Translator:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Tang En woke up, startled, on January 1, 2003, he sat on his university dorm bed, drenched in sweat. His head hurt a lot, and his entire body was drained of energy. He had forgotten what he had been dreaming about the instant he opened his eyes. Even Tang En himself found it strange that he had woken up with a start from his afternoon nap. When he had finally recovered from his initial daze, he sat up in bed and tried his best to recall, but to no avail.
Picking up his watch from beside the bed, Tang En discovered that it was already 3.30pm. The dorm was completely empty, and his roommates had all gone out. This was rather meaningless for someone like him, who had few friends and did not have a girlfriend. Aside from sleeping and reading, he could not do much of anything. So, after he had gently massaged his temples, which were still experiencing sharp pain, he fell back onto his pillow.
Afterwards, Tang En discovered that his body seemed to be undergoing some sort of unknown change. For instance, he, who had always had mediocre English scores, found himself able to completely understand an English movie. He also suddenly became more familiar with things related to England.
This persisted for around half a year.
Half a year later, when he had graduated from a university in Northern China and gone to Chengdu city to find a job, he once again woke up from a dream one night, startled. Amidst the pitch-darkness of the room, he finally recalled what had happened in the dream.
In the dream, there was a man and a woman. He did not know their names, but he knew that they were his parents. They quarrelled frequently; his mother looked down on his father for being unable to support the family despite being a man. His father, who had lost his job, carried a huge amount of pressure. Faced with countless setbacks, he could only drown his sorrows in alcohol. When he returned home in his drunken state, it was inevitable that he would be met with his wife’s sarcasm. Unable to win against his wife in an argument, the man could only resort to his fists, which he had always been proud of.
It was a very common case of domestic violence. His dream was filled with the woman’s screams, the man’s angry shouts, and the sounds of things being smashed. Tang En felt very uneasy; faced with a family like that, he did not know what he should do, and nobody told him what to do. The two adults, who were fiercely battling it out, did not care about the feelings of their six year-old child.
Even if he had said something, what use would it have been?
Mom, I’m hungry. What time are we eating?
Go and find food on your own, if our house still has that kind of thing.
Dad, I…
Scram! Don’t bother me!
So he shut his mouth, and shut it tightly.
Everything that had happened in the dream was incredibly real, including the feeling of loneliness. He did not know where he was inside the dream, but he could assure that it was a completely different place from China. It was mostly unfamiliar, yet with a tinge of familiarity. And he had a name that did not conform to traditional Chinese names: Tony Twain.
He did not know how he suddenly became Chinese… Prior to this, he had known nothing about the country. After figuring out his situation, he lived his life in panic for a period of time; clearly, the actual Tony Twain was less capable of adaptation than the fake Tony Twain was.
It was not that Twain did not have any thoughts of starting anew back in England. But his job at that time was still very unstable. It could be said that he was penniless, and he still had to rely on his parents, who were staying in the village, to support him financially. How could he possibly buy plane tickets? What could he use to pay for his travelling expenses?
When Tang En had mysteriously transmigrated to England and had worried about his own survival, it was the same for Tony Twain, who had mysteriously transmigrated to China himself. He was quiet by nature, but he was not at all stupid. He could assess the situation calmly. As a result, the thought of returning to England had been suppressed by the urgent need to find a stable job with which to support himself. During Chinese New Year, he made a trip back to his house in China. He had been completely enveloped in the Chinese New Year atmosphere, with the entire family seated around as they celebrated the festival happily.
This was a completely different world from that of his past. For as long as he could remember, the only things that had filled his ears were the sounds of his parents quarrelling, as well as the sounds of objects being smashed. When he was ten years old, that fragmented family of his had finally become unsustainable. His mother, who was still quite pretty, ran off with some rich man, while his father, who was unable to find work, could only do some odd-jobs. His father continued to indulge in his drinking habits, and would take it out on Twain whenever he was drunk. After Twain had turned eighteen, he had moved out of that ice-cold house.
When Twain returned home for Chinese New Year and casually mentioned that the bed was slightly cold at night, he saw electric blanket on the bed the very next day. For someone like Twain, who had come from an unloving family background, there was no way to understand how he felt at that moment.
After that New Years, Tony Twain completely gave up on the idea of returning to England. After one year of learning, he was already becoming accustomed to China’s way of living. Even though he was still not quite used to it, it did not pose much of an issue to him anymore. He felt that everything that was happening must have been arranged by God. It was God who had given him a family that was not wealthy, but was extremely warm.
He was very content, and was fine with having exchanged his body to get what he had now. It did not matter to him that his soul currently possessed a stranger’s body; he felt that it would be fine as long as he could adapt to it psychologically. Moreover, the process of adapting was actually very easy. But finding a place that could be called home…that was not so easy.
