Volume 1: Going Against the Current

Chapter 001: The Most Pivotal, Humiliating, and Painful Summer

On this day, everything was white—so white it dazzled the eyes, so white it made people dizzy, as white as a sheet of A4 paper.

Under the sunlight, countless shadows of people moved about. In Brian Perry's eyes, they seemed like countless drifting symbols dancing on a blank sheet of paper, while the newly built, spacious road looked like the bare thigh of a giantess—smooth, straight, and strikingly sexy. Occasionally, a car would speed by, only to vanish in the blink of an eye.

"It's so damn hot."

"Yeah, it's scorching!"

"Why is it so hot?"

"How should I know?"

"What are those people looking at?"

"Why not go over and see? All you do is ask questions all day!"

A young man and woman walked past Brian Perry side by side. The man seemed to want to hold the woman's hand, but she quietly avoided him.

Brian Perry silently followed behind them, walking to the bulletin board at the entrance of the machinery factory's residential area.

A crowd of men, women, young and old had already gathered in front of the bulletin board to watch the commotion. Brian Perry stood at the back of the crowd, listening as a little girl innocently asked another, "Lulu, what does 'rape' mean?" "It means a shameless bad guy bullied a good person..."

It was a notice stamped with a red seal, the kind that had been posted all over the city lately.

In this era of severe crackdowns, many criminals punished swiftly and harshly—especially those about to be executed, those with heinous crimes or even psychopathic tendencies—often had their faces plastered on public bulletin boards throughout the city.

There was also a photo attached to the notice, showing a rapist sentenced to death at a public trial. He had a sallow, thin face, a shaved head, and looked just over twenty, with rather delicate features. But it was said that in just half a year, he had raped several middle-aged and elderly women over forty, and even an eighty-year-old woman.

"Fucking pervert!"

"That bastard deserves to die!"

People pointed and cursed. If spit could kill, that rapist would have died a thousand deaths already.

After a while, the crowd dispersed. But Brian Perry stood there, staring blankly at the date on the notice—July 25, 1991—a complex light flickering in his eyes.

"Brian Perry!" came a gentle call from behind.

Brian Perry spun around and saw a beautiful girl with delicate features, fair skin, wearing a white dress and the fashionable shoulder-length hair of the time, standing there, smiling and waving at him.

The girl walked over, her skirt fluttering in the hot breeze, her face radiant with a brilliant smile, as lovely as a flower, swaying gracefully.

Brian Perry opened his mouth, tentatively calling out, "Grace Carter?"

Grace Carter didn't notice the trace of complicated bitterness at the corner of Brian Perry's mouth. Smiling, she reached out her hand, "It's been over a year since we last met, old classmate. Aunt Meng told me you graduated too. Which unit were you assigned to?"

Brian Perry numbly and stiffly shook the girl's soft, warm hand, forcing a smile. "Mm... I was assigned to the Baiyunguan Township government, but I haven't reported in yet."

"Township government, huh? Not bad, but that township seems pretty remote and poor." Grace Carter frowned her pretty brows. "You're a top university graduate. You shouldn't have been sent to the countryside, right? What's the personnel bureau doing?"

Brian Perry smiled faintly. "It's nothing. Going to the countryside for some experience is good too."

Grace Carter seemed to have something to do, so she waved, "Alright then. Brian Perry, let's get some of our old high school classmates together another day. I have to go to the department store now. See you!"

"Yeah, see you!"

Grace Carter walked ahead, took a few steps, then turned back with a smile and said to Brian Perry, "Brian Perry, I've been assigned to No. 2 High School as a teacher."

With that, Grace Carter lightly ran across the street and got on a rumbling bus. Only after boarding did she realize her cheeks were a bit flushed.

Watching Grace Carter's departing figure, a trace of tenderness flashed in Brian Perry's eyes. He was now absolutely certain—he had been reborn back to 1991, the most pivotal, humiliating, and painful summer of his life.

……

……

Before him stood that familiar yet unfamiliar four-story, beige old building. Brian Perry looked up, and on the window of the east unit on the third floor hung light blue curtains. That touch of blue added a hint of warmth to his otherwise calm heart.

He went upstairs, opened the slightly wobbly makeshift iron security door, and entered his home. The moment he stepped inside, Brian Perry couldn't help but have his eyes fill with tears.

He had lived in this two-bedroom welfare apartment in the Xin'an City Machinery Factory residential area for thirty years. It wasn't until 2000, when the building was forcibly demolished, that he reluctantly moved to a new place.

The reason he stayed in this old apartment for so long was to remember his mother. Of course, it was also because housing prices in his previous life were ridiculously high. With his meager income as a minor official, he simply couldn't afford a new home.

Now, with time rewound to 1991, the scene before his eyes after rebirth stirred his heart—