"Brother, are you okay? Don't scare me."
Xue Yue felt something was off with her brother. The more she looked, the more her heart pounded. 'Could there be some side effects?'
Xue Xingzhou remained lying down, silent, just staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Brother, I'll go get the doctor to check on you again." As she spoke, Xue Yue started to run out.
"Come back!"
A deep voice echoed from inside the room.
Xue Yue stopped dead in her tracks. She turned and saw her brother looking at her, his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion.
Xue Yue's eyes reddened. She ran back, threw herself onto the bed, and hugged Xue Xingzhou, crying, "Brother, don't scare me! Do you have any idea what I've been through these past two days? Do you know how scared I was?"
Xue Xingzhou looked with a complicated expression at the young girl sobbing on his chest, her face streaked with tears.
'He wasn't her brother. No, that's not right. The body was her brother's, but the soul was not.'
He was a police officer from the 21st century. While arresting a suspect, he hadn't expected the person to have a knife. He was stabbed in the chest, and then he ended up here.
But now he was occupying this young girl's brother's body, and he had just inherited all of its memories.
Dying and being reborn should have been a good thing, but this was the 1970s! It was an era where even basic survival was a struggle. It was so bad that a mouse would come back starving even after visiting its neighbor.
Speaking of survival, Xue Xingzhou's stomach let out a loud GRUMBLE, so loud that even Xue Yue, who was lying on his chest, heard it.
"Pfft—"
Xue Yue let out a laugh. Wiping away a tear, she looked up and saw her brother's deadpan expression. If it weren't for his red ears, she wouldn't have noticed he was embarrassed.
Being stared at and laughed at by Xue Yue, Xue Xingzhou's face grew a little hot. He shot the young girl a glare.
"Shut up. No laughing."
Seeing this, Xue Yue only laughed harder.
"Don't be embarrassed, Brother. I didn't hear your stomach growling at all, HAHAHAHA."
Xue Xingzhou looked at the girl's smiling face, the corners of his own mouth turning up as a hint of amusement crept into his eyes.
Laughing, Xue Yue opened the lunchbox on the nightstand. The rice porridge inside was still warm, perfect for eating.
"Brother, I brought you some porridge. Let me help you sit up so you can have some."
Sitting up made him a little dizzy. Xue Xingzhou took a moment to recover. After drinking some of the porridge, he did feel a bit better.
The girl's voice chattered endlessly in his ear.
One moment she was asking if he needed to use the restroom, the next if he wanted to sleep a bit more.
Seeing that her brother seemed to be in good spirits, Xue Yue thought for a moment and then chattered on, telling him all about how she'd broken down the door to take Liu Hongxing's money, and of course, how she'd asked Xue Changlin for money too.
"Brother, I'm just completely disheartened. In the past, when Liu Hongxing hit me, he would turn a blind eye. When she withheld our food rations, he would turn a blind eye then too. Now your life was on the line, and I begged him, but he still let that woman refuse to spare a single penny. Since we're so expendable to him, then he's no longer my father. If you hadn't stopped me from causing a scene before, worried he'd be caught in the middle, I would have dealt with that woman long ago. But this time, she was forced to cough up some money. Serves her right. But, Brother, we've completely fallen out with them this time. Even though I won't admit it, that woman has definitely guessed I'm the one who took the money. There's going to be trouble from now on."
As she spoke, Xue Yue glanced at her brother's expression.
Since Xue Xingzhou had the body's memories, he naturally knew about everything that had happened before.
He couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the young girl now.
"It's okay. If worse comes to worst, we'll move out on our own. I'll take care of you from now on."
Xue Xingzhou had the original owner's memories and his feelings. Since he had already died in the 21st century, from now on, he was Xue Xingzhou, and this was his sister.
Hearing this, Xue Yue suddenly remembered she hadn't told her brother about her marriage. 'He'll definitely be angry when he hears.'
"By the way, you said the surgery cost over four hundred. Who did you borrow the rest of the money from?"
Xue Xingzhou had a sharp mind and immediately caught the key point.
Hearing this, Xue Yue's eyes darted around. "Oh, that... it was... from a friend."
