Chapter 3#

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the final exams were over. This time, Chen Yuanming didn’t get into any trouble with those punks. Instead, he focused his energy on cramming the textbooks for a few days. He was no longer the teenager whose mind was filled only with pointless pride. This world was never fair to begin with. If you don’t want to be discriminated against, you have to show something that makes people unable to look down on you.

After finishing the last exam paper and checking it carefully twice, he finally let out a breath, handed in the paper, and walked out of the exam room. After the final exams, there was a two-day break for teachers to grade the papers. Having nothing to do with the top students who assisted in grading, Chen Yuanming started his winter vacation warm-up early.

In these two days, besides studying, all his attention was focused on organizing and sorting out his memories. Although he had accepted his identity as a revenant, the memories in his brain were too complex. More importantly, Chen Yuanming couldn’t be sure if the things in his brain were accurate and real. In these years, newsstands were still a rarity. The scarcity of newspapers and magazines destined the direct subscription sales model. Without newspapers to consult, no TV at home, and even the radio controlled so he couldn’t listen to the news on time, it wasn’t easy to match the memories in his mind with reality. Without anything to rely on, he would rather spend more time on preparation.

Early in the morning on the second day after the exams, without greeting anyone, Chen Yuanming pocketed his keys and the two yuan he had painstakingly saved, and walked out of the house.

It hadn’t snowed yet this winter, and the whole city looked gray. The main roads in the city currently only had single lanes. Half of the road was filled with bicycles, and occasionally a bus dragging cables would lazily drive by. The 3 or 4-story residential buildings on the roadside were still brand new and bright, probably built in the last two years. L City was also a famous heavy industrial city in the central and western regions. Besides the bearing factory, factories and mines like the tractor factory, steel factory, and copper processing factory were also crowded around the urban area. In the early 90s when large state-owned enterprises had not yet declined, this city still radiated a burst of drive and grand pride.

But for Chen Yuanming, this city was unfamiliar. In his other life, his grades were not ideal after graduating from junior high school. In the end, he didn’t go to high school but chose to study at the factory’s vocational high school. After two years of work-study, he went directly into the factory to work through connections. However, in 1994, it coincided with the market economic system reform. In the following years, the factory’s efficiency declined day by day. Less than a year into the job, he resolutely resigned and embarked on the path of drifting in Beijing. Afterwards, he moved around Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, moving bricks, driving big trucks, selling computers in Zhongguancun. When the stock market crashed in 2004, he began to study stocks. He entered the market around the 1000-point bottom in 2005, and it took two years of tossing and turning to make a name for himself.

In that life of his, the first half was depressing and gloomy, and the second half was displaced and wandering. He simply had no time to carefully observe the changes happening around him. Now observing this city with completely unfamiliar eyes, he realized that his impression of his hometown was pitifully small, leaving only the unforgettable memories of snacks during adolescence. Sighing, Chen Yuanming turned and left the municipal government compound, which had not yet moved and had no newspaper column at the entrance, and walked towards the Guangzhou Market a few stops away.

In 1991, L City had just welcomed the first wave of development boom. A commercial street was built not far from the People’s Park and named “Guangzhou Market”. It’s just that the current Guangzhou Market didn’t have the supporting facilities of later generations. The Youth Cultural Palace hadn’t been built yet, and the Xinhua Bookstore and Snack Street were nowhere to be seen. Only a three-story reinforced concrete building stood out in the middle of an open space like a crane among chickens. Since coupons like TV tickets and cloth tickets disappeared in the late 80s, shopping malls gradually began to gain popularity.

Walking into the lobby of the department store, Chen Yuanming looked at the scene in front of him. The architectural structure at that time was far from that of later generations. The first floor was not cosmetics and jewelry counters, but various daily necessities, rigidly displayed on the shelves. The salesclerks standing behind the counters still maintained the arrogance of the supply and marketing cooperative era. Just glancing at the shabby-looking teenager, they turned their faces and continued to chat with the people around them.

Chen Yuanming didn’t pay attention to them either, carefully examining the shelves row by row. The front row was the most popular school supplies counter, with schoolbags, pencil cases, cartoon-shaped erasers and notebooks. The prices were very unappealing, but almost every student in the class had one. Further back was the watch counter. A row of wall clocks hung carelessly on the wall, each one polished bright and shiny, although one could tell at a glance that the casing was plastic. Inside the counter were watches, half were various electronic watches, and the other half were firmly locked in the cabinet, looking like quartz watches.

Chen Yuanming looked at them one by one. The price of electronic watches was generally 50-100 yuan, and some marked as waterproof with many buttons were sold directly for 150. Although the most popular time for electronic watches had passed, this kind of thing was still a favorite of teenagers. When he fought with those punks in the front row a few days ago, one of them was wearing that most expensive model. Quartz watches were another look. The cheap ones cost more than 200 yuan, and there were a few expensive ones sold for more than 1000, labeled with Orient and Citizen.

“What are you looking at?! Can you afford it?”

Having stood there for only a few minutes, the salesclerk behind the counter immediately became impatient and shouted at Chen Yuanming. Letting a poor boy stand in front of the counter would affect business!

Chen Yuanming ignored her, still seriously looking through the entire row of shelves, then turned and walked to other counters. The brands common in later generations were basically nowhere to be seen in the mall. Compared with the salary of around 100 yuan at that time, the price of every item was ridiculously high, living up to the name of “Department Store”.

After walking around, a vague idea formed in Chen Yuanming’s mind. If he remembered correctly, from the 80s to the mid-90s was the most glorious era for individual private businesses. If he could find a suitable purchase channel…

“Doudou?”

A voice suddenly came from beside him. Chen Yuanming turned his head and saw a boy standing behind him, about the same age as him, but more than half a head taller. Wearing a dark coat, the woolen scarf was bright green, but the color combination was quite good, making him look a bit more cute and sturdy. This child’s eyes were wide open, eyelashes as long and thick as a pony’s, holding a big bag of wool balls in his hand, looking at him in surprise.

“Why are you here? Buying things for your family?”

Who is this? Felt somewhat familiar, but couldn’t recall the other person’s name at all. Chen Yuanming stood awkwardly on the spot, returning half a smile. Realizing the other party didn’t recognize him, the boy pounced with a “Ha!”, wrapped his arm around his shoulder and rubbed vigorously.

“Good boy! Forgot