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

"Hurry up! What are you dawdling for!"

As dawn broke, Wang Xiulan grabbed Lin Weidong and hurried outside, her steps as if she were rushing to pick up money that had fallen from the sky.

In her mind, those textbooks were like real money.

"Mother, are we really going to collect the books?" Lin Weidong was still a little dazed.

When he first heard about it last night, his initial reaction was disbelief. How could a few tattered textbooks possibly make money? But Wang Xiulan spoke with such conviction.

"What do you know! Your sister can make money, why can't you? She's a girl and she can do it, how can you, a grown man, be inferior to her?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Weidong immediately became indignant.

Yes, if Lin Xiuhe can do it, why can't I?

Thinking of this, he quickened his pace.

The mother and son rushed to the scrap yard.

As soon as she entered, Wang Xiulan called out, "Old Li! Do you still have your textbooks?"

Grandpa Li, who was smoking, looked up and paused, startled: "Textbooks?"

"Yes! High school textbooks! I'll take as many as you have!"

Grandpa Li immediately laughed: "You're too late."

The air grew quiet.

"What do you mean?" Wang Xiulan's expression changed.

"They're all gone. They were all bought up yesterday."

"You bought them all?"

"Hmm, not even a single piece of paper left." Old Li slowly tapped his cigarette ash. "Now you know to come and buy some? What were you doing all this time?"

With a bang, Wang Xiulan's mind went blank.

The phrase she feared most was—gone, all gone.

"Who bought it?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Who else could it be? It's that Xiao Lin from the supply and marketing cooperative," Grandpa Li replied casually. "He bought them all yesterday."

Wang Xiulan stood there, her face alternating between pale and flushed.

Sure enough, it's her again. Why is it her again!

She can't compete for jobs, she doesn't get paid, and now she's even taking away her own opportunities to make money.

"Mother..." Lin Weidong's expression was also grim. "How about we go look somewhere else?"

"Yes! There are more in other places! Let's go!"

The mother and son turned and ran.

result--

An hour later, at the second scrap yard: "Gone."

Two hours later, at the third scrap yard: "We just sold out yesterday."

Three hours later, at a book collection point on the outskirts of the county town: "Who doesn't know about buying textbooks these days? They're all gone already."

The sun was rising higher and higher. The mother and son were covered in sweat, their legs almost giving out from running, but they still hadn't managed to buy a single complete textbook.

By noon, the two were sitting under the shade of a tree by the roadside, completely dumbfounded.

"How could this happen..." Wang Xiulan murmured to herself.

Things that no one wanted yesterday are all gone today. What hurts her most is that she knows—if she had thought of it earlier yesterday, this money would have belonged to her family.

But Lin Xiuhe was one step ahead of her.

They've gotten one step ahead again.

Thinking of this, the fire in her heart burned even brighter.

Why? How come my daughter, who was always the most obedient since childhood, is suddenly always the one who gets to do everything first?

Lin Weidong was also in a terrible mood. He had discovered that he had lost to his sister again, and inexplicably at that.

"Mother," he suddenly spoke, "do you think she already knew?"

Wang Xiulan was stunned: "Know what?"

"I knew textbooks could make money, I knew the college entrance exam was reinstated, and I knew these books would go up in price."

Even Lin Weidong himself found his words absurd, no matter how he phrased them. Yet, strangely enough, they made sense. Otherwise, who would buy up all the books at the entire junkyard as soon as the news broke?

Thinking of this, Wang Xiulan's eyes flickered.

For the first time, she had the same doubts.

What a coincidence. It's really too much of a coincidence.

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from afar.

"Is there still math?"

"What about physics?"

The mother and son turned their heads instinctively.

Not far away, several young people were talking to someone. And that person was Lin Xiuhe.

She had just gotten off work, carrying several textbooks in her arms, and was surrounded by a crowd.

"Don't rush, line up, there's enough for everyone."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was remarkably composed.

The sunlight fell on her, and she was completely different from the older sister in my memory who always kept her head down.

Lin Weidong was stunned.

For some reason, at this moment, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable—as if something was slowly getting out of control, and would never come back.

On the other side, Lin Xiuhe did not see them.

She was busy registering orders. She had received quite a few orders today; textbooks were becoming increasingly sought after, and the books in her hands were gradually turning into money.

Thinking of this, she lowered her head and wrote a number in her notebook—

Twenty-eight.

This is the money she earned from selling books in the past two days, which is more than a month's salary.

Looking at that number, the corners of her mouth slowly turned up.

This is just the beginning.