water, braiding them like pigtails, then coiling and stitching them together. Ten such mats could be traded at the purchasing station for ten cents—a decent sum.
“Junzi, forget about the broken engagement with Li Xue,” his grandfather said. “Her family has latched onto someone more promising. Stop moping around in bed all day instead of going to work. Take care of yourself, and later you can find another—”
“Grandpa, stop. I understand. The engagement with Li Xue is over. From now on, I’ll work hard, earn work points, and support you, Grandpa.”
His grandfather hadn’t finished speaking before his grandson cut him off. He had been ready to continue his lecture, but the boy’s response caught him completely off guard. After a long pause, he finally reacted: “Good, good, good. That’s my grandson. We’ll take good care of each other from now on.”
After days of gloom, the grandfather and grandson finally sat down together and enjoyed a proper breakfast.
Once the meal was finished and everything tidied up, Wu Jun told his grandfather he was heading to the back mountain to gather firewood and set off.
The sun had just risen—probably around 6 a.m. Wu Jun walked along the narrow country path, passing several villagers. Almost everyone who saw him wore a look of pity.
“Junzi, you’re better now? Finally out and about,” said Dazhu’s wife, the village’s notorious gossip, eyeing him with undisguised curiosity as she boomed in her loud voice.
Still not quite used to the manner of these nosy villagers after just returning to this era, Wu Jun forced a stiff smile and replied, “I’m better, Auntie. I have something to do at the back mountain…” He took off at a jog toward the slopes. Luckily, his home wasn’t far from the back mountain, otherwise he would’ve run into even more busybodies.
Wu Jun’s family situation was actually quite straightforward.
His grandfather had once served as a cook in the military. Though he had never held any significant rank and remained an ordinary soldier upon discharge, he still received a small severance payment. With that money, Grandfather Wu returned to his hometown, Wujia Village, and built their current home—a three-room brick-and-tile house. At the time, it caused quite a stir in the village, and many were envious. Since Grandfather Wu was already 26 and still unmarried upon his discharge, matchmakers swarmed him like bees. Eventually, he married a woman from neighboring Liujia Village through a matchmaker. Together, they had two children: Wu Jun’s father and his younger aunt.
Wu Jun’s father, Wu Jiefang, was a capable man. With the help of the old man’s military comrades, he landed a job as a skilled worker at the county textile mill. He married a female worker from the same mill, and they had one son—Wu Jun. At the time, a dual-income worker family like theirs was the envy of everyone around. But tragedy struck when Wu Jun was eight years old: a fire broke out at the textile mill, and both parents perished while trying to save state property.
At that time, Grandfather Wu had to care for his eight-year-old grandson, while his wife was also in poor health and needed looking after. After much deliberation, he decided to bring his grandson and wife back to Red Star Brigade—by then, Wujia Village had been renamed Red Star Brigade. Because Wu Jun’s parents had died protecting state property, they received not only 800 yuan in compensation but also a monthly subsidy of 10 yuan in cash, along with some cloth and grain ration tickets, to be paid until Wu Jun turned eighteen.
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