Chapter 18: Time
At the end of 1991, a poor boy who wanted to go to school went to a power plant to steal cables. At that time, the copper in the cables was very valuable. He wanted to sell the copper to make up for his 320 yuan tuition. He stole several times and stole more than kilograms. But one time, he met his father on the way, an honest old farmer who was carrying two chickens and was about to go to the town market to exchange some money for the New Year.

After the farmer found out that his son had stolen something, he dragged him to return the cable without saying a word.

His son cried and said, "I want to study, how can I pay for the tuition?"

The cable was never returned.

However, that afternoon, the local police station somehow learned about the matter, and several plainclothes officers rushed into the farmer's home and knocked the father and son to the ground. The plainclothes officers in those days loved to drink chicken soup, so they confiscated the electrical cables and the only two chickens left in the house, and confiscated them.

At night, the whole institute was filled with the aroma of stewed chicken. The director, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and holding a fat chicken leg in his hand, took a bite left and right. He looked majestic and dignified, and very impressive.

The farmer was handcuffed to the railings by the wall, his clothes were torn and blood was all over his body. He lay on the ground groaning and said, "I did this, let my son go."

His son stood beside him, so frightened that he could not speak.

The director picked his teeth and asked him, "How old are you? What do you do?"

The son replied: "15, student."

The director patted his head with his greasy hands and said, "Don't follow your father's example, little bastard. Be a good person when you grow up!"

In the summer of 1992, Zhang Yunqi, who had been reborn from the afterlife, had just graduated from junior high school and ranked first in the county in the high school entrance examination. In addition to the lifelong guilt towards his father Zhang Liushun, he still remembered the first ethics lesson he had in his life in that bungalow with the aroma of stewed chicken: Be a good person!
It has been 26 years since this happened, but he still remembers the scene vividly.

On the day of the accident, my eldest brother went to the city to deliver New Year's food to my eldest sister's family. My mother took her two younger sisters to visit her parents. In the middle of the night, she hurriedly took 46 yuan borrowed from everywhere and went to the police station to get herself released. On the way home, my mother didn't say a word and fell on the road. She had a heart surgery a few years ago and couldn't get up for a long time.

He cried and told his mother the truth. His mother, who was always short-tempered, did not scold him. She said, "This has nothing to do with you. Don't tell anyone else. Remember, it was your father who stole the things!"

Poverty drives men to crime, women to depravity, and children to darkness. In the days and nights that followed, Zhang Yunqi often thought of this sentence. Yes, he was the one who stole the cables, but his father took the blame for him. Because of the 90-pound cables, his father was sentenced to two years and one month. This is rare in later generations, but in the s, such a tragedy really happened to his father.

This is Zhang Yunqi's lifelong pain and regret.

He did not regret stealing the cables. When a person is so poor that he has no other options, when a poor boy who is extremely eager to change his destiny through knowledge cannot afford to go to school, there is no reason to do anything. He just hated the cowardly and incompetent self in his previous life who did not have the courage to pay for his mistakes.

Now, 26 years later, looking at his gray-haired father, Zhang Yunqi waited until the surging tears flowed into his stomach through the nasal tube before he said, "Dad, how are you doing in there?"

Father Zhang said, "I'm fine. I'm doing some simple manual work inside. It's quite relaxing. Son, why are you here alone? Where are your mother and elder brother?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Big brother and Chunlan and Xiaoxiao don't know that I came to see you, but my mother knows. The visit was arranged for me by Zhang Haijun's brother-in-law Ji Zhong. Dad, our family is doing very well now. Big brother and I sold flue-cured tobacco for more than two months during the summer vacation and made a lot of money. Big brother bought a new tractor and is now engaged in transportation, earning dozens of yuan every day. All the debts for mom's surgery have been paid off, and she is in good health now. Big sister gave birth to a boy two months ago."

"That's good, that's good." Zhang's father nodded happily, then he thought of something and said nervously, "Son, you dropped out of school at the beginning of the year?"

"No, my mother later borrowed money from my second uncle and collected enough tuition."

"Is your second uncle willing to lend me money?"

"My mother begged him for a whole day at his doorstep, and then she said she would pay him back double the principal after she sold the flue-cured tobacco."

Father Zhang was silent for a while, then said, "Son, how was your high school entrance exam result?" Zhang Yunqi said, "First in the county."

Zhang Liushun nodded continuously: "Good! Great work, very great work!"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Dad, before the high school entrance exam, I applied for a technical secondary school in the provincial capital, but later the leaders of the No. 1 Middle School in the city wanted me to go to their school. I also wanted to go to high school, so I would have a brighter future, so I agreed. Now I have completed the admission procedures, and school will start in a few days."

Zhang's father asked: "Then can you get into college?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "Of course!"

He was silent for a long time, then said word by word: "Study economics, don't come back to be a farmer."

Zhang Yunqi said: "Okay, let's study economics!"

At this time, the prison guard next to him said that visiting hours were about to end.

Zhang Yunqi stood up immediately and watched the prison guards handcuff and leg irons on Zhang's father. Zhang's father stood up and prepared to leave the visiting room. Zhang Yunqi couldn't help but said, "Dad, I will find a way to get you out earlier."

Father Zhang stopped and looked at his son. He was silent for a while before saying, "I'm doing well in there. I'll be out in a year or so. Son, if you do something wrong, don't always blame yourself, let alone others. Correct your mistakes, study hard, work hard to get into college, and strive to be a useful person to the country in the future."

Zhang Yunqi nodded heavily.

Father Zhang turned and left.

In the visiting room, Zhang Yunqi watched the hunched back leave. When the figure completely disappeared, tears instantly wet his face.

It was unknown how long it was before he reached out to wipe away his tears and strode out of Guiping County Prison.

At this time, a faint singing voice came from the radio of Guiping County Prison: "Forget the grudges, leave the true feelings and start over, accompany each other in the world of thousands of lights, there are not many stories, just like an ordinary song, discuss the past and the future together."

******
Volume 1: Time and Life: Final Chapter

【End of the Volume】

In life, we will always make some mistakes, some mistakes may be insignificant, but some mistakes will make us regret for the rest of our lives. The girls we missed, the stupid things we did, those youthful recklessness are full of regrets and unwillingness, but we can't forget them.

When I was writing this plot, I kept thinking about a childhood friend of mine. He had a bad habit of stealing and once stole one of my tape recorders. However, his parents did not give him a good education, and he never changed this bad habit. Later, I remember when I was in my third year of high school, one day my brother called me and said that my friend was dead. He was riding a motorcycle to rob a passerby's bag, but because he was driving too fast, he was hit and killed by a large truck.

That year, he was seventeen years old.

Similarly, Zhang Yunqi also made a mistake at a young age that made him regret for the rest of his life, but a prodigal son who returns to the right path is worth more than gold. He is determined to change, and rebirth also gives him a chance to change. The next volume is Jiangchuan Road King. Let's take a look at how Zhang Yunqi struggles to make up for his mistakes!

See you in the next volume.

(End of this chapter)