Rebooting 60, let's go on a rampage with the orange cat!

In J City in the south, there is a thousand-year-old town with a long history. Surrounded by rolling green hills, it stretches out like a scroll painting. Countless towering chimneys silently reach into the sky, like old men standing in the long river of time, witnessing the passage of time and the changes of the world, and guarding the peace of this town.

The winding C River flows from north to south within the J City area. As a downstream section of the Poyang Lake system, it bisects the main urban area of ​​J City, flowing through every corner of the city. The emerald river meanders gracefully downstream. The river's current is swift, sometimes murmuring softly among the rapids and shallows, and sometimes crashing against the reefs with a roaring surge.

On the distant river, there are boats laden with goods and small awning boats ferrying people across or casting nets to catch fish. People who need to cross the river only need to pay a penny and wait for a few people, and the boatman will take them to the other side.

One day in July 1959, after the rain had stopped and the sun was shining, the river was slightly rippled, and the narrow, winding riverbanks were exposed, revealing pebbles of various shapes and sizes.

Several little boys on the riverbank picked up small, round stones washed by the river and skipped them across the water.

The pebbles lightly tapped against the water's surface, leaping several times in succession, creating ripples that spread outwards. The splashing sound was like heavenly music, blending with the joyful shouts and laughter of children.

Some mischievous older children were also using long bamboo poles to hit something on the water. Because of several days of heavy rain, some villages were flooded, and wet objects would often float down from upstream.

Sometimes, wooden basins and buckets drift slowly across the river, swaying gently with the current, as if telling their own stories. Occasionally, even pieces of sand and wood float by; these pieces of wood may have once been part of a building or a boat, but have now found a new home in the river.

What's most surprising is that some of the driftwood has one or two hens standing on it, tightly protecting their chicks, creating a heartwarming and interesting scene.

In a dense willow grove, sunlight filters through the leaves, creating dappled patterns of light and shadow. Under one of the willow trees, there is a huge rock, and a little girl of about seven or eight years old sits on it.

The little girl wore a delicate and beautiful wreath made of willow branches on her head. She wore a white shirt and a blue pinafore dress, and her hair was styled in two braids, making her look fresh and adorable.

At this moment, she was bowing her head, intently weaving a willow wreath in her hands, her fingers nimbly weaving between the willow branches. Her two calves dangled from the rocks, swaying gently, as if blending into the surrounding natural environment.

Beside the little girl stood another girl. This girl had dark skin and a thin build, but her eyes revealed a stubbornness and jealousy. She also wore a newly braided willow wreath askew on her head, and her khaki short-sleeved shirt and blue trousers looked somewhat worn, with patches on the bottom and knees.

She stood quietly to the side, but her heart was filled with envy and resentment. Her eyes kept darting around An'an's dress, as if she had developed a strong interest in it.

She said enviously and out of control, "An'an, your dress is so pretty! I saw you wearing work pants yesterday. Can I borrow them? You have so many clothes anyway. My mom said I don't need to make new clothes, so I can borrow yours. That way, I won't waste money on cloth coupons." (In dialect, "mother" is called "mother," and "grandmother" is called "mother.")

Shi Xiaoyan is one year younger than Shi Huai'an, and the two are cousins. Shi Huai'an's father works at the J City Foodstuff Company, and the family lives and works in Jing City; Shi Xiaoyan's family farms in the countryside.

Under the influence of her mother's words and deeds, Xiaoyan possessed both the naivety of a child and the shrewdness of an adult; her whole family was scheming against her uncle's family.

Upon hearing this, Shi Huai'an's dark eyes sparkled like two dazzling black gems. He then smiled and said, "Xiaoyan, I hear them say on the radio every day, 'Self-reliance leads to abundance.' My mother works very hard making clothes, why don't you ask her to make them for you?"

Xiaoyan pouted, feeling both ashamed and angry, muttering, "You stingy girl! Anyway, Auntie will give it to me, so it doesn't matter if you disagree." (In the local dialect, Auntie is called "Da Muma" in Chinese.) She thought to herself: How could the clothes made by my own mother be as nice as the ones in the city?

She then fixed her gaze on the willow ring in An'an's hand, and said angrily, "Can't I have this willow ring?"