He had decided to work hard and earn lots of money; so much money that it could allow his parents, who were not his biological parents but who treated him far better than his biological ones ever had, to retire and stay at home without worrying about their expenses.
That was the current plan of the ex-Tony Twain.
In May of 2004, that plan was in the process of being put in place step by step, even before Twain met himself outside Southwest Book City at Chunxi Road.
That afternoon, Twain had just spent an entire day shopping at the bookstore, and was standing by the side of the road waiting to cross and take a bus. While waiting, Twain was hugging a few books related to Chinese history when he caught a glimpse of a foreigner on the opposite side of the road. At first, it did not bother Twain much; it was not uncommon to see foreigners on the streets of Chengdu City. However, he soon discovered that that foreigner was staring intently at him, so Twain decided to take a closer look at the person’s face. Afterwards, he thought that he was not standing in front of a bustling street, but a mirror.
Inside the mirror, he saw himself from one-and-a-half years ago. That face, the face that he had seen in the mirror for thirty-four years, had appeared in the streets of Chengdu City and was staring intently back at him.
Seeing the other’s expressions, Twain suddenly came to the conclusion that the soul that was currently in his original body was, in fact, the original owner of the body that he was currently in control of. There were no reasons, no scientific proofs, no rational analyses to support his conjecture. But he just felt a sense of familiarity that had come from the bottom of his heart; a type of resonance.
Just as he stood there lost in a daze, the Tony Twain on the opposite side of the street walked towards him. Beside him, there was also a woman… Well, judging from the youth and immaturity of her face, perhaps the word
girl
was more accurate.
The man walked and stopped in front of him, before asking with a slight Nottingham Village accent,
Mister, may I ask if you know the directions to Xinhua Gardens? We want to go there…
Xinhua Gardens? Isn’t that where I live? Why would he ask me that? Don’t tell me he is hinting at something?
※※※
Tang En felt that he should be slightly more proactive at the moment. If everybody froze there, then Shania would soon realize that something was amiss. A child’s intuition was not to be belittled. His true identity and his background were absolute secrets that had to be kept. It was something that could not be mentioned even to the people closest to him, and Tang En had no intention of telling Shania.
So he crossed the road and walked directly to the person, before pretending to be someone asking him for directions as though he was lost. Tang En also conveniently mentioned a place that the other person should be very familiar with. Upon asking his question, Tang En stared at the man, intending to use the changes in his facial expressions and body language to find out any useful traces of information that he could.
Shania felt that it was slightly strange, because there was no such place as
Xinhua Gardens
in the travel itinerary that they had prepared prior to the trip.
If this Tang En was still himself, then he should respond to the question as though it was any other passerby asking him for directions. He would tell Tang En how to walk there, before saying goodbye and turning around. He would not be so cold as to say that he didn’t know despite the fact that he knew, nor would he be so kind as to personally show them the way if they did not understand his directions.
However, it was very obvious that the Tang En before him had gone into a daze after hearing him. Would something as simple as being asked for directions make one become lost in a daze that way?
Tang En could therefore confirm his suspicions that the person in front of him was definitely not the past him. Instead, it was the unlucky Englishman, Tony Twain.
Mister?
Tang En asked again, snapping Twain out of his daze.
Umm, Uh… Xinhua Gardens is just, just right in the vicinity of where I live…
Tongue-tied, the real Tony Twain answered in English. It had been a while since he had tried conversing in the language.
Hearing him reply that way, Tang En smiled.
That’s great. Are you going back now? We can head there together.
Afterwards, Tang En did not wait for the other man’s reply. He simply extended his hand and flagged down a car.
Having completely understood Tang En’s intention, the other Twain knew what to do as well. He said in English,
You might not be able to get a car here even if you wait for half an hour.
Pointing to the front, he continued,
Walk a bit more in this direction.
In the street slightly farther ahead, the three of them managed to flag down a car easily. Perhaps it was because the driver saw that there was a foreigner by the side of the road, and drivers generally thought that it was easier to earn a foreigner’s money.
Once in the car, Tang En intentionally asked for the other’s name. As expected, the reply he got was
Tang En.
This Tang En was a man of few words, which matched the personality of the original Tony Twain. By then, all of Tang En’s doubts had been resolved.
Looking at the version of himself who was seated quietly in the front seat, Tang En suddenly had a thought: Walker had already officially left the team, and he was lacking a capable assistant manager who had a sufficient understanding of Nottingham Forest, and could have good rapport with him. A capable assistant manager was much harder to find than a capable manager…
But wasn’t there a perfect candidate right in front of him right now?
