Volume One Chapter One: The Son-in-Law Is Not Human

“Get out! Isn’t this just your way of saying you’ve got guts, you’ve got skills? Look at you, suffering over a job! If you’re so tough, don’t eat my food!”
When his father-in-law, Zhang Erniu, spat out those final words, Wang Dong silently set down the coarse vegetable cornbread in his hand.
He packed up the few clothes he’d brought, and walked straight out the door.
The height of summer sweltered, sweat soaking Wang Dong’s face and scalp; whether it was the cornbread disagreeing with him, a touch of heatstroke, or simply disgust for the Zhang family’s behavior, Wang Dong felt sick to his stomach.
He had been reborn, but found himself back at the most humiliating moment of his life.
After six years as an educated youth on the banks of the Nen River, Wang Dong had finally returned home, only to find everything changed beyond recognition.
His parents had passed away, the scant family property divided up by greedy relatives, leaving him no choice but to live with his father-in-law, Zhang Erniu.
He’d spent a year working hard in the ironworks, pouring his wages into supporting the whole household.
When the time finally came for regular worker assignments, Zhang Erniu used his connections to snatch Wang Dong’s position and hand it to his own son, Zhang Tai.
Having gained so much, Zhang Erniu ought to show some respect to his son-in-law, but instead, his arrogance only grew.
Wang Dong understood the reasons well.
First, Zhang Erniu was a local, well-connected in every direction.
Second, and simpler: Wang Dong had lost all value.
After years as an educated youth, his wages had been taken, his job stolen—Wang Dong was like the dregs tossed aside after the medicine was brewed.
He hadn’t even asked for his job back; he merely suggested Zhang Erniu speak to the factory for a temporary position. That brought only sneers and sarcasm, as if Wang Dong was still scheming to curry favor and reclaim his job.
It was at that moment he was reborn, returning to the era where everything had just ended, and nothing had yet begun.
And upon hearing Zhang Erniu’s words, Wang Dong walked away without looking back.
“Xiao Qing died because of you, you bastard! You dare give me attitude? Without me, you’d be dead by the river already!”
Even after forcing Wang Dong out, Zhang Erniu was not satisfied. He chased after him, waving a slipper in the air, cursing and running as if he meant to beat Wang Dong again.
Zhang Tai, the younger brother-in-law, leaned against the doorframe, grinning at the spectacle.
“You bastard, if you’ve got guts, die out there and don’t come back! Ungrateful wretch, useless fool…”
Zhang Erniu kept cursing, but Wang Dong turned, fixing him with a cold stare.

Seeing Wang Dong’s murderous gaze, Zhang Erniu fell silent, brandishing his slipper with false bravado.
“You think you can hit your old man? Come on, come on! If you can’t kill me, you’re nothing but a coward!”
Wang Dong looked at the balding old man, but did not raise a hand. He only gave Zhang Erniu a cold glance, his heart burning with anger and bitterness.
“Remember to visit Xiao Qing’s grave.”
With those words, Wang Dong turned and walked away, leaving Zhang Erniu standing in the alley, slipper raised and dumbfounded.
...
Lighting two strips of yellow paper, Wang Dong sat before his parents’ graves, lost in thought.
The same predicament as his previous life...
Except last time, he had swallowed his humiliation and stayed; this time, he chose to walk tall and leave.
The dilemma now was: where to go?
The wide world offered no place to shelter him.
His ancestral home had been taken over by his uncles and aunts; his job snatched away, no dormitory to stay in; Zhang Erniu’s house disgusted him, so returning was out of the question.
Watching the dust rise into the sky, Wang Dong looked north.
Truth be told, there was still one place he could go.
In his previous life, after four years of enduring humiliation, Wang Dong had saved enough money and bought some tools, then followed the Russians up north to start a small trading business.
Once, while collecting goods in the Xing’an Mountains, his convoy was snowed in, trapping them in the wilderness. Four men froze to death, only Wang Dong survived, rescued by an old maiden.
At first, Wang Dong stayed to repay her for saving his life, perhaps out of shared loneliness, or the terror of the snow; he remained in her home, helping with chores.
The old maiden was not truly old, though she had been engaged three times, each fiancé dying before marrying her. After losing her parents, she resolved to live alone, until Wang Dong fell from the sky.
Time passed, feelings grew, and everything happened naturally.
Come spring, the snow melted, the roads opened, and she was pregnant.
But fortune wouldn’t simply drop from the sky; Wang Dong still had to make a living. Tearfully, he promised to make a name for himself in the north so his wife, who accepted his poverty, could live a good life.
He never imagined that a friend, after a drunken night and a single contract, would not only cheat him of his life savings, but bury him under a mountain of debt.

Not only did Wang Dong fail to bring his wife a better life, he led her and their daughter to suffer the scorn of neighbors.
The memory made Wang Dong’s heart ache.
Now, with heaven granting him a second chance, why not return and make up for the mistakes of his past life?
Resolute, Wang Dong knelt and bowed three times before his parents’ graves, then stood.
“Father, Mother, I’m leaving. In a few years, I’ll bring my wife and daughter to visit you.”
...
Harbin Bus Terminal.
Wang Dong needed the long-distance bus, but without a letter of introduction, he couldn’t board. Lacking connections, he waited a mile from the station.
Some buses, not yet full, sought extra passengers along the way—no letter needed, even cheaper fare, though seats were poor, sometimes just the floor.
Wang Dong got lucky; the Nen River bus picked him up.
After paying, little money remained. He wrapped the rest in paper and tucked it close to his chest, safe from loss.
He leaned against the luggage in the last row, drifting into uneasy sleep.
After about half an hour, someone nudged him awake.
“Kid, move over a bit.”
Wang Dong opened his eyes in confusion, touched the warm bundle at his chest to make sure his money was safe, then closed his eyes again and shifted his seat.
“Hey, young man, don’t you know any manners? Your broad backside’s like a millstone, can’t anyone else sit?”
The voice belonged to an elderly man, who laughed and plopped himself right onto Wang Dong’s lap.
“If you won’t budge, neither will I. Just be my cushion, eh?”
Wang Dong, startled awake with an old man sitting in his lap, was about to retort, but when he saw the man’s bright, cunning eyes, he froze.
Bad luck—when it rains, it pours. How had he run into this old devil now?