But her grades had always been good, consistently ranking in the top five of her class, so when the perfect score paper was returned, it didn't attract any unusual attention.
Upon returning home, she helped her mother with chores to the best of her ability. Her mother showed no surprise, because in Wu Caiwei's memory, when she was young, she would go help others pick tea on Saturdays and Sundays, and the money earned would be saved for her mother. During the rice transplanting season, after school, she would put down her schoolbag and head to the fields to work. In the summer, she would help the family wash clothes. Children from rural areas grow up early, and in her impression, she had done all sorts of farm work, so her mother didn't feel that she was any different from usual today.
Looking at the date the teacher had marked on her homework, she finally remembered what time it was. Unfortunately, Grandma had already passed away. To her surprise, she didn't see the father she'd been longing for. At the dinner table, she couldn't help but ask.
"How can you forget as you get older? Didn't you forget that your father went out to work not long ago? Our house was broken, and your father wanted to build a new building. Unfortunately, we didn't have money, so he had to go out to work." Her mother, who had to do farm work and take care of her two daughters, had a lot on her plate and didn't put much thought into it, merely replying casually.
Wu Caiwei remembered what was about to happen. Their house was built a year later, becoming the only two-story house in the village. A few years later, the country planned to build a highway, and their house was rented out by a management department. Her father helped with the work, which was the first time their family had a large sum of money.
Unfortunately, that money was deposited in the bank by her father. As time passed, the money depreciated, and the real estate industry boomed. Their money was not enough to even look at. What could have bought a house back then could only buy a piece of land later, so their family's economic conditions did not improve because of this road construction compensation and her father's tireless work.
That night, sitting under the electric light, her mother was mending the soles of shoes. Wu Caiwei quickly took out her homework to write. For the prices at that time, electricity was still a very expensive commodity. She couldn't use it for too long, otherwise her mother would feel bad when paying the electricity bill.
As she wrote her homework, she looked at her younger sister, who was drawing a little curiously. She couldn't help but pat her head. She was so young and had infinite possibilities. She believed that her return this time would definitely improve her sister's destiny. In her previous life, her sister's life was neither good nor bad, but unfortunately, she didn't get into a good university.
She remembered that her sister's grades were not good when she was young, and she had to repeat a few grades, which made her older. By the time she graduated, she was no longer young. After working for only a few years, she got married. At first, it seemed fine, but as time went by, influenced by the general environment, her life got worse and worse. If she had been able to get into a good university then, she would have had more choices.
At that time, she blamed herself immensely. If she had another chance, she would definitely plan carefully for her sister. It was she who helped her sister fill out the university applications back then, choosing a mediocre major and a mediocre school.
Wu Caiwei's academic performance was already good. With the experience of so many lives, these problems were not worth mentioning to her. She finished the problems in just three minutes. Looking at her sister drawing with a pen, she remembered that children who were taught by their parents adapted very quickly at school. Her own sister, on the other hand, had a very difficult time at school because no one taught her.
So she pulled her sister over and started teaching her. Her mother saw this and couldn't help but frown, telling her to finish her own homework before playing with her sister. Wu Caiwei replied that her homework was already done. Her mother casually picked up her homework to check it. In reality, Wu Caiwei knew that her mother didn't understand a word, but was just pretending to scare her.
Seeing that she showed no signs of guilt, her mother finally showed a satisfied smile. She then remembered the perfect score on the test her daughter had brought back today and felt that her daughter was simply smart. A child with such good grades wouldn't lie to her.
Her mother repeated the well-known platitudes from Wu Caiwei's memory, essentially saying that life in the countryside was too hard, and only by studying hard could they change their destiny and fly out of the mountains to seek a new life.
At that time, Wu Caiwei didn't understand the bitterness in her mother's words or the hardships she had endured all her life. She just thought she was a bit nagging. After living so many lives, she finally understood her mother's desire for her daughters to succeed. Her life was already hard enough, working from dawn till dusk, and if they didn't work for a day, they wouldn't have food for the next meal. She didn't want her two daughters to repeat the same cycle, wanting them to be elegantly dressed, sit in offices, and be admired.
Wu Caiwei, changing her usual impatience, nodded firmly and promised her mother that she would definitely get into a good university and find a good job to take them away.
Her mother immediately showed a happy smile, and Wu Caiwei smiled along. In her memory, her mother had gray hair all over. Although she lived a peaceful old age later, she was often bored and unusually lonely, doing nothing all day. If her father were alive to accompany her, would her life have had fewer regrets?
Her father had died in a car accident back then. She was young and hadn't taken good care of him during his hospitalization. Her father had suffered a lot. At that time, her father thought that if anything happened to him, he had to leave money for his children's education, so he didn't go to a major hospital for proper treatment. In fact, his illness was not untreatable. This was something she could never let go of in her life. Since she could be reborn, Wu Caiwei decided that in this life, she would definitely help her father overcome the difficulties, live a good life, and see her achievements, making him proud of her.
In the midst of busyness, it was finally nearing the New Year. Thinking of her father, who would soon return home, she was extremely excited, and even a little timid. She couldn't imagine what her father looked like when he was young, nor could she imagine how she would face him. She had too many words she wanted to say to her father. In her memory, her father was the man who loved her the most in the world, and he was also the eternal pain that she could never mention.
Waking up in the middle of the night, she suddenly heard a voice she dreamed of hearing. She thought she was dreaming, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her face. She wanted to see the other person's appearance clearly, but this time the voice seemed to be getting closer and closer. So she unconsciously opened her eyes, and the next moment, tears blurred her vision. She couldn't help but quietly pinch her thigh. Feeling the pain, she knew this was real. It turned out her father had returned.