Chapter One

  Tang Anwen and a group of friends had a drink, today he was particularly happy, the down payment for the house was finally raised, he planned to propose to his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, this was his dream for many years, wife and children, warm stove, now it's about to come true, if not for his mother-in-law who never gave in, his child would probably be able to make soy sauce by now.

  "An Wen has left, you should also go home early," a drunk friend shouted at Tang Anwen from the side of the road as he stumbled into a taxi, still muttering to himself. "Ordinary people are fine, but no, they have to be some kind of white-collar beauty. You've worked hard for years just to get married, while they're already enjoying life with kids who are several years old."

  "Alright, I'll just smoke a cigarette and then leave. When I get home, I'll give you a call, don't worry about losing me, or else my sister-in-law won't let me off," Tang Anwen said with a smile as he waved his hand.

  Leaning against the streetlight, Tang Anwen took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag. His slightly furrowed brow finally relaxed. No wonder some people say pre-marriage jitters - he hadn't even proposed yet and was already showing some symptoms. This was clearly what he wanted, but for no reason at all, it was giving him some trouble. Clearly, there was nothing to be troubled about anymore.

  It's also unknown whether Xiaoli will agree to his proposal, but they've been dragging on for so many years, and their feelings are very stable. Marriage is also a natural process. Tang Anwen thought about this, threw away the cigarette he had sucked on for a few mouthfuls, and was about to start a family with Xiaoli soon. The matter of having children would also have to be put on the agenda, so he must quit smoking. He couldn't let Xiaoli and the child follow him in inhaling second-hand smoke. Fortunately, his nicotine addiction wasn't too severe, so quitting shouldn't be a problem.

  Tang Anwen walked down the street, his feet kicking towards the cigarette butt he had discarded, ready to hail a car.

  He looked up to see the bright headlights of a car, and Tong Anwen realized that it was heading straight for him. However, at this critical moment, his entire body was stiff and cold, completely unable to move.

  "Bang," a loud noise, Tang Anwen's vision turned scarlet before plunging into darkness. He felt his body floating lightly, not in much pain, and cursed inwardly. How did he fail to dodge? There were clearly several meters of distance, so how was he knocked down?

  This is the end, if he lacks that bit of physical strength, with Xiao Li's pursuit of perfection in character, Tang Anwen feels that a happy life is getting farther and farther away from him. He vows that as long as this time goes well, he will quit smoking and drinking for the rest of his life.

  Tang Anwen didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when he came to, the first thing he heard was a soft and gentle voice calling out "Dad", followed by the sounds of adults and children chattering and laughing loudly. He didn't know if he was in a hospital or somewhere else, but it was so noisy that it felt like being in a vegetable market.

  "Guo Guo, don't disturb Daddy, eat your meal quickly," said Tang Dou, who was sitting on the other side of their father.

  "I want to eat," said four-year-old Tiantian with a pout.

  "Eat, not talk," said the tall and robust man sitting on the other side of the sweets, as he picked up a piece of egg and fed it to his little son. After that, the man didn't say another word, but from time to time, he would pick some dishes and put them in the bowl of the man sitting between the two children, or occasionally give a bite to his little son who finally started eating obediently.

  Tang Anwen gradually felt a sense of familiarity, as if he were in a dream. In a daze, he saw a long table surrounded by people, adults and children alike, all quickly picking up food and eating from bowls of porridge, gnawing on buns in their hands, and chatting without choking, just like starving ghosts reincarnated, released from prison. A full plate of scallion fried eggs was in front of him, but after blinking a few times, the plate was empty.

  Soon the table was empty even of the dishes of pickled vegetables. The two children were full and Brother Sugar Bean led Brother Sugar Plum to wipe their mouths.

  Tang Anwen felt that he himself was lowering his head to look at the empty bowl, and then went to see the small porcelain jar filled with porridge. Obviously, Tang Anwen knew that he had not eaten enough, and he still wanted to eat, but the porcelain jar had long been empty of porridge. The others ate quickly, only he held a spoon and ate slowly and steadily, the porridge in the small porcelain jar was just so much, each person had a little more spoonful, and the porcelain jar's porridge was also clean, it would be strange if he could eat his fill.

  "Again," Tang An Wen heard himself utter these two words, and then turned his head to look at the tall man beside him.

  The man stopped his eating motion when he heard Tang Anwen's words, took away the empty bowl in front of Tang Anwen, put the almost untouched bowl that was just filled in front of Tang Anwen, and handed the half-eaten bun to Tang Anwen.

  Tang Anwen didn't want to take it at all. Although the rice bowl was meant to be shared, the food in this bowl had actually been eaten by that man before. He wasn't used to eating leftovers, but unfortunately his body wasn't under his control. He could only watch as he picked up the spoon and ate mouthful after mouthful. Tang Anwen still thought he was dreaming, but this dream was too strange, making him eat someone else's leftovers.

