Chapter 2: Back from the Dead

  "Hao'er......, Hao'er......, wu wu wu, it's all mother's fault, you shouldn't have been born into this world......, this life has suffered for you, next life find a good family, don't suffer such grievances again......"

  The sound of sobbing drifted in, sometimes near, sometimes far, and Yang Decheng's consciousness gradually cleared: "Am I hospitalized? Who is crying beside me, this is really unlucky..."

  Just as he thought of this, a lot of chaotic thoughts rushed in and filled his mind: This is the Baizhou City of the Great Song Dynasty, I am Ding Hao, the illegitimate son of the Ding family...

  Yang Decheng was startled, and his eyes suddenly opened wide. As he opened his eyes, he was even more astonished. The setting sun cast a warm glow on the room, making everything look somewhat hazy. He found himself lying supine on the bed, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the beam above his head - thick and round, with smaller beams resembling ribs on either side, without even a ceiling to speak of. It was more like the old house he used to live in at the orphanage in town when he was young, absolutely not what you'd expect to see in a hospital.

  He slowly turned his head to look, the door bars and window frames were old and fragrant, looking like they had been there for many years. A woman in a light green blouse was leaning on him, wailing in pain, her chest wet with tears, but because she was bent over, only her raven-black hair could be seen, but not her face.

  Yang Decheng never thought that such a strange thing would happen to him, his lips trembling, but he couldn't say a word. Those chaotic thoughts merged into his memory again, making his thinking even more confused...

  He is a member of the Ding family, named Ding Hao. The Ding family is the largest landlord in the Bashu area, with millions of acres of good land, and the owner, Ding Tingxun, is a well-known local gentry. Due to the fact that the Ding family has tens of millions of stones of rice and grain, and is located in the northwest, it has always been mainly engaged in selling military rations to the border army, so not only is it wealthy and powerful, but its influence is also strong, and it is the most prominent and respected family in Bashu City.

  Ding Hao's mother was originally a maidservant in the Ding family. One day, after Old Master Ding got drunk and had an affair with her, she gave birth to Ding Hao. In this era, the son of a concubine held a lowly position, equivalent to that of a servant. But his mother didn't even have the status of a concubine, so his position was no different from that of an ordinary servant in the Ding family.

  Mr. Ding's first wife had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Ding Chengzong, is now in charge of the family affairs. The eldest daughter, Ding Yuluo, was already engaged to be married, but unfortunately her fiancé died early due to illness, and she has not remarried yet. The second son, Ding Chengye, is only 18 years old and is a spoiled young master. Mr. Ding's second wife, Madame Zhou, has given birth to a daughter who is now eight years old.

  "How is it possible that I borrowed a corpse to return to the world, and got into Ding Hao's body, or did this Ding Hao inexplicably possess my memories?" Two sets of memories flooded his mind, making him feel like his head was splitting open, his heart felt nauseous, and for a moment, he couldn't even tell who he really was.

  ...I remember now, it's the coldest winter season, I've had a high fever for several days in a row. But two days ago, Second Master Ding Chengye was going to attend a friend's banquet and still wanted me to serve him by driving the horse carriage to send him into town. He and those young masters were drinking and having fun in the warm pavilion, while I stood outside the door for half the night "in the wind", as a result, when I came back my condition worsened, causing me to faint...

  All of a sudden, Yang Decheng was shocked and frightened. How could such an absurd thing happen? Had he traveled through time and space? He had read many idle books and watched some time-travel movies, but he never believed that such things really existed in the world, even if scientists said that the theory of time black holes was true, it had nothing to do with him. But everything before his eyes... Was the ancient porcelain vase that Old Master Xu hit on his head a real antique or a magical artifact? Yang Decheng was really confused.

  Yang cried bitterly on the lifeless body of her son, feeling as if she was going to die from grief. Her son had suffered so much since he was a child, even more than ordinary village children. Although he had a father, he was treated like an orphan. Born into a wealthy family, he had gone hungry and cold since childhood, worse off than the children of ordinary tenant farmers, all because Old Man Ding feared that people would find out that he was his illegitimate son and tarnish his reputation. Not only did he refuse to show him any kindness, but he was even more cruel to him than to ordinary servants.

