Could He Go Back Sixty Seconds?

Capital City.

Eastern District, North Entrance of Heping Street.

Yesterday's brush with death had left Dong Xuebin deeply shaken. If time had not miraculously turned back, he would never have seen Mom again, never have seen Aunt Xuan again. For the first time, he felt that being alive was truly wonderful. After a night of wild thoughts, Dong Xuebin had not fallen asleep until dawn. By the time he crawled out from under his thin towel blanket in the morning, it was already past ten. He rolled off the creaky old spring sofa, rubbed his eyes, and went to the bathroom to wash up. After wiping his face, he yawned and casually called toward the tightly shut bedroom door, "Mom, are you awake?"

Mom, Luan Xiaoping, hurriedly answered in a choked voice from inside the room. "I've been up for ages. I'm tidying the room. Are you still having breakfast?"

"Let's wait for lunch." Dong Xuebin sensed something off in his mother's voice. He quickly walked over and pushed open the door, only to see Mom sitting on the snow-white bedsheets, anxiously wiping tears from her face with the back of her hand. When she saw him enter, she turned her head away and sniffled, then hastily forced a smile as she stuffed several old black-and-white photographs into her wallet. They were pictures from when Mom and Dad had gotten married, taken over twenty years ago.

Dong Xuebin's heart ached slightly. He sat down beside her. "Do you miss Dad?"

"No, no." Mom carefully put away the wallet and wiped her eyes. "I just came across them and took them out for a look."

He had seen this scene countless times over the past few years. His mother had always been soft-hearted and fragile. Whenever she thought of something sad, she often cried alone in secret. Dong Xuebin felt awful. "Mom, it's because your son is useless. I'm no good at studying, I don't have any ability to speak of, and I don't have the slightest confidence that I can pass the Civil Service Exam. At best, I can work part-time at Panjiayuan Antique Market during Summer Vacation and winter break. I... I... sigh. When Dad was in the hospital a few years ago, if I'd made money earlier and sent him to the best hospital, maybe Dad wouldn't have left us."

Mom touched his leg. "Don't talk nonsense. My son is the most capable. You're destined to become an official someday."

Dong Xuebin moved his lips but could not say anything.

Mom smiled and stroked her son's hand. "Don't think so much. Mom will make you something nice for lunch."

A small plate of shredded pork stir-fried with garlic shoots, a bowl of stewed cabbage, and half a pot of rice porridge—this counted as a good meal in Dong Xuebin's home. Normally, when he was alone, he could not bear to eat like this. He would often steam a pot of rice and casually fry a vegetable dish to make do for both lunch and dinner. It was not that Dong Xuebin was frugal; the family simply did not have that much money. They truly had to split every penny in two.

He, Dong Xuebin, was twenty-three this year and had graduated with a bachelor's degree.

Average looks, average height, average personality, average ability.

Family savings: definitely not more than five figures.

All the family's savings had been spent the year Dad was hospitalized. In the end, they had even sold their home, and this one-bedroom apartment was rented afterward. After Dad passed away, Mom, who had taken too much leave to rest, lost her job. Coupled with the high cost of living in the Capital City, she gritted her teeth and returned to their rural hometown. Through connections, she found a job teaching Chinese at a rural middle school, earning money to support him through university. She only came to the Capital City to stay with him for a month or two during winter and summer breaks.

Rent, utilities, living expenses, daily costs—Mom's meager salary alone was clearly not enough. So during breaks and on weekends, Dong Xuebin often worked as a supermarket cashier or took odd jobs at the antique market. Other than tuition, he could barely earn enough to cover his own expenses. By living even more frugally, he could almost avoid asking Mom for money every month and rely entirely on himself.

It had been hard, but he had muddled through those four years somehow.

After lunch, Mom cleaned up the dishes while watching the old black-and-white movie "Tunnel Warfare" on TV. Dong Xuebin returned to his bedroom and lay on the broken wooden bed, staring blankly at the peeling ceiling. No matter how he thought about it, universities in the Capital City basically did not assign jobs to graduates anymore. He had already received his Graduation Certificate from United University. If he could not pass the Civil Service Exam and become an official, what was he supposed to do in the future?

Sigh, how great would it be if he really had some superpower?

Unfortunately, despite trying so many times yesterday, he had not succeeded again.

Try again?

The door creaked open, and Mom poked her head through the gap. In a gentle voice, she said, "You study by yourself. Mom's going upstairs to sit with Aunt Xu for a while. I heard her son is taking this year's Civil Service Exam too, and he's at the same test center as you. I'll see if I can ask her son to help tutor you. Xiao Dong is quite good at studying."

Dong Xuebin felt a tightness in his chest and gave a hoarse "Mm."

"Mom will be back soon." Bang. The door closed.

Gritting his teeth, Dong Xuebin gathered his thoughts and began the boring attempt once more.

Go back, return, rewind, turn back, back.

Suddenly, Dong Xuebin, lying there, felt his body jolt. But after blinking and looking around, he helplessly shook his head. Well, still no response.

Just as he had given up trying, the little room's door squeaked open without warning.

Mom poked her head in and looked at her son. "You study by yourself. Mom's going to Aunt Xu's for a while. I heard her son is taking this year's Civil Service Exam too, and he's at the same test center as you. I'll see if I can ask her son to help tutor you. Xiao Dong is quite good at studying."

Dong Xuebin froze. "Huh?"

The same words, the same tone.

This had clearly happened around fifty or sixty seconds ago!

Seeing her son react so strongly, Mom blinked guiltily and said quietly, "Mom knows you care about your pride, but when Xiao Dong took the National Civil Service Exam last year, he was only a few questions short of a perfect score on the Administrative Aptitude Test. If he explains it to you, your chances of passing will be a little better."

Dong Xuebin said blankly, "That's not what I meant."

Mom studied his expression. "Then Mom's going?"

After his mother left, Dong Xuebin smacked himself hard on the forehead. It worked—it actually worked!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he quickly grabbed an orange plastic alarm clock and stared unblinkingly at the time on it as he silently recited the "spell" once more.

Go back, return, rewind, turn back, back.

Dong Xuebin muttered like a madman from afternoon until evening. After eating dinner some time later, he continued from evening until late at night. Finally, his efforts paid off. At 12:02:28 a.m., time turned back again, returning to 12:01:28 a.m.—a full minute backward.

His joy was beyond words.

He knew the alarm clock's time might be inaccurate, so he hurriedly turned on the old twenty-nine-inch CRT color television.

In the upper-right corner of a late-night military program, there happened to be a time display—23:59:19.

Turning on the TV and switching to the channel had taken about nineteen seconds. In other words, the moment he used "Return" had been exactly midnight. Blinking, he boldly guessed: could "Return" use midnight as its axis, allowing him to use it only once a day, with each use sending him back to the point sixty seconds earlier?

God!

If that was really how it worked, then heaven was being far too good to him!!!