Chapter Eighteen: When I Grow Up, I’ll Carry You on My Back

Zheye gazed at the child before him, whose timid face betrayed not fear but a quiet resolve. He asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“I don’t know, but there’s a warm light about you. And… I feel as if you’re someone I know very well.”

So, he’s already sensed it! Zheye thought. Perhaps they truly originated from the same beginning—an inseparable connection that nothing could sever.

“I can give you the power you desire, a power great enough to shape your own fate. Do you want it?”

Zheye crouched down, his words phrased as a question, but his tone left no doubt—a statement that shook the air.

“Yes, I want it, no matter what the cost.”

Xu Ye looked at the younger version of himself—those small eyes shone with unwavering determination. He understood the price that came with such strength, and he knew how to wield it. Though his appearance was timid, young Zheye’s heart was steadfast; otherwise, he would not have restrained his desires for so many years.

After a silent pause, Zheye refrained from asking pointless questions—no lectures about responsibility or how he ought to use this power. He simply looked into young Zheye’s eyes and understood everything. He knew he was worthy of his anticipation, for they were one and the same. Zheye understood him as intimately as he understood himself.

“Then, first, receive my memories.”

In the midst of young Zheye’s astonished gaze, several beams of light floated from Zheye’s hand—his body composed of blue radiant ions—and hovered above the boy’s head. All the memories from childhood to arriving in this world surged into the boy’s mind. Blue light seeped into his brain, the torrent of information flowing at a dizzying speed. The child clutched his head in silence, his face contorted and large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, but he did not utter a sound.

At last, as the blue light faded, young Zheye collapsed to his knees, supporting himself with both hands on the ground, sweat streaming down his face, his clothes soaked through. Slowly, he lifted his head to gaze up at the tall figure before him. “I did it… brother!” His voice was clear but weak, followed by the thud of his body sinking to the ground.

Zheye looked at his pale face and suddenly smiled. Perhaps in others’ eyes, he had always been lacking. He had felt inferior at times, but he had never given up on his dreams, never ceased to control his desires. Such a self possessed a potential unmatched by others. And this boy was the same…

He left the ions of light within young Zheye’s body—a power exchanged for with his own life force, which would slowly alter the boy’s cells. He would carry the genes of a light inheritance; perhaps, in the future, he would bring him an unexpected joy.

The night wind was cool. Zheye’s body, composed of blue radiant ions, slowly dissolved into the village’s night sky. Meanwhile, in the tiny village, rain began to fall.

If only I could see Grandma one more time… Zheye was suddenly reminded of a childhood scene.

It was a deep night, and his grandmother had carried him, burning with fever, along a muddy road. The raindrops fell from the sky like soybeans. Passing by a small pond, Grandma stumbled, and even in his feverish confusion, he sensed it and spoke—words that she would later repeat to all their neighbors.

“Grandma, when I was little, you carried me. When I grow up, I’ll carry you…”

Such a childhood promise had remained unfulfilled when he crossed into this world. He could only hope that in this world, he might fulfill the dream of his youth.

With a helpless sigh, Zheye’s figure gradually vanished into the night.

Not long after Zheye disappeared, his grandmother hurried home, clutching a bowl—she was accustomed to sharing noodles with the neighbors at dinnertime. As she reached the gate, she immediately saw the boy lying in the courtyard and rushed to him. Her rough, callused hand pressed to his forehead, and her face filled with panic.

“A high fever…”

Her gaze shifted to the rain, which was falling more heavily now. Biting her lip, she set the bowl aside, hoisted little Zheye onto her back, and plunged into the downpour.

There was only one country doctor, living at the eastern end of the village, while their home was at its center. The distance was only a few hundred meters, but on a night like this, with rain pounding down, the village’s dirt roads became treacherous. Still, there could be no hesitation; she knew a high fever could make a child delirious—she’d seen it on TV, children whose minds were ruined by fever. She dared not delay even for a moment.

In the darkness, as the rain fell harder, Grandma’s plump frame bore the boy along the muddy path, her steps unsteady but determined.

Far above, Zheye glanced back at the little village shrouded in darkness, rain muffling every sound. He smiled. After this rain, when dawn arrived, his childhood self would be reborn.

Little Zheye felt as if his mind would explode—a flood of memories roaring within. His cells were mutating, making his whole body burn like a red-hot iron. Yet, in the pouring rain, his fever gradually subsided. His mind was hazy, and the sounds of the world filtered faintly through; he knew he was on Grandma’s back, hurrying through the storm toward the country doctor’s house. He wanted to speak, but it was as if something blocked his throat.

At that moment, Grandma stumbled, nearly falling—they had reached a small pond. The pond’s water had risen, lapping at her ankles; if she fell, both she and her grandson would land in the water.

The rain traced rivulets down her wrinkled forehead, silver hairs plastered to her face. With one hand, she steadied the boy; with the other, she wiped the rain from her eyes, then lifted her head with difficulty, gazing at the distant glow of light in the night.

“We’re almost there… Just a little longer, my good boy…”

Little Zheye’s heart ached, and tears flowed uncontrollably down his cheeks. He whimpered, and at last, as if breaking through some barrier, he managed to speak.

“Grandma, when I was little, you carried me. When I grow up, I’ll carry you…”