Renascendo em 1993

“Catch him!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

A buzzing sound echoed in Li Dongling’s ears as his vision gradually shifted from blurry to clear. He saw before him a woman with damp, short hair, dressed plainly in a gray plaid shirt and blue trousers—her modest clothes could not conceal her graceful figure. She seemed familiar, yet strangely distant.

“You dare to keep staring? Just wait until the security department gets here—they’ll gouge your eyes out for sure!” shouted a girl in a bright red sweater, her hair in two braids. She was tugging at Li Dongling’s shirt, glaring fiercely when she saw his eyes lingering on the short-haired woman.

Glancing at the short-haired woman, then at the red-sweatered girl gripping his clothes, and finally at the familiar run-down apartment block, a surge of memories crashed into Li Dongling’s mind. They were brief but unforgettable episodes—ones that left him both furious and helpless whenever he recalled them.

“This is the West City State-Owned Wireless Factory No. 1?!”

He muttered to himself, recalling how he had been working late for over half a month at the Provincial Mechanical Design Bureau. His heart feeling unwell, he’d rested his head on his desk for a moment, never expecting to awaken in this time.

It was 1993. Li Dongling had just graduated from Hanxi Province University of Transportation. Because of a disagreement with his girlfriend An Ruxue, he hadn’t used her father’s connections to stay in Xiyuan, the provincial capital. Instead, he obeyed the job assignment and returned to his hometown