“Ugh!” a groan left Feng Tian’s mouth as he curled up on the floor like a shrimp. One of his hand covered his face, while the other tried to ease the pain in his churning stomach. That bastard, Feng Xiao, had not only punched him in the face, but also took the chance to smash him in the stomach. Feng Tian felt his throat burn due to the gastric reflux that cruel punch invoked.

By the side, the middle-aged Feng Xiao patted his clothes as he stared at the writhing Feng Tian through eyes full of sheer disdain. There was not a shred of pity in those cold eyes. It was as if he wasn’t watching his son, but a useless beast of burden he had whipped down for not doing its job.

As Feng Tian tried to get used to the pain coursing through his body, he heard the old man’s poisonous voice fall into his ears, “Motherfucker! I am gonna sell you off to some mines if you don’t get your ass outta this house within ten minutes. I swear I’m gonna break your legs if you get your pay docked again today, you piece of shit!”

Leaving those words behind, Feng Xiao turned around and left the room without shutting the door behind him.

……

‘I am too weak,’ Feng Tian thought to himself as he tried to get up from the floor. Although his body still ached and he could barely see from his left eye, Feng Tian still forced himself against his body’s wish to just lie down and go back to sleep.

He knew that if he didn’t get out of this house as soon as possible, that bastard, Feng Xiao, would have another excuse to abuse him. That son-of-a-bitch was not the least bit different from what he remembered, no, he was worse than what he remembered as his memories and hatred had mellowed down over the countless years of his life before rebirth.

Getting up, Feng Tian leaned against the wall to prevent himself from slouching on the ground again. As he looked around the dark room that only had a single bed, various olden memories poured into his mind like a flood, becoming more concrete and vivid as the moments passed, reminding Feng Tian of his life during his youth.

As he tried to make sense of the sudden influx of information in his mind, he caught a small flicker of light in the corner of his peripheral vision. The flickering attracted his gaze to the floor, where a smartphone’s shattered display gave out a faint light.

Immediately, memories of a certain past event surfaced in Feng Tian’s mind as a cold chill went down his spine. He vividly remembered the event that had turned his life upside-down, no, to be precise, it had ruined his life and threw him down a spiral of never-ending hatred and self-loathing which ended on the day he finally had a nervous break down and… Fire burned inside Feng Tian’s eyes as he walked forward to pick up the broken phone.

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It was his first smartphone he bought with his savings when he was only sixteen, and this bad boy had accompanied him through thick and thin for more than six years. Although he had received a harsh beating from that old bastard over hiding money from him, he had believed it to be worth it.

Even the current Feng Tian, who had lived far longer and even returned back in time somehow, believed that it had been a worthwhile investment. The phone was his biggest window to the outside world, the only mode of entertainment and communication he could use to talk to others and make friends. It had brought color to his dull and monotonous life.

The phone was his most cherished possession, and he had looked after it like a loving mother looked after her baby. Although it had suffered minor damage on multiple occasions over the years, Feng Tian had got it fixed by scraping money from here and there. But today, his beloved phone had met its demise.

Feng Tian remembered he had brought the phone in for repair on his way to work, but the repairman had given it back to him after a single look. The phone was discontinued over four years ago after it failed to sell well, and since it belonged to a brand that never caught on in their region, finding any essential spare parts for it was impossible.

Still, Feng Tian had pushed him to ask around, but even after the guy contacted other shops and suppliers, he came up with nothing. His baby was gone, and there was nothing they could do for him. The repairman had given his condolences, recommended some newer, cheap smartphones, and then shooed him away after he said that he couldn’t afford even the cheapest one.

……

Feng Tian caressed his shattered buddy with a sorrowful sigh and then put it in his pocket, saying with a resolute glint in his eyes, “Don’t worry, buddy, I will replace you with the best phone in the market and make the most of this chance the Heavens have bestowed upon me!”

With that, Feng Tian turned around and walked out of his room, heading towards the exit of the ‘home’ he had lived for twenty-two years of his life. He had not an inkling on how he survived death, or how he ended up back in the past, but if there was one thing he knew: it was that he wouldn’t let himself go through the same suffering again.

Even if it was all an illusion trapping him, he would still put in all of his effort to make the best of this second chance the Heavens had granted him. As those thoughts coursed through his mind, Feng Tian reached for the doorknob. The only thing separating him from a brighter world was this door.

Opening the already unlocked door, Feng Tian took his first step towards a better life. This time, he won’t let the world step over his head. And as for that bastard father of his, Feng Tian swore to let him suffer a life worse than death. After everything that heinous trash did, there was no way Feng Tian was going to let him off easily.