Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

Lin Xiuhe was the only one left in the automation building laboratory at night.

The documents for the second phase of the Morning Star project were on the table. She didn't open them.

The table lamp shone on the brown paper bag.

The words "[For personal reading only]" were clearly visible under the light.

She sat at the table, her fingers resting on the edge of the file folder. But her mind was filled with Zhou Zhiyuan's words.

—After its failure.

He was talking about the morning star, and also about his past life.

The events of the past few months, when pieced together, reveal their true nature.

Supply and marketing cooperative.

Beef noodles.

chestnut.

Training time.

Venus.

And then there's that recurring phrase—"a long time later."

If there's only one incident, you could call it a coincidence. If there are only two, you could call it a guess. But when all of these things happen to the same person, the answer is already obvious.

Zhou Zhiyuan just didn't say anything. She kept waiting too.

Wait for him to speak.

Wait until he admits it.

He will peel back that layer of paper himself.

Lin Xiuhe looked at the file folder on the table and suddenly smiled.

Why should I always be the one guessing?

She put the documents for the second phase of the Qimingxing project into a drawer and locked it.

Then turn off the lights and leave the lab.

-

The next afternoon, a window seat in the library.

Zhou Zhiyuan sat there, several mechanical reference books beside him. Sunlight fell on the table as he wrote something with his head down.

Lin Xiuhe walked over and sat down directly opposite him.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked up.

"Are you done with your work?"

"Um."

Have you watched the second phase of the Morning Star program?

"not yet."

Zhou Zhiyuan paused for a moment.

Why?

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

"There's something more urgent."

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her. This time, he put down his pen.

"What is it?"

Lin Xiuhe didn't beat around the bush.

"I want to eat beef noodles."

Zhou Zhiyuan's eyes flickered.

Very short —

It was so short that no one else could tell. But Lin Xiuhe kept looking at him. She saw it.

Zhou Zhiyuan spoke quickly.

"The east gate of the school is no longer there."

Lin Xiuhe looked up.

"Now?"

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her, a corner of the book's page turned by the wind.

He reached out and pressed down on her without saying anything more. Lin Xiuhe leaned forward a little.

"When will it be available?"

Zhou Zhiyuan's hand was still on the book pages. After a few seconds, he smiled.

"When did you find out?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiuhe calmed down. She looked at Zhou Zhiyuan.

"I'm asking you."

When did you go to that beef noodle shop?

Someone was flipping through books in the library.

Some people were discussing the questions in hushed tones, while others walked past them carrying stacks of materials. But this particular table seemed to have been isolated from them.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her.

This time, there was no more guessing or passing by.

He only said, "Many times."

Lin Xiuhe's fingers lightly touched the edge of the table.

"When?"

"A long time later."

Those four words again. But this time, he didn't dodge.

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

"A long time later, how long later?"

Zhou Zhiyuan did not answer immediately. He closed the documents on the table and pressed his fingertips against the spine of the book.

"So long that the noodle shop has been open for many years."

"There's more than one shop outside the East Gate."

"So long ago, every time I pass by that place, I remember something you once said."

Lin Xiuhe asked, "What did you say?"

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her.

"You said that when you have more money in the future, you want to order a bowl with more beef."

Lin Xiuhe stopped resting her hand on the table.

She did say that.

Not this life, but a past life.

At that time, she had just arrived in Beijing and didn't have much money. Sitting in a small noodle shop outside the East Gate, she could only afford the cheapest bowl of vegetarian noodles.

Someone at the next table ordered beef noodles, which were steaming hot.

She glanced at it, then quickly looked away.

Then I told myself: When I have money in the future, I will definitely order a bowl with more beef.

That sentence was spoken so long ago that even she herself thought she had forgotten it.

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

Were you there at that time?

Zhou Zhiyuan did not deny it.

"exist."

"Why aren't you coming out?"

His gaze fell on the table.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting the shadows of the two people together.

"Back then, you didn't want anyone to see that you were reluctant to order beef."

Lin Xiuhe stopped speaking. She suddenly felt like laughing, but couldn't manage it.

Zhou Zhiyuan is always like this.

He knew when she was at her most vulnerable.

I also know the moments she least wants to be seen.

So he never went up to her.

I just watched from a great distance.

Lin Xiuhe closed the book beside her.

"What about the supply and marketing cooperative?"

Zhou Zhiyuan looked up.

Lin Xiuhe asked, word by word, "When did you visit the supply and marketing cooperative in winter?"

The wind rustled through the branches outside the window.

