Insufficient balance

  The next day, as soon as Tang Yu opened his eyes, he saw his mother standing in front of the bed with a worried face. He blinked and was about to say something when he opened his mouth, but his throat felt extremely hoarse. Only then did he realize that his head was dizzy and heavy, his throat had a burning pain, and his nose wasn't breathing smoothly. It was only then that he reacted and realized that he probably had a cold.

  It's still April, and the geographically northern Dongling is not warm yet. Yesterday, when Tang Yu jumped into the water to save someone, he was already a bit chilled by the icy lake water. At that time, it wasn't very serious, and maybe it would have passed slowly. Unfortunately, he took another cold shower in the evening, adding chill to chill, and it's no wonder he caught a cold.

  He lifted his somewhat heavy eyelids, and Tang Yu sneered at himself, "I didn't expect the cold shower that I was used to in my previous life would give me a big surprise on the first day of my rebirth. Coming back again, nothing has been done yet, but instead I got myself a severe cold, it seems that this rebirth isn't omnipotent after all."

  "You kid, no idea what you were up to yesterday, got a cold and didn't even say a word. If I hadn't come in this morning to clean your room and found out you had a high fever, who knows what would have happened? I've already called the doctor, just lie down and rest, Mom's taking care of you today."

  Tang Yu exerted himself to shift his body, turning his head forward, "Mom, you don't have to go to work today." His voice was still hoarse and rough.

  Zhang Yahui reached out and touched Tang Yu's forehead, "This kid, has he gone crazy? Didn't we say the factory was shut down a long time ago, it's almost been a month, what class is he going to now?"

  Tang Yu was taken aback, only then remembering that his mother had worked as an accountant in a small state-owned enterprise on the outskirts of the city, earning more than his father before 1990. However, the factory's performance had been getting worse and worse over the years, and it seemed to have closed down sometime in 1993. His father hadn't even had time to arrange a new job for his mother when their family encountered a sudden change. It turned out that the factory had already stopped production back then.

  At this thought, Tang Yu suddenly remembered that after the accident at home in his previous life, his mother had been working day and night to not only support the family's daily expenses, but also to save money to bail out his second uncle, and had become old in just a few years.

  I remember taking a photo with my mom when I graduated from high school, and even after starting work, I often carried it with me. My mom in the photo was only in her early 40s, but she looked like she was over 50 years old, so worn out.

  Just then, Zhang Ya Hui stretched out one hand to prop up his head and let him lean back, while the other hand held a pill and fed it into his mouth.

  Looking at the skin on his mother's hands, it was still smooth and clean, unlike the later generations who were worn out by day and night, with scars all over their hands. Tang Yu couldn't help but feel a sourness in the corner of his eyes, and his mouth was chewing unnaturally. It wasn't until he came back to himself that he realized his mother was looking at him with a puzzled expression. Only then did he notice the bitter taste on the tip of his tongue, and it turned out that he had absent-mindedly chewed up the antipyretic medicine just now.

  Tang Yu hastily snatched the water cup from his mother's hand and gulped down a few mouthfuls, only then feeling slightly better, but still unable to wash away the bitter taste deep inside. Zhang Ya-hui thought her son's expression was a bit strange, but she just assumed he was uncomfortable with a cold and didn't think much of it.

  Tang Yu took the thermometer from his mother and carefully tucked it under his armpit.

  "By the way, your class monitor just called again and said to let you go get your backpack. I told her you were sick, and she said she'd bring it over for you. It should be arriving soon. The little girl has a nice voice and seems like a good person."

  Tang Yu only then realized that it was already noon, and he had slept until after 11 o'clock. Was Su Qing coming to see him? Thinking about this, a faint smile appeared on his face.

  Just then, the doorbell rang outside, and Mom got up to open the door.

  "Auntie, I'm Tang Yu's class monitor. I heard he's sick, so I came to visit him and help him bring back his weekend homework." The voice was sweet but not annoying, wasn't it Su Qing who called me last night? But why did her laughter sound so similar to the voice I heard beside my ear when I just woke up in the park yesterday?

  Before Tang Yu could continue thinking, there was another sound of opening the door. Listening to that heavy footsteps, it should be his father without a doubt.

  "Lao Tang, this is the class monitor of Xiao Yu's class. Xiao Yu lost his school bag and the little girl helped bring it over."

  Taking advantage of Tang Yu, I heard my father's bright laughter. "The class leader of Xiaoyu's class? Is it the young lady from the Su family? It's been a while since you've grown up so big. In the past, I often saw you and Xiaoyu playing together, but now you don't see each other much." He smiled again.

