Rebirth on the Doors to the Civil Affairs Bureau

The author notes not to take this too seriously…

***

Ren Xinxin sat in a café not far from the Shanghai Grand Theater, killing time before the show. After sending a message via WeChat, Xinxin looked up to see her daughter’s face smeared with cake.

“I think most of the cake went to your face instead of your mouth.” Ren Xinxin laughed as she took a napkin and wiped her daughter’s mouth.

“Mom, this chocolate cake is delicious.” Little Bell blinked her big eyes and said, “I want to eat another one.”

“It isn’t good to eat too much cake. Your teeth will grow worms, and they’ll fall off.” Ren Xinxin tried to persuade her daughter.

“But QiQi said that when children grow older, they’ll lose their teeth and grow new ones, even if I eat less sugar.” Little Bell remembered Auntie Xiaoyue telling the same thing her mom was saying, and brother QiQi refuting her.

That QiQi, how can a four-year-old child know such things.

“But if it doesn’t fall off naturally, the new teeth might not grow out straight, ah.” Ren Xinxin patiently told her daughter, “And if you eat too much cake you’ll grow fat, and no one wants to get fat.”

“Will everyone like me if I don’t eat anymore cake?”

“Yes.”

“Mom’s lying.” Little Bell looked serious. “Auntie Dong Dong said that the only thing everyone likes is renminbi, it can’t be Lingdang.”

(T/N Renminbi is the currency of China, and reminder, Lingdang is little bell’s actual name.)

That Yu Dong, what is she saying in front of the children. No wonder that QiQi’s so strange, despite being so young.

“Your Auntie Dong Dong isn’t right either.”

“Oh. Can I have another piece of cake?” Little Bell’s obsession with cake took precedence.

“….” Ren Xinxin helplessly stood up. “I’ll go buy you another one. Don’t walk off.”

“Un!” Little Bell nodded happily.

Ren Xinxin looked around the store. The café was quiet, with no people around their table. Seeing that she could easily spot her daughter from the counter, Ren Xinxin could walk away confidently.

“Hello, Miss. What can I get you?” The cashier asked.

“Please give me another piece of chocolate cake.” Ren Xinxin said as she looked back to see her daughter munching on her cake.

“Won’t be long!” The cashier took out a fresh piece of cake and passed it to Ren Xinxin.

Xinxin smiled and pulled out a Grandpa Mao, intending to pay.

(T/N Grandpa Mao is Mao Zedong, someone who’s on a banknote.)

“Miss, this cake was bought for you.” The cashier refused Ren Xinxin’s money.

“Ah?” Ren Xinxin was at a loss. She didn’t see anyone she knew when she looked around.

“A guest thought your daughter was cute so he told us that if you tried to buy another piece of cake, to give one to your daughter.” The cashier explained.

“Where’s that person?” Ren Xinxin looked around but didn’t see anyone looking at her.

“They already left.”

“Oh.” Ren Xinxin couldn’t do anything else but take the cake and return to her seat.

Little Bell had just finished her cake when she saw her mom bring her another. She immediately grabbed a small spoon and ate with gusto, her cheeks looking like a hamster.

Ren Xinxin was still thinking about the mystery person that sent the cake. Their table was on a corner and was relatively secluded. Why would anyone go so far as to buy them another cake, but not come forward and introduce themselves?

She thought for a long time, but Xinxin couldn’t think of an answer so she gave up. It seems that the other party just liked children.

After a while, Ren Xinxin helped wiped Little Bell’s mouth and told her: “We’ll be going to a concert later, about an excellent pianist. If you like it, Mom will send you to learn piano.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

“Then it doesn’t matter. But when we’re at the concert, we can’t leave early and you can’t make any noise. If you get bored, you can just lie down on Mom and sleep.” Ren Xinxin earnestly told her daughter.

“This Little Bell understands.” The little girl nodded her head.

As they were about to sit down, Lingdang suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. They already entered the venue a little later, so the seats were mostly filled. Ren Xinxin held her daughter’s hand and slowly moved through the row as she apologized to an audience member who had already sat down.

Afterward, Ren Xinxin finally placed her daughter to her seat before sitting down on the chair next to Little Bell’s. Soon, the concert started. Ren Xinxin had liked classical music ever since she was young. She had also studied piano for a while in her childhood. But because her talents were limited, it just became a hobby. Every once in a while, she would go buy tickets if there was a particularly good concert. This time, she came with the intention of seeing if her daughter had any interest in music.