Tiny shadows flickered on the table.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her.

Much later, he spoke.

"That will be a long time later."

Lin Xiuhe stared at him.

"You said it's very cold there in winter."

"Um."

"You've seen it before?"

"I've seen it."

"What have you seen?"

Zhou Zhiyuan gently stroked the corner of the book page with his fingers.

"I've seen that drafty window at the back of the warehouse."

"I saw you sitting on the steps, your hands were red from the cold."

"I've seen you break cold steamed buns into small pieces and eat them slowly."

"I've also seen you wipe away your tears, stand up, and keep moving forward."

Lin Xiuhe sat in place.

The wind blew again outside the window.

She suddenly remembered that winter.

There were sacks piled up behind the supply and marketing cooperative's warehouse.

The wind was blowing in through the broken window.

Her hands were so cold they ached, and the steamed bun was too hard to bite.

She did cry that day.

But she didn't let anyone see it.

At least, she always thought it wasn't true.

Lin Xiuhe slowly began to speak.

"That bag of chestnuts."

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her.

"Did you put it there?"

This time, he didn't beat around the bush.

"Um."

Lin Xiuhe, on the other hand, didn't know what to say.

For many years in her past life, she remembered that bag of chestnuts.

I remember it was wrapped in kraft paper and placed by the back door of the warehouse.

I remember it was still warm.

I remember when I peeled the first one, it was so hot I almost cried.

She never knew who it was.

Now she knows.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked down at his hands.

I bought chestnuts that day.

"Go to the back of the warehouse."

"I saw you sitting there."

"I want to go there."

"I didn't go later."

Lin Xiuhe asked, "Why?"

"Because you're crying."

The pages of the book in her hand were creased from being squeezed.

Zhou Zhiyuan continued:

You cried very carefully.

"Like someone is afraid of being discovered."

"I'm afraid that once I get there, you won't even dare to shed a tear."

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

At that moment, she suddenly understood.

Zhou Zhiyuan did not disappear.

He knows her too well.

I know how much self-respect she has.

I know she would rather be cold and hungry than let others see her in such a sorry state.

So he put the chestnuts down and left.

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

"So you've remembered me since then?"

Zhou Zhiyuan looked up.

"Earlier than you think."

"As early as how early?"

He looked out the window.

The sunlight had shifted, falling on the roads of Tsinghua University.

Students rode by on bicycles, and the sound of bicycle bells could be heard from afar.

Zhou Zhiyuan said, "You arrived in Beijing before I did."

Lin Xiuhe's fingertips traced the pages of the book.

"Red Flag Commune?"

"Um."

"Supply and Marketing Cooperative?"

"Um."

"Then why did you go there?"

Zhou Zhiyuan did not answer immediately.

He slowly straightened the book, as if he were putting a long time back in its original place.

Finally, he said, "Because I wanted to confirm one thing."

"What is it?"

"To confirm whether you have left the Lin family."

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

Why do we need to confirm this?

Zhou Zhiyuan's gaze fell back on her.

"Because in your past life, you left too late."

In a word.

All the sounds were silenced.

The library is still there.

The sun is still shining.

The sound of pages turning is still there.

But all Lin Xiuhe heard was this sentence.

past life.

He finally said it.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her.

"Xiuhe."

"Some things didn't start in Beijing."

Lin Xiuhe sat there.

She suddenly felt that after asking questions all this way, she had finally found the key.

Behind the door lies not only Zhou Zhiyuan's secret, but also another life she never saw in her previous life.

She spoke slowly.

"so."

"You did go there."

Zhou Zhiyuan nodded.

"I've been there."

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

"Supply and Marketing Cooperative"

"Red Flag Commune".

"The noodle shop outside the East Gate that hasn't opened yet."

"And then there was the failure of Morning Star."

With each place she mentioned, Zhou Zhiyuan's expression grew quieter.

Finally, she asked:

"Zhou Zhiyuan".

"Which year are you Zhou Zhiyuan from?"

The wind whistled past the window. The library clock struck once.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at her, his eyes seeming to hold back words he hadn't spoken for many years.

He didn't answer, but simply said softly, "You'll know soon enough."

Lin Xiuhe closed the book and stood up.

"it is good."

Zhou Zhiyuan looked up.

Lin Xiuhe looked at him.

"Then next time, it's your turn to tell me."

After saying that, she picked up the book, turned around, and left.

As I approached the library entrance, a cold wind blew in my face.

She didn't turn around.

Because she knew the answer was already behind her.

This time, Zhou Zhiyuan could no longer hide it.