RTAMEIN70s Chapter 1

Rebirth

Shanghai City College of Medicine and Pharmacology, January 1971.

Second Floor Teaching Office.

“Teacher Zhan, Little Teacher Zhan, how come you’ve fallen asleep here?”

In the cold winter months, the chill wind howled outside. As the door opened with the visitor’s arrival, the cold wind seized the opportunity to sweep into the room, rustling the papers scattered around. The charcoal in the brazier flickered with a red glow. The person slumped over the desk stirred slightly.

— Why is it so cold?

Zhan Aiping, without opening her eyes, mumbled sleepily, “Old Gu, has our heating stopped working?”

“Teacher Zhan, what are you muttering about in your sleep? What old man, what heating?” The newcomer exhaled a breath, rubbing her hands together. She put down what she was carrying, picked up the tongs to stir the charcoal, then crouched down to open a cupboard under the desk, retrieving three large red sweet potatoes.

The woman at the desk finally awoke, sitting up to be greeted by a blinding white light, followed by vivid colors. The portrait of a great leader on the wall, a calendar torn in half, the rosewood desk in front of her covered with newspapers and photos under a clear glass pane, small and dark lettering clearly visible.

The desk was cluttered with books and documents, and there was an enamel jar decorated with peonies and the character for happiness.

The open register recorded the date: January 3, 1971.

People’s Daily: We demand that…

Zhan Aiping shivered suddenly. She blinked, then widened her eyes in disbelief. The small, fly-like typeface of the black and white newspaper was clear, even at such a distance and without her reading glasses.

73-year-old “Grandma Zhan” suspected she was dreaming.

She turned to glance at the calendar on the wall, her eyes lifeless as she murmured, “1971…”

It was clearly just after the year 2020, now into 2021. At this age, she somehow dreamt of events from fifty years ago.

“Teacher Zhan, do you want some roasted sweet potatoes? I’ll bury one for you in the coals. You don’t seem very happy today. Did you have an argument with Teacher He? Your wedding date is set, and we’re all looking forward to your celebration,” said Teacher Xiao Jiang as she brushed aside a layer of ash and tossed two large sweet potatoes into the charcoal brazier.

She looked up at Zhan Aiping, pausing in her actions.

Shanghai was known for its beautiful and stylish women. Even in this era, when everyone seemed to be in drab attire, the city’s women still found ways to be fashionable and elegant in their private lives.

Zhan Aiping’s beauty was different from this delicate elegance. Even in large, bulky clothes, her shapely figure was evident. She was tall, with long, straight legs that dazzled everyone during the New Year’s performance when she wore a special dance skirt.

With her melon-seed face and bright features, her beauty was sharp and aggressive, almost as if it could wound, commanding respect and awe.

Every time Teacher Xiao Jiang saw her, she couldn’t help but think of the term “red rose.”

Zhan Aiping was like a blazing red rose, fiery and vibrant even in the coldest winter days.

But today, Zhan Aiping seemed less imposing, perhaps softened by just having woken up, revealing a surprising and stunning beauty.

Zhan Aiping frowned at Xiao Jiang, lifting her finger slightly, “Jiang, your surname is Jiang, right…?”

She struggled to recall some memories from the past, her head aching more as she tried, but couldn’t remember.

The room also felt familiar, as if she had been here before.

Teacher Xiao Jiang covered her mouth with a laugh, “Teacher Zhan, you must be still groggy from sleep. Have you forgotten me?”

Zhan Aiping: “You said I’m getting married?”

“Teacher He from Guanghua University! Teacher He is indeed a cultured and considerate gentleman. We, the female teachers, all admire you…”

Teacher He, is it He Mingzhang?

Phew, how unlucky! Zhan Aiping thought to herself that even in her dreams, she shouldn’t be dreaming about this.

She had just celebrated her tenth wedding anniversary with Old Gu. If she had to dream, she should have dreamt about her Old Gu.

Zhan Aiping had been married twice in her lifetime. The first time was with that scoundrel He Mingzhang, and the second time was with Old Gu. When she married Old Gu, both of them were already in their sixties, but their love was as sweet as ever, getting better with each passing day.