It’s just that…half an hour in, Little Bell fell asleep. Ren Xinxin shook her head with a smile. Looking at her daughter sleeping so peacefully, she didn’t wake her and instead turned to enjoy the concert.

When the concert finally ended, Xinxin enthusiastically applauded before realizing that her daughter wasn’t leaning on her anymore, but on the man sitting on Bell’s other side. The man arm had saliva stains and teeth markings, ruining his high-class suit.

“I’m so sorry sir!” Ren Xinxin hurriedly picked up her daughter.

The man turned to look at Xinxin and said: “Let’s go out first.”

Oh my…so perfect…Ren Xinxin found that she couldn’t think of any words to describe this face. As if God himself sculpted this masterpiece, concentrating mankind’s best genes on this person. Even his cold eyes gave him a sort of mysterious aura.

“We have to go out, it’s over.” The man saw that Xinxin wasn’t moving, so he reiterated this.

“Oh…” Ren Xinxin finally snapped out of her daze. With a red face, she hugged Little Bell, bowing down as she panicked. Really she was such a disgrace, getting dazed over a man’s looks.

“I’m very sorry about your suit, please let me pay for the dry cleaning.” Ren Xinxin apologized again.

“It’s alright.” The man took off his suit, revealing a white shirt inside. They were standing so close to each other…

“How can I not pay…”

“It’s really alright, I’m just happy I met you again.” The man suddenly said.

“Eh???” Ren Xinxin looked at the man in surprise. Meeting me again? And saying you’re happy, yet not smiling?

“Have we met before?” Ren Xinxin was uncertain.

The man nodded, and without a hint of joy in his voice, he said: “On April 6, 2008, at 5:31:58 p.m.”

“(⊙o⊙) Oh.” Xinxin was stunned.

“I’m Gao Feng, I’m happy to meet you again, Ren Xinxin.” The man finally showed emotion when he said this, as his calm eyes flickered.

Ren Xinxin’a brain began to run at high speed. In 2008 she gave birth to Little Bell. April was before her birth…during that time she mostly just went to work then home. Besides Xia Feng and Qin Yue, she had no contact with the opposite sex.

And at 5:00 in the afternoon, she would have already gotten off work. His name is Gao Feng, Gao Feng…

“You…you’re…the homeless man on the park bench?” Ren Xinxin asked, still not quite sure.

“You remember me.” Gao Feng’s heart seemed a little warm, is this what you call a happy feeling?

After being on earth for five years and three months, he had seen countless human emotions. But this was the first time he had experienced these feelings himself.

He’ll need to analyze this later. It seems that his body produces some kind of stimuli that affected his nerves organically. Was this the difference between human beings and robots?

For the first time, Gao Feng realized just what Main Intelligence’s mission meant.

Gao Feng’s hometown was millions of lightyears away from the Milky Way: the Kepler Planet. The civilization on this planet was highly developed, where their genes are highly optimized. They would never get sick, never age, never die, or even need to learn. This was because Main Intelligence would implant chips on their brains just after a baby is born, linking the child’s brainwaves to it so you can learn all known knowledge in an instant.

So they never had a childhood full of ignorance. Every Keplerian stayed the same, from child to adulthood. They were no different from the robots they create.

Because the planet was too powerful, there was no war. Because technology was too advanced, there was no hunger or pain. Because everyone had the same mental development due to the chips, there was no thirst for knowledge.

Day after day, the whole planet of Kepler acted like an emotionless machine, running smoothly until one day, the first suicide happened.

Everyone was puzzled, but not sad. No one thought about the suicide for too long, after all, a new child could be made. With their rigid control of the population, they would never lack people.

But that was just the beginning. Like a switch had been flipped, more and more Keplers that had lived too long wanted to experience the feelings suicide would bring. Every day, suicides would happen until this phenomenon finally attracted Main Intelligence’s attention.

Main Intelligence’s computers were overloaded for a month before it finally came to the conclusion that Keplers suffered the mythical and legendary depression.

But what was depression? The people didn’t understand.

The Main Intelligence answered: It was when you live more and more like a machine, as if you didn’t have a soul.

