Doing It Over Again

When the midterm exam results came out, no one in Class 1 was surprised to see Shen Shao ranked first. They had become almost numb to hearing teachers praise him all the time.

The first afternoon class was Chinese Literature. As usual after returning test papers, it was customary to read two of the best essays from the class aloud. This time, the essay topic was "My Parents." Among all the essays about how hardworking and caring their parents were, Shen Shao's essay stood out so distinctly that the Chinese teachers spent considerable time discussing how to grade it.

The Chinese teacher of Class 1 was a retired gentleman who had been rehired. Every time before class when students stood up to greet him with "Good morning, teacher," he would formally bow back before letting them sit down to begin the lesson.

"Everyone's scores have improved this time, though there are several knowledge points with high error rates that you need to pay attention to," Teacher Gu explained some common mistakes, then picked up two unreturned papers. "There are two essays that all the Chinese teachers found exceptional. I'll read them to you all, so you can learn from them and write even better next time."

The first essay read was from the class monitor for Chinese Literature. As Shen Shao listened, he thought this girl's writing skills were indeed quite good. Her essay was moving and clearly showed how much her parents loved her and how understanding she was.

"The second essay is from Shen Shao," Teacher Gu picked up the paper then put it down again, looking at the students below the podium. "I've heard some rumors lately. You're all middle school students now, not second or third graders. You should know how to distinguish right from wrong."

The whole class knew Teacher Gu was referring to Shen Shao, so they all turned to look at him.

Teacher Gu pretended not to notice their reaction and began reading Shen Shao's essay.

"Mother lay in the cold coffin. I wanted to cry, but remembering what adults said about tears preventing the deceased from completing their cycle of reincarnation, I held back my tears."

"The day father left, the weather was bright and clear - so clear that from inside the house, I could see the sweater under his suit jacket. Mother had stayed up late knitting that sweater for him just months ago, but now he was wearing it as he left with someone else to seek his happiness."

Twelve-year-olds are still innocent but also very kind-hearted. Before the essay was finished, many girls in class had tears in their eyes, and even the usually mischievous boys felt heavy-hearted. They couldn't imagine what kind of life Shen Shao had lived, but they knew that they themselves couldn't survive without their parents.

Yet Shen Shao had managed to do so, while staying diligent in his studies, maintaining a good personality, and remaining warm towards others. They realized it would be too cruel to continue gossiping about him behind his back.

After Chinese class, the atmosphere was more somber than usual break time. Yang Hongqiang, with reddened eyes, put his arm around Shen Shao's shoulders and said, "Xiao Shao, from now on my parents are your parents too. They really like you."

Seeing Yang Hongqiang's expression, Shen Shao smiled and patted his back cheerfully, saying, "Sure, then I'll come to your house for meals every day."

"No problem! Let me tell you, my mom's cooking is absolutely top-notch!" Yang Hongqiang gave a thumbs up. Seeing Shen Shao's cheerful demeanor made him feel less sad.

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Perhaps influenced by Shen Shao's mood, the atmosphere gradually lightened up. But after that day, few people mentioned Shen Shao's parents again. Instead, they became more filial to their own parents, realizing they still had both parents, and their fathers weren't as bad as Shen Shao's.

Soon, students from other classes learned about the essay's content. Gradually, in their minds, Shen Shao became an exemplar who excelled at everything despite his tragic circumstances, and they began to view him as their idol.

In this harmonious atmosphere, the first semester of seventh grade ended, and Shen Shao returned to the countryside with his report card showing he ranked first in the entire county.

Since no one had lived in the house for several months, Shen Shao spent a day cleaning it. He specifically found some herbs to burn for mosquito repellent, placing them in an old enamel basin to fumigate the house.

After finishing the cleaning, night had fallen. Shen Shao had just finished washing his feet when he heard someone knocking at the door, with his uncle's dog barking fiercely outside.

"Shen Shao, are you home?" Seeing the lights on, the person outside called out loudly, "I'm Village Committee Secretary Shen Quanfa. We need to discuss something with you."

Shen Shao unlocked and opened the main door to find three middle-aged men standing outside with some items in their hands. They turned off their flashlights after he opened the door. He recognized them as the village secretary, director, and accountant, so he invited them in to sit and went to the kitchen to pour three cups of tea.

The tea was cheap bitter buckwheat tea that cost only one yuan per box, but the three men didn't mind. After taking a few sips, Shen Quanfa put down his cup and said, "Shen Shao, I heard you're studying in the advanced class at the experimental middle school. How are your grades?"

"They're okay," Shen Shao glanced outside the window and asked concernedly, "Uncle Shen, why are you traveling so late at night?"

"What do you mean just okay? I heard from my daughter Fengwa that you ranked first in the entire county this time. You've brought honor to Shen Family Village. People from other villages have been asking me about you," said Shen Quanfa, whose daughter was in eighth grade at the experimental middle school and knew about Shen Shao's situation at school. "We're here representing the whole village to bring you some things. How can you spend New Year with nothing prepared, being just a young boy?"

Every year during Spring Festival, the village would distribute goods to disadvantaged households. Originally, children like Shen Shao who hadn't come of age wouldn't be counted, but after learning about his academic achievements, Shen Quanfa felt this child had potential and might become Shen Family Village's golden phoenix. So after discussing with the village committee members, they decided to add Shen Shao to the list.

