Chapter 1: Crossing into 1978, Starting with a Trump Card
“My precious grandson! How could you just disappear like that?!”
“You wicked old woman, why are you howling? Do you believe I’ll beat you to death? Keep it up, and you’ll make sure the whole village hears you!”
“Look, his father, look! Our heartless girl, Jiayou, wants to get rid of my precious grandson!”
“I’ve got eyes, I see what’s happening. If you keep screeching, I swear I’ll beat you!”
“You only know how to be fierce with me! My precious grandson! Beat me, beat me, just kill me already, his father!”
“I don’t want to live anymore!”
...
Inside a clay cave dwelling in Chengjiawan Brigade, Guanzhuang Commune, northern Shaanxi, the cries of women echoed mournfully.
Immediately after came the angry shouts of the old man, threatening to beat her to death.
The commotion drew villagers outside, who gathered to watch the spectacle, exchanging puzzled whispers.
“What precious grandson? Xueming hasn’t even married yet—where would a grandson come from?”
“Didn’t you hear? It’s Jiayou, the girl. She’s heartless and wants to get rid of their precious grandson! You know that pretty girl from the educated youth camp, Feng Jiayou?”
“No way! Feng Jiayou just got into Yanjing University before New Year’s, went back to the city for college—how could she be involved with their grandson?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what? Hurry up and tell me!”
“What else? The night before she left for college, Xueming ruined her!”
“Yes, the rumors were fierce at the educated youth camp, but Feng Jiayou left crying the next day and the matter was dropped.”
“So Xueming really ruined her? Now the girl’s pregnant, sent a letter saying she wants to get rid of the child?”
“Of course she’d want to! Otherwise, how could she ever find a husband?”
...
To say he ruined a good girl is nonsense—Feng Jiayou was the one who made the move!
Inside the cave, Cheng Xueming stared at the letter from the woman, truly stunned by her bold move.
For over three months after returning to the city, there wasn’t a single letter.
Then suddenly, this bombshell arrived!
In her letter, Feng Jiayou wrote, “Let’s put a period on our past. The child—I will get rid of her.”
In an instant, she set the whole Cheng family ablaze.
Xueming’s mother howled, while his father sat on the kang, quietly puffing dry tobacco.
Hearing his wife’s wailing, the old man was so furious he wanted to grab the smoking pipe and beat her.
“Xueming, you tell me—what’s going on? Why did Jiayou write this to you? Did you really ruin the girl that night?”
---
Cheng Youben, after taking a deep drag on his pipe, glared at his son.
Cheng Xueming forced a bitter smile. What else could it be?
He’d transmigrated!
Never did he imagine that, as a young man born in ’85, a hardworking office worker, he would die suddenly in a drunken stupor after losing his job at the lowest point in his life—and wake up in the late 1970s in the body of a young Shaanxi farmer named Cheng Xueming.
At first, by coincidence, he saved the most beautiful and upright female educated youth, Feng Jiayou, at the local camp.
Both were young intellectuals, but saving someone’s life was hardly enough for her to offer herself in gratitude.
Yet, living in the same brigade, they saw each other daily. Over time, Feng Jiayou was drawn in by Xueming’s humor and shameless charm.
Then came the reinstatement of the college entrance exam. Because of her family’s background, she missed the first round.
Cheng Xueming took the initiative, running everywhere to find his uncle, a commune official, persuading him with emotion and reason until he secured her eligibility, giving Feng Jiayou a deeply moving surprise.
After successfully registering, Xueming went to the county to gather all sorts of study materials for her.
He even personally helped her review, day and night, intensifying her gratitude.
Perhaps it had something to do with transmigration. Having returned all his high school knowledge to the teachers long ago, Xueming now easily picked it up again.
With the foundation of a top university, he won over Feng Jiayou’s admiration, and smoothly helped her, already strong academically, get into Yanjing University.
On the eve before she left for Yanjing, Feng Jiayou slipped into Xueming’s bed!
She said she wanted to leave her most beautiful, most precious gift on the land she’d worked for five years.
At the farewell station, she earnestly urged Xueming to take the college entrance exam next year, get into Yanjing University, and find her there.
But after she returned to the city for college, she vanished like a stone in the sea.
For more than three months, not a single letter.
Then, today, the postman suddenly brought this letter—a bombshell.
Feng Jiayou—she’s pregnant?!
It was just three times that night, how could it hit the mark?
“You really touched her?!”
“You rascal, I’ll beat you to death!”
Seeing his good son, Xueming, remain silent, the burly Cheng Youben wanted nothing more than to smash him with his pipe.
“Beat them all, kill them all, old man, just kill me too!”
“My precious grandson!”
---
“Xueming, tell your mother—what should we do?! Jiayou is such a kind-hearted girl, how could she be so ruthless, wanting to get rid of my precious grandson?!”
Xueming’s mother rushed over to shield her son from his father’s blows.
But what should they really do?
Feng Jiayou was in Yanjing, and they were too far to reach her, with no way to persuade her to keep the child.
“What else is there to do?”
“I’ll leave for Yanjing tomorrow—just as I saw her off, I’ll bring her back!”
This bombshell was too much!
It forced Xueming to abandon his plan to bide his time in the countryside, waiting for policy changes so he could quickly amass a fortune and become one of the first to prosper. Now, he had to set out for Yanjing immediately!
Feng Jiayou wanted to get rid of the child!
Xueming didn’t care whether she was really pregnant—he had to go to the capital to confirm.
He couldn’t gamble on this.
He knew better than anyone how risky it was, in an era of backward medicine, for a woman to terminate a pregnancy.
And by the calculation, it had already been three, almost four months!
At such an advanced stage, the danger was even greater—it could easily end in tragedy.
Impulsiveness is a demon!
He should have stopped that night, even if Jiayou was the one who slipped under the quilt and pushed him.
Now, the trouble was huge—a burden for both Xueming and Jiayou.
Get rid of the child?
Jiayou had her university, Xueming was far away in rural Shaanxi; it was indeed the wisest choice, since neither was prepared.
But the wisest choice carried the greatest risk for the woman.
Xueming would not let her take that risk!
Even if, worst case, she was determined to do it, as a man he should stand by her.
Her parents had not been rehabilitated, she had no other family nearby, nor anyone decisive.
So Xueming changed his plan—no more waiting!
He would leave for Yanjing at once!
...