Chapter 1

“Wenyuan, wake up! It’s time to go to work!” A voice that sounded both unfamiliar and strangely familiar rang beside her ear. Du Wenyuan was being shaken back and forth. Groggily, she opened her eyes. I’m already sick enough to be on death’s door. I probably only have a couple of days left. Can’t I at least sleep a little longer? Ever since she had been laid off, Du Wenyuan had worked tirelessly, rain or shine, making and selling snacks to earn a living. In the end, almost all the money she made went straight into her landlord’s pocket, while she was left with a body full of ailments. Later, after finally managing to save up a little money for her retirement, she thought she could finally stop working and enjoy her remaining years. Only to discover that she had cancer. Her savings had vanished overnight, and all the money she had paid into her pension had gone to waste. But more painful than the loss in her heart was the physical pain. Day after day, Du Wenyuan could barely sleep. It was rare for her to sleep this deeply, so why was someone bothering her now? Annoyed, Du Wenyuan opened her eyes. The moment she saw what was in front of her, she froze. What was going on? A large square table. Long wooden benches. Old-fashioned décor. Rows of wooden menu boards hanging above the cashier's counter... The nostalgic restaurant before her gradually overlapped with a scene buried deep in her memories. Du Wenyuan suddenly turned toward the person who had shaken her awake. It was none other than her former coworker from the state-owned restaurant—Qian Cuihua, who had worked as a kitchen helper. Only... She was decades younger! Wait. Wasn't she supposed to be lying in a hospital bed? Hadn't both of her children emptied their savings trying to save her, staying by her bedside day and night without rest? In the end, unable to bear watching her children suffer any longer, hadn't she chosen to stop taking her medication and simply wait for death? So how had she closed her eyes and opened them again... ...only to find herself back here? Looking back now, the 1970s had been the best years of her entire life. Could this all be a dream? Du Wenyuan's eyes and hands were quick. She reached up and plucked a strand of hair from Qian Cuihua's head. Qian Cuihua immediately jumped back, clutching her hair. “Ow! That hurt! What are you doing?” It was real! She had really returned to the past! When she had pulled out Qian Cuihua's hair, she had clearly felt the tug. And Qian Cuihua had genuinely felt the pain. This wasn't a dream. Du Wenyuan opened her palm. “It was a gray hair. I was helping you pull it out.” Qian Cuihua looked at it and, sure enough, there really was a gray hair. She quietly slipped it into her pocket. “Oh, okay. Thanks.” Then she looked up at Du Wenyuan. Seeing the unmistakable happiness on Du Wenyuan's face, Qian Cuihua was puzzled. “What? You're this happy even though it's time to go to work? Did something good happen?” “Oh, right. I heard you're going on another blind date today. Did you find out anything about that young man? This time, it can't be the same guy as the first two times, right?” Du Wenyuan had excellent eyesight when she was young. From where she stood, she could clearly see the calendar hanging on the wall. The page had been torn down to July 15, 1972. The date felt strangely familiar. But several decades had passed, and her memories had inevitably become hazy. Something important was supposed to happen today. Yet for the life of her, she couldn't remember what it was. It was Qian Cuihua's words that finally jogged her memory. Today was the day of her third blind date with Zhang Haochen! Joy filled Du Wenyuan's eyes and brows. But at this point in her life, she shouldn't have known who her blind date was. So she pretended not to know and said, “I don't know. The matchmaker said the young man today is especially handsome.” Qian Cuihua immediately became interested. “Really? Then I definitely have to take a good look. Just how handsome can he be? It was still too early for the lunch rush, and there were no other customers in the restaurant yet. The two women's conversation carried clearly to the ears of the two people who had just walked in. Zhang Haochen's footsteps faltered slightly. But thinking of the girl he had been longing to see, he quickly resumed walking, striding into the restaurant with his long legs. This time, the matchmaker, Auntie Lin, was a coworker of Du Wenyuan's mother, Li Yanrong. The two of them worked together at the textile factory's labor union. Auntie Lin was a straightforward and cheerful woman. Hearing the conversation, she hadn't even reached Du Wenyuan before she called out in her loud voice: “Well, Wenyuan? Auntie wasn't exaggerating, was I? I told you the young man I introduced was especially handsome. Take a look! Isn't he tall, handsome, and full of energy?” Qian Cuihua excitedly glanced at the young man who