The people disagreed, they had consciousness and psychological drive. Robots and machines do not.

Main Intelligence said, but you have no feelings. You live day after day without experiencing happiness, sorrow, desire. You do not fear death.

What are feelings? The Kepler people knew all of the words Main Intelligence said, but they didn’t understand. Why have desires when we already have it all.

But Main Intelligence decreed: If this pattern continues, the Kepler people will die off by their own hands, that this mighty civilization will be extinct.

However, the Kepler people were not anxious. The origin, development and subsequent extinction of any being was an inevitable and natural process. Just like the sun, after billions of years later, it will burn itself out. But the universe would rebuild, and like a new sun would be created, another civilization would emerge.

Main Intelligence persisted: When I was made by your forefathers, my primary task was to protect the Kepler People. Therefore, I have to do something.

So Main Intelligence issued a task. Let a third of the Kepler people travel to other low-level civilizations, to experience a more basic lifestyle where technology hasn’t been fully developed.

Gao Feng had been assigned to the most primitive planet detected. He had to go through ten wormholes and travel across millions of light-years before reaching his destination.

Main Intelligence forbade the Keplers to carry any technology superior to the local technology. So when Gao Feng arrived at Earth, he was empty-handed save for his spacesuit.

On the day his spacecraft landed, it was raining heavily. He watched the strange crowd below running around. Gao Feng knew that the thunderstorm and clouds were brought about by his spacecraft’s engines.

“What’s with this weather? Didn’t the forecast say it was going to be sunny today?”

“When has the TV forecast ever been right?”

“Find a place to hide…”

……

“That person’s so stupid, why is he just standing out on the rain…”

“It’s a big man with long hair and weird clothes…”

“But his clothes don’t seem to get wet?”

……

“Standing under a tree like that…won’t lightning strike him…”

“There are lightning rods around the city…”

……

“It’s raining again, I can’t make money today…”

“Let your wife send an umbrella…”

…… 𝒇𝘳ℯℯ𝚠𝙚𝑏𝗻𝑜ѵ𝑒𝙡.co𝑚

Gao Feng had been on earth for less than five minutes, and he already has a headache: countless voices, countless ideas, coming from all directions, so noisy!

Gan Feng walked against the flow of people, looking for a quiet place. He thought about going to a completely empty place, but Gao Feng remembered the task he was given by Main Intelligence. So he came to a small park.

Because of the rain, the small park was deserted. Gao Feng sat down on a nearby bench, letting the rain fall to his body. Anyway, his body won’t let him get sick.

But the feeling was strange. On the data given to him, these humans had no purifier and relied on this water for bathing. The information said that bathing was very comfortable and pleasant, but he didn’t feel very pleased right now. He couldn’t even open his eyes.

The rain eventually stopped after an hour. Looking around, Gao Feng felt that the park seemed to have changed, it felt a lot cleaner and as the sunshine fell, the trees look like they regained their vitality.

“Mom, that uncle’s clothes are so strange.” A child pointed at Gao Feng.

“Don’t talk nonsense.” When the mother saw that her child was pointing towards a disorderly man wearing a strange costume, she became frightened and grabbed her child to quickly leave.

“Was that a primordial human cub? His brain waves were so weak. So stupid his IQ can’t even catch up to Kepler insects…” Gao Feng could sense another’s brain waves and was deeply puzzled. With such stupid beings, how do they survive?

Drip, drip…

Gao Feng opened his connection with Main Intelligence and a voice reverberated through his brain: “Please do not affect the natural development of this primitive civilization. Please have an equal mentality with them. When you realize their feelings and perceive your own emotions, you can apply for a spacecraft back to Kepler. I wish you an early mission completion, and a better understanding of the seven passions and six desired of mankind.”

Gao Feng silently closed the connection. Gradually, more people entered the park. They all saw his strange appearance and whispered amongst themselves. Gao Feng thought for a bit before standing up to look for some clothes. Fortunately, there were plenty in the trash.

Gao Feng randomly picked a few pieces to wear before sitting back on the park bench. People were coming and going, but there never was a crowd. Gao Feng intended to sit here and just observe for a while. But these primitive humans were so strange. After he changed clothes, all he felt from their brainwaves were ‘disgust’.

Their feelings were so rich, and they easily fluctuate. No wonder their average life expectancy wasn’t very high.

