The Cultural Revolution had already caused significant disruption to factories and schools. Although things improved somewhat in the later stages, they never fully returned to normal; at best, things were just being maintained. Many factories were operating at less than seventy percent capacity. The factory where Edward Faulkner’s father, Henry Faulkner, worked was a military enterprise and thus a bit more organized. Although there were some factional struggles during the Cultural Revolution, these were not the main theme—after all, the importance of the gun was well understood. Although Henry Faulkner was a minor intellectual, he was not particularly affected.

The house was a bit shaky; whenever there was an aftershock, plaster would fall from the walls, and the incandescent lamp hanging from the ceiling would swing like a pendulum, making everyone uneasy. The workplace had distributed earthquake relief supplies, and everyone set up makeshift earthquake shelters on the open ground outside for safety.

Unfortunately, the weather had been bad for a while—continuous rain made earthquake relief work very inconvenient. People were used to living in warm, dry rooms, so naturally, no one wanted to huddle in the low, damp earthquake shelters. As a result, everyone usually stayed indoors and only ran to the shelters when they sensed something was wrong.

This was the current situation for Edward Faulkner. To ensure his safety, his parents wrapped him in a swaddling cloth and placed him on a bed near the front door, so they could carry him out quickly if an earthquake struck. His older sister and brother were already able to take care of themselves, so their parents didn’t have to worry too much about them.

Edward Faulkner spent his days doing nothing—in fact, there was nothing he could do. Other than nursing and sleeping, he just stared around with his big eyes. Generally, an infant’s eyesight is only about 0.4, but their hearing is twice as sensitive as an adult’s. However, Edward Faulkner found that his own vision was much better than that—perhaps this was a side effect of being reborn.

His brother and sister were very fond of their little brother. Every day after school, they would rush to play with him until their parents scolded them and made them reluctantly go do their homework. Edward Faulkner could feel this clearly once again, and was deeply moved. He realized his eyes were actually moist, and two sparkling tears rolled down his cheeks.

At that moment, Edward Faulkner realized that his tear ducts had matured, and from then on, he had the right to cry.

“Little brother is crying!” His brother immediately noticed and shouted in surprise.

Mother Grace Bolton hurried over and checked Edward Faulkner from head to toe. Finding nothing unusual, she was relieved and guessed that the baby was probably hungry, so she nursed him.

Edward Faulkner couldn’t speak, so he could only let Grace Bolton do as she pleased. He was fed a big meal of milk, burped twice, and then felt sleepy and drifted off into a deep sleep.

At some point, Edward Faulkner woke up again, feeling as if he were on a boat. When he opened his eyes, he saw the scenery around him changing and heard noisy voices—it turned out there had been another aftershock, and the whole family was running to the earthquake shelter.

“Worrying about nothing—” Edward Faulkner muttered, then went back to sleep.

Both Henry Faulkner and Grace Bolton noticed something strange: their youngest son was incredibly regular and well-behaved! His bowel movements were very normal—almost always at fixed times and in fixed amounts—and he rarely cried. If he did, it was just a couple of grunts, and the adults would immediately realize he needed to pee.

As a result, Henry Faulkner and Grace Bolton rarely had to wash diapers, and the United Nations flag was seldom seen hanging outside the Fan family’s door. The neighbors all marveled at this—such an easy child was truly rare!

But Edward Faulkner also knew that it wasn’t necessarily a good thing for a baby not to cry—after all, crying was important for developing lung capacity! But this wasn’t a problem for Edward Faulkner; he knew how to use deep breathing to adjust his body. In his previous life, Edward Faulkner had been quite obsessed with qigong for a while, collecting all sorts of techniques from the internet. While some were unreliable, there were also traditional methods for health and energy cultivation.

These techniques were difficult for adults to practice, but for a newborn, whose body was free of impurities and whose meridians were in optimal condition, it was much easier. As Edward Faulkner moved his little arms and legs, he naturally began to practice.

The sensation of qi was quite strong. Edward Faulkner was delighted to discover that qigong wasn’t just a scam—at the very least, it made his mind more alert, his spirit more vigorous, and his body stronger. None of the other children his age could compare to the youngest of the Fan family. In fact, he was able to move around freely at just seven months old, which astonished Henry Faulkner and Grace Bolton for several days.

“Is our son really that different from other kids?” Grace Bolton quietly asked Henry Faulkner.

“Hmm, maybe. It’s hard to say for sure.” Henry Faulkner didn’t know whether this was good or bad, but seeing how energetic Edward Faulkner looked, it probably wasn’t a bad thing.

If their son really was a genius, then the Fan family’s ancestors must be smiling down on them! Henry Faulkner suddenly found himself looking forward to his youngest son’s future.

His brother and sister were also paying extra attention to their remarkable little brother. But whenever they brought their books over to read to him, Edward Faulkner would always furrow his brow.