Chapter 1: Rebirth

1988, Southern Coastal Open Zone.

On an October morning before dawn, the streets were shrouded in a grayish-white mist. In the dim light, every household in the city was already stirring, the clatter of pots and pans mingling with the sounds of washing and grooming.

At the Marine Electronics Factory, the female workers’ wake-up call was at six-thirty. For these migrant girls who had come from rural villages, this time was considered late rather than early; back home, many were accustomed to rising at five or six to feed chickens, ducks, and cut pig fodder.

Working in the factory was once regarded as a blessing to them.

“Wake up! Wake up!”

...

“Where’s Xuexia? I don’t see her.”

“She…”

At that moment, Lin Xuexia opened her eyes. A wave of fatigue overwhelmed her, causing her to frown. Her body ached stiffly, and she cursed Fu Wei inwardly—a damn fool who ignored his health despite being forty and still reckless. She had married Fu Wei just yesterday. According to her plan, they would simply file for the marriage certificate quietly, but Fu Wei refused, playing the generous benefactor and throwing an extravagant wedding—celebrity guests, lavish diamond rings, and a gown so splendid that in her youth she could never have dreamed of such grandeur.

Since that incident, her health had deteriorated; she was frail and often ill. Fu Wei had just undergone surgery and narrowly escaped death. Two “sickly shells” throwing such a grand wedding—no wonder it seemed like a curse on their longevity.

Lin Xuexia sniffed the air. How did she detect the scent of alcohol?

Since Fu Wei’s surgery, he hadn’t touched a drop. Where was this smell coming from?

Besides that, a faint song was drifting in from outside—Teresa Teng’s “Sweet Honey,” its tender melody carried by the chilly morning breeze.

“Sweet honey, your smile is so sweet…”

Lin Xuexia raised her arm and opened her eyes fully, trying to make out her surroundings. The man nearby stiffened upon realizing she was awake, then flipped on the incandescent lamp beside him with a sharp “click.” The room was suddenly flooded with light.

The sudden brightness made Lin Xuexia squint and shield her eyes with her hand. After a moment, the bulb flickered—bright, then dark—before finally burning out.

Only the faint dawn light filtered through the blue-and-white floral curtains, casting a pale glow within the room. In that muted light, Lin Xuexia met a pair of fierce, piercing eyes.

His hair was cut very short, standing stiffly upright, sharpening his features. Beneath a full forehead sat a high, prominent nose, and his facial contours were deep and defined. Even standing still, he resembled a poised leopard, radiating a lethal, intense energy.

He wore a black tank top and black trousers. Even clad entirely in black, his powerful muscles burst forth. If he held an axe in his hand, he would look like a character straight out of a Hong Kong cop-and-robber film.

Logically, she should have been terrified. Was this a vicious kidnapper? Yet he looked so much like her own man in his youth.

The bare walls around them gave her a strong sense of familiarity.

More chillingly, the man suddenly spoke: “We slept together. I’m marrying you.”

His breath carried a trace of alcohol; no one knew how much he had drunk last night.

Lin Xuexia felt as if struck by lightning. She had heard these words once before—she knew exactly what day it was! Twelve years ago, this was the morning after she first met Fu Wei!

She stared at the man in front of her, whose eagle-like eyes were razor-sharp. His towering figure pressed down on her like a mountain.

She still remembered how terrified she was back then, too scared to make a sound, shrinking into a corner to weep quietly. For a long time, this brutal, domineering man who liked to lay hands on her and tease her with “my woman” was a nightmare she could never escape.

She was utterly terrified of him.

But now—

“Smack!” Lin Xuexia turned her back on him, put on her clothes, and painfully stood up. Her steps were unsteady and awkward. She faced him and raised her hand, delivering a slap.

She poured all her strength into that slap. Fu Wei was stunned, not dodging at all. The sharp smack left a blazing red handprint on his handsome face.

He had imagined many reactions from her upon waking, but never this—this woman was fierce!

As she stood up, Lin Xuexia felt a sharp pain as if her body were split in two. That bastard Fu Wei from last night! She pulled her legs together, blushing with shame, but her words were blunt and unyielding: “I am a female worker at the Marine Electronics Factory. Take me back there.”

After speaking, she was surprised to find her voice strong and clear.

Since suffering a miscarriage at an illegal clinic, she had lingering bleeding and was weak in both qi and blood. Exhausted and unable to fully recover, her limbs often felt cold, and she couldn’t handle heavy work.

Now, though her body throbbed with pain, she felt invigorated. Just one more day of rest, and she would be brimming with energy.

“All right.” Fu Wei said nothing else and went downstairs. No one knew where he found an old, battered cruiser bike. The wheels clattered noisily. He pinched the front tire—it was flat. Using a rusty pump, he filled it with air.

Lin Xuexia came down the stairs. The house was three stories, about seventy or eighty square meters, with a small courtyard. Fu Wei lived on the second floor. The street was lined with similar two- or three-story self-built houses, constructed gradually since the 1980s. Some were older, looking worn and dilapidated, but in this area, even such houses were coveted by migrant workers.

As more and more southerners arrived to work, these self-built houses became hot commodities. Villagers added floors—second to third, third to fourth—and built flat-roofed extensions in courtyards, trying to fill every inch to rent out to outsiders.

The houses were packed closely together, making the streets very narrow. Many had metal rolling doors on the ground floorI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.