Shen Shao tried to decline, but Shen Quanfa was very insistent and left the items anyway.

After seeing the three men out, Shen Shao returned inside and checked what the village had given him. Two jin of lard, five jin of cooking oil, three jin of fresh pork, three jin of cured meat, and a chicken weighing about two or three jin. These items might not seem much in the future, but they were quite decent at the time.

After putting everything away, Shen Shao decided to buy some New Year goods tomorrow. Although he was alone, he shouldn't let the holiday pass too carelessly.

Early the next morning, Shen Shao went to town, bought New Year supplies, and headed home. On the way back, he met some villagers returning home and walked with them.

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that after his reincarnation, his memory had become exceptionally good, as if his soul had been cleansed. Even his physical movements seemed quicker than in his previous life. Of course, it could also be that his different mental state made everything feel more natural.

He could recall the family relationships and connections of anyone he had met before, finding them easily in his memory. At first, he hadn't noticed his improved memory, assuming it was normal for his mind to be sharper after changing from a middle-aged man to a child. But now, after nearly half a year since his reincarnation, he realized that his brain hadn't worked this well in his previous life at this age. Back then, he had needed to repeatedly recite classical Chinese texts many times before becoming fluent, but now it came much more easily.

He couldn't figure out why this was happening, so he decided not to dwell on it. After all, if something as incredible as reincarnation could happen, having a sharper mind didn't seem so strange in comparison.

"Shen Shao, you bought so many things by yourself. Aren't you spending New Year with your uncle?" A villager named Shen Guanghui, seeing Shen Shao struggling with his purchases, offered to put them in his carrying pole. Being used to farm work, he found carrying an extra ten-plus jin made little difference. Having heard that overexertion could affect children's growth, he wanted to help where he could.

"My uncle's family invited me to spend the holiday with them, but I don't want to be a burden," Shen Shao replied with a gentle smile. "I'll have to live independently eventually, so it's good to learn early."

Hearing this, Shen Guanghui felt a pang of sadness and grew even more contemptuous of Shen Shao's father, Shen Jianbing. What kind of person would drive his wife to suicide by poison over some mistress and then abandon his own son?

Fortunately, Shen Shao was both sensible and ambitious. Otherwise, wouldn't they have ruined a promising child? He had heard that Shen Shao was particularly well-liked by his teachers, and his academic performance ranked among the top in the entire county. The Shen Family Village had never produced such a capable child before Shen Shao.

"Looks like our little Shao has grown into a young man," Shen Guanghui smiled, saying nothing more. Shen Shao's uncle, Shen Jianjun, was an honest man, but his family's circumstances weren't good, so he probably couldn't help Shen Shao much even if he wanted to.

These days, no family was well-off, and teenage boys like Shen Shao ate a lot. Not to mention the cost of education – how could Shen Jianjun afford it?

When others didn't bring up these matters, Shen Shao felt relieved. He knew his uncle and aunt were kind people, but his two female cousins didn't like him much. He didn't want to cause any discord in his uncle's family, especially since he was used to spending New Year's alone anyway.

On New Year's Eve, Shen Shao woke up early, started the wood fire, and began stewing what needed to be stewed and chopping what needed to be chopped. Soon, the aroma of meat wafted from the pot.

When Shen Hong and Shen Yuan passed by Shen Shao's house, they caught the smell of cooking meat. Shen Hong sniffed and whispered, "Sister, Shen Shao is stewing meat at home."

Shen Yuan glanced at the smoking chimney and said, "Why do you care what he's cooking? It's not like he's eating our food."

"Who says he hasn't eaten our food?" Shen Hong snorted. "Come on, let's go home and eat meat too. Mom bought a braised duck yesterday. I smelled it in the cupboard this morning – it's so fragrant." She had braised duck to eat, while Shen Shao didn't. Previously, villagers had urged their parents to have another child, a son, to continue the family line. Now that Shen Shao had no parents and was doing well in school, people were saying their parents might adopt him. But she and her sister were their parents' real children, and the family was poor – they could only afford new clothes during New Year's. Why should they spend money raising Shen Shao just because he was a boy?

Liu Shulian, hearing her younger daughter's words from the courtyard, sighed. After the sisters returned home, she reprimanded Shen Hong, but seeing her daughter cry so sadly, she couldn't bring herself to say more. She hadn't taken the outside talk seriously, but the children had. Thinking about this, she sighed again and abandoned her original plan to send Shen Shao a braised duck leg.

At noon, while Liu Shulian's family was eating, Shen Shao came over with an enamel bowl containing fish: "Uncle, Aunt, this is the sauerkraut fish I made. Please try it – we should have fish for the New Year, as it symbolizes abundance."

Seeing the steaming fish, Liu Shulian quickly took the bowl from Shen Shao's hands, worried it might burn him. She then filled an empty bowl with some braised duck and cured meat, and only felt relieved after Shen Shao accepted it.

After Shen Shao left with the bowl, Liu Shulian and Shen Jianjun looked at the fragrant sauerkraut fish, their hearts heavy with a mix of guilt, shame, and helplessness.