"Love you, love you, love you forever, I can do it every day, month, year, until eternity..."
The music, slightly crackling from the loudspeakers, woke Yu Zhou.
He sat up, no longer on the soft Simmons bed of a business room in a riverside hotel. Instead, it was a small wooden plank made from two long benches.
As far as his eyes could see, there were rows of treadle sewing machines, workers in faded, washed-out uniforms, and windows with yellow paint peeling in a grid pattern.
Such a familiar scene.
"Where is this? The Second Textile Factory?"
Yu Zhou slapped himself hard. Hiss! It hurt. But he could still hear Aaron Kwok's "Love You, Love You, Love You Forever" playing from the broadcast.
Yu Zhou hardened his resolve and slapped himself again. It hurt even more.
Rubbing his stinging face, he looked towards the wall of the workshop.
The calendar read December 3, 1991.
Yu Zhou froze, struck by lightning.
He had been reborn? Back thirty years?
It was in this very year that he and his wife, both twenty-three years old, heard news in advance. They were on the list for layoffs and would be dismissed by the end of the year.
After discussing with their entire family, Yu Zhou and Jiang Jie decided to use all their savings, plus all the money they had borrowed, a total of 600 yuan, to give to Deputy Factory Director Liu Dalong, who was in charge of the reform committee. They hoped to at least secure one job.
However, they didn't anticipate that Liu Dalong would not only want the money but also the woman. While Jiang Jie was delivering the money, he forcibly molested her in his office. Unable to bear such humiliation, Jiang Jie chose to commit suicide.
At that time, Yu Zhou was filled with a desire for revenge. He abandoned everything, stopped working, and repeatedly petitioned, all to bring down Liu Dalong.
He was misunderstood. His in-laws were completely disappointed and forcibly took away their daughter.
Father and daughter were separated for over a decade until their daughter grew up and they saw each other again.
Although Liu Dalong was eventually arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment due to the exposure of his criminal acts, it was not his doing; it was merely because Liu Dalong's backer had fallen. His evil deeds could no longer be concealed.
After resolving Liu Dalong's issue, Yu Zhou turned back, intending to compensate his parents, in-laws, and daughter, only to find it was too late. No one paid him any attention. His daughter even came to hate him, wishing he would die.
Although he eventually achieved some success by partnering with others to start a business on Taobao using demolition compensation,
From then on, he became utterly alone.
A lifetime of regrets!
And now, he was reborn, back to the starting point of everything, the day of the family's drastic change.
"Wife, this life, I will definitely protect you and our daughter well, give you a good life, and return ten or even a hundred times what I owed you in my past life."
Yu Zhou's eyes couldn't help but redden. He turned and headed straight for the administrative building of the Second Factory.
"I hope it's not too late, no... it must not be too late..."
His footsteps quickened, entering, going upstairs. He remembered Liu Dalong's office was on the third floor.
It was work time, and the spacious corridor of the administrative office was deserted. Yu Zhou walked to the office door with the nameplate of the Deputy Factory Director.
The carved glass of the office window was completely covered with front-page newspapers, along with thick curtains. It was impossible to see anything inside.
However, faintly, Yu Zhou could hear his wife's cries.
"Let... let me go..."
In an instant, Yu Zhou's scalp tingled. He kicked the old wooden door with all his might. The bang bang bang sound immediately drew curses from inside.
"Damn it, who's kicking the door in broad daylight? Don't you want to live?"
Creak! The door was pushed open.
Liu Dalong, furious, opened the door and was startled to see Yu Zhou.
"Yu Zhou? It's you? Why are you going crazy here during work hours?"
"You call me crazy? You despicable dog!"
Yu Zhou, already enraged, kicked out with his foot, sending Liu Dalong sprawling to the ground.
His fists rained down on Liu Dalong.
"You still dare to touch my wife."
"Shameless dog."
"Ouch, ouch." Liu Dalong, a man in his forties, couldn't withstand the beating from the young Yu Zhou. He moaned and cried out repeatedly.
Jiang Jie, who had been stunned for a moment, finally came to her senses.
She quickly walked over and pulled Yu Zhou back.
"Da Zhou, stop hitting him. Otherwise, there will be trouble."