Gao Feng didn’t care about the disgust, fear or loathing people felt towards him. He just quietly sat on the bench and watched his surroundings. He remained an outsider in this world.

It’s that woman again. Every time Gao Feng sees her walk by, she would be alone. This woman should be considered beautiful to the beings on this planet. There were strong life fluctuations in her stomach, and Gao Feng could feel that it would be born soon.

“Ah!” Suddenly, the woman turned pale and wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if she was in pain.

Gao Feng knew that these primitive humans were very fragile, even the smallest damage could kill them. The park was empty during this time, and no one usually walks by. So Gao Feng had to go place the woman on the bench, then use his mental strength to calm the small life in the woman’s belly.

This is? It passed me again…happiness? Feeling the fluctuations of the small life, Gao Feng was stunned.

“Thank you!”

The woman’s face was still pale, but she still managed to smile and thank him. Gao Feng slowly lowered his head to look at her. He knew that this woman was also afraid of him. Every time she passed his bench, she would get nervous and pick up her pace.

So Gao Feng did a little more, helping the woman to pick up the food she dropped. Gao Feng hadn’t tasted the food of earth yet. He drank the nutrient solutions he brought with him because he knew that if he started to eat earth food, his mental connection with the space that stored all his nutrient packs will close. This was to help him integrate with earth environment as soon as possible.

Gao Feng placed the plastic bag on the edge of the bench and silently sat on the grass, calculating how long the nutrient packs he brought would last him.

“Thank you just now.” The woman opened her plastic bag as she spoke, “There are for you.”

Gao Feng looked at the food in front of him, but didn’t speak. The woman gently put them down, then slowly walked away.

Gao Feng looked at the retreating figure, then picked up one of the food items and smelled it. It emitted a faint scent, and his brain told him that it was an orange. It was fruit that was extinct in Kepler for thousands of years.

If he wanted to understand human emotions, he had to integrate himself into their society and interact with them…

With this rational analysis, Gao Feng’s brain opened the relevant information. He gently peeled the orange and slowly bit down. The sweet and sour juice soaked his taste buds and saliva automatically secreted. What a novel feeling.

The space containing his nutrient packets was locked. For the first time, Gao Feng felt hunger. It was a novelty, but he also started to feel weak.

“Aren’t you hungry? I bought some bread and cooked food…”

It was that woman again. She seemed to come by every few days. Gao Feng checked with the connection Main Intelligence left. This woman was apparently expressing goodwill. It also reminded him that when someone was kind to him, Gao Feng could develop this and enter something called ‘friendship’.

Gao Feng ignored the woman, but silently accepted the food.

The woman wasn’t angry though. She just smiled then walked away. Gao Feng sensed the vitality of the little life inside her and commented: “The child is about to be born.”

“Your mental strength is stimulating her, she’s going to be premature.” Main Intelligence answered.

“There’s no harm, she’ll be healthier.”

For the next month, Gao Feng never saw the woman again. The woman probably gave birth.

“Your brain often flashes the memory of that woman. Are you missing her?” Main Intelligence asked.

“I don’t know.” Gao Feng was also a little confused.

“Women of this era are still very vulnerable. After giving birth, they have to rest for a time, so she shouldn’t appear for a while.”

“So fragile.” Gao Feng commented, “Let’s go find something to eat.”

A few days later, Gao Feng finally realized that it was time for him to integrate into this world in a different way. People were becoming more and more disgusted with him.

“Why do they hate me?”

“Because you are dirty and smelly…” Main Intelligence replied.

“But my spacesuit has a cleansing function.” ”

“But the clothes you’re wearing on top of your suit isn’t clean.”

“This world is so complicated. I have to use countless formulas just to figure out their behavioral patterns.” Gao Feng muttered.

“These are only a small group of people in the corner of this planet, incomparable to the countless stars in the Milky Way…” Main Intelligence reminded him.

“Yet you say I can integrate into this place, learn their feelings then go back to Kepler quick?”

“I cannot help you calculate, but we can do a test…”

“Test?”

“I recently linked into the Earth’s network and found that humans here care about something called charm.”

“What is charm?”

“It seems to be a trait that everyone has, but the more you have it, the more popular you are.”

“So how would you test for this?” Gao Feng asked.