  Tang Yu was surprised, but it wasn't unexpected that his dad actually knew Su Qing's dad. After all, Dongling City is a small circle, and with just three to five people in between, you can always find some connection. His dad often worked with the government, so it was natural for him to know him.

  In the past, Su Qing often came to his house to play, but at that time, his mother was busy with work and the two had hardly ever met, so Zhang Ya Hui didn't know Su Qing. On the other hand, his father used to be an idle official in the municipal committee, doing nothing all day long, often staying at home, and would often see Su Qing coming over to play. He knew this little girl, but after they both entered junior high school, they stopped coming due to busy studies and various reasons.

  Then I don't know what else Mom said to Su Qing, and Su Qing went into Tang Yu's bedroom alone.

  Su Qing is also a little beauty, otherwise Du Da Hao and Ji Liang would not often hang out behind her back, and the accidental encounter in the park that year was probably also indirectly related to her. At that time, the relationship between the two was already very close.

  However, the little girl is only 15 or 16 years old, and her body has not fully developed. Under the loose school uniform, her chest is just taking shape, not yet full enough to grasp, but there's a slightly bulging feeling. She wears jeans that were not popular in mainland China in '93, her legs straight and slender, and while her waist is small, compared to Yang Hanning, there's still some distance between them, not as sultry and enchanting, apparently still in development.

  It's just that I don't know where she could buy this kind of pants at that time, in '93, not to mention Dongling, even in some economically developed areas, it was rare to find cowboy pants for sale.

  "Hey, where are you looking?" The small girl's ten white fingers waved in front of Tang Yu's eyes, blocking his line of sight. She apparently couldn't accept the middle-aged uncle-like gaze that seemed to be invading her personal space.

  Tang Yu smiled awkwardly, wondering if this was a leftover symptom from his past life's frequent nightclubbing. However, he couldn't say anything to Su Qing either, as looking at the 15- or 16-year-old girl's completely red face was also a kind of psychological enjoyment.

  "Why aren't you talking? You looked strange yesterday. When we got to the park, instead of playing with everyone else, you lay down and fell asleep. No matter how loudly I called you, you wouldn't wake up!"

  "I'm seriously ill, my throat is uncomfortable!" As soon as he spoke, his voice was indeed hoarse and rough, sounding quite uncomfortable.

  The little girl suddenly looked mysterious, ran over to check and closed the door, leaning against Tang Yu's bedside.

  "Tang Yu, was it really you who jumped into the water to save someone in the park yesterday?"

  Strange, how did she know?

  As soon as Tang Yu nodded, the little girl immediately became excited. Then she realized that her behavior was not ladylike, so she quickly covered her mouth and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to lower her voice, "I knew it was you as soon as I heard their description, you've become a big hero, yesterday's city news even reported about you."

  He sighed again, feigning regret, "It's just that no one took a photo of you, so no one knows who you are or what your name is. They can't even find you. The person you saved is still publicly searching for you on the city stage and wants to reward you with 50,000 yuan."

  Her voice was soft and gentle, her breath as sweet as orchids. The warm air from her nose and mouth caressed Tang Yu's face, making him feel a little ticklish inside, and he couldn't help but have the urge to reach out and touch her.

  However, when Su Qing mentioned that the other party paid a reward, Tang Yu was also stunned. Yesterday, when the municipal station broadcasted the news, he also watched it, but focused on talking to his father. Some details were not noticed, and it was unexpected that the rescued person would pay such a large sum of money as a reward.

  It's worth noting that 50,000 yuan is a large sum of money for people in this era. In the Dongling area in '93, the average monthly salary for working-class individuals was only between 400 to 500 yuan, which shows that 50,000 yuan is indeed a huge amount for an ordinary family. I didn't expect that the person I saved would be someone wealthy and influential. Yesterday, I was dizzy and didn't notice these things, nor did I have time to accept their gratitude before leaving in a hurry.

  Tang Yu seemed to be distracted again, and Su Qing waved her fingers in front of him. "Are you so excited that you're out of it? 50,000 yuan is equivalent to two big mobile phones. I don't know how many good things can be bought."

  She paused and then started dancing with joy, "The city hall said you can go directly to the city hall to get the money, the person who was rescued also left their phone number, you can contact them directly, I've already helped you copy down the phone number." She took out a small piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Tang Yu, listening to her tone, it seemed like she was more excited than Tang Yu, as if it was her who was going to get the 50,000 yuan.

  "At that time, many people saw you saving someone, but at that time I was playing with everyone else somewhere else and didn't see it. Everyone is admiring the little hero who saved someone, and some even said they want to give him a banner." As she spoke about not having seen Tang Yu save someone herself, the little girl's face showed a hint of disappointment, her nose scrunched up in a cute expression.