Chapter 1: I Am My Second Uncle

A lot of major events happened in 1992. 

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia dissolved, Czechoslovakia split, Clinton became the President of the United States, and the film *The Story of Qiu Ju* was released.

But for Li Xian, only one thing mattered. 

He had actually time-traveled! 

Time-traveling and reincarnation were nothing new, as they were common plots in the online novels of Li Xian's original era. However, what made him furious was that while others were reborn with old newspapers from that era or with some system or golden finger, he had nothing!

But that wasn't even the worst part.

"Second Brother! I'm going to the Third Small Bridge to catch frogs, wanna come?"

Behind him, a boy wearing cloth shoes and big shorts, with a bare chest exposing two small ribs, grinned with big, horse-like teeth.

Seeing this unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar face, Li Xian wanted to cry.

This was, strictly speaking, his father.

That's right, he had time-traveled. And… he had actually time-traveled into the body of his second uncle!

Having such a time-travel incident closely tied to his family's past, the tragic part didn't end there.

He didn't even want to think about whether the guy behind him would find his original mother at the right time, in the right place, and in the right way, to create him again. And if he did, would it still be him? Would he still wake up in his university dorm at the age of twenty-two, dazed, and time-travel again?

The most serious issue was that Li Xian knew since he was little that his second uncle, or rather, his current self, had tragically died young due to an accident.

The time of death? Five years before he was born—late 1992.

Now it was already late August, which meant that if history followed its original path, he had at most a few months left before he faced a *game over* scenario again.

The sad part was that, out of respect for this close but untalked-about relative, Li Xian had never asked why his second uncle had passed away.

All he knew was that because his father missed his second brother so much, he had given him the same name—Li Xian.

Two days before time-traveling back, Li Xian had wondered if there was some kind of mysterious force that, using the bond of a name, had forcibly pulled two people from different timespaces together.

"No way! My head hurts!" Li Xian glared at his former father, now his fourth brother.

"Li Pi, you really are a piece of work!"

Who knew if his second brother had drowned while fishing with him?

Thinking of this, Li Xian paused and asked, "Dad... no, Fourth Brother. How's my swimming?"

Since he didn't know the cause of death, he might as well use the process of elimination. This was the best way Li Xian could think of to protect his second life.

"Second Brother swims like a fish! You taught me to swim, didn't you?"

Hearing Li Pi say this, Li Xian patted his chest. Good, good, good, he'd heard drowning was a painful way to go.

His thoughts interrupted, Li Xian stood up, stretched deeply, and once again looked at his surroundings.

This was his old home, a forestry camp named "Eight-Nine" at the foot of the Xing'an Mountains, a production unit under the Longjiang Forest Industry Group.

The mountains in the 1990s were pleasant and beautiful, a scene unimaginable twenty years later.

Even in August, the temperature was only around 25 or 26 degrees. The sound of the wind rustling through the leaves was everywhere, and distant green mountains lay like the backs of giant beasts on the horizon. The sky was clear with patches of white clouds, making Li Xian, who was used to the concrete jungle and the pollution of the city, feel incredibly refreshed.

Behind him were two brick houses, a bit old but kept very clean.

The yard was neatly arranged, with chopped firewood stacked tidily in one corner. There were no ornamental flowers, but the two sand pear trees in the front garden and the meticulously squared leek patch showed that, although his ancestors were not wealthy, they were attentive to life.

He then looked at himself.

His white sneakers were a bit yellowed, he wore sports pants, and his blue shirt was of a material called Dacron. Though this outfit would be considered extremely outdated in later years, Li Xian had to admit that his second uncle was really good-looking.

By modern standards, if he were fair-skinned, he'd definitely be a heartthrob. Even with his tan, he had a touch of manliness to his delicate features.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glare back at the kid packing up things, holding a small net and an iron hook.

Couldn't you have grown a bit better? You've messed up your descendants, you know that?

Look at your second brother!

The kid was tying the equipment to a 28-inch bicycle. Seeing Li Xian staring at him, he grinned foolishly.

...

"Big Brother? What's wrong?"

Just as Li Xian was lost in his thoughts, Li Pi, who had just walked out of the yard, rang the bike bell and shouted to the other side of the main road.

Li Xian quickly got up from the stool and saw the eldest brother of the family, Li Qing, coming over with his head down, angrily covering his face.

Li Pi dropped the bike on the side of the road, "Big Brother, what happened to your face?"

"Nothing!" Li Qing lowered his head even further and entered the yard.

Now, let's talk about the Li family;

Grandfather Li Daoyun, father Li You, mother Zou Ni. Li Xian had three brothers; Li Qing was the eldest. But today, it seemed this eldest brother was having a bad day.

Seeing his former uncle for the first time, Li Xian couldn't help but laugh.

This was… domestic violence, wasn't it?! 

Li Qing was covering his left cheek with one large hand, avoiding eye contact. But the four deep, oily scratches extending down to his neck were impossible to hide.

Seeing Li Xian trying hard not to laugh, Li Qing sighed like a bull, "This life... is impossible to live!"

"Big... Big Brother," Li Xian started to call him uncle but quickly changed, "Did you have a fight with sister-in-law? Tsk tsk, she went a bit too far. Look at those four scratches; they'd be enough to stir-fry tonight, hey!"

He joked like this because Li Xian knew his current eldest brother's fate.

Li Qing's current wife wasn't his first. His first wife left, and he later married Wang Feng. Wang Feng wasn't particularly attractive, but she was still single when she married Li Qing.

Why did she marry him? Because back then, the Wang family was notoriously poor in the forestry camp!

How poor? Well, to the point that nine people had to squeeze onto one kang to sleep.

So, when Wang Feng married into the Li family, she saw it as an escape.

However, over the past few years, as the Wang family's six sons grew up and started earning work points and land in the camp, their family's conditions improved. With this, Wang Feng began to feel like she had been wronged by marrying a divorced man!

This is where the conflict started and spiraled out of control; first, Li Qing's daughter from his first marriage was kicked out by Wang Feng and sent to live with their grandmother. Then, Wang Feng took over the family's three plots of land.

This is what Li Xian knew.

But now, he had no idea what his dear sister-in-law was up to. After all, he'd only heard his mother mention it in passing, not in detail.

Just as Li Qing was mumbling and not saying a word, a group of people came marching down the road, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Li Qing! You bastard! My sister was a virgin when she married you, and you dared to lay a hand on her, you dog!"

"Where's Li You? Is Li You home?! You bastard! Doesn't anyone care? If no one does, I'll take care of it!"

They were still far off, but their shouting and cursing had already drawn the neighbors out to watch.

Seeing this massive "brother-in-law support group," Li Xian was dumbfounded.

Damn it!

Big Brother, are you really that brave or just foolish?

There are three of us brothers, and six of them! How could you dare to mess with such a wife?!