Yu Zhou finally stopped his attack. Just as in his memory, Jiang Jie, still wearing her work clothes, looked a bit disheveled, but thankfully, nothing serious had happened. It was fortunate he had arrived in time!
"Wife, how are you? Did this dog harm you?"
At Yu Zhou's question, Jiang Jie burst into tears. She had just witnessed the harshness of society.
"It's okay, it's okay! I'm here... I'm here..."
Yu Zhou hugged Jiang Jie, letting her tears soak his work clothes.
After crying for a while, Jiang Jie's fear subsided. She then became somewhat surprised.
How could this usually quiet man suddenly become so heroic and arrive in the nick of time today? Jiang Jie blushed slightly at this thought.
Yu Zhou patted his wife's back, comforting her, and then said,
"You go home first. I'll talk to this guy."
Although he had countless things he wanted to say upon seeing Jiang Jie again, he had a score to settle first.
At this moment, although he lacked the means to bring down Liu Dalong, he at least wanted to get some interest back from the person who had ruined their family for a lifetime.
"Da Zhou, you mustn't be impulsive..."
Jiang Jie glanced at Liu Dalong, who was still groaning on the floor. She looked at Yu Zhou with concern, afraid he might do something rash.
"Trust me, it'll be fine. I'll handle it. You go home quickly."
Jiang Jie nodded. Although still worried, she obediently left the office.
Inside the office, only Yu Zhou and Liu Dalong remained.
Watching Jiang Jie leave, Liu Dalong, who had recovered slightly, also got up groaning.
"Ouch, ouch. You brat! You dare to lay a hand on me? I'm telling you, you're finished. I'll call the police and have you arrested. Get ready for jail."
But Yu Zhou was unfazed. Instead, he sneered, "You call the police, go ahead if you can! I know your brother-in-law, Deputy Mayor Yang, is in a critical period of his election for Mayor.
If this matter reaches the police station, let's see who's in the right. If they find out you intended to force yourself on my wife, it will delay your brother-in-law's election. Humph."
Liu Dalong froze, but only for a moment, then he let out a cold laugh. "You think you can threaten me like this? Your wife is gone now, there's no evidence, the police won't believe you."
Liu Dalong leaned menacingly on the office desk, carelessly pressing the glass surface, making a squeaking sound. He was extremely smug.
In all these years, no one in the Second Factory had dared to threaten him.
Yu Zhou smiled and said slowly,
"I don't have evidence, but if you arrest me, I'll have my wife post big-character posters at the factory every day, hold banners at the government office, and invite reporters to write news stories. I'll make it known everywhere."
"You say that if my wife risks her reputation to cause trouble, will the government and the police take it seriously? And if your other misdeeds are exposed, I'd like to see who ends up worse."
A chill shot from Liu Dalong's feet to his forehead. He never expected that the usually honest and meek Yu Zhou would seem like a monster today.
He had indeed committed many questionable acts during the past few years of SOE reform. It was fine as long as no one pursued it. But if Jiang Jie truly caused a scene every day and stirred up some trouble, who knew what kind of mess it would create.
He was truly scared. If it really affected his brother-in-law's political career, his position as Deputy Factory Director, which provided him with good food and drink, would be over.
"What do you want? I'm telling you in advance, the layoff list is finalized, and both of you are already on it. There's no way to change it."
"Don't worry, I don't want you to change the list. I don't care about this broken factory either. My wife and I will be laid off today. After the list is announced next month, give us the full compensation for being laid off. Oh, and my wife gave you 2,000 yuan today, I want it back."
"Nonsense, your wife clearly gave you 600..." Liu Dalong didn't expect Yu Zhou to try and extort money from him.
"Oh? Did I misremember? Fine, 3,000 it is! Hurry up and give it to me, I'm in a hurry."
"You!"
With things reaching this point, it would be strange if Liu Dalong didn't understand.
Liu Dalong wished he could devour Yu Zhou alive, but he didn't dare.
He opened his desk drawer furiously, took out a stack of RMB in front of Yu Zhou, counted out thirty bills, and slapped them in front of Yu Zhou.
"It's yours. You'd better behave, but I'm warning you, if you really spread this around..."
Before he could finish, Yu Zhou had already taken the money and left without a hint of hesitation.
"Go!"
From the Deputy Factory Director's office, sounds of crashing could be heard...