“No, this is a gift for Mom.” An’an shook her head in disgust at her entitled attitude, her two little braids swaying on either side of her cheeks: “You can make it yourself, it’s very simple.”

Xiaoyan, repeatedly rejected, angrily retorted loudly, "This won't do, that won't do, are you doing this on purpose? Wait till I get back and tell your uncle and aunt, then let's see what you do!"

Shi Huai'an shrugged, not even looking at her, and said, "Whatever."

Xiaoyan was furious, feeling ashamed and angry. Driven by revenge, she shouted, "What makes you so special? You'll still be marrying into my family eventually. My mother said you'll be my brother's wife, and everything in your family will belong to me!" She added viciously, "If you don't behave, you'll regret it!"

Shi Huai'an rolled his eyes and said disdainfully, "Nonsense, I would never be your brother's wife. Shi Xiaoyan, are you crazy?"

Shi Xiaoyan retaliated by shouting loudly, "You're just an adopted child! Your biological parents never wanted you!" Her voice was full of malice and mockery, as if she wanted to vent all her anger on Huai'an across from her.

"You're talking nonsense! You're the one who was adopted! Your whole family was adopted! Shi Xiaoyan, get out of my way!" Shi Huai'an glared at her, unable to bear it any longer, then turned away and ignored her.

Although she was angry, she wasn't actually furious. After all, in the streets and alleys of this small town, adults often joked that their children were found, and the places where they were found were incredibly varied: some said they found them in a trash can, some said they found them while digging sweet potatoes, some said they found them in a toilet, and some even claimed they found them by accident while cutting open a watermelon.

These half-true, ambiguous jokes are easily laughed off by both adults and children, without surprising anyone. It seems every family has its own legends and stories of this kind.

However, An'an was very bothered by the talk of "daughter-in-law" and felt extremely disgusted and repulsed, but there was nothing she could do about it. Some of her strange relatives were really speechless.

The children a little further away had already pricked up their little ears to eavesdrop, and some of the more mischievous ones had already started jumping, clapping, and singing around Shi Yaozu by the river:

"Little worm, long tail, got married, forgot his mother, white pancakes, rolled with sugar, wife, wife, you try first, I'm going to the backyard to see my parents, when they come, don't let them taste... Hahaha..."

Shi Yaozu's face flushed, and his brows furrowed slightly, but he didn't speak. Every year, they would come to their uncle's house to "beg for money," and after many years of visits, they had become very familiar with the children there. These children were all neighbors, and they played and frolicked together, spending many happy times together.

He was four years older than An'an and was her cousin. Before giving birth to Yaozu, his mother had two sons who died young from illness. So she cherished Yaozu, her only son, like the apple of her eye; he was the apple of the family's eye.

In rural areas, twelve years old is not considered young. Some children are betrothed as children, and some families raise child brides. It is common for children to get married at fifteen or sixteen. No one cares whether they get a marriage certificate or not. However, as long as the parents have made it official and held a wedding banquet, they are recognized by the clan and relatives in the village.

His parents valued his marriage very much. A girl from the countryside was naturally not a good match, but a girl from Huai'an in the city was barely acceptable. In his parents' eyes, this was a done deal. As long as they asked, his older brother's family would be overjoyed. However, the children were still too young to discuss it further.

Shi Yaozu didn't really understand these things, but he figured he could always trust his parents. He was the only boy in his grandfather's lineage, so why wouldn't they prioritize him?

If you absolutely have to find a wife, marrying An'an from the city would be a good option. When she grows up, she can take over her uncle's job and receive a government-subsidized food ration.

It's not easy to find a job in the city. I heard that a formal job can be resold for more than 500 yuan, which is equivalent to two years' salary for others.

Who wouldn't want to be a city dweller? He certainly didn't want to spend his whole life in the countryside, toiling in the fields.

In rural areas, only cadres with connections can obtain job quotas and get their children into good units or recommend them to worker-peasant universities. Since his family didn't have any connections, they naturally had to cling tightly to their urban relatives like his uncle.

Marriage between close relatives with the same surname and bloodline is discouraged, but his mother had secretly told him that An'an was adopted, and that his uncle's property and job should rightfully be inherited by him, not by a daughter with a different surname. After all, one should not leave the good stuff to outsiders.

