Rebirth to Save Myself

Su Xia was shaken awake. Her head was still buzzing, and she didn't understand what had happened. She habitually asked, "What time is it, Yue?"

"What? Yue, are you still half asleep? Get up and go to school, you're going to be late." A familiar voice rang out, and Su Xia looked up to see that it was her grandmother.

"Grandma, why are you different?" Su Xia asked blankly.

"What's different? Hurry up and get dressed for school." Grandma said, then turned and left the room.

Only then did Su Xia look around. It was her old home. The familiar wooden cabinet leaned against the wall, and an old-fashioned television set stood in the corner, followed by a large, imposing figure. Next to the television was a window, sunlight streaming in and casting shadows on the white cabinet and the liver-colored floor. Beside the window was a liver-colored door; her grandmother hadn't closed it when she passed away, so the sunlight outside was so blinding that Su Xia had to close her eyes.

"What's going on? Am I dreaming?" Su Xia muttered to herself, looking down at her hands. They were so small. There was no scar from when she was eight years old, when she accidentally cut her middle finger with the axe while chopping wood. There were no marks from when she was ten, when she was feeding rabbits and was accidentally scratched by one. There were no calluses from working tirelessly from twelve to eighteen. Her hands still showed smooth skin, completely different from her hands at twenty-nine. What was going on?

"Su Xia, what are you dawdling for? Everyone else has gone to school. Don't think you can skip school just because you're in kindergarten. Your parents paid the tuition!" Grandma's angry roar came from downstairs.

Su Xia got out of bed and walked out of the room. Outside was a wooden corridor about 1.5 meters wide. She touched the railing in disbelief. It still felt the same as she remembered. The wood was well-finished, without any splinters. It was so familiar yet so strange.

Through the railing, she could see the red brick and tile house on the ground floor below. It was the kitchen that her father and the neighbors had built brick by brick. She could even remember the location of the table, chairs, and stove inside, and the small bench her father had made for her to eat on.

Actually, her father treated her very well back then. Because she was his first child, she enjoyed all of her parents' love during those limited five years. Her father would take her to the river to catch fish, make her a huge lantern, and even make her a toy gun out of wood. But this happy time didn't last long; her mother became pregnant. In that era of strict birth control, being the first child but a girl inevitably hurt her parents with the gossip from the neighbors.

So, shortly after her mother gave birth to her younger sister, they took her to another city. Otherwise, their family would have faced huge fines. And she, naturally, became a left-behind child, living with her grandmother in her hometown.

"You little rascal, I've called you so many times, and you're still daydreaming." Grandma couldn't stand Su Xia's slow pace, so she went upstairs again, dragged Su Xia into the room to change clothes, and then took her schoolbag and dragged her to school.

On the way, Su Xia looked at the familiar streets, her stomach rumbling, so she said, "Grandma, I'm hungry, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Eat, eat, all you ever think about is food. You're about to be late for school and you're still thinking about food. You'll come back hungry for lunch." Grandma ignored Su Xia's rumbling stomach and quickly led her to school.

Knowing her grandmother's temperament, Su Xia kept quiet and tried to take bigger steps so that she wouldn't be half-dragged along by her grandmother.

But Grandma was still not satisfied. As she walked, she said, "It's all because of you that I have to take you to school. It's just a short walk, but there are chickens and ducks to feed, clothes that haven't been washed, and I still have to prepare lunch. Really, why are you such a troublesome little girl?"

The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart, so Su Xia could only remain silent. Her grandmother had never liked her, partly because although her parents had moved away, leaving her in her grandmother's care, they had no money to give her. Her grandmother was furious that she had to pay for her granddaughter's upbringing. So she treated her poorly when it came to food, rarely giving her meat for ten days or two weeks at a time. But at least she wouldn't starve; days like today, without breakfast, were commonplace.