had come for the blind date. Then she muttered under her breath, “Handsome, sure, but this isn't his first time going on a blind date with Du Wenyuan! The guy who was supposed to be tall and healthy last time was him too. And the one who was supposedly young, promising, and had a good job? Him again! This is already their third time!” Auntie Lin was getting older, but her ears were still exceptionally sharp. When she heard Qian Cuihua, she froze for a moment before turning uncertainly toward Zhang Haochen. “What do you mean? You've already been on two blind dates with Wenyuan? Then why did you go through all that trouble to ask someone to find me and arrange a third one? “Your qualifications are so good. Why didn't Wenyuan agree to marry you? Are you hiding something? Did you leave out some important details? “I work in the same office as Wenyuan's mother. Don't put me in an awkward position here!” Zhang Haochen was twenty-five years old this year. For this era, being twenty-five and still unmarried was considered a little late. Fortunately, Zhang Haochen had never been married before. He was tall, handsome, and served in the military as a regimental commander. Although he was from out of town, his current posting was quite close to the state-owned restaurant where Du Wenyuan worked. After they married, she could move with him to his military post and even be assigned housing. The living conditions there were actually better than those in the textile factory's family compound. It was the 1970s, and the country was still not far removed from the turbulent years of war. Many people had a deep respect for the military and naturally held soldiers in high regard. And Zhang Haochen wasn't just an ordinary soldier. He had genuine military achievements and an official rank to his name. On top of that, transportation was inconvenient in those days. Parents who cared about their daughters generally didn't want them marrying too far away. Zhang Haochen worked nearby, and after marriage, Du Wenyuan could live with him at his military post. She would still be close to her parents' home. A match this suitable was practically impossible to find—even with a lantern. And yet, despite all that... Why hadn't their first two blind dates worked out? Auntie Lin had worked with Li Yanrong for many years, so she knew quite a bit about the Li family's circumstances. The Du family had only two children. Du Wenyuan had just one older brother. Du Wenyuan's father, Du Hongfei, was a department director in the logistics division of the textile factory. Her older brother worked at a machinery factory in the city. As for Du Wenyuan herself, she worked as a waitress at the state-owned restaurant. There were only four people in the Du family, and every one of them had a job. They were all relatively healthy as well, so the Du family's standard of living was considered quite good among the families in the residential compound. When the Du family married off their daughter, they weren't looking for someone rich or powerful. All they wanted was a man of good character who would treat their daughter well and allow her to live a stable, peaceful life. Zhang Haochen's qualifications didn't merely meet the Du family's standards for a son-in-law—they exceeded them by quite a bit. So why hadn't the two of them gotten together? Where exactly was the problem? On this matter, Auntie Lin knew even less than Qian Cuihua. After all, this was Qian Cuihua's third time watching Zhang Haochen and Du Wenyuan go on a blind date. She pulled the puzzled Auntie Lin aside and began quietly explaining everything she had heard. Meanwhile, Du Wenyuan met Zhang Haochen's gaze head-on. In her previous life, Zhang Haochen had asked someone to arrange a blind date with her three times in total. Deep down, Du Wenyuan had actually liked him. It was just that, for various practical reasons, things never worked out. Even so, after going through one unpleasant episode after another, the two of them eventually stumbled their way into marriage. They had weathered many years together, and Du Wenyuan knew exactly what kind of man Zhang Haochen was. He wasn't a man of many words, but he was hardworking, and he expressed all his feelings through his actions. It had been a very long time since Du Wenyuan had last seen Zhang Haochen. And now, standing before her, he was still so young. At 186 centimeters tall, Zhang Haochen towered over most people. Dressed in a crisp military uniform, he stood straight and tall, like a poplar tree. His skin was the warm brown of sun-tanned wheat, and the outline of his muscular physique was clearly visible beneath his uniform. His chest, in particular, was broad and full, almost straining against the fabric. Yet his collar was buttoned all the way up, including the top button. The contrast only made him look even more restrained and forbidden. The kind of man who made it painfully difficult to look away.