Chapter 1: Reborn

On a warm summer evening, amidst the clamor in the hospital ward, a young girl opened her eyes. Su Ning, stared at the unfamiliar couple in tears across from her clasping her hands. Upon noticing that she regained consciousness, the woman suddenly began to cry in relief and call the doctor's attention. She was unable to recognize anyone from the group of people surrounding her. Su Ning vaguely felt the fervor of the situation as the nurses began to work around her. Her hand felt moist and as the pressure that initially surrounded it was drawn away, she looked down she noticed that it was small like that of a child's. She saw the woman's mouth moving but Su Ning cannot make out what she was saying. All the sounds around her were muffled. And she was engulfed by haziness before she slowly drifted off to unconsciousness.

In her dream, Su Ning saw her 29 year old self as she worked another late night in the office. It had been the fifth day in a row this week. She had worked for this company as an accountant since graduating from B University and finally in the 5th year she got promoted to manager. However, she soon realized how worthless that title was. The workload did not decrease, in fact her previous tasks were just added on to her increased set of responsibilities. The department turnaround was abysmal and they kept losing both new and experienced hires to other companies. She had been wanting to quit many times since her mother passed away 2 years back but had been frightened by the potential thought of joblessness in a recession. The economy had not been doing well in the past years and growing up in relative poverty, she understood very well the comfort and security a stable job provides. Nothing beats a full stomach. She also couldn't afford her unemployed drunkard father who is also like a leech sucking her earnings. Su Ning had been feeling unwell that day, her chest had been stuffy all afternoon and at night she had a pounding headache. After climbing up the 7 floors to her apartment, she barely had the chance to unlock her doors when she was seized by a sudden pain in her chest. Her hands fumbled as she tried to dial the emergency no. on her phone however she was unable to connect the call before her heart tightened painfully for the last time and she lost consciousness.

When Su Ning finally came to, she found out that she had spent the past 2 days asleep. The couple across from her was her mother Qin Lan and her father Su Kun. She was their beloved 12 year old daughter Su Ning, who just survived a complication from her recent heart transplant surgery. Su Ning looked at the couple with complicated eyes. She knew that the real Su Ning was gone from this world and she was just another soul occupying their daughter's body. Su Ning cannot feel a separate presence in her body. And when she tried to look into the body's memories, she realized that she only retained some of the original's; the rest went with the original Su Ning as her soul left the body. It appears she can only recollect memories that are associated with intense feelings. Su Ning can recall the original owner getting sick and staying at the hospital for the first time. The party her parents threw for her 8th birthday, and the like. Su Ning felt immense guilt from being the recipient of such care and kindness as she can feel that the parents loved the original owner very much.

Looking at the calendar on the wall, it has been 9 days since she collapsed in front of her apartment. In all likelihood, her body has been found and cremated by her father. It looks like her soul was wandering for a full week before it had entered this little girl's body. This is most likely because she had strong feelings of frustration and unfulfillment in her past life. Many times she thought if she could live her life over again she would not live in such an exhausting manner with days just filled with work. She barely had any hobbies or friends. She would have spent more time with her mother; if she had paid more attention then maybe they'll have caught the illness sooner. Though it is in a different body, Su Ning has been presented with the second chance she had been hoping for. This time around, she will live well as Su Ning.