"Jidong, Jidong?"
In the hazy dream, this familiar yet unfamiliar voice always resonated by my ear.
Ah, Wang Jidong lifted his eyelids that seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
What caught his eye was a woman dressed in green military attire with a green cap on her head, and her hair braided into twists. Her name was Li Hongying; she was the girl Wang Jidong had known during his period in the countryside.
On the green canvas bag draped over Li Hongying's shoulders, shimmering red words were written. "Serve The People."
Everything around him was so nostalgic; it made Wang Jidong feel as if he'd dreamt himself back to those times he was living in the countryside.
"So, it was just a dream."
He slapped himself hard across the face. It hurt a lot. And then, he slapped once more, it hurt even more.
"Jidong, what are you doing?"
Li Hongying held on to Wang Jidong's hand, a furrow of worry lining her face.
"Could it be that it's not a dream? Could it be that I was reborn?"
In a state of confusion, Wang Jidong sat up and stared at the wall plastered with newspapers, somewhat out of sorts.
"Jidong, are you still half-asleep? Come outside with me, I've got something to talk to you about."
Wang Jidong didn't respond to Li Hongying but instead looked at the old calendar hanging on the wall.
May 1, 1977, a day that was rather memorable.
"Ji Dong, did you hear what I just said? I said, step outside with me for a moment."
Li Hongying, with her beautifully white neck, was an image of a proud swan in the lake. A hint of anger was subtly visible on her face.
"What is it? Can't we just talk here?" Wang Ji Dong's mind was in turmoil, but one thing was crystal clear to him.
Li Hongying coming to see him today was to break up with him.
"We can talk here, too. I'm going back to city for work. My dad found me a job as a worker through his connections. So, what I mean is, our relationship should end here."
After saying this, she looked at Wang Ji Dong nervously.
She had anticipated that Wang Ji Dong would get furious, possibly even tossing things around, but she was bound to be disappointed.
Wang Ji Dong's face was as tranquil as a mild breeze and a gentle cloud, without a ripple of disturbance.
In his past life, upon hearing these words, Wang Ji Dong indeed was very angry.
At that time, a confused Wang Ji Dong had a heated argument with Li Hongying, which led him to a state of depression for several years before finally moving on from the heartbreak.
That was the initial stage of the reform and opening-up period, a time when the entire world was undergoing ground-breaking changes.
Missing out on the opportunities during those years could mean missing out on the chance to rise for a lifetime.
But this time around, Wang Ji Dong didn't care anymore.
Time is the best healer for love wounds, and being reborn in 2022, he has long been indifferent to all of this.
"Ji Dong, if you're angry, yell at me! If you keep it bottled up this way, I'll feel really guilty."
"I'm not angry, but can't we wait a bit longer to break up?"
"There's no need, I need to go back to the city, and you can only continue to stay in Monk's Gully Village working in the fields. We will be far away from each other, not knowing when we will meet again. Continuing being together is not realistic."
If the great revolution did not end for another decade, indeed Wang Jidong would not be able to return.
He was different from Li Hongying.
Li Hongying’s father entered the factory as a poor peasant and became an honorable worker. He was deemed thoroughly proletariat.
As for Wang Jidong, his father was once the director of the city’s third canning factory. Later, because he advocated for the piece-rate system, he was labeled as a capitalist-roader and locked up in jail.
The two of them, one came from a worker's lineage, while the other came from a prisoner's lineage.
Initially, there were over a hundred "sent-down youths" who had come to work in Monk's Gully. Those with connections had already found someone to arrange for them to return to the city.
By 1977, only half of the "sent-down youths" had not returned to the city.
The reason why Li Hongying had not left was because she was waiting for Wang Jidong. Otherwise, she would have returned two years ago.
As for Wang Jidong, he had applied three times to return, and each time he was rejected.
Even Wang Jidong himself believed that he would stay in Monk's Gully for the rest of his life, spend his life as a "sent-down youth", everyday planting seedlings in the fields and applying fertilizer, and that would be his life.
He felt guilty for holding Li Hongying up.
But history is always full of dramatic twists.
After some time, Wang Jidong's father would be acquitted and reinstated to his former position.
In due course, the nation will re-examine past wrongful cases and many imprisoned individuals would be exonerated.
"As for our breakup, I have no hard feelings on my side. I just fear that you might regret it one day."
After separating from Wang Jidong, Li Hongying didn't fare well.
She later married a worker and they both got laid off. Their life became challenging, often going without meals.
"Regret? What do I have to regret? Rest assured, I won't regret it in this lifetime."
Li Hongying felt rather amused.
Upon returning to the city, she would immediately become an honorable worker.
In this era, being a worker represented a secure job and stability.
As long as you were employed in a factory, you would be guaranteed a carefree life of food and clothing.
The factory had everything, a cafeteria, a bathhouse, a convenience store, and even a pharmacy, offering a complete array of facilities, much like an independent kingdom.
Moreover, these services were free for the workers, with a certain quota.
As long as you remained within the system, you would have a worry-free life.
As for Wang Jidong, his father was a criminal. If he returns to the city, he will probably struggle to find a steady job.
Henceforth, they would belong to two different worlds.
"People climb upwards and water flows downwards", this saying still remains applicable in this era.
Phew!
Seeing what Li Hongying had to say, Wang Jidong lets out a long sigh of relief, as if a burden has been lifted off his shoulders.
In seeing Wang Jidong's expression, Li Hongying suddenly feels a hint of dissatisfaction.
In her perception, Wang Jidong's reaction should be one of devastation, of passionate outburst, of immense anger. But what does his casual demeanor signify?
"Wang Jidong, I thought I held an important place in your heart, but it seems I was mistaken. This is better though, at least the burden on my conscience is lighter now."
Hmm?
Was there a plot twist?
Wang Jidong remembered that during their previous life, Li Hongying didn't have these words.
"Reality is often disappointing, but memories are always beautiful. Since neither of us can hold onto the other, why feel sad?"
Wang Jidong, meticulously dressed, shoulders his hoe and shoots her a fleeting, winsome smile.
"Hongying, I'm off to plow the fields, make yourself comfortable."
Seeing the gently dusting off his clothes and casually walking away, Li Hongying was dumbfounded.
Wang Jidong seemed a bit different today.
But as to how different, she could not quite put her finger on it.
…
Now that he had once again returned to the turbulent era of the beginning of the reform and opening-up, if Wang Jidong did not make a big move, he would really let down his reborn identity.
As for all the regrets and resentments from his previous life, he would not let them happen again.
So, what exactly should he do in the early period of reform?
1977 was the first year when the national college entrance examination was resumed.
Let's start with getting into a university!
The decade of turmoil had accumulated a large number of prospective college entrance examination students.
However, the same was true for a decade of going to the mountains and down to the countryside. The studies of the students were completely neglected.
Therefore, in the first year of the resumption of the college entrance examination, the questions were very simple.
The difficulty of many questions was only at the level of middle school, or even elementary school.
As someone who had been through this, Wang Jidong had accompanied his children to tuition classes for several years.
Later on, he could even help the children with their homework.
He had a solid grasp of the knowledge from high school and middle school in the later generations.