Chapter 125: The Shoe Store Opens

April 12, 1982, evening.

The sunset’s afterglow spilled over the land of Nitre Village, bathing the entire village in a golden hue. In the lush green grass along the riverbank at the east end of the village, a young boy named Liu Xing, who had been sleeping soundly, felt the warmth of the sunlight and blinked his eyes open in a daze.

When he saw his surroundings clearly, he froze.

He was in a mountain village with green hills and clear waters.

The village was dotted with earthen-brick houses, wisps of cooking smoke rose into the air, and a babbling brook meandered through it. In the water, mallard ducks played, and crabs the size of eggs crawled out from the crevices of stones to soak up the last of the day’s sun. Their relaxed, bold, and arrogant demeanor suggested they didn't care at all about the villagers passing by with their water-carrying poles.

"Where am I?"
"Why does this mountain village feel so familiar?"
"But why can't I remember what place this is?"
"Ouch! My head hurts so much."

Liu Xing was startled by his surroundings, then clutched his head and cried out. At that same moment, a long-buried memory in his mind burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam.

These memories... were all related to 'his' life.

They were hazy—like a fast-forwarded movie; some scenes were vivid, while others were like passing clouds, forgotten in the blink of an eye as if they had never existed in his mind at all.

Soon, this dream-like sensation faded.

Liu Xing regained his composure. Looking at the green hills and clear waters around him, and the water buffalo grazing slowly by his side, his eyes widened, and he was finally left speechless.

According to the memories merging in his mind, if he remembered correctly, he had died from overwork and been reborn, returning to Nitre Village 38 years ago—1982.

In 1982, he had been out of junior high school for less than a year, still an ignorant sixteen-year-old boy.

As for Nitre Village, it was his birthplace.

It was also the place he had longed to return to most while drifting through life before his rebirth.

Unfortunately, as a member of the post-sixties generation, burdened by family responsibilities and lacking financial means, that wish had been impossible to fulfill. Yet now, it had been realized inadvertently through his rebirth, which was truly unexpected.

In his memories from before the rebirth, Nitre Village was a very backward, impoverished, and remote mountain village.

But looking at it now, he felt an indescribable sense of intimacy. Even the sky looked exceptionally blue, and the river water was particularly clear.

However, Liu Xing knew that despite the picturesque scenery, Nitre Village was extremely poor.

Some families couldn't even afford enough to eat, and he feared his family was one of them. This was evident from the patched clothes he wore and the straw sandals on his feet.

"Wait, I've been reborn to thirty-eight years ago, so doesn't that mean my deceased parents are still alive?" Thinking of this, Liu Xing scrambled up from the grass, excited, and was about to run toward home when he was almost tripped the next second.

Looking down, he couldn't help but smile.

What tripped him was a rope tied to a small tree.

Following the rope, a sturdy water buffalo was staring at him with eyes as large as copper bells, its tail rhythmically swatting at the flies feeding on its hide.

"Heiduzi, it's so good to see you again." Liu Xing untied the rope from the tree, walked over to the buffalo, and reached out to stroke its horns, his eyes filled with joy.

Heiduzi was the name he had given the buffalo.

Originally, it was called 'Gundu-zi' (Rolling Calf), named because it was round like a ball when it was born. But his father, Liu Dazhao, didn't like it; calling it Gundu-zi didn't sound right and carried the suspicion of cursing. Finally, under the threat of a bamboo rod, Liu Xing changed the name to 'Heiduzi' (Black Calf), and his father didn't say anything more.

The reason for this was that in Nitre Village, especially in the eighties and nineties, almost every household kept a buffalo, or several families shared one. Because they were valuable, many would give them names and hang a tag on the buffalo's neck to prevent loss.

Liu Xing naming his family's big water buffalo 'Heiduzi' meant exactly that.

As for the purpose of the buffalo, any farmer knew it was for plowing the fields. Liu Xing’s family had seven members—two older sisters above him, and one younger brother and sister below. According to the 'household responsibility system' of 1981, they had at least ten mu of land, not including the dry fields. Without a plow ox, it would be impossible to cultivate so much land by human labor alone.

So, in the year the land was divided, his father had made a hard decision and scraped together enough money to buy a just-weaned water buffalo calf from the production team to help with farm work when it grew up.

This calf was Heiduzi.

Ever since it was bought home, Liu Xing had been the one to graze it. From 1981 to 1982, in just over a year, Heiduzi had grown from the size of a puppy into a sturdy, large water buffalo, and the bond between it and Liu Xing was self-evident.

Yet, Heiduzi’s ending had been tragic. With the changes of the times and the reduction of farmland, it eventually became food on a human table.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing couldn't help but sigh. "Since heaven has given me a chance to be reborn, I will definitely treat Heiduzi well in this life. At the very least, I will let it die of old age, rather than being sold off to become food on a dining table."

This wasn't him being sentimental; it was because his memories from ages fifteen to nineteen were all spent with Heiduzi, filled with both joy and tears.

"Brother, Brother... drive the ox home for dinner!" A sweet, soft voice drifted from the riverbank, breaking Liu Xing’s train of thought.

