Chapter 1: Rebirth and Rescue

When Su Xinghui opened his eyes, he felt a bit dazed, unsure of where he was. The room he found himself in felt both strange and yet somewhat familiar, leaving him with a lingering sense of déjà vu.

It was an old, dilapidated room. The walls and ceiling were covered in black spots, and the wall plaster was peeling—traces left behind by dampness. There were two old-fashioned wooden beds in the room. Su Xinghui was sleeping on the one closer to the inside; the other bed, closer to the door, was empty, its bedding scattered messily across it.

At the head of the wooden bed where Su Xinghui lay sat an old-fashioned five-drawer desk. On it were a stack of books, a desk calendar, and a mirror. Subconsciously, Su Xinghui picked up the calendar. The date on the top page was July 25, 1992. His heart began to pound wildly. He had read plenty of web novels—could it be that he had been reborn?

With trembling hands, he picked up the mirror and looked at his reflection. Sure enough, what appeared in the mirror was a face that was excessively young, not the face of the down-and-out middle-aged man he had been.

Su Xinghui should have been over forty years old. He remembered drinking some alcohol the night before and then going to sleep, but how had he been reborn upon waking up this morning?

Su Xinghui put down the mirror and pinched his thigh hard. The pain was so sharp he almost cried out. This couldn't be a dream.

Su Xinghui's mind was in turmoil. He tried his best to recall: July 25, 1992—he should have just started working not long ago. This must be the dormitory of the Meng Hu Ling Township government.

He looked at the calendar again and realized that today must be the 26th; the top sheet hadn't been torn off yet. He tore off the top page and stared intently at the words on the calendar: July 26, 1992, Sunday. This should be a day off.

A commotion came from outside. Within minutes, someone came thumping up the stairs and knocked on Su Xinghui's door. A female voice called out, "Su Xinghui, are you up yet?"

Su Xinghui responded and, as quickly as he could, put on a pair of trousers draped over the back of a chair by the bed, then threw on a white shirt. Buttoning it as he went, he got out of bed and opened the door. Outside stood a young woman with a panicked look on her face. Su Xinghui remembered her; she was his colleague at the Meng Hu Ling Township government, Cheng Taoxian.

Cheng Taoxian was the township government's family planning specialist. She was a young married woman in her twenties, quite pretty, but at this moment, her face was distorted by extreme anxiety.

Seeing Su Xinghui open the door, Cheng Taoxian said, "Su Xinghui, something terrible has happened outside. I don't know what to do, I could only come to you."

Su Xinghui was a bit puzzled: "If something terrible happened, why come to me? Go find the Secretary or the Township Head."

"Wasn't it the Deputy Secretary Hu's son's wedding river patrol yesterday? You went to drink too. You came back because you were drunk, but everyone else from the township government is still there drinking and playing cards; nobody has come back. Now you're the only man in the township government, so I had no choice but to come to you." Cheng Taoxian was so anxious that beads of sweat had formed on her nose, and her face was flushed red—truly living up to the description of a face like a peach blossom.

Long-buried memories in Su Xinghui's mind were stirred. He remembered: the custom in their county was to patrol the river the day before the wedding, followed by the main banquet. It seemed today was the day of the main banquet. Since it was Sunday, he guessed everyone was still playing mahjong at Deputy Secretary Hu's house and wouldn't be back.

Deputy Secretary Hu was Hu Chengli, the Party-Masses Deputy Secretary of Meng Hu Ling Township. His home was in Hu Jia Ao Village, four or five kilometers away from the township government. Although it wasn't far, it was deep in the mountains, and if something happened, they couldn't get back in time.

Su Xinghui didn't say anything more. He stepped out, and Cheng Taoxian quickly explained what had just happened: a few days ago, the township family planning station had forcibly induced labor on a pregnant woman who had exceeded the birth quota. Early this morning, the woman's husband, who worked in the county seat, had run to the gate of the township government and drank pesticide.

As Su Xinghui went downstairs, he asked, "Did you call Hu Jia Ao?"

"I did, but I couldn't get through."

Su Xinghui shook his head. This wasn't surprising; Hu Jia Ao was in the mountains, and who knew what kind of trouble the phone lines were having.

