Chapter 1

"Water... water, thirsty... drink water."

In the silent, dark room, a muffled and weak voice suddenly sounded. A thin hand reached out from the darkness, fumbling on the bedside table, knocking over two cups of water in succession, and finally grabbing the water bottle, quickly putting it to his mouth.

Gulping, gulping, the sound of drinking water was refreshing. By the moonlight from the window, a young man could be vaguely seen, leaning against the pillow, sitting up, and holding a nearly empty water bottle in his hand.

Click, the room light was turned on, revealing a boy of about 20 sitting on the bed. The glaring light made him squint his eyes, and after a moment, he opened them again, looked around the room, and muttered to himself, "I had a dream again. Why do I keep dreaming about things from when I was in school?"

"What a strange dream today. It feels more vivid and real than any dream I've had before."

"Judging by the room's setup, it must be when I was in my third year of high school, but I'm not sure which day it is."

"My head hurts so much, it feels so hot. What's going on? Did I dream about having a fever? This feels too real." The young man touched his burning forehead and continued to mutter, "A fever from a cold, could the scene in this dream be...?"

After saying this, he pulled back the blanket, got out of bed, put on a pair of slightly worn plastic slippers, opened the door, and walked to the living room, turning on the ceiling light. He looked at the black-and-white photo of a middle-aged couple hanging on the wall, his eyes reddening, feeling inexplicable pain.

He held back the tears welling up in his eyes, turned to look at the clock on the other wall, which showed 12:15 AM, and the date below read: March 19, 2004, Friday.

"Really, I dreamed about my 20th birthday, no, it should be yesterday's 20th birthday, March 18, 2004."

"The saddest, loneliest birthday of my life, losing my parents, with a fever of 39.9 degrees, all alone."

"Dad, Mom, is it so luxurious to just see you again? Even in dreams, I can't see you. Why can't this dream be three months earlier? Why can't it let me relive the joy of family? Why can't it let me hear your care and nagging again?"

"Do people really only realize the value of something after they lose it? No matter how rebellious, how ignorant, or how stubborn I was, you always tolerated and indulged me, and continued to love me. Your love made me take it for granted."

"Only after losing you, losing your tolerance, losing your indulgence, and losing your love, did I realize how great and selfless that love was."

"Do you know how painful it is to want to take care of your parents but find they are no longer there?"

Continuously muttering to himself, Chu Qiankun slumped onto the sofa in the living room.

Chu Qiankun realized that this dream today was very strange, lasting so long without waking up, and remaining so vivid.

Chu Qiankun patted the armrest of the sofa, suddenly stood up, and said with a slightly tragic voice, "Thank God for this extended dream, letting me linger a bit longer. I'll go out for a walk, feel the lake breeze, and see the old city again!"

Wearing a pair of jeans and a beige coat, Chu Qiankun walked out of the neighborhood gate, looking at the slightly unfamiliar and dilapidated gate that had not yet been renovated, and the streets outside that were both strange and familiar.

Just like the old streets in his memory, there were no colorful neon lights, and the dim streetlights made the streets seem half-lit and half-dark, with the occasional faulty light bulb making a sizzling sound.

It was late at night, and there were no pedestrians on the road. Occasionally, a taxi would slowly drive by, with the night-shift driver looking for late-night fares.

Walking on the crosswalk, looking at the brightly lit intersection, Chu Qiankun suddenly stood in the middle, closed his eyes, and spread his arms, feeling the warm wind and the noise and vibrations from the distant vehicles.

Just as Chu Qiankun was reminiscing about his high school life and enjoying the thrill of the dream, a series of urgent honks and the screeching of tires came from a car that couldn't stop in time.

"Bang!" Chu Qiankun was hit by a speeding car that failed to brake in time. Although the impact wasn't strong, and he didn't fly far, the "butt-landing" still caused him immense pain.

The Mercedes finally came to a stop, and the driver's door opened. A middle-aged, obese man in his forties, cursing, got out. Seeing Chu Qiankun sitting motionless on the road, staring blankly, he shouted with a mouth full of alcohol, "Pretending to be dead? If you're not dead, get up quickly. Are you in a hurry to reincarnate?"

"Standing in the middle of the road in the middle of the night, do you think this road is yours?"

"You want to die, but don't drag me into it. What bad luck. Pfft, pfft..." The Mercedes driver, who had just been scared sober, cursed loudly, not noticing anything unusual about Chu Qiankun.

Perhaps the driver's curses were too harsh, or his breath too foul, Chu Qiankun looked up at him, his eyes filled with confusion, surprise, and joy, then smiled softly.

This look left the half-drunk driver confused, and this smile made him feel uneasy:

"How can he be so happy after being hit? Is he trying to extort money?"

Thinking of being extorted in the middle of the night, the driver, who was half awake, instantly sobered up, looking around nervously and muttering, "Is this a robbery?" He instinctively stepped back, keeping a distance from Chu Qiankun, afraid he might jump up and attack.

Chu Qiankun stood up, patted his numb buttocks, and said lightly to the driver, who was slowly retreating towards his car, "You can go."

"Ah!" Chu Qiankun's words made the driver stop, looking at him in surprise, his mouth slightly open, finding it hard to believe, and asked tremblingly, "You're not going to rob me?"

Chu Qiankun was amused by his words, stopped patting the dust off, and with a serious face, said, "If you don't leave now, I'll rob you and beat you up." Although younger, his 1.75-meter tall, sturdy build was clearly more imposing than the driver's.

Seeing the tall and strong Chu Qiankun, and considering his own short and weak physique, the driver said nothing more, turned, and ran to his car, closing the door and speeding away.

Watching the taillights of the car disappear, Chu Qiankun slowly walked back to the sidewalk, unknowingly arriving at the lakeside viewing platform in Mountain City Square. Standing on the edge of the platform, he looked at the calm, mirror-like lake under the lamplight.

"I didn't expect this to be real; I've been reborn."

"No wonder today's dream felt so real and lasted so long."

"If I hadn't been hit by the car, I would have thought I was still dreaming."

"Rebirth, something I always thought only happened in web novels, but such a fantastical thing actually happened to me."

"Ha ha, I've been reborn, I've actually been reborn. Ha ha..." Chu Qiankun suppressed his voice, laughing and crying, a tear sliding down his face.

"Damn heaven, since you can let me be reborn, why not let me be reborn three months earlier to prevent the accident? Even a few minutes earlier would have been enough. Why can't you give me a happy, warm home?"

His emotions fluctuated between excitement, joy, and sadness. If not for a bit of rationality, Chu Qiankun would have shouted loudly at the empty square and the calm lake.

This bit of rationality also made him doubt and struggle with his rebirth. He was afraid it was just a delusion, a dream within a dream.