  The son was running a high fever, but the second young master still wanted him to drive out and attend to his outing in the heavy snow. When the son returned, he collapsed to the ground and couldn't get up. The doctor from the village examined him and said that his high fever wasn't receding and it was extremely dangerous, perhaps only Dr. Xu from Baizhou City could save his life. However, when Old Master heard that they wanted to send a carriage to take him to the city for treatment and invite Dr. Xu, who used to be an imperial physician, to diagnose and treat him, he indifferently instructed: "A common servant on the estate gets sick, what's the logic in sending a horse-drawn carriage to take him to Dr. Xu's place for treatment? If word gets out, won't the gentry of Baizhou think that I, Ding, am unrefined and have no sense of hierarchy? It's just a minor fever, what's the hurry? Let the doctor from the village treat him with all his might, that's enough."

  With just this delay, she watched as her son took his last breath. When the old master found out, he was silent for a long time, but only gave a faint order to prepare a thin coffin and bury him the next day. He really has a ruthless heart. Yang knew that in the eyes of the old master, she and her son were an existence that made him lose face greatly, and he wished that they would disappear from this world cleanly, never having considered them as members of the Ding family.

  At the beginning, when the pearl was dark and closed, the old master had already sent a doctor to come and wanted to abort the child. At that time, it was true that he should have followed him, but he couldn't bear to do so, and at the same time, he held a thread of fantasy, hoping that once he had a son, the old master would soften his heart and take her as a concubine, which would also be a name. But who knew that Ding Tingxun, who had always been proud of being from a family of poetry and literature, would regard this absurd matter as a scandal, and it was not enough to cover it up, let alone take a ordinary maid from a rural household like her as his concubine.

  The son was born, her monthly allowance increased, but she was also driven out of the backyard and sent to the outer house kitchen as a cook. The old master never asked about her and her child again, treating them like strangers, yet they were his own flesh and blood...

  Yang was crying for her son and also pitied herself, sobbing so hard that she could hardly breathe. Yang Decheng lay there, having thought through the cause and effect of everything during this period of time. Seeing the woman beside him crying so miserably, although they had just met and didn't have a mother-son relationship, he still felt a pang in his heart. He slowly stretched out his hand to call out to Yang, when heavy footsteps were heard outside the door, and a big, dark-skinned man burst in, shouting before he even entered the room: "Yang's wife, has Ah-Dai's illness gotten any better?"

  This fat man surnamed Xue, named Liang, nicknamed Ah Zhu Er, had the best relationship with Ding Hao. Since childhood, Ding Hao was shy and introverted, often bullied by others, but Xue Liang always stood up for him, their bond was like brothers. Yesterday, Second Master Ding went to Qu Hua Guan in the east of the city, stayed overnight at a girl's place and returned now, Xue Liang drove the carriage following him, all along worried about his own brother's illness, now serving him back, just got off the horse carriage and hurried over.

  Yang said with tears: "Xiao Liang, Haoer he..."

  Yang had not finished speaking, Xue Liang had already happily said: "Ah-Dai, you're awake? This whole day has been so anxious for me, now that you're awake it's all good."

  "What?" Yang's eyes welled up with tears as she lifted her head, and when she saw that her son was indeed staring at her with his eyes open, she couldn't help but feel both shocked and delighted: "Son, you're alive, you're alive, my son..."

  Yang's joy was so great that she burst into tears, and with one swift motion, she wrapped her arms around Yang Decheng. As he was enveloped in her embrace, memories of his lonely childhood flooded back, and the hardships he had endured for half a lifetime suddenly welled up in his heart, causing him to involuntarily call out: "Mother..."

  This cry of a mother, was so sorrowful and heartbreaking, it's unclear whether she was lamenting her own miserable life, having lost her biological son, or thinking of her own parents, whose faces she could no longer recall.