Zhou Yi had never imagined that death would come for him so suddenly.
On a crosswalk he had used countless times, a car recklessly ignored the red light at the intersection and tore across the zebra crossing at a crazed speed.
He had no time to react, much less dodge. Even the instant he was struck and sent flying, he had no time to feel terror.
The world around him spun endlessly before dissolving into a bloody wash of red. Zhou Yi felt no pain at all, yet he could clearly sense his life slipping away at terrifying speed.
Zhou Yi slowly closed his eyes. Forty years of life became countless scenes, flashing through his mind one after another.
His first day at school, his first time skipping class, his first fight, his first argument with his parents, his first time running away from home, his first love, his first college entrance exam, his first heartbreak, his first time getting drunk, his first job, his first tongue-lashing from a superior, his first dismissal from public service...
He, too, had once been spirited and full of ambition, but he could not withstand setback after setback, blow after blow. Reality had eventually worn away his sharp edges, leaving him to drift through life and squander half his years.
And so, in this film called life, he could only be an extra, a nameless passerby, an insignificant figure who looked like a lackey even standing still!
As his consciousness sank into darkness, Zhou Yi suddenly realized just how much of a failure his life had been!
Sadly, he no longer had a chance to rewrite it!
Summer, 2005.
Dongji County, Anping City.
Qinghe Township Police Station.
In the restroom, Zhou Yi stood motionless, staring at the unfamiliar yet familiar face in the mirror.
Unfamiliar, because it was not his usual middle-aged face, with its sagging skin and dull, dispirited look.
Familiar, because it was exactly how he had looked in his youth: sunny, cheerful, and brimming with vitality.
Zhou Yi reached out and lightly traced his fingers across his face. The firm, smooth feel reminded him that this face was real, not an illusion.
He wasn't dead!
No, to be precise, he had been reborn.
Just moments earlier, he had woken up on the bed in the station's duty room and discovered that he had returned eighteen years into the past-to his third year at Qinghe Township Police Station, where he had been assigned after passing the civil service exam and becoming a police officer.
Zhou Yi lowered his head, found his blue washbasin in the corner, and set it on the counter. With slightly trembling hands, he turned on the faucet and stared blankly as the rushing cold water slowly filled the basin.
Then he raised the washbasin high and poured the entire basin of water over his head.
Cold spread through him from head to toe.
Yet as he looked at his drenched, somewhat bedraggled reflection, Zhou Yi could not contain the excitement in his heart and burst out laughing.
"You little punk, what the hell are you doing in here?"
The sharp rebuke cut Zhou Yi's laughter short.
Turning to look at the tall figure in the restroom doorway, Zhou Yi was overwhelmed by a jumble of emotions. For a moment, he could not speak.
Several seconds passed before he finally said, his voice laden with emotion, "Chief, you're back!"
Zhang Liping.
Chief of Qinghe Township Police Station.
A man with a stern exterior and a warm heart, he had always taken good care of Zhou Yi.
Even during the period when Zhou Yi had been dismissed from public service and sunk into despair, Zhang Liping had kept comforting and encouraging him, even finding him a job at a county-run enterprise.
Sadly, this longtime superior, who had devoted nearly ten years to working tirelessly in the countryside, had later suffered a fatal heart attack on the job.
"Look at your pathetic self. It's just a breakup. What, has the sky fallen? Don't want to live anymore?"
Zhang Liping had just returned from a meeting in the county seat. The moment he got back, he caught Zhou Yi "tormenting himself." Fury flared, and he strode over to give him a thorough dressing-down.
"What the hell does moping around all day accomplish? Will it make her parents change their minds? Will crying bring your girlfriend back? If you're still any kind of man, Zhou Yi, you should damn well do your job properly and climb as high as you can. Make everyone who looked down on you bitterly regret it. That's what it means to have some backbone. Do you understand? Now get your ass out of here this instant, change your clothes, and get ready for the meeting."
It was exactly the same lecture. Back then, Zhou Yi had found it unbearably grating. Now, it felt warm and comforting.
If the chief had not "reminded" him, he might almost have forgotten that just a few days earlier, his girlfriend, Li Qian, had chosen to break up with him.
It really had dealt him a heavy blow at the time. He had been filled with the pain, sorrow, and helplessness of someone crying, "How am I supposed to live without you, Yanzi?" So it was only natural that Chief Zhang had mistaken his behavior just now for "self-torment."
"Understood. Thank you, Chief Zhang."
Zhou Yi raised his hand and solemnly gave the chief a police salute, then strode out of the restroom.
That kid...
Zhang Liping studied Zhou Yi's retreating figure with a suspicious gaze. Something felt off, but he could not quite put his finger on it.
A few minutes later, Zhou Yi had changed into his police uniform and stood before the mirror again, silently studying his reflection.
So often, looking back from a later point in life and regretting the choices one had made, blaming or even hating oneself for past hesitation, cowardice, impulsiveness, or carelessness, was utterly meaningless.
Because life had no what-ifs, and fate allowed no hypotheticals.
No one could change what had already happened.
But for Zhou Yi, it was different!
He now had a chance to rewrite his life.
And this time-
I swear, all of you will have to take notice of me!
In the mirror, the young man in his police uniform pressed his lips together. In his bright, keen eyes, a flame called ambition blazed.
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