Volume One, Chapter One: Reborn in 1991, A Father and Son's Hard Life!

“Dad, I really am Tang Yichen from 33 years in the future!”

In a dim, modest room lit only by a kerosene lamp, five-year-old Tang Yichen waved his thin little arms, blinking his innocent, adorable big eyes. With absolute certainty, he revealed to his father, Tang Xionghua, the secret that he had traveled through time from the year 2024.

An old calendar hanging on the wall boldly displayed the date: July 7, 1991.

From a 38-year-old worn-out office worker, he had become a five-year-old child.

At first, Tang Yichen was shocked himself.

But after the shock came overwhelming joy!

Being reborn in the 1990s was tough, no doubt, but it was also a golden era full of opportunities.

Yet no matter how great the era’s dividends, a five-year-old couldn’t seize them alone.

The only option was to be upfront with his father, letting him take the lead.

He would quietly stay behind the scenes as a calm and wealthy second-generation heir.

That didn’t seem too bad.

Besides, that summer of ’91, his father was facing a major life obstacle.

Seeing his father’s dull eyes and heavy heart, it was clear he had suffered a great blow and was filled with uncertainty and confusion about the future.

“Dad, I’m not lying. I really came from the future,” Tang Yichen said earnestly.

“If I’m not mistaken, you should have just been fired from your substitute teaching job at Zhen Middle School.”

“You probably just found out recently and haven’t told Grandpa and Grandma yet, but I remember it very clearly.”

“The principal needed to make way for his brother-in-law, so without any connections or background, you naturally became the one replaced. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing you could do about it.”

Tang Yichen spoke calmly and clearly, piercing the most vulnerable part of Tang Xionghua’s heart.

“Yichen... how do you know all this?” Tang Xionghua stared at his five-year-old son in disbelief, his mind a storm of shock.

Before his father could ask more, Tang Yichen continued calmly:

“Dad, if you still don’t believe me, I can tell you some old family secrets about the Tang family.”

“For example, Grandpa Tang Jiaxiang was actually betrothed at birth, but he escaped the arranged marriage. Grandma often teased him about that.”

“Your eldest brother is eight years older than you because two older sisters died young, and your younger sister is four years younger because an uncle also died, though he held on for over a month.”

“Even you don’t know these details, and neither does your eldest brother. Grandpa told me later—you can verify it with him.”

“But the thing that proves I’m not lying most is about Mom.”

“You and Mom were sort of in love, but during the first year of marriage, you still pined for Liu Ying from the neighboring village and often visited her to pour out your heart. Mom’s strong personality made you feel suffocated—that was your own words.”

“It wasn’t until Mom got pregnant with me that you truly let go and settled down with her.”

“Mom didn’t even know about this; it was your little secret.”

“And I only found out because one time when you got drunk, you accidentally confessed it, missing Mom terribly.”

“That was about six years later, in 1997—the year Hong Kong returned. I was eleven then.”

“I remember it clearly because you cried bitterly that night, confessing the truth about Mom’s death.”

“Two years earlier, Mom suffered acute heart disease. If we had enough money back then, she could have had a heart transplant, and the success rate was high.”

“But no matter how much we emptied our family and Grandma’s savings and borrowed from everywhere, it wasn’t enough.”

“Mom knew that even if she had the surgery by selling everything, the follow-up costs were astronomical.”

“So she secretly pulled out the tubes... not wanting to burden us.”

“Dad, I was only three when Mom passed. I don’t even remember her face.”

“But I remember your tears of regret and how you cried, asking heaven, ‘Why am I so poor?’”

“Dad, I truly am Yichen from 2024... your one and only son!”

...

After hearing all this, Tang Xionghua’s hands trembled as tears streamed down his face.

For Tang Yichen, his mother’s death was a distant memory from 35 years ago, barely etched in his mind.

But for Tang Xionghua, she had died only two years prior.

He had yet to fully emerge from the depths of that heart-wrenching sorrow...

“Yichen... you really are me from 33 years later? My son from the future?”