  "Mu Feng, you don't eat much and it won't hurt you, you're not working hard anyway. You work so hard every day, you should eat more," Song Yun Xi said to Mu Feng, who always gave a share of food to Tang An Wen.

  The man looked at Song Yunxi with a glance, smiled but didn't speak, and simply stretched out his hand to gently wipe away the sticky rice paste stuck to Tang Anwen's mouth.

  "He's such an idiot, eating so much for no reason, can't even do any work, and is of no help to the family at all. I think he's in good health, there's no need to buy him any medicine. You guys know what's going on at home," said Big Brother Lu Xing, glaring at the person who was still eating happily.

  "You'd better not say that, Ah Wen only takes medicine when he's sick, and normally doesn't even get to buy soup," said the elder brother with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, glancing at his wife. Recently, she had been targeting his third younger brother, but the third brother was already suffering enough, and Mu Feng had always kept an eye on him. If it weren't for Mu Feng, his third brother wouldn't have made it this far.

  "Fool, you're the fool," Tang Anwen heard himself say, and he couldn't help but want to bang his head against the wall. Indeed, he was a fool, or else why would he be talking back?

  No wonder he said that just now, no one responded to him. It turns out that in his dream, the role was a fool, and the person next to him should be the role of his wife. The two little ones sitting next to him should also be his children, and the others are probably brothers or something.

  This dream is really too strange, when can he wake up? Tang Anwen hopes to wake up quickly. He has already discovered that this dream is too sinister and has a kind of hair-raising fear.

  "You dare to say that, I'll tear your mouth apart," Da Ge Lu Xin shouted fiercely after hearing the words from the fool's mouth. A young man standing beside him immediately glared at Tang An Wen with wide eyes.

  Mu Feng saw the young man staring at Tang An Wen, and his body immediately leaned in towards the person who was still focused on eating. It seemed that for the next few days, he would have to be more careful, or else Ah Wen would get bullied again. This wasn't the first or second time this had happened recently. It seemed that Big Brother and the others were becoming increasingly intolerant of their family.

  Tang Anwen heard someone yelling at him, and his tears were already welling up in his eyes. When he saw the young man staring at him with a fierce gaze, he became even more frightened and shrank closer to Mu Feng's side, and his tears fell down.

  Tang Anwen really wanted to stop himself from crying, he wanted to wipe away his tears and stand up to give that effeminate man a good scolding. A dead pervert actually dared to yell at him, if it were any other time, Tang Anwen would have already punched him. Although he had been a civilized person for many years, back in school, he was also a skilled fighter, and there weren't many people who dared to provoke him.

  "That's enough! Finish your meal and get back to work, you're all idle!" Old Tang Dequan bellowed, his tobacco pipe banging loudly on the table.

  The people who were originally watching the excitement quickly left, and Mu Feng also took away the person with tears all over his face from the main room. He really wanted to say a few words to the man who scolded Ah Wen, but he stuttered when speaking and couldn't get the better of that big brother every time. In the end, Mu Feng still swallowed all the words, after all, they had to rely on this family, as long as Ah Wen was fine, it didn't matter if he suffered a bit of grievance.

  "Dou'er, you must take care of your father..." Mu Feng said to his eldest son after bringing Tang Anwen back to the room.

  Tang Dou was very clever and sensible, he understood before Mu Feng finished speaking. The little guy looked up and said: "Amu I know, I will take care of Father and Brother, not let them go out."

  Mu Feng nodded, rubbed his eldest son's head, kissed his youngest son's cheek, and patted the silly boy who was still sulking on the bed. He got up and left. He had a lot of things to do, washing dishes and clothes, going up the mountain to chop firewood today, and weeding in the fields. He didn't have time to coax Awen now, hoping that this year's harvest would be better, so life could be a little easier.

  Tang Anwen watched as the man sighed and left. He knew that the man had a lot to say, but the man seemed hesitant, so he remained mostly silent.

  He had been holding his hand very tightly, and he could feel that the man was extremely nervous. Now, a six-year-old child was watching him, this father. It was strange, but it should be like this. If he left this room now, he would probably be bullied by some people. After all, he was an idiot now and had no ability to resist. The man's worry was normal.

  Tang Anwen couldn't understand it. That idiot, Mu Feng, was so tense, it was really unreasonable.

  Looking at the two little kids playing by his feet, okay, Tang An Wen had already understood. Dreams were originally illogical things, without women, men could also give birth to children, and a stutterer falling in love with an idiot was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Tang Anwen watched himself get up and walk towards the door.

  Tang Dou, who was still playing with his younger brother, suddenly called out "Dad" to join in on the fun. This silly guy hurriedly walked over to the two kids, and on a small stool were placed several small sandbags. The three of them started playing a game of catch with the sandbags.

  Tang Anwen's face turned black, and indeed he was an idiot. What kind of dream couldn't he have? He actually dreamed that he had become an idiot. This is really enough. Is it really pre-marital anxiety disorder or something? Isn't this a disease that only women get? Three black lines suddenly appeared on Tang Anwen's forehead.