Chapter One: Reborn in 1985

“Our family is so poor we can barely put food on the table—where are we supposed to get five hundred yuan? Why don’t you just rob us instead?”
“And besides, Xu Fei is still lying there—who knows if what you’re saying is even true!”
“Get out! All of you, get out of my house!”
The furious quarrel of a woman echoed in his ears.

Xu Fei felt as if his skull would split open, pain crashing through his head, making it hard even to breathe.

With a strangled gasp, he finally mustered his strength and forced his eyes open.

He felt like a drowning man, dragged from the edge of death onto dry land, his lungs hungrily gulping for air, his whole body drenched in cold sweat.

Damn it, who’d have thought a few drinks could almost kill me!

He cursed inwardly and sat up, intending to wash his face in the bathroom.

But as he raised his head and took in his surroundings, he stiffened in shock.

Before him stood an eight-inch black-and-white television, its signal unstable, crackling with static, flickering snow across the screen. Through the fuzz, Fei Xiang’s classic “A Fire in Winter” played in fits and starts.

On the long wooden table lay an old battery-powered flashlight, a few porcelain bowls and basins adorned with bright red flowers, and a line of red calligraphy.

What was happening?

Where was he?

At first, Xu Fei thought he was hallucinating, but the memories in his mind and the glaring date on the wall calendar made it clear: he had been reborn.

Reborn in the year 1985, on the third of May.

This couldn’t be real! Was the universe playing such tricks on him?

He had been a man of the twenty-first century—not wildly successful, perhaps, but worth billions, an unattached golden bachelor envied by all. The night before had been his thirtieth birthday. Caught up in celebration, he’d drunk a few more glasses than usual and fallen asleep in a haze.

Never had he imagined that upon waking, fate would play such a colossal joke on him.

He had been reborn in the eighties, in the body of a man who shared his name.

No, this couldn’t be! This wasn’t his world. He hadn’t even begun to truly enjoy the decadent pleasures of his former life.

If getting drunk had sent him here, perhaps getting drunk again would send him back.

With that thought, Xu Fei rolled out of bed, intent on finding some baijiu or Erguotou to knock himself out.

The argument outside still raged.

Xu Fei had no interest in whatever trouble was brewing. He scanned the room—nothing. It must be in the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and tried to act as if he were invisible, striding out of the room.

The quarrel stopped instantly.

A woman and four or five men all turned their eyes to him at once.

“Xu Fei, you’re awake?!” The woman’s face flickered with joy and anxiety.

“Well, well, kid, we thought you’d drunk yourself to death! At least you know how to get up!” A bald man sneered. “So, are you going to pay back the money you owe?”

“Uh… whatever’s going on isn’t my business. Carry on, don’t let me stop you,” Xu Fei forced out, then ducked straight into the kitchen.

The bald man blinked, then burst out laughing. “Ha! Xu Fei’s wife, looks like your man is giving up. Guess he’s not paying back the debt! If that’s the case, we’ll just have to take you as payment!”

“A man ending up like this, what a disgrace!”

“How did he get so lucky with such a pretty wife?” The bald man’s lackeys sneered, their eyes leering brazenly over the woman.

“Xu Fei, you…” Du Man’s face flushed with anger and humiliation. She stepped forward, but the bald man blocked her. “Hey there, pretty, why stick with a loser like him? Be my woman, and I’ll make sure you live in style! You two have been married for years and not a single child. I hear it’s because you won’t let him touch you—still a virgin, aren’t you?”

The lackeys roared with laughter.

“Ma San’er, get out of my house!” Du Man’s cheeks blazed red and white, tears threatening to spill. “If you don’t leave, I’ll call security!”

“Security? Those cowards call me ‘brother’ when they see me!” Ma San’er grinned arrogantly, suddenly grabbing Du Man’s wrist. “Come on, be good and come with me!”

“Let go! Let go of me…” Du Man struggled desperately, her eyes turning to Xu Fei in the kitchen, filled with despair.

Her own husband was about to let her be taken away, yet he did nothing.

By then, Xu Fei had found half a bottle of Xingpai Erguotou. He unscrewed the cap, but couldn’t bring himself to drink.

The man who’d owned this body before him was truly pathetic.

A little adversity, and he’d let himself fall apart.

His parents had both been old hands at the Donghai Steelworks—a dual-income household with solid pay. After returning to the city as a former “sent-down youth,” he’d also landed a clerical job at the Steelworks, making them a three-income family.

In those days, they’d have been the envy of all—state-employed, well-fed.

True, there was a younger sister in high school and a brother in elementary school to support, but for the Xu family, that was hardly a burden.

Life was comfortable.

And Xu Fei had even married beautiful Du Man—everyone envied him.

But fate’s storms are sudden.

A year ago, Xu Fei’s parents were killed in a workplace accident, falling from the smelting machine during a shift.

Some said it was Xiao Wang’s violation of safety rules that caused it. By rights, Xiao Wang should have been held responsible, and the factory should have paid compensation.

But Xiao Wang denied everything, and the workshop director, Zhang Lichun, insisted the deaths were due to Xu Fei’s parents’ own mistake. In the end, not a cent was paid, neither from the individual nor the factory.

Xu Fei couldn’t swallow the injustice. He confronted Zhang Lichun repeatedly, only to be beaten up and finally fired.

Shattered, he spiraled into depression.

He stopped working, stopped earning, and spent his days loitering in cabarets, drinking, smoking, gambling with a gang of ne’er-do-wells.

If he was happy, he’d come home and sleep it off. If not, he’d take his anger out on his wife.

He squandered every last bit of the family’s savings.

And now, after a wild gambling spree, he’d lost five hundred yuan.

Anyone else might have just skipped town and laid low. But Ma San’er and his gang were the local cabaret’s enforcers—petty thugs and gangsters.

When Xu Fei didn’t show up for a few days, they came straight to his house to snatch his wife.

“It’s not my business, it’s not my business…” Xu Fei whispered over and over, wishing he could block out the world as he raised the bottle to his lips.

Damn it, he just couldn’t do it.

Suddenly, he spun and hurled the bottle with all his might.

With a crash, it exploded at Ma San’er’s feet, showering his pant leg with glass and liquor.

Ma San’er jumped back, snarling, “Hey, buddy, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Let go of my wife. Right now,” Xu Fei said coldly.