A huge beam of sunlight shines into the bedroom through the glass tiles on the roof. Dust swirls in the beam, looking extremely beautiful; the red lacquered wardrobe looks like it has turned a little darker red. Several quilts wrapped in cloth are neatly stacked on top of a wooden cabinet.
On top of one of the wooden cabinets, there is a jumble of things, as well as a black and white Panda TV.
The dressing table by the bed shows that this room has a female owner.
In the bed, there is a man lying, seemingly in great pain at the moment, his face contorted, and beads of sweat on his forehead.
Is he having a nightmare?
'Ah!'
The man suddenly sat up, panting heavily, his chest rising and falling.
After a while, he calmed down again.
His eyes were a little blank, and he turned his head slightly. Everything in front of him felt terrifyingly familiar.
Uncle Songlin's house!
Suddenly, such a memory came to mind; yes, this place looked like Uncle Songlin's bedroom. When he was a child, he often came to play at Uncle Songlin's house.
Uncle Songlin's name was Han Songlin, and he was a distant relative of the same surname who was about to be released from the five-clothing mourning period. In his memory, he was a very nice person.
I haven't seen him for many years.
'Why am I here? Am I dreaming?'
The man silently checked to see if there was any danger around him, then slowly got up. There were a pair of cloth slippers by the bed.
He stumbled a little and his head hurt!
He rubbed his forehead and felt the sweat.
He put his palm in front of his eyes and looked at the water stains on his palm curiously.
It felt so clear!
Wasn't this a dream? Why did it feel so clear?
A dream?
It wasn't a dream anymore!
I remember now, I died.
I died in a car accident!
At a bend in the road, the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car, and he was thrown off the cliff.
Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, the fear of facing death really made him feel a little uncomfortable.
A trace of desolation appeared on his face, as he realised that he had died.
'So, this is the underworld? But why is it different from what I imagined? After death, can one still retain consciousness?'
'Wait, if you can become a ghost after you die, I should be a ghost now! So, can you come back to life?'
Being a ghost is no better than being a human!
The headache slowly subsided, and Han Ze let out a sigh of relief. The pain was really unbearable.
Although the headache gradually subsided, Han Ze could still feel a slight swelling in his head.
It was really strange!
Do ghosts have to go through all this?
Reaching out to hold the dressing table beside him, Han Ze slowly stood up.
Taking two steps forward, he was lucky enough to be able to walk steadily.
Then, Han Ze suddenly stopped and looked sideways at the dressing table; it was an old-fashioned dressing table that looked a bit old-fashioned in today's eyes.
The entire dressing table was coated with red lacquer, which had obviously been brought as a dowry; the red lacquer was no longer bright and had been used for a certain number of years.
When he was young, Han Ze had seen this dressing table before, and he still had a very beautiful memory of it; a beautiful aunt sitting in front of the dressing table getting dressed.
He couldn't remember her face clearly; anyway, in Han Ze's memory, Uncle Songlin's wife was very beautiful.
Unfortunately, Uncle Songlin and his wife divorced when Han Ze was a few years old.
The reason, he didn't know.
Sitting in front of the dressing table, Han Ze looked at the face in the mirror with some surprise!
It was a very handsome and heroic face!
He had long finger-length hair that was popular in the 1990s, and it was a bit messy; but that didn't affect anything, and it had a bit of an uninhibited feel to it.
'Uncle Songlin!'
Han Ze was a little unsure of how to react, touching his face and feeling it carefully, his gaze fixed on the mirror.
In the end, Han Ze was disheartened!
Did it seem like he had become Uncle Songlin?
How could that be?
Not knowing how much time had passed, Han Ze came back to his senses and stared at the mirror again for a while.
He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, Uncle Songlin was really handsome when he was young!
Uncle Songlin had been in the army, so it goes without saying that his physique was standard.
Even though Uncle Songlin had aged, his physique had remained the same, except that he had a little belly.
In terms of his face, he was still an old handsome guy!
Slowly getting up, Han Ze felt a little weak in the legs, which was a natural reaction after sitting for a long time.
Stepping out of the bedroom, he found himself in the main room!
The shrine was in the middle!
A small wooden table was covered with colourful paper!
On the table were statues of Guanyin, the Jade Emperor, the God of Wealth and other gods!
It was a very familiar sight!
Han Ze had seen it when he was a child!
I heard that when Uncle Songlin was young, he went crazy for a few years.
In the past, Han Ze didn't pay much attention to this and didn't understand it.
Anyway, in Han Ze's memory, Uncle Songlin was quite normal.
He played with a group of children.
At that time, Han Ze liked to run to Uncle Songlin's house very much. At that time, Uncle Songlin had already found a new wife.
Every time, he would cook delicious food for Han Ze and the others.
Han Ze remembered that one summer vacation, they played mahjong every day at Uncle Songlin's house.
Well, when Han Ze was a child, it was Uncle Songlin who taught him how to play mahjong.
All the children in the Han family were taught how to play mahjong by Uncle Songlin.
Why did Uncle Songlin go crazy?
A sudden doubt arose in his mind. He looked at the open main room door, but inside, he couldn't see anyone.
Han Ze's heart once again slightly doubted, but he didn't care, and instead looked at the glass photo frame hanging on the wall.
On it were some photos.
One of the photos was a group photo of Uncle Songlin and his comrades.
Uncle Songlin was a soldier!
Han Ze had also heard from his father that if it hadn't been for his second mother-in-law, Uncle Songlin would have stayed in the army and never returned.
According to the date on the photo, Uncle Songlin had been in the army in the 1980s!
It was during the period of the Self-Defence Counterattack!
Wait, Han Ze felt like he had found the truth.
Thinking about it, he walked back into the bedroom and picked up his shirt.
Six abdominal muscles, okay, that's not important, what's important are the scars on his abdomen!
Uncle Songlin had several scars on his body.
'War trauma syndrome!'
Everything seemed to make sense!
Why had Uncle Songlin gone crazy for a few years after returning home from the army?
So that was it!
Or rather, that should be it.
In those days, there was no such concept.
'So, Uncle Songlin was in the army!' Han Ze really didn't know about this before, and it seemed that Uncle Songlin had never told anyone about it either.
In fact, Uncle Songlin never mentioned the time he was in the army.
This is so unusual!
As an elder, he would have told his younger relatives about his glorious deeds.
Was there a reason behind this?
Han Ze stood in front of the photo frame again, looking at the photo of Uncle Songlin and his comrades.
Suddenly, Han Ze felt a pang in his heart.
'Are they still alive?'
Han Ze suddenly felt his heart racing, and a series of images suddenly appeared in his mind.
Pain!
Unwittingly, his body slowly crouched down, then curled up together.
From his mouth, there was still a constant hissing sound!
Hoo hoo hoo!
A loud gasp for breath, Han Ze opened his mouth wide, staring at the beams of the ceiling, feeling the cool ground air coming from the concrete floor.
Dead!
They're all dead!
The images were of the tragic scenes of war, with comrades falling around him.
I'm alive!
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Han Ze suddenly understood a lot.
This was not the underworld, but still on earth.
I, Han Ze, have now returned 30 years ago and been reborn as my own cousin, Han Songlin.
Han Songlin, who had psychological problems due to war trauma, and who others considered crazy!
It is now early summer 1992!