In their rural area, even biological daughters have no right to inherit property, let alone be buried in the ancestral grave. If an uncle has no biological children, his nephews will have to visit his grave and burn paper money for him after he dies.

A married daughter is considered like water spilled from a bowl, no longer belonging to the family. Families without sons are destined to be exploited by their relatives until their line ends, let alone those with adopted daughters.

Of course, these were all their family's private, self-evident thoughts, and they dared not say them openly. Now it's a new society, and some things still need to be done in a proper way. They just kept it to themselves, since they still relied on their uncle to send them some money every month to help with household expenses.

These past few days, his mother, Wu Yue'e, has been using her illness as an excuse to go to the city for medical treatment, while the whole family of four has been coming to his uncle's house to freeload. They won't leave until they've squeezed a bit of money out of them. Although the houses in the city are small and not as comfortable as in the countryside, there are more people, more houses, and more cars, which is very attractive to children from the countryside.

Xiaoyan loves to talk nonsense; she's a complete idiot who's good for nothing but causing trouble.

Shi Yaozu's face was so black it looked like ink could be squeezed out. He turned to his sister and yelled, "If you don't want to play, go home and stay there."

Normally, her brother takes good care of his sister. Whenever someone in the village bullies Xiaoyan or Xiaoyan gets into a fight with someone, Shi Yaozu always stands up for her without hesitation. But today, her brother didn't give her any face at all, which made Xiaoyan feel embarrassed in front of everyone.

Shi Xiaoyan was no pushover either. At home, she had been taught by her mother, Wu Yue'e, to be competitive and unwilling to admit defeat, not to mention she was full of ulterior motives.

With so many children watching her make a fool of herself, her competitive spirit was stirred, and she began to show off. It seemed that only the joy of swaggering and showing off could fill the void in her life and demonstrate that she was not to be trifled with.

Once Shi Xiaoyan's inner demons stirred, she suddenly lunged forward and said fiercely, "Hmph! You won't give it to me, but I'll take it anyway."

With red eyes, she snatched the willow ring from Huai'an's hand without hesitation, shoved him forward, and cursed evilly, "Go to hell! I'm going to take all your good stuff, what can you do about it?" Then she quickly turned around, jumped off the rock, and ran away.

With a scream, Shi Huai'an was suddenly pushed into the water with a "plop".

The water splashed up and swirled rapidly. An'an's hand, which was raised above the water, sank instantly. The willow wreath on her head fell off and silently spun a few times with the waves before floating alone on the surface.

Some sharp-eyed children on the riverbank in the distance spotted it and immediately shouted, "Help! Someone's fallen into the water!"

Some panicked and ran to the shore to ask adults for help.

A young man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, wearing green military pants and a white shirt, ran towards the spot where Shi Huai'an had fallen into the water. Shi Yaozu was also frightened and hurriedly ran towards the riverbank.

Shi Xiaoyan ran over angrily and shouted to stop him, "Brother, don't worry about that stingy girl. An'an can float. Don't be fooled by her."

The boy in white took off his shirt and pushed him away forcefully, rushing forward.

Shi Xiaoyan fell to the ground, her buttocks throbbing with pain from the stones on the riverbank. She angrily raised her fist and shouted, "You dare push me? Brother, go beat him up!"

Shi Yaozu slapped her on the back of the head and scolded, "Idiot, go and call for help, or you'll be finished."

The water was very deep along this section of the riverbank. Shi Huai'an was a swimmer, but she was caught off guard and, in her panic, her left leg suddenly cramped. Her consciousness was instantly overwhelmed by the surging water, and her mind went blank.

But the instinct for survival made her struggle in the water, her arms frantically flailing against the waves, and the cramping pain in her legs prevented her from crying out.

A red rope tied around An'an's neck floated out of her collar with the buoyancy of the water, and a milky white teardrop-shaped stone hanging from the rope suddenly emitted a faint halo.

In the sweltering heat of June, the water was unusually cold. An'an immediately felt a sense of suffocation, as if death was tightly gripping her neck. Unable to struggle, she slowly sank into the water.

The water level returned to calm, but the whirlpool beneath the surface gaped open as if about to devour a tender life...