Tang Xionghua sobbed, grabbing his son’s little arm and studying the boy he had raised every day, searching for anything different.

Deep down, however, he had already completely believed Tang Yichen’s words.

“Yes, Dad, I’m back.”

Tang Yichen gazed at his father’s youthful face, tears welling up as he was deeply moved.

Because to him, his father’s aged, frail face wasn’t from 33 years later—it was from yesterday...

“All right, all right...”

After giving his son a big embrace, Tang Xionghua wept tears of joy.

But the anxiety from losing his job weighed on his chest like a heavy stone, making it hard to breathe.

No matter that his son was from the future, he was still just a five-year-old who needed him to provide.

Yet his job was gone. Gone!

“By the way, Yichen, we won’t be so poor from now on, right? You’re going to make something of yourself in the future, aren’t you?”

Tang Xionghua forced a smile, hiding his worry from his son.

Tang Yichen let out a bitter smile.

Then he told his father about their future lives together—

“How should I put it? It’ll be better than now, but we’ll still be poor.”

“Starting this summer, you got replaced at work and couldn’t face telling Grandpa and Grandma, so you lied that the school sent you for further training. Actually, you went south alone to the big city to work.”

“Unfortunately, after a year with little to no earnings, you came back with your tail between your legs. You didn’t want to return—you could have made some money doing labor work in the city—but you got sent back because you didn’t have the proper permits.”

“When you returned, everyone in the village knew you’d been fired and deported. You felt ashamed, and so did Grandpa and Grandma, who hung their heads in sorrow.”

“Back home, you farmed the family’s two acres and did odd jobs, living miserably for five years until you saw Tang Ergou, who barely finished elementary school, doing well enough to build a new house.”

“You couldn’t stand it, so you and Tang Ergou went to the metropolis together.”

“Tang Ergou worked in foreign trade under a big boss, and because he had little education, you, with your technical school diploma and English skills, seized the opportunity and made some small gains.”

“Two years later, you returned home in glory and brought me to live in the metropolis. I had just graduated elementary school then.”

“The first three years in the city were probably the best days for our family—respected in the village and hopeful for the future.”

“But good times didn’t last. Once life improved, you found a stepmother for me.”

“At first, she was fine, but then she got addicted to drugs and our nightmare began...”

“In less than two years, she squandered all our savings and the house, leaving us deeply in debt and you without a job.”

“After she left, you struggled for a year until it was time for my college entrance exams. But since moving to the city, I couldn’t adapt, and my grades plummeted.”

“I barely got into the worst high school and completely fell behind in senior high.”

“I only managed to get into a third-tier university, which I didn’t want to attend because tuition was expensive.”

“And our family was broke, still drowning in debt.”

“But you insisted I go to school, even if it meant borrowing more and working three jobs.”

“That’s how we made it through to my graduation, but the debts kept piling up.”

“After I started working, we toiled for seven years to finally pay it off.”

“By then, I was thirty and still single. I finally found a girlfriend but couldn’t afford the bride price.”

“Dad, your hair turned white, and your health deteriorated.”

“We started saving for the bride price, and after seven years, we had enough, even borrowing a little more, and with some help from her family, we barely managed a down payment on a small two-bedroom apartment in the city.”

“Just when we thought our hardships were over and I could marry after two years with my girlfriend and you could hold your grandchild, you fell ill...”

“All our savings vanished overnight. It was like starting from scratch.”

“Thirty-eight-year-old me and sixty-year-old you went back to the rural hometown we had long left, hoping to borrow money from relatives for treatment.”

“On the way back, the bus suddenly flipped over... When I woke up, I was like this.”

“Sorry, Dad. Not only did I fail to make something of myself, but I’ve also dragged you down your whole life.”

...

At this, Tang Yichen couldn’t help but cover his face and quietly sob.

Their father-son life in the past was truly full of hardship!

“Ah... it really was poor and bitter!” Tang Xionghua sighed deeply.

Fortunately, this miserable life could now be started over again!