Although Su Xia wasn't quite sure what was going on, she knew she couldn't resist or do anything unusual, otherwise her grandmother would think she was possessed by a ghost, which would be even more troublesome. So she silently observed her surroundings, trying to figure out why she had suddenly become like someone going to kindergarten and had returned to her hometown. She had clearly made plans to go on a trip with Su Yue just two days ago, and there was also her illness. What exactly was going on? She needed to slowly find out the answer.

Grandma took her to the school gate, watched her go inside, and then went home. She wanted to leave the school to find the answer, but was stopped by the student on duty, who said, "Little friend, which class are you in? Class is about to start, you can't go out."

"Thank you, sister. I was a little groggy this morning because I hadn't woken up properly." Su Xia smiled at the student on duty and turned to walk towards the teaching building.

The student on duty was just doing her job, but she was also happy that Su Xia called her "sister" so sweetly. She turned to her companion and shared, "Did you hear that? She just called me 'sister.' What a sweet little sister!"

"So what if you heard it? Your little brother wouldn't call you 'sister' so sweetly." Another student rolled their eyes and stopped another student who was trying to enter the school, saying, "Which grade and class are you in? You'll get points deducted for being late."

"Sister, please spare me! The homeroom teacher will kill me if I get points deducted!"

"Stop being glib, it's useless. Give me your name and grade, hurry up."

"Wang Qiang, third grade."

"Okay, you can go."

"Oh."

On the other side, Su Xia only knew that she was in kindergarten, but her grandmother didn't specify whether it was the small, middle, or large class. She also didn't have any special abilities to know her age, so she could only stand at the bottom of the steps, staring blankly at the three classrooms in front of her.

"Hey, isn't this Su Xia? The bell's rung, what are you still doing there? Come back to the classroom with the teacher." A female voice rang out, and a middle-aged woman walked down the steps, took Su Xia's hand, and led her to the small class.

Luckily, a teacher saved her; otherwise, she would have had to go to every single class. She would probably have become infamous throughout the school, with teachers chatting about how that girl named Su Xia went from class to class asking if the teacher knew her and if she was a student there. Just thinking about it is embarrassing; thankfully, it didn't happen.

Su Xia found a seat in the back row. The younger children mostly played with toys—snowflakes, building blocks, anything to keep them in the classroom from running around. While Su Xia appeared to be playing with toys, she was actually organizing her thoughts about what had happened since she woke up that morning.

She completely disbelieved that she had transmigrated or been reborn. After all, in novels, everyone either had a built-in system or some kind of buff, or they had their own memories and went back in time to change themselves and become top billionaires. Since waking up, she hadn't heard any unfamiliar voices in her head, nor did she feel exceptionally strong or healthy. She hadn't even paid much attention to the lottery; she was just an ordinary person. What use would transmigration or rebirth be? But she hadn't returned to reality yet, and she had even pinched herself to prove she wasn't dreaming. So what was going on?

She spent the whole morning sitting in a daze, or finding a place to sit and daydream during breaks. The teacher noticed something was wrong. All the other children were playing happily, but Su Xia was unusually quiet, as if she wasn't her age. Could she be sick? Remembering how Su Xia had stood blankly at the bottom of the steps that morning, could she have a fever?

Thinking of this, the teacher hurriedly went to Su Xia's side and touched Su Xia's forehead. Her temperature was normal, so she asked, "Su Xia, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Su Xia shook her head, indicating her confusion. She was digging in the sand when the teacher suddenly rushed out, startling her so much that she momentarily forgot where she was in her summary.

"Why have you been so gloomy all morning? I noticed you weren't playing with the other kids. Did they bully you? Tell me."

"No, teacher, I was just thinking about something." Su Xia was grateful for the teacher's thoughtfulness and explained the reason so that she wouldn't worry.

"Children don't have anything on their minds. Go and swing with them." The teacher was relieved and led Su Xia to the swing before leaving.

To prevent the teacher from showing concern for her again, Su Xia could only pretend to join in the other children's play.