Reborn in 1975: It All Starts with Leaving the Army

Tian Fu jolted awake to find himself sitting in a truck. There was a duffel bag by his feet and a large backpack in his arms. He was dressed in camouflage.

“Isn't this what I wore when I left the army?” Tian Fu wondered. He had clearly been drinking with his old comrades and reminiscing about the past. How had he suddenly gone back seven years?

Tian Fu enlisted in March 1969, when he was just eighteen and had only just finished high school. He joined the special forces, but for certain reasons, he could only leave the army as an ordinary soldier, without even being formally demobilized.

Still, the army issued Tian Fu a special letter explaining his circumstances and asking the local government to find him a suitable position. He remembered there had been two options: becoming a leader's driver, or having the commune arrange a position as a production brigade leader.

Only a fool would turn down the driver's job. But Tian Fu had terrible luck. After half a month behind the wheel, his leader was sent to prison. Since he had been the former leader's driver, no one else would hire him. Even the Armed Forces Department couldn't help. In the end, his best years went to waste inside the system, and he couldn't even find a wife.

Tian Fu had always thought that if he could start over, he would rather return to his hometown and become a production brigade leader. But now that this inexplicable opportunity had appeared, he suddenly felt lost.