I stood up leaning on the pillar, feeling dizzy, and saw a figure behind my aunt.

When I opened my eyes again, the rain had stopped, and the damp air was filled with the fresh scent of earth, vibrant with life.

"Mom, you're finally awake?" My aunt helped me up, tears in her eyes.

I grabbed her hand, anxiously asking, "Are you okay?"

My aunt shook her head, "The People's Liberation Army saved us."

As she spoke, a young female comrade in a dusty gray military uniform, with a hint of innocence on her face, walked in.

She set down a bowl of hot porridge and reached out to check my temperature, "The fever has gone down. How do you feel, Auntie?"

I struggled to get out of bed, bowing deeply, "Thank you for saving us."

"Auntie, please lie down quickly. It's just a small matter, please don't be polite." She, about the same age as my uncle, had a determined look in her eyes, "Auntie, I just checked for you, have these injuries been with you for many years?"

I felt a bit embarrassed, clutching my coat and nodding.

The young comrade held my hand tightly, looking serious, "These injuries can't be ignored any longer. There are no conditions for surgery in the army, shall I take you to the town hospital?"

Worried that I might feel embarrassed, she added, "Don't worry about money, I have it."

"I have money, I'll go to the hospital when I'm feeling better. How about I bandage your wound for you?"

She haphazardly tied a piece of torn cloth around her forehead, the wound still oozing blood, looking painful just to see.

"It's okay, I'm used to it." She quickly packed up the gauze and medicine, holding it tightly to her chest as she ran off.

Short of medical supplies in the army, she couldn't bear to use them on herself but saved them for me.

After recuperating for two days in the rear of the army, we set off for the town hospital.

It was a month later when I fully recovered.

I took my aunt to Lin Village and found my mother who had been abandoned right after birth in a dilapidated temple.

Shivering in the cold wind, she was only wrapped in a piece of tattered cloth, thin and frail, unable to cry out.

I carefully wiped away the bloodstains on her face, took off my coat, and wrapped her up tightly.

In my previous life, my grandfather brought my mother home, raising her like a small cat or dog, feeding her one meal after another, and often beating her.

After finally being able to support herself at sixteen, she was burdened by gratitude and married my useless father.

Later, without finishing elementary school, she worked in a factory, saved some money, started her own business, and eventually opened a company...

She fought against fate her whole life, only to die at the hands of my scumbag father in the end.

As I carried my mother out of the dilapidated temple, my heart suddenly ached.

If I forcibly changed my mother's fate, I probably wouldn't have been born.

But it's okay.

I looked up at the clear blue sky, "This lifetime, I will protect you, Mom."