As for her Old Gu…

“Phew,” Zhan Aiping pinched herself. She suddenly gasped, feeling real pain!

But even though she had woken up from the dream, when she opened her eyes, she wasn’t sleeping beside her old companion. She had gone back fifty years, back to 1971, back to when she was twenty-three years old, back to… before her marriage with He Mingzhang.

In the words of those young folks, an old lady like her had been reborn. She lived a peaceful and content life with her old partner, enjoying an extraordinarily happy life. She didn’t want to be reborn.

But…

A seventy-three-year-old lady had returned to being twenty-three. Could there be anything better in this world?!!!

“Teacher Zhan, these sweet potatoes should be done. Pick one.”

Zhan Aiping and Teacher Xiao Jiang sat around the charcoal brazier, eating roasted sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes, just pulled from the charcoal ashes, were pitch-black on the outside, covered in ash. The skin had turned dark. They wrapped the sweet potatoes in paper and casually wiped off the surface ash. When they split them open, the golden flesh emitted hot steam and a scent that was as tempting as it was free.

The fragrance of sweet potatoes dissipated the cold in the room.

Teacher Xiao Jiang exclaimed with a mouthful of sweet potato, “Oh, it’s so hot, so hot… my hand is burning… Oh, it’s so warm, warming my hands…”

Zhan Aiping buried her head and finished a whole big sweet potato in three or four mouthfuls. After the scorching hot sweet potato went down her stomach, she finally felt the true sense of being back in the 1970s.

A young body was still the best.

After eating such a roasted sweet potato, it only made a sound as it landed in the stomach, completely unable to fill it. As one grows older, their dental condition worsens, and their appetite diminishes. Old Gu often teased her, saying she had the appetite of a kitten and only ate a few mouthfuls.

After finishing the sweet potato, Zhan Aiping began to contemplate her current situation.

She had returned to the age of twenty-three, which was great. This was the turning point in her life. After choosing to marry He Mingzhang, Zhan Aiping’s life had taken a steep downturn.

Looking back on her life before the rebirth in the 1970s, Zhan Aiping’s life trajectory resembled an “N.”

Zhan Aiping was born in 1948, a year before the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Her parents were both military officers, and she grew up in a large courtyard. She was the beloved daughter of the heavens, the envy of everyone else’s family. In her childhood, she aspired to be the “Child Queen.” As she grew up and excelled academically, she skipped grades several times and was admitted to the Military Medical University at the age of fifteen or sixteen. Her years at the Military Medical University were the most brilliant days of her youth.

After graduating, everything came to a halt.

Zhan Aiping had exceptional talent in medicine, and her teachers had high expectations for her. She was also proud of herself and believed that she would not disappoint her teachers. She thought she would become a shining female doctor in Chinese history.

But that was just the youthful arrogance of her school days.

In the military medical field, one was first a soldier and then a doctor. At that time, Zhan Aiping, proud of her medical talent, began to feel that her responsibilities and training as a soldier were hindering her pursuit of medical expertise. She wanted to work in a large hospital, perform surgeries, cure patients, rather than being assigned to a military unit treating minor ailments.

Her efforts and talent helped her become a young doctor in the hospital, even becoming a chief surgeon.

Others praised her, saying, “A woman is no less than a man.”

However, at the age of twenty, Zhan Aiping realized that she couldn’t become a good doctor.

Simply because she couldn’t understand life and death.

Treating and saving lives was never child’s play, nor an exercise. Even if a person had the highest medical skills, they couldn’t save someone destined to die.

Many people said that doctors in hospitals appeared cold and heartless, but they had to learn to be cold and heartless. They had to calmly and numbly watch people die one after another. In hospitals, people died all the time, and there were always people beyond salvation. They didn’t have time to grieve or be sad; they had to go on to treat the next patient.

After a failed surgery, Zhan Aiping couldn’t pick up the surgical knife anymore.

That surgical knife was too heavy.

Every move of hers involved a person’s life and death.

“Xiao Zhan, you’re too determined.”

“You’re demanding too much of yourself.”

“It’s not your fault.”

…

Zhan Aiping fell into self-doubt and pain. Her teacher advised her to take a break. During her break, she had intense arguments with her family, leading to a rift with her younger brother. She lived her days in a daze, feeling life was worse than death, until she met He Mingzhang.

