Chapter 1 Back to the Past
"In the shooting competition of the 23rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the United States, which ended this morning, our athlete Xu Haifeng won the free pistol shooting championship. This is also the first gold medal won by a Chinese in the Olympics. It is a breakthrough in China's Olympic history."
"Let us congratulate Xu Haifeng for his brilliant achievement, and also congratulate other Olympic athletes who are in foreign countries for their outstanding achievements, winning glory for their country and returning home with honors!"
"Next, please enjoy the song "Sweet Honey" sung by the famous Hong Kong musician Teresa Teng."
…
The soft and sweet voice of Teresa Teng floated through the loudspeaker broadcast, and seemed to sweeten the hearts of every listener.
Shen Lin lay on the bed, but had no intention of listening.
Looking at the roof blankly...
The old roof was full of spots and cracks, and a patterned wire hung with a bare light bulb...
Looking at the familiar scene, a myriad of thoughts ran through his mind.
I was born again...
I went back 40 years, to July 29, 1984...
The memories that had weighed on his mind for years came back to him clearly.
He will never forget this day...
1984 was the year of the Olympic Games and also the first time that the Chinese delegation participated in the Olympic Games.
Chinese athlete Xu Haifeng won the shooting gold medal on July 29, marking the first time a Chinese stood on the Olympic podium.
On this day, people all over the country were excited!
But for Shen Lin, this day was the starting point of his life tragedy.
Before the age of twenty, his life was almost smooth sailing.
My father was the director of a large state-owned factory, and my wife was the most beautiful girl in the factory.
But all this changed when my father suddenly fell ill.
My father retired due to illness and the factory got a new director. The new director had been severely criticized by my father for his problematic lifestyle and held a grudge against him.
He secretly instructed the workshop director to make things difficult for Shen Lin and put the blame on Shen Lin. After Shen Lin had worked night shifts for a month, he was so tired that he accidentally made an operational mistake, causing a batch of parts to become scrap.
It stands to reason that such scrap caused by operational errors should only be compensated according to the internal price, but the factory director immediately announced the dismissal of Shen Lin.
This incident also became the fuse that ignited the powder keg. At the general staff meeting, Shen Lin, who was out of control, acted rashly and injured the factory director.
Not only did he lose his job, he was also taken to a detention center.
Unhappiness at work and frustration in life.
He was full of extremism, he drank alcohol, and he hung out with a bunch of bad friends.
His wife Lu Xiaorong begged her husband more than once to mend his ways, but Shen Lin not only did not appreciate it, he beat his wife instead.
Tonight, he beat Lu Xiaorong again because he was drunk. At that time, neither he nor Lu Xiaorong knew that Lu Xiaorong was more than a month pregnant.
Because of the heavy hand, the child was miscarried...
But when he sobered up, it was too late!
It was also because of the miscarriage that the heartbroken Lu Xiaorong resolutely divorced him, fell ill and died of depression three years later.
When he lost everything, Shen Lin regretted it deeply.
If God could give me another chance to start over, I would definitely not...
“Crack!”
A slight sound woke Shen Lin from his deep thought. He looked up and saw a familiar yet strange figure walking in.
She was still tall, but thinner than he remembered, and her face was a little pale.
It's her, my love!
Shen Lin stood up excitedly, looking at his lover with burning eyes who reappeared before him.
I opened my mouth, with thousands of words stuck in my throat, but I didn't know what to say first, and I couldn't utter a single word.
However, what Shen Lin paid most attention to were the bruises on Lu Xiaorong's face!
Although Lu Xiaorong concealed the marks with light makeup, signs of injury were still visible if one looked closely.
This happened the night before yesterday. I was drunk and accidentally pushed , and she hit the door frame, causing an accident.
At this moment, a feeling of heartache and guilt rose in Shen Lin's heart.
Lu Xiaorong, who was carrying a plastic vegetable basket, glanced at Shen Lin, then walked towards the inner room with an expressionless face.