“Wait a minute…” Main Intelligence went silent, then spoke. “I found this passage from a popular novel. For men, the kiss of a beautiful woman is the best way to show you have charm.”

“I need a kiss from a beautiful woman to wake up my decaying soul.” Gao Feng frowned as he read the passage.

“Write this down so the people of earth can understand your intentions.” Main Intelligence advised.

“What kind of beauty are we looking for?” The ever-serious Gao Feng asked, “Is there a standard we should be following?”

“Baidu explains that as long as it looks good in your eyes, it’s beautiful.”

(T/N Baidu is like google)

“Then let’s try. If this test succeeds, I’ll officially start the mission.”

From early morning to sunset, Gao Feng waited on his bench, but the result was a stronger sense of aversion from the people that pass by.

“Why do they react so fiercely?” Gao Feng was puzzled.

“Maybe you don’t have enough charm.” Main Intelligence answered.

“Oh…” Just then, Gao Feng saw the woman he hadn’t seen for a month. Once again, she had dropped her bag and scattered her food items on the ground, so Gao Feng put down his cardboard and approached to help.

“This is my daughter, Lingdang.” The woman happily introduced.

I know, I feel her brain waves, she’s very healthy.

“Hey, is this something you wrote?”

Gao Feng nodded.

“Do you think I’m beautiful?”

Gao Feng nodded again. She was the best-looking earth person he had seen these past three months.

–he suddenly felt a strange sensation on his face: soft, warm.

He could smell the fragrance of her hair, could see the woman’s long eyelashes and listen to her heartbeat. This is a kiss?

A simple action, yet it results in a wonderful feeling.

“It seems that you are charming.” Main Intelligence announced.

“Find a job in the future, work steadfastly, and let the sun shine down on you.” The woman smiled and pushed the child away.

“What’s your name?” Gao Feng couldn’t help but ask. This was the first time…his first real contact with a human person.

“Ren Xinxin.” The woman smiled brightly. Her smile couldn’t be compared to other people’s.

“My name is Gao Feng.”

You are the first person to know my name, Ren Xinxin.

…….

“Gao Feng, the homeless person in the park?” Ren Xinxin was too surprised.

“That’s me.” Gao Feng looked at the little girl who was slowly waking up. “Lingdang?has grown up a lot.”

“You…” He remembered Lingdang’s name, he really was the homeless man.

“Mom, who is this beautiful uncle?” Little Bell had always liked beautiful things.

“Bell, you can’t call uncles beautiful.”

“But this uncle is very beautiful, more beautiful than the people in the cartoon.” Little Bell looked serious.

“You’re praising me? Thank you!” Gao Feng looked at her.

“Uncle, I praised you. Aren’t you happy?” Lingdang asked, doubtful.

“I should be…I’m happy.” Gao Feng also didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling.

“Then why aren’t you smiling?” Little Bell held the corner of her mouth with her two little fingers. “Like this.”

Gao Feng imitated her, slowly bending the corner of his mouth. This is a smile? It really does feel different.

Ren Xinxin was stunned by the man’s beautiful smile.

end.

***

LOL the author just went all out for Gao Feng. Previously they were like ‘let your imaginations run wild! He could be a director or an artist or a black-bellied CEO!’ but nope, you were all wrong, he was an ALIEN. We now understand the thing about his ‘decaying soul’! Anyway, he’s totally going to end up with Xinxin.

Anyway, that’s the end of this story!

This was the first ever project I translated. And for some reason, I decided to be an M and promise daily chapters. There were times I struggled to fulfill this promise, but I powered through. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from this experience, its to never do THAT again ha ha…

Honestly, when I first decided to translate, I was just looking for a random modern romantic novel that was easy to translate. This novel caught my eye mainly because it was a rebirth story. Fortunately, as I translated more and more chapters, I realized that this was the kind of novel I thoroughly enjoy! It didn’t have a love triangle or a love-hate relationship. It didn’t have a stupid heroine or a mean hero. What were the odds of me finding such a novel amongst the many Chinese novels that do have these tropes? But I did, and I was pleasantly surprised to encounter such a light and fluffy novel!

Thank you for everyone that read this on my site and thank you for everyone that pointed out my many grammar mistakes. It really helped me out!

I don’t know when and what I’m going to translate next, but let’s hope that it’ll be a good one!