"What friend?" What was Xue Xingzhou's old job? He used to be a cop. One look at the girl's expression and he knew she was lying.
It wasn't that Xue Yue really wanted to hide it from him—he'd find out sooner or later. It was just that her brother had only just woken up, and she was afraid the shock would be too much for him.
"Um, Brother, I need to use the restroom! I'm about to burst." Saying this, Xue Yue clutched her stomach and quickly slipped away.
Xue Xingzhou shook his head helplessly.
"Hiss—" The dizziness returned.
'I'll find out once I'm discharged from the hospital and go back home in a few days anyway,' he thought. So, he didn't press the girl any further.
Xue Yue thought she had dodged the bullet, but unexpectedly, Xue Changlin showed up that afternoon and let the cat out of the bag.
"Yue'er, how could you just decide to get married on your own? You should have at least discussed it with us! How could you be so headstrong?" Xue Changlin's face was a mask of fury, and his voice was loud. He was clearly livid.
Before Xue Yue could speak, she heard her brother's cold voice ask, "What do you mean? Who got married?"
Xue Changlin turned to Xue Xingzhou. "Who else? Her! She married herself off without telling anyone! If your mother hadn't told me when I went home today, I'd still be in the dark!" As he spoke, Xue Changlin pointed a finger at Xue Yue.
"You shut up! She is not my mother! My mother died a long time ago! What's wrong with me making my own decision? My brother was about to die! If you people hadn't refused to give me money, would I have had to sell myself for it?" Xue Yue screamed at Xue Changlin, her voice raw and her eyes red-rimmed.
Xue Changlin didn't know which of his words had set Xue Yue off so furiously, but he knew he was in the wrong at that moment, so he said nothing.
On the bed, Xue Xingzhou's face was utterly black. His eyes were narrowed, brimming with fury, and his fists were clenched tight.
"Xue Yue, explain yourself."
Xue Yue's heart leaped. 'It's over,' she thought. 'I forgot my brother was here. He even called me by my full name; he must be absolutely furious.'
Xue Yue glanced at Xue Xingzhou, and after getting a clear look at his expression, her heart beat even faster.
But she didn't dare not go over to him.
Taking tiny, shuffling steps, she slowly edged closer.
"Brother~"
"Speak," Xue Xingzhou said in a deep voice.
Xue Yue had no choice but to mumble her way through a detailed account of how she had found Aunt Zhang and then negotiated with the He family.
After she finished, Xue Yue lifted her eyes to sneak a peek at her brother.
Xue Xingzhou's face was now so dark it looked like you could squeeze ink from it.
Although there were three people in the room, it was terrifyingly silent.
After a long while, Xue Xingzhou said to Xue Yue, "Call it off. When I'm discharged from the hospital, I'll go cancel it. We'll write an IOU for the money, and I'll pay them back double."
Xue Yue quickly replied, "No, Brother! I already promised them, and we've already used the betrothal gift money. I even spent last night at the He family's house. Many people in the village know about it. If I break off the engagement, who would ever marry me in the future? Besides, the He family is pretty good, and they treat me well."
"Isn't that kid from the He family not even home? You haven't gotten a marriage certificate, you haven't had a wedding banquet. What kind of married couple does that make you?"
Xue Yue shook her head. "Brother, even though what you're saying is true, it's also true that the He family came to get me and that I stayed a night at their house. If the He family doesn't agree and accuses us of marriage fraud, we'll be finished."
Only then did Xue Xingzhou abruptly remember that this was the 1970s. Things like that were indeed possible.
Seeing that her brother wasn't as furious as before, Xue Yue slowly added, "Besides, I'm already of marriageable age. Marrying one person is the same as marrying another, and living with one person is the same as another. Since things are already like this, I might as well give it a try!"
Xue Xingzhou's face was grim as he remained silent.
Xue Yue didn't know if her brother's silence meant he agreed or not.
Xue Changlin, who had been standing to the side for a long time, looked like he wanted to say something but held back. He had been about to mention the He Family's Third Son's bad reputation, but seeing how furious his eldest son was, he didn't dare to speak up.