In Edward Faulkner’s view, so-called miracles are nothing more than these people playing tricks, shamelessly deceiving the ignorant masses of feudal society by exploiting their lack of scientific knowledge—an utterly despicable act of showing off.

However, a moderate amount of showing off can actually bring some benefits to oneself—at least, that’s what Edward Faulkner believes.

He remembers when he was little, there was a neighbor’s child who, during his one-month-old “grabbing ceremony,” grabbed his father’s seal in one go. The neighbors were all amazed, praising the child as extraordinary, saying he would have a bright future, a great future, and would become an official—a high-ranking one at that! You can imagine how much his family cherished this promising son! As for what happened later, it was just as you’d expect: the family treated the child like a little Buddha. Unfortunately, this promising child never did become a high official. Instead, when he had nothing else to do, he set up a stall carving seals to make a living, which could be considered as answering the country’s call to find his own way. Every time Edward Faulkner thought of this, he felt a bit resentful—he’d been quite envious of that kid’s special treatment when he was young.

Edward Faulkner also wanted to show off—if he was going to do it, he wanted to do it big!

After thinking it over, he realized that throughout history, the ultimate master of showing off was none other than Prince Siddhartha Gautama of ancient India’s Kapilavastu, who later became the founder of all Buddhas—Shakyamuni Buddha.

It’s said that when he was born, he made a grand entrance by leaping out from his mother’s right rib, walked seven steps, and with each step a lotus bloomed. He looked in all directions, pointed one hand to the sky and one to the earth, and declared, “In heaven and on earth, I alone am supreme.” At that moment, two dragons—being rather mischievous—came to join the fun, one spitting warm water and the other cool water, to bathe him. This day became known as the Buddha Bathing Festival.

Edward Faulkner was naturally envious of the miraculous signs surrounding Shakyamuni, but he knew he didn’t have that kind of ability. Even though he himself was born by C-section, which was a bit unconventional, it still couldn’t compare to Shakyamuni leaping out of his mother’s right rib. Besides, he admitted he couldn’t make lotuses bloom with every step—right now, he could barely stand up, after all, he was only a few days old.

If Edward Faulkner really managed to strut his stuff on the operating table, striking a few poses, it’s unlikely he’d create any miracles—he’d probably just be treated as a monster by the nurses. If it weren’t for the changing times and everyone having human rights now, he might really have been thrown into a latrine and drowned—there’s just no telling.

So, after much thought, Edward Faulkner decided not to do anything so shocking. A gentleman is modest and accepts his fate. Since heaven had given him a second life, he might as well go with the flow! Once Edward Faulkner figured this out, he naturally ate when food was brought and drank when milk was given. Fortunately, he was breastfed, so he didn’t have to worry about drinking that melamine-tainted formula.

People in this era really are quite simple and honest!

A sudden thought popped into Edward Faulkner’s mind: “The people here are gullible and rich—come reincarnate quickly!”

Thinking about how, for decades to come, he’d appear in the world with a mind ahead of everyone else, Edward Faulkner couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. No wonder everyone likes to be reborn—this feeling of knowing everything in advance is just so damn awesome!

It must be said, the year Edward Faulkner was born was anything but a “joyous year.”

On January 8th, beloved Premier Zhou passed away.

On March 8th, a meteorite fell in Jilin.

On July 6th, Chairman Zhu De passed away.

On July 28th, the Tangshan earthquake struck—over 240,000 people died, and more than 160,000 were injured.

On September 9th, Chairman Mao passed away.

The Chinese people truly suffered disaster after disaster that year. Even numbers like 2-5-8-3-6-9 didn’t bring good fortune. The only thing to be thankful for was that the Gang of Four was arrested that same year, and the damned Cultural Revolution—which had dragged the national economy back by decades and ruined countless lives for ten whole years—finally ended.

And that year was also the restless eve before China as a whole stepped into a brand new era.

Chapter 3 Family

The effects of the Tangshan earthquake were still ongoing.

Aftershocks continued, houses trembled, people were anxious, and even the chickens stopped laying eggs.

Edward Faulkner’s family lived in Panshi City, Wangtian Province—a county-level city quite a distance from Tangshan. Even so, they were still affected, mainly psychologically. Although Edward Faulkner knew that in the next thirty years there wouldn’t be any major earthquakes in his province or city, he had no way to tell his family this—after all, he wasn’t old enough to speak yet.

Right now, he was just a baby a little over a hundred days old.

Edward Faulkner’s father, Henry Faulkner, was thirty-five and a minor official at the local state-owned Plain Machinery Factory. His mother, Grace Bolton, was a teacher at the enterprise’s school for employees’ children. His sister, Olivia Faulkner, was eleven and had just started middle school, and his brother, William Faulkner, was eight and only in third grade. Life wasn’t exactly affluent, but it was decent enough. Prices were low, there were no luxury goods on the market, people were still honest, and material desires hadn’t run wild.

Because of the earthquake, people’s lives were far from normal.