He Mingzhang appeared to be a gentle, easy-going, and considerate man on the surface. He studied history and was skilled in conversation, as well as comforting her.

Under his sweet words, Zhan Aiping emerged from her temporary pain but fell into an even deeper quagmire.

He Mingzhang told her that she had a psychological illness and encouraged her to apply for medical retirement. She left the military and transitioned to work as an assistant teacher at a medical school.

He Mingzhang pursued her, and she married him.

It was only after marrying He Mingzhang that Zhan Aiping realized there could be such disgusting, hypocritical, and deceitful men in the world.

He set traps and used tactics of cajoling and deception to manipulate her, gradually conditioning her like a frog in slowly boiling water. He provided her with minimal care and attention but exaggerated and emphasized his sacrifices in his words. He continuously morally manipulated her, demanding full reciprocity from her. He constantly used psychological manipulation techniques on her (PUA), and eventually, she lost her job, gave birth to three daughters and a son for him, and became a housewife, spending her days taking care of the household. The once beloved daughter of the heavens had completely disappeared.

How disgusting could He Mingzhang be?

When they lived in different cities, with a six-hour drive each way, He Mingzhang would often say on the phone that he missed her and wanted to see her. However, he never took the initiative to visit her, always insisting that she should make the long journey to see him, demanding that she fully accommodate his schedule and work.

Once, Zhan Aiping couldn’t bear it anymore and said, “If you want to see me so much, why don’t you come and visit me once, even if it’s only for an hour?”

She asked him to come to see her, but he refused.

There were countless incidents like this, and he always had an excuse.

This man always spoke with the logic of a robber, filled with lies. She found out about his illegitimate child before they got married, and He Mingzhang said, “I kept it from you for your own good. I was afraid you would be sad and upset if you knew. This was a well-intentioned lie!”

“Although it’s deception, it’s well-intentioned. Pingping, I really like you. I was afraid you wouldn’t marry me if you knew.”

…

She even overheard him talking to his friends privately, saying, “… She’s like a thorny red rose, like a cat with claws. I want to remove all her thorns and cut off all her claws.”

…

Thinking back on all of this, she still felt nauseated, as if she had eaten a fly. He Mingzhang was a disgusting pest, a selfish and deceitful egoist.

Zhan Aiping, now in middle age, woke up one day and divorced him. She even sent him to prison. However, her children blamed her for being heartless. All of them turned out to be like He Mingzhang, admiring foreign things, seeking shortcuts, engaging in academic fraud, and avoiding the right path. Eventually, they all immigrated abroad.

Zhan Aiping was left alone, with no family or relatives. The once beloved daughter of the heavens had fallen so low. She no longer had the face to meet her old friends and didn’t even dare to use the name Zhan Aiping anymore.

In the later years of her life, Zhan Aiping still loved medicine. She couldn’t pick up the surgeon’s scalpel again, so in middle age, she began studying traditional Chinese medicine on her own. She sought out renowned teachers and later accompanied her master to treat an “old general” with a confidential identity. When they met, she recognized that the “old general” with numerous achievements was actually Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng, two years older than her, had also grown up in the same compound. When they were children, they often fought and were arch-enemies, but they were also known as the “twin stars” of the compound.

Now, both in their fifties, one was an esteemed old general with a glorious career, and the other was an unknown old traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.

Gu Sheng recognized her, and he had suffered many injuries in his youth. Zhan Aiping stayed by his side to help him recover.

She learned that Gu Sheng had never married in his entire life. He had only adopted two children of his comrades. Zhan Aiping secretly chuckled at the irony of his name, Gu Sheng, which could mean “raising orphans,” didn’t it?

Zhan Aiping found some comfort in her heart. The twin stars of their compound had ended up raising orphans together in their later years.

However, she never expected that he would offer her a perfect and happy love. At the age of sixty-three, she married him, who was sixty-five.

…

Now Zhan Aiping has been reborn back to fifty years ago.

She is twenty-three years old and unmarried.

Gu Sheng is twenty-five years old and unmarried. In this life, she intends to live a different journey. She will regain her surgical skills, and she will marry her childhood arch-enemy.