Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 1

Jiang Rui knew how he would die.

He would be a scapegoat for a man named Ye Wenbin and then die in a prison fight.

He even knew what he would look like when he died: his face covered in blood, his fingers and legs completely broken, and several of his ribs fractured. One of the broken ribs would pierce his lung, leading to death from massive hemorrhaging.

Jiang Rui wanted to lie to himself, to believe that all of this was just a dream from last night, that it wasn’t real.

But the memories of those more than twenty years were too clear, too vivid.

He could distinctly feel the sadness of dropping out after the college entrance exam, the hunger and helplessness of being unable to afford food while working in Qing City, and even the unbearable pain at his mother’s funeral… He even remembered the sound of his bones breaking in prison.

In those memories, there were so many things he regretted deeply, and those painful experiences made him terrified even in his sleep!

He was deathly afraid of those things actually happening, of the people who loved him leaving one by one, and of truly falling in love with the man who betrayed him and caused his death.

Jiang Rui touched a pea-sized red mole on his wrist. In his memory, there was a red string with a Buddha bead from his grandfather in this spot.

He remembered that before he went to prison for Ye Wenbin, he fought with his long-trusted older brother, Wang Chenghui, for Ye Wenbin’s sake. During the fight, he accidentally lost the Buddha bead, and afterward, a red mole inexplicably appeared on his wrist.

If those memories were really just a dream, that mole would not exist.

It was all real… all of it was real.

Jiang Rui opened his eyes and looked outside through the blurred glass of the worn red wooden window frame. There were people moving around outside, and he could occasionally hear bits of conversation.

He propped himself up. His thin, short-sleeved shirt was soaked with sweat. Perhaps because of the long night of dreams, he felt weak all over. He sat on the edge of the bed for a while to recover before he had the strength to put on his shoes and walk out.

As he expected, the people talking outside were his parents and his aunt and her husband.

When his mother, He Fulan, saw her son come out, she immediately took off her own jacket and hurried toward him. She scolded him, “You silly child, I turn my back for a moment and you’re already awake. Your forty-degree fever just broke, and you’re only wearing this much? Are you trying to torture yourself or me… Here, put on mine first. I’ll go get you a jacket.”

Jiang Rui felt a bit dazed. He remembered a high fever like this. Because it was discovered late, it even damaged his brain a little. While it didn’t seem to affect his daily conduct, its impact on his studies was obvious.

He used to be a top student in his primary school class and was accepted into the best middle school in town. But after the high fever, his grades steadily declined. He ended up attending a mediocre high school in town and gave up on university after graduation to go work in Qing City.

His aunt, He Fumei, saw her nephew’s pale face after his illness and felt heartbroken. She quickly went over to hold his hand, wanting to offer some words of comfort, but was startled by how cold his hand was. She immediately rubbed his hands and blew on them to warm him up. “Rui Rui, you scared your mother last night. If she hadn’t been careful and gone to cover you with a blanket and found you were in a bad state, you would have been in danger. You have to take care of your body from now on, you hear me?”

He Fumei only had two daughters and had always dreamed of having a son, but she had hurt her body while giving birth to her youngest daughter and couldn’t get pregnant again. Therefore, she deeply loved her older sister’s only son. If she could, she would have taken on his illness for him.

Jiang Rui’s hand slowly warmed up, and he gave a gentle smile to his aunt. “I know, Auntie.”

He Fumei looked at her nephew, who was uncharacteristically less distant and formal with her, and smiled too. She took a jade Guan Yin statue from her bag and put it on him. “This is a gift I brought you this time, Rui Rui. I heard that jade is good for people and can ward off evil. You’ve been weak since you were a child, so wearing this will be good for you.”

Jiang Rui stared at the Guan Yin. He had no memory of this piece. He figured it was because he had refused his aunt’s kind gesture back then.

He Fumei was too beautiful and married a man nearly ten years her senior, which was considered quite rebellious in the countryside and led to some nasty rumors. Because of those rumors, Jiang Rui was often looked down on as a child, so he was quite cold toward this aunt. He usually seemed gentle and had a good temper, but he was very strong-willed. His aunt had given him many things before, but he never accepted any of them. Even when his mother, feeling for her sister, would accept them for him, he would insist that they be returned. Because of this, he had been beaten many times.

Jiang Rui was no longer the naive, ignorant child he once was. He could see at a glance whether his aunt’s affection was genuine or an act. He wouldn’t refuse her pure love and wouldn’t hurt her feelings again.

“Thank you, Auntie.” Jiang Rui said with a look of adoration as he touched the white jade Guan Yin on his neck. Jade of this quality would be worth at least a hundred thousand yuan in the future, though its price was not so high at the moment.

He Fumei had been prepared for rejection but was overjoyed when her nephew accepted her gift, and her eyes welled up with happy tears. It took her a while to compose herself. He Fulan, who had just come out with a jacket for her son, saw this scene and felt deeply relieved.

Although Jiang Jianjun didn’t like his sister-in-law and found it tiresome to talk to his brother-in-law, who was nearly ten years older than himself, he still deeply loved his son. Seeing that his son had willingly accepted the gift, he said nothing more. People in the countryside at that time didn’t know much about jade and had no concept of its value, thinking of it as just a trinket for a child.

After watching Jiang Rui put on the jacket, He Fulan said, “Rui Rui, I asked for a leave of absence for you this morning and told your homeroom teacher about your condition. Your teacher said to rest and get better before going back to school.”

Jiang Rui’s illness seemed severe, but once the fever broke, he was fine. After some thought, Jiang Rui didn’t refuse his mother and teacher’s kindness. The dream from last night made him feel like he was in another world, seeing his family again after decades, especially his mother, who had died young in his memories. Staying home for a few days to spend time with his mother seemed like a good idea.

Since his aunt and her husband were visiting today, He Fulan was personally cooking a feast. A few dishes still weren’t ready, so after giving her son a few instructions, she went back to the kitchen.

He Fumei followed to help, and Jiang Jianjun went to get his prized white liquor to have a good drink with his brother-in-law, Zhou Yongping.

Although Zhou Yongping’s clothes and style were out of place in this rural village, he was an honest man. Because of his deep love for his wife, he also cared for his nephew. He took advantage of Jiang Rui’s parents’ absence to slip a five-yuan note into Jiang Rui’s pocket, winking at him to not tell his parents.

Jiang Jianjun had a straightforward, proud temper and disliked Zhou Yongping’s “big boss” demeanor the most. However, Zhou Yongping was very respectful of his brother-in-law and always tried to save him face.

Jiang Rui nodded and smiled at his uncle.

Sunlight filtered through the dense grape leaves, sprinkling onto the young man’s face. He couldn’t help but squint his eyes slightly, looking like a lazy cat or a disguised beast lying in wait, ready to pounce.