Xue Yan and Jiang Yue both knew they couldn’t completely die, so they had agreed long before that neither of them should be sad or anxious if one of them passed away first in Da Ling. The space would preserve and seal the consciousness of the one who died first until the other one died, after which the space would send their consciousnesses together to another world, to live on in bodies of others.
Hence, Xue Yan didn’t live to be a hundred, but died at ninety-nine in Da Ling. Jiang Yue then lived a few more years in Da Ling, keeping company with the younger generations at home before passing away.
The younger members of the family couldn’t accept death by illness or other means; the only death they could come to terms with was dying of old age, passing away peacefully and contentedly. Neither Jiang Yue nor Xue Yan wanted their younger relatives to be too heartbroken because of them. Dying of old age was their final consolation to their younger family members.
In those years, Jiang Yue visited the space daily. Although she couldn’t feel the existence of Xue Yan’s consciousness, she knew it was definitely there, just protected and sealed away. Even if his consciousness couldn’t respond at all, she would speak in the space, telling him what had happened at home, how their children were doing well, and so were their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, along with everyone else in the family.
Jiang Yue didn’t live to be a hundred either but passed away at ninety-nine with a smile, eyes closed, surrounded by weeping and laughing kin. No matter if she would completely pass away or if the possibility of meeting again was slim, although they all greedily wished to keep being relatives, having been family for a lifetime, they felt content in their hearts.
When her eyes closed, and Jiang Yue awoke again, she found herself in a six-person dormitory room, clad in a red and blue school uniform that bore the insignia of ‘Yuncheng No. 3 Middle School.’
Today was the opening day of school at Yuncheng No. 3 Middle School. The other people in the dorm hadn’t arrived yet; only she was there, so the dormitory was currently empty.
Jiang Yue got up from the ground, walked to the mirror, and looked at her new appearance and new body in the reflection. With her hair tied in a low ponytail and bangs almost covering her eyes, she swept aside her bangs to reveal a pair of incredibly clear, apricot-colored eyes, fair skin, and a clean and slender figure that seemed slightly malnourished.
In her mind were the memories of this body, which had come to school for the opening day. Seeing that no one else had arrived, she decided to clean the dormitory first. But unexpectedly, she slipped on the wet mop she’d used and fell backward onto the tile floor, hitting her head and dying on the spot.
Jiang Yue touched the back of her head, wincing at the painful, swollen bump.
There was blood.
But the bleeding had stopped.
However, since the space had put her in this body, she figured the injury on the back of her head wouldn’t be fatal even without treatment, so she left it alone to heal naturally.
Coincidentally, this body was also named Jiang Yue.
Without a second thought, she knew the space had likely arranged for them to have their original names to make it easier for her and her Xue Yan to find each other. She just didn’t know if her Xue Yan also still had the same name.
This body had turned seventeen during the summer break. Her family was very ordinary, with both parents alive but uneducated. Her father worked as a laborer for a construction foreman, performing tasks such as mixing mortar and carrying bricks, essentially selling his physical labor. Her mother was a farmer at home, occasionally going to the county town to work as a house cleaner. This body also had an older brother who had been admitted to a university, though he studied in a different city.
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