"Hmm?" Liu Xing turned his head. Upon seeing a thin little girl with a ponytail, about four or five years old, calling him, he paused and a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

This thin little girl was his younger sister, Liu Qingmei, nicknamed Douguazi. Everyone in the village liked to call her Guawazi, but because Guawazi carried a derogatory connotation, it was later changed by their mother to Guazi.

To see his sister Guazi first after his rebirth made Liu Xing truly happy. But when he saw the bulging woven bag on her shoulder and her bare feet, the smile on his face vanished.

He didn't know why, but he felt an inexplicable ache in his heart.

Decades later, children of Guazi's age would all be in kindergarten, yet here she was, carrying a woven bag to collect pig feed by the fields. This wasn't a dream; it was a common sight in the countryside in the eighties.

As for her bare feet, it was because the family truly had no money to buy her shoes. Even the patched clothes she wore were hand-me-downs from her two older sisters, making them look as ill-fitting as a Taoist robe on her small frame.

Seeing Guazi struggling as she walked toward him with the bag, Liu Xing hurried over with Heiduzi. After taking the bag and placing it on Heiduzi’s back, he said, "Why are you picking so much pig feed? Aren't you afraid of becoming hunchbacked later?"

"Hehe... I won't. Mom said I have to work hard at picking pig feed, and then we'll have meat for the New Year." Guazi wiped the sweat from her forehead with her small hand, her big eyes filled with happiness.

'Mom' was the local dialect for mother in Nitre Village. Guazi hadn't attended school, so she spoke in the local dialect, which sounded both intimate and pleasant to Liu Xing. Knowing she must be tired, he reached out and picked her up, walking toward home while chatting and laughing with her.

However, Liu Xing was secretly shocked by Guazi's weight.

To him, a five-year-old girl should have weighed at least thirty jin. Yet, in his arms, she felt weightless, as if the wind could blow her away.

"This is definitely caused by malnutrition; she hasn't been eating enough." Liu Xing looked at Guazi with doting eyes. He knew this had to change, or she wouldn't grow tall once she reached her prime growth years.

For the current Liu Xing, however, changing this should be easy. After all, he had been reborn with decades of experience.

Seeing that he was about to cross the bridge, Liu Xing pulled his thoughts back and focused on leading Heiduzi across.

On the other side of the bridge, four or five children were picking 'wild strawberries' on the edge of the field. Seeing Guazi being held so affectionately by Liu Xing, they couldn't help but burst into laughter and tease her by calling her 'Guawazi.'

Guazi was long used to this. Although the nickname had derogatory overtones, she didn't mind it at all, as long as her older siblings didn't call her that.

What she cared about now were the red wild strawberries in the buckets of the other village children—that was a delicacy of the world, delicious in the mouth and sweet to the heart. Unfortunately, being small with short arms, she couldn't pick any and could only watch wistfully.

Wild strawberry was the rural name. Its real name was the raspberry, belonging to the rose family. It was a deciduous shrub about one meter tall, with vines covered in thorns, growing in open areas near forests, riverbanks, hillsides, and thickets.

Liu Xing had eaten plenty of them as a child and could never forget their delicious taste. Seeing Guazi biting her finger and staring longingly at the children on the field ridge, he shook his head and asked softly, "Silly girl, do you want to eat wild strawberries?"

"Mm-hmm!" Guazi nodded repeatedly.

"Then wait for me on the bridge." Liu Xing took the woven bag off Heiduzi’s back and placed it beside Guazi.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Guazi tilted her little head and asked.

"Picking wild strawberries for you to eat!" Liu Xing smiled and led Heiduzi down into the river.

Both sides of the river were covered in thorny vines, many of which were laden with bright red wild strawberries. But because the river was turbulent and the banks were steep, no one dared to venture there.

Liu Xing, however, was different. Riding on Heiduzi’s back to lead the way, the turbulent water was like 'walking on flat ground' to him. This wasn't bragging, because Heiduzi was a water buffalo; navigating through the river was as simple as a fish for it.

Of course, in Nitre Village, only Liu Xing could do this. After all, not everyone could treat their buffalo like a family member, and not everyone could make Heiduzi listen and do whatever they wanted.

After entering the water, Liu Xing, sitting on Heiduzi’s back, used the rope in his hand to guide the animal toward the patches of wild strawberries on the bank. Although his pant legs were soaked, he didn't care; the water wasn't very cold, and compared to the delicious wild strawberries, it wasn't worth mentioning.

Seeing this, Guazi covered her small mouth with her eyes wide open. When she finally snapped out of it, she cheered, "Oh my heavens, Brother, you're amazing!"

Liu Xing smiled and didn't answer. After signaling Heiduzi to stay still, he stood on its back and began picking the wild strawberries.

"My goodness, that actually works? Is this Heiduzi really that obedient?"
"Look, everyone! That wild strawberry is so big, it's almost as big as my family's chicken eggs!"
"I see it! And there's more than just one or two!"
"I'm blinded by the sight."
"Why isn't my family's water buffalo that capable?"

The four or five children picking wild strawberries on the field ridge swarmed onto the bridge when they saw this. Discovering that the strawberries Liu Xing was picking were plump, round, and vividly red, they were filled with envy and jealousy.