Su Xinghui hurried to the main gate. Huang Sao, who cooked for the township government, saw him coming and let out a sigh of relief. Although Su Xinghui was just an ordinary staff member in the Party and Government Office, he was the only man left in the entire township government right now.

A crowd had gathered outside, noisy and chaotic. Some were cursing, some were crying, but most were just there to watch the spectacle—China had never been short of such people. Seeing Su Xinghui come out, a bystander shouted, "Someone from the township government is out!"

Su Xinghui asked, "What happened?"

A man squatting on the ground stood up. Without waiting for Su Xinghui to speak, he threw a punch at him, cursing bitterly, "You dog-brained bastards, what happened? My brother was forced to death by your township government!"

How could Su Xinghui let him land the hit? He reached out, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted hard. The man involuntarily bent over, crying out in pain.

At that moment, Su Xinghui saw the scene clearly: a middle-aged man was lying on the ground, eyes tightly shut, white foam flowing unconsciously from the corners of his mouth. Several people were squatting around him, men and women, some cursing, some wailing. Su Xinghui glanced at the ground and saw an empty plastic pesticide bottle tossed aside. He was very familiar with this type of bottle; it was the bottle for "Insecticide" (insecticide) commonly used this season, with a capacity of 800 milliliters.

Su Xinghui felt confident now. He had worked in the countryside for many years in his previous life and was very familiar with this pesticide. It wasn't highly toxic; as long as the victim was induced to vomit in time and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, they could be saved. He felt fortunate—thankfully, the man hadn't drunk Paraquat, or even the gods couldn't have saved him.

Su Xinghui gave a light push, sending the reckless man who had tried to hit him stumbling back several steps. He scolded coldly, "You're still thinking about hitting people at a time like this? Don't you want to save him?"

Su Xinghui had practiced martial arts. He had used a clever technique, and the reckless man wasn't injured. Sensing that Su Xinghui was not to be trifled with, his arrogance vanished. Hearing Su Xinghui's words, he shouted, "My brother has already passed out, can he still be saved?"

Su Xinghui nodded firmly: "He can!"

Su Xinghui squeezed into the crowd, squatted down, checked the man's complexion, lifted his eyelids to look, and then checked his breathing. He felt sure. He turned back to Cheng Taoxian and said, "Can you get some boy's urine?"

The men and women stopped crying and cursing, looking at Su Xinghui. An old woman asked, "Can you really save Wang Yazi?"

Su Xinghui nodded: "It shouldn't be a big problem."

Cheng Taoxian ran into the township government. She had a two-year-old son, so getting some boy's urine was doable. Here, it was rumored that boy's urine had detoxifying properties, though Su Xinghui knew there was no scientific basis for it. He was having the man drink it just to induce vomiting and to put the family's mind at ease. Actually, if not for that, pouring some feces liquid down his throat might have been more effective.

Cheng Taoxian was quick. Within minutes, she ran back with a bowl of yellow liquid, still steaming. She blushed and said, "My little Kang just peed it."

Su Xinghui took the bowl and said to the reckless man, "Help your brother sit up."

With life at stake, the man didn't dare to cause trouble. He squatted down and obediently helped Wang Yazi sit up. Su Xinghui pinched Wang Yazi's face with two fingers, and his mouth opened involuntarily. Su Xinghui skillfully poured the urine down his throat. Thankfully, here, boy's urine was considered a form of medicine, otherwise, the scene would have been quite disgusting.

After finishing the bowl, Su Xinghui told the crowd to move back and had the man turn Wang Yazi onto his side. He secretly pressed hard on the Inner Gate acupoint on Wang Yazi's wrist. Wang Yazi involuntarily began to vomit, expelling a large amount of brownish liquid with a pungent odor—a mixture of insecticide, gastric juice, and urine. The smell was indescribable; the onlookers retreated a few more steps, and even the reckless brother frowned and pinched his nose.

Su Xinghui calmly patted Wang Yazi's back until he couldn't vomit anything more. Only then did Wang Yazi let out a groan.

Su Xinghui stood up and said, "Alright, take him to the township health center."

He glanced at the onlookers and said, "Everyone disperse. Crowding the township government gate like this, what does it look like?"

Wang Yazi's family members found a door panel and carried him to the health center. Su Xinghui followed behind; he wouldn't feel at ease until he saw with his own eyes that the man was out of danger.