Siheyuan: I can always stay out of it

May 2024, 3, light rain.

Chen Xu was lying on the hospital bed, playing with a black stone in his left hand. There was a small hole in the middle of the stone, and a red rope was passed through it to make a bracelet on his wrist.

Quietly watching the drizzle outside the window.

Thinking about my short twenty years of life, I have been really unlucky.

There is nothing to say about being an orphan. At least I have been in an orphanage since I can remember. Although I can’t say that my life is very good, I haven’t starved either.

He finished junior high school with some difficulty, and it was obvious that he was not cut out for studying.

After graduation, I went straight into society. I screwed screws, moved bricks, slept in bridge holes, lay on graves, worked as a hawker and a salesperson. In the end, I achieved nothing. Instead of making any money, I owed a lot of money.

He has an average appearance, not handsome, but no one would say he is ugly either.

He is of average height, about 1.75 meters, neither top nor bottom.

He comes from an average family and the world is his home. If one person is well fed, the whole family will not be hungry.

I collected my thoughts and saw half a pack of cigarettes on the table beside the bed, which was given to me by the debt collector.

Thinking of that guy looking at him helplessly, Chen Xu inexplicably wanted to laugh, and the corners of his mouth curled up a little.

It is impossible to pay back the money. I have neither money nor my life.

Chen Xu is like a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water. If you dare, kill me!

Looking at Chen Xu lying on the hospital bed with a stubborn face, people were convinced and gave him a thumbs up, saying, "You are awesome."

He wanted to light a cigarette to relieve his depressed mood, but the cigarette was snatched away by Chen Xu.

Looking at Chen Xu stuffing half a pack of cigarettes into his pocket, the guy wanted to get angry, but Chen Xu was not afraid at all and said lightly.

"Dude, you better think about it..."

The man slammed the door and left.

In fact, after Chen Xu knew that he had a terminal illness, he immediately started to save himself.

It was definitely impossible for him to get a loan from a bank with his conditions, so he decisively turned to major online loan platforms and started taking out small loans. After a few months, he actually got some money, which totaled to about 100,000 yuan. Unfortunately, it was far from the amount he wanted.

Since I can't save his life, I'll just take it easy, Chen Xu convinced himself.

He used the money to eat and drink well for a few months, and then he used the last bit of money to buy a bottle of white wine. After drinking it all, he jumped directly into Shichahai Lake, intending to end it all.

When he jumped into the river, he had already paid attention to his surroundings and there was no one there. However, he did not expect that there was a fisherman hiding near where he jumped into the river. The fisherman's fishing spot was extremely tricky, and Chen Xu did not notice that there was a person there at all.

He was rescued and sent directly to the hospital. Although his illness still could not be cured and he had no money, at least they arranged a bed for him.

Chen Xu was still very grateful to these kind people, but the feeling of waiting to die was not good. He really wanted to just drown.

I lit a cigarette with great effort. Smoking was definitely not allowed in the ward.

But Chen Xu felt that if he didn't smoke now, he would probably have no chance.

He took a greedy sip and almost choked him to death.

"Cough...cough!"

Bah, fake...

Chen Xu was speechless. Is this retribution?

Wanting to smoke a cigarette before dying is fake, and it belongs to no one.

Feeling dizzy, Chen Xu couldn't help but recall his past life. Suddenly he had some enlightenment in his mind that this should be the last time.

I thought I could live a few more days, but it was over so soon. Thinking about this life, Chen Xu felt helpless.

"I'm sorry for being born as a human. There's nothing worth remembering in this world. I won't come back in the next life..."

Chen Xu muttered to himself and slowly closed his eyes, lowering his right hand with the lit fake cigarette still between his fingers.

At the moment he completely lost consciousness, the black stone on his wrist suddenly emitted starlight, and the entire bracelet disappeared without warning.

Chen Xu was the only one in the ward, so naturally no one noticed this strange scene.

..................................(I am the dividing line)

March 1960, 3, showers.

Chen Xu opened his eyes and looked at the dilapidated roof in confusion.

Before he could make any move, a memory that did not belong to him at all came to his mind, causing his head to ache slightly.

He rubbed his temples with his hands, and after several minutes, the pain finally eased.

Chen Xu frowned and checked the extra memories in his mind, and finally understood what was going on.

He crossed.

The reason why he was so sure was, of course, because the world he traveled through was very familiar to him.

The world of Siheyuan is full of love.

The unfortunate child he traveled through was also called Chen Xu, 18 years old this year, an unknown person in the courtyard house, with no family and no job. He happened to be in the period of the national famine and starved to death.

According to his memory, he was not a native resident of the Siheyuan, but fled here from the countryside last year and was arranged to live in the Siheyuan at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

The corner of Chen Xu's mouth twitched. This kid is very unlucky. Sijiu City is so big, but he was arranged here.

If you think about what kind of people live in that courtyard, you will know that this child must have suffered a lot of grievances.

After checking my memory carefully, I found that it was true.

Fortunately, the child was weak, and the only person who liked to bully him was Shazhu, who was afraid that he would be killed with one punch, so that he would not have to kneel down and pinch Chen Xu's philtrum to beg him not to die...

The courtyard was very big, but he happened to be in the most dilapidated backyard.

On the left is the deaf old lady’s house, with a small patio in front of it, and in front of that is Xu Damao’s house, which is in the very corner of the courtyard.

Sitting up from the bed, this simple action took him a lot of effort.

Obviously, even though he had traveled through time, his body was still that of a starved person, and it was already difficult for him to get up.

Feeling the hunger in his abdomen, Chen Xu was speechless.

This was even more miserable than his previous life. At least he wasn't hungry in his previous life.

It's not surprising that there is nothing at home. If there was something to eat, the poor child wouldn't have starved to death.

Chen Xu decisively went to the corner of the room, picked up the ladle, scooped half a ladle of water from the water tank and drank it down.

The cold water flowed down the throat without any obstruction. Chen Xu even doubted whether it would come out directly from below.

"I didn't expect that the first thing I would do after traveling through time would be to clean my stomach."

Chen Xu smiled bitterly.

What should I do when I have no money and no food?

Raising his hand to put the ladle back on the table, Chen Xu's eyes fixed.

This is my stone!

On the wrist, black stone, red rope.

Chen Xu was very familiar with this thing. It was something he had been wearing for twenty years.

It was also his only thought in his previous life.

The director of the orphanage told him that when he was found, he had no cloth on his body and the only thing he had was this stone, which he held tightly in his hand. So the director found a red rope and made a necklace for him.

Later, as Chen Xu grew up, he felt it was troublesome to wear it around his neck, so he made it into a bracelet.

Remove the black stone from your wrist and place it in the palm of your hand.

The black stone was not big, about the size of a coin, and it was pitch black. Chen Xu had never seen such a black stone.

There is a small hole in the middle of the round stone. According to the dean, it is there naturally.

Because it looked like a pendant, the dean hung it around Chen Xu's neck as a token of his love.

At this moment, Chen Xu's expression was a little complicated.

He didn't know why the black stone followed him through time, but it was obvious that this thing was not an ordinary item.

A stone that can travel with the soul!

Or maybe it was because of this stone that I traveled through time!

Chen Xu thought slowly, even ignoring his aching stomach.