Side Story 12: Reborn as the Eldest Son, Xie Hongchu
“Big brother, run!” A voice roared through the chaotic scene, bullets flying in all directions, their deafening sounds mixing with the sight of blood splattering onto the muddy ground. Xie Hongchu crouched behind an old oil drum, his face dark with rage and bloodlust. His underling was trying to provide covering fire, urging him to escape, but then the oil drum exploded. With a resounding “boom,” Xie Hongchu’s world went black, and he lost consciousness.
When Xie Hongchu regained some semblance of awareness, he didn’t know how long it had been, but the first thing he heard was the soft voices of two children, followed by a woman’s gentle tone. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it was annoyingly noisy.
Where did these… kids and women come from?
Even though Xie Hongchu had become a fearsome leader, childhood trauma had left him with a strong aversion to women. He never allowed them close and felt repelled by them. Kids? He had no use for them either.
“Big brother… Big brother…” One of the soft voices, belonging to a small child, was accompanied by a gentle push. The child’s little hand even pressed against his forehead, as if worried about him.
“He’s still sleeping; stop bothering him,” said the other child, trying to quiet the first. The hand was removed.
For reasons he couldn’t explain, Xie Hongchu felt a strange sense of loss. He wanted to wake up, but his consciousness remained trapped in a fog, half-aware but unable to respond. Still… where were these small voices coming from? He didn’t remember having little brothers with such childish voices. His younger brothers were already adults—they no longer needed him.
Had he been transported to a different world?
“Alright, big brother will wake up soon,” the familiar voice of a gentle woman said. “But didn’t I tell you not to climb trees? Look, you’ve fallen again.”
Climbing trees? Did they mean him?
No, this must be happening to the kid in the next bed, he thought. But why was someone else touching his head?
Time passed in this dream-like haze, and finally, Xie Hongchu forced his eyes open. What he saw made him widen them in shock.
Where… where was this?
The shabby room around him was completely unfamiliar. His surroundings were too strange, too… small.
“Erzai, go see if Dazai is awake yet,” a gentle woman’s voice called from outside the room, accompanied by the scent of food. That voice—it seemed oddly familiar.
“Oh!” One of the childlike voices from earlier responded. A little boy’s footsteps could be heard tapping quickly across the floor, and soon enough, a small child appeared in Xie Hongchu’s line of sight.
Still dazed and confused, Xie Hongchu stared at the child, trying to make sense of what was happening. Was he in someone else’s house? Had he been taken in by a stranger?
But then his gaze landed on the child, and he frozen.
This child…
As Xie Hongchu’s mind reeled, the boy looked up at him with bright, innocent eyes and said, “Big brother, you’re awake! That’s great!” His voice was full of genuine excitement and relief.
Big… brother?
“Mom! Big brother’s awake!” The little boy quickly ran out the door, his small legs carrying him back to the woman, who soon came into the room. In the next moment, Xie Hongchu saw the woman clearly, and his eyes widened further in shock.
It was Lin Chuxia.
But instead of the stern and cold stepmother he remembered, she was now warm and tender. When she spoke to him, her voice was filled with care. “Dazai, you’re finally awake! Does your head still hurt? I told you not to climb trees. Now look, you’ve fallen and hurt yourself.”
As she reached out to touch his forehead again, Xie Hongchu instinctively raised his small, chubby hand to block her. Unfortunately, his current body lacked the strength of his previous life, and he couldn’t stop her from placing her hand on his forehead.
“Still a bit warm,” Lin Chuxia muttered softly, her tone full of concern as she gently held his wrist. “No fever, but you need to rest.”
Xie Hongchu’s eyes flicked from her face to the two children standing nearby, who were watching with innocent curiosity. What was happening? Why was he suddenly a child, and why was Lin Chuxia acting like this?
“Come on, after lunch, we’ll all help wash the dishes,” Lin Chuxia said, heading out of the room. Erzai and Sanzai followed obediently, but not before pulling at Xie Hongchu’s small hand.
“Come on, big brother. It’s time to eat!” they said eagerly.
Xie Hongchu glanced down at his hand—it was small, pudgy, and clearly not that of an adult. He was a child again, perhaps only four or five years old.
The woman from his dreams, the soft, caring voice—it was Lin Chuxia. But how could she be so kind? He remembered her as a bitter, harsh figure from his past. This had to be some sort of dream or illusion.
Cautiously, he followed the children out of the room, only to be met with a sight that left him speechless. The dining table was set with simple yet hearty dishes: steamed eggs, stir-fried pork intestines, and a few vegetables. The smell was incredible.
But something felt off. He blinked, looking at the food. This wasn’t the miserable life of hardship he remembered from his childhood. Back then, they had barely enough to eat, let alone anything this luxurious.
Was he really dreaming? Or had he somehow gone back to a different version of his past?
“Why are you just standing there? Come eat,” Lin Chuxia urged, clearly confused by his hesitation.
Xie Hongchu still couldn’t understand what was happening, but his stomach growled in response to the delicious smell of food. The hunger was real, at least. Reluctantly, he sat down and took a bite. The food was hot and flavorful, and it made his chest tighten with unexpected emotion.
He wasn’t dreaming. The pain of the food burning his tongue told him that.
He looked up at Lin Chuxia again. The warmth in her gaze, the concern she showed for him—it didn’t match the cold woman he had known in his previous life. This was a different Lin Chuxia, and he wasn’t the same Xie Hongchu.
After finishing his meal in silence, Xie Hongchu’s mind was racing. This wasn’t the life he had known. But why had he come back? And why here, in this version of his past, where Lin Chuxia was so different?
As he sat there, deep in thought, Lin Chuxia’s voice brought him back to reality. “Alright, time to wash the dishes. Come on, roll up your sleeves.”
Xie Hongchu snapped out of his thoughts. “I’ll do it,” he said firmly. He was still the eldest, and he needed to take care of his younger brothers. He wasn’t going to let them do the work. But when he went to wash the dishes, his small, uncoordinated hands slipped, and a plate crashed to the floor.
The sound echoed through the room, and Xie Hongchu’s face burned with embarrassment. He wasn’t used to this body—everything felt wrong.
Lin Chuxia chuckled softly, clearly amused but not angry. “No worries, just be more careful next time.”
For some reason, her gentle reassurance made his heart ache. He wasn’t used to this kind of care, this soft warmth that seemed so foreign to the harsh world he had known.
As the day went on, Xie Hongchu found himself playing a simple board game with Erzai and Sanzai, despite thinking the whole thing was childish and beneath him. Yet he couldn’t help but get caught up in it, feeling a strange sense of contentment in their innocent laughter. When he lost, Erzai tugged at his sleeve, giggling, “Big brother, you lost again! Want to play another round?”
Xie Hongchu’s pride flared up, and before he knew it, he was demanding a rematch. “Let’s go again. This time, I won’t lose.”
But before they could start, Lin Chuxia appeared once more, this time to herd them off for a nap. “It’s nap time, boys. No more games until after you’ve rested.”
As Xie Hongchu lay down in the small bed, he closed his eyes, his mind whirling with thoughts. This wasn’t his world. These weren’t his memories. But maybe, just maybe, he had been given a second chance to experience something he had missed out on.
And yet, his past still weighed on him. Who had betrayed him? And what happened to his brothers in his original world? He swore to himself that if he ever returned, he would find the traitor and make them pay.
For now, though, he would play along, pretending to belong in this new world, all the while trying to piece together the puzzle of his unexpected rebirth.
Translator’s Note:- Hey guys, as a Christmas Gift I have decided to do mass release (10 chapters) of the novel which gets most votes in the poll posted on my Ko-fi page.
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This is the link to the poll: https://ko-fi.com/polls/Which-Novel-Mass-Release-do-you-want-V7V217M3GX