From Lu Xiaorong's expression, Shen Lin felt that the two of them were like a pair of strangers.
Shen Lin instinctively stretched out his hand, wanting to touch the person who made him feel guilty for his whole life. But the moment his hand landed on Lu Xiaorong's shoulder, Lu Xiaorong waved his hand and slammed it open.
There were no words, only indifference between the two people.
Lu Xiaorong's reaction made Shen Lin's memories accumulated in his mind more and more, and clearer and clearer. He thought of more and more things, all of which were the stupid things he did when he gave up on himself in his previous life.
th!
Lu Xiaorong's attitude towards me now is that I have given up!
"It's great to see you now." Although he didn't know whether Lu Xiaorong would understand what he said, Shen Lin still couldn't help but say it.
Lu Xiaorong tightly grasped the basket of vegetables in her hand. She didn't know what happened to Shen Lin today, but what happened in the past made her have no intention of talking to Shen Lin at all.
So, she just put down the basket silently, and then picked the vegetables silently, as if they were two strangers in the same house.
An awkward atmosphere lingered between the two of them.
At this moment, even Shen Lin, who had lived two lives, didn't know what to say.
“Boom boom boom!”
A knock on the door came from outside, breaking the awkward situation.
"Is Lu Xiaorong at home?" A voice with a somewhat old tone spoke.
When Lu Xiaorong heard the voice, her face changed. Her hand paused for a moment, then she walked towards the door.
As the door opened, an old lady with gray hair and patched clothes came into Shen Lin's sight.
It’s the landlord, Aunt Chen.
When the old lady saw Lu Xiaorong, there was a hint of hesitation in her eyes, but in the end, she still said: "Xiaorong, you haven't paid the rent for half a year."
"Auntie knows it's not easy for you, but my old man has had high blood pressure for some time, and recently he even has no money to buy medicine."
Lu Xiaorong's pale face suddenly turned red. She rubbed her hands, her expression full of embarrassment.
"Aunt Chen, I...I should have paid you the rent a long time ago. How about this? I will get my salary in the next two days, and I will give it to you immediately after I get my salary." Lu Xiaorong said hesitantly.
The old lady's face turned a little ugly. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Xiao Rong, I know your difficulties. If there was a way at home, I wouldn't rush you. But now, my family really needs money urgently."
"Well, let me borrow from my relatives first, and you can borrow from your acquaintances, relatives and friends . I don't want much, just give me one month's rent first." The old lady's voice was a little low: "If you still don't have enough, then you can move to another place."
As she spoke, the old lady glanced at Shen Lin inside, then shook her head and left.
Shen Lin felt a sense of disappointment from the old lady's expression.
Rent, at that time...it seemed like I had never paid rent before!
Shen Lin subconsciously touched his trouser pocket and found a crumpled fifty-cent note, which was the money he had snatched from Lu Xiaorong the day before to buy some wine.
Just as Shen Lin was feeling more and more ashamed, Lu Xiaorong had already taken out a small bag from the shabby drawer.
A shriveled, ugly little bag with several stitches made with black thread.
A few light bills fell onto the table as the small bag tipped over.
One dimes, two dimes, and the biggest one is a fifty-cent bill!
Looking at the sparse banknotes, Lu Xiaorong said nothing. She gently picked up the bills one by one, then turned and walked out the door.
"Where are you going?" Shen Lin asked loudly as he looked at Lu Xiaorong who was about to leave.
Lu Xiaorong paused for a moment without looking back, but she finally spoke: "Borrow money!"
Following these words, there was the sound of the door closing.
Lu Xiaorong went to borrow money, and she was pregnant. Thinking of Lu Xiaorong's current situation, a huge sense of guilt suddenly rose in Shen Lin's heart.
He was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran out the door.
When he chased out, Lu Xiaorong had already ridden away on his bicycle.
With a heavy sigh, Shen Lin walked back to his residence.
