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

Five days after the admission notice was delivered, the Red Flag Commune began preparing for the graduation banquet.

Captain Wang went to the supply and marketing cooperative almost every day—today he would register tables and chairs, tomorrow he would count grain coupons and pork, and the day after tomorrow he would start arranging the venue.

The whole commune was as lively as if it were Chinese New Year.

On the contrary, Lin Xiuhe, the main character, became idle.

In the morning, she went to the county town to complete the household registration transfer procedures.

It was almost noon when I left the Education Bureau. The August sun was blazing, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street.

Lin Xiuhe glanced at the time and suddenly remembered something—the county machinery factory wasn't far from here, and Zhou Zhiyuan had been there recently.

After hesitating for a moment, she still went over.

At the factory gate, the security guard already recognized her.

The top student in the county has recently gained considerable fame; he's been featured in newspapers, on the radio, and even many people in the county town know about him.

"Looking for Technician Zhou?" the security guard asked with a smile.

Lin Xiuhe nodded.

"It's in the workshop, go in."

As soon as I entered the factory area, I could hear the roar of machines from afar.

Several workers were gathered around a piece of equipment, and the factory leader was also there, seemingly debugging something.

In the center of the crowd, Zhou Zhiyuan was holding blueprints and talking about something, his expression focused, completely different from when he was in the commune.

Lin Xiuhe stood by and watched for a while without disturbing them.

It wasn't until the equipment restarted and the crowd dispersed that Zhou Zhiyuan noticed her, clearly taken aback: "What brings you here?"

"Just passing by." Lin Xiuhe handed over the oil paper package in her hand. "Li Hongmei asked me to bring this."

Upon opening it, I found several freshly steamed white flour buns inside, still steaming hot.

Zhou Zhiyuan couldn't help but laugh: "She's certainly thinking about it."

The two walked side by side toward the office.

The machines outside were still running, and a roaring sound could be heard from time to time.

The office was small, with blueprints piled on the desk and equipment structure diagrams pasted on the walls.

Lin Xiuhe glanced at it and suddenly felt a little dazed.

In her past life, she had seen this place—or rather, she had seen reports about it. Back then, the county machinery factory had an accident during a technical upgrade, which caused it to shut down for more than a month and was later featured in the local newspaper.

She couldn't quite remember the exact time.

Thinking of this, she casually asked, "How did the equipment upgrade go?"

"Not bad." Zhou Zhiyuan poured her a glass of water. "The first phase is basically complete."

"That's good." Lin Xiuhe nodded, then added, "As long as it doesn't stop like last year."

After he finished speaking, the office suddenly fell silent.

Zhou Zhiyuan stopped pouring water and slowly looked up: "What?"

Lin Xiuhe then realized that she had said "quickly".

The accident in my past life should have happened next year, not last year.

But the words have already been spoken, and there's no going back.

"I mean... I've heard others mention it," she explained, but her voice was noticeably less natural than before.

Zhou Zhiyuan didn't speak, he just looked at her, his gaze gradually darkening.

Because there's something only he knows.

In my previous life, the county machinery factory did indeed experience a major shutdown accident, which occurred next spring.

But now, this has not happened at all, and even the factory workers don't know about it.

Where did she hear that from?

The office suddenly became very quiet.

The roar of machinery outside the window couldn't suppress the strange feeling.

Lin Xiuhe picked up her teacup, feeling somewhat uneasy for the first time.

She knew she had said the wrong thing, but she didn't know why.

Because many things are so natural in her mind, so natural that sometimes she forgets—that's the future, not the present.

After a few seconds, Zhou Zhiyuan suddenly laughed: "You still care about the machinery factory?" His tone returned to normal, as if nothing had just happened.

"Just asking."

"Don't worry," Zhou Zhiyuan nodded. "I'm here."

A joke was used to gently steer the conversation away from the topic.

But both of them knew that some things were not in the past.

In the afternoon, Lin Xiuhe left the machinery factory and returned to the commune.

But as I walked into the supply and marketing cooperative, the scene from earlier still lingered in my mind.

She always felt that Zhou Zhiyuan's gaze towards her had changed.

On the other side, the county machinery factory.

In the office, Zhou Zhiyuan sat alone at his desk. The sunlight slowly slanted westward outside the window, and the blueprints lay spread out on the table, but he couldn't concentrate on a single word. The same phrase kept repeating in his mind—"Just don't let it stop like last year."

There was no work stoppage last year, and there is no work stoppage this year either.

Because that accident should have happened next year, and in her previous life, Lin Xiuhe was not at the machinery factory at all, and could not possibly have known about it.

unless……

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhiyuan slowly opened the drawer, took out the notebook, turned to the last page, and wrote: [August. Lin Xiuhe knew in advance about the machinery factory accident.]

After finishing writing, he stared at the line for a long time, then wrote another sentence below it, his handwriting slow and heavy: "What if it wasn't a coincidence?"

Outside the window, the sun had completely set, and the office gradually darkened.

Zhou Zhiyuan sat there, and for the first time, he didn't close his notebook.

Because an absurd thought is becoming increasingly clear in my mind—

What if he wasn't the only one in this world who could start over?