Chapter 6: Reborn 1987 Chapter 6: Heart's Voice

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Jiang Wenyu

Li Chen could be described as someone who speaks his mind directly yet remains polite; his words already carried a willingness to cooperate with Jiang Wenyu.

"Hahaha!" Li Chen readily produced a bottle of liquor and said heartily, "Then it's settled! We'll discuss the specific cooperation details later — I've decided on you as a friend, let's drink a bottle together!"

Jiang Wenyu smiled wryly and declined, "Drinking is out — I just promised Chen Lan I'd quit. Let's leave it at that."

Li Chen didn't say anything more, simply handed over the money, and watched with a smile as Jiang Wenyu left.

Not long after walking out, he ran into Chen Lan returning from shopping. He smiled, reached out to take the two bags of cooked food, weighed them in his hand, and asked, "Fish for dinner tonight?"

The bags held a few small crucian carp — together they barely made a plateful, but for their family it already counted as a rare feast.

Chen Lan nodded silently and asked in a low voice, "How did the talk go?"

Jiang Wenyu smiled, "Too many eyes and ears here — we'll talk when we get back."

The two walked side by side. Chen Lan would occasionally glance up at the man beside her who stood half a head taller. The him of a few days ago and the him now were practically two different people.

But she was wrong — Jiang Wenyu was still Jiang Wenyu. The former was the past, the latter the future, nothing more.

……

The evenings of '87 possessed a kind of vintage-photo beauty — a scene invisible to anyone who hasn't personally returned to this era. At this time, high-rises had yet to rise, the sky held far fewer contrails, and the ground was still uneven.

Countless opportunities — that was this era's most obvious trait.

That bag of small crucian carp didn't contain many; once cooked they barely fed three people. Seasonings were few, yet the flavor was remarkably fresh and delicious — a testament to Chen Lan's superb cooking — though she didn't particularly like cooking.

"Nuan Nuan, come out and eat." Chen Lan wiped her hands and called toward the inner room where the little child was playing alone.

The little girl with pigtails came out just as slowly, taking a step and glancing back — a sight that made Jiang Wenyu's heart ache faintly.

He simply stepped forward, and under Chen Lan's surprised gaze scooped the little girl into his arms, smiling as he gently set her on the chair, ruffled her head, and said, "Nuan Nuan, we're having fish tonight."

She had inherited Chen Lan's looks and temperament, but her body was abnormally frail. Just now when he lifted her he could scarcely feel any weight — and that sent another surge through Jiang Wenyu's heart.

Chen Lan, too, had seen Jiang Wenyu's change these past two days, yet for a moment she still couldn't quite adjust.

As for the little girl, a child's nature easily accepts and tolerates everything — but Nuan Nuan was slightly different. Long subjected to the pressure of the former Jiang Wenyu, she did not accept this version of him right away.

Nuan Nuan didn't speak. She lowered her head, carefully picked up her chopsticks, eyes shining as she stared at the fish in the small bowl, and finally, with Chen Lan's help, began eating bite by bite.

"Does it taste good?" Jiang Wenyu asked gently.

"……" The little girl only nodded lightly, not answering.

For some reason a heat rose deep in his eye sockets, but it did not spill over — instead it all flowed into his chest, transforming into the resolve to change everything.

"I'll change all of this. I definitely will." The voice deep in his heart told himself so — starting now!

After dinner Nuan Nuan was already asleep. Jiang Wenyu and Chen Lan sat outside. Before Chen Lan could say anything, Jiang Wenyu took out the thousand-plus yuan.

Chen Lan froze for a moment, then blurted instinctively, "This much… where did you get it!?" Her voice grew agitated by the end, tears welling. "You… you didn't go…"

Jiang Wenyu shook his head, placed the money directly into Chen Lan's hands, and said softly, "Went to see your old classmate today, sold him a few things — this is money I earned."

Hearing that, Chen Lan calmed down slightly. Recalling Jiang Wenyu running around repairing small appliances these past few days, she suddenly understood something — though doubts still lingered. And Jiang Wenyu didn't hesitate; he told her everything exactly as it happened.

By the end Chen Lan naturally felt relieved, but the moment a certain name came to mind her expression darkened again. She said indignantly, "Zhou He — you're still in contact with that white-eyed wolf?"

Jiang Wenyu shook his head. "Ran into him by chance today. Don't worry."

Chen Lan gazed at the money in her hands, expression wistful as she asked, "Since when do you know how to fix those things?"

Jiang Wenyu naturally couldn't say something stupid like "This is technology I brought back from the 21st century." He could only fudge it: "Learned a bit before, just rarely used it."

Seeing Chen Lan still puzzled, Jiang Wenyu simply changed the subject: "Take five hundred out of this — tomorrow I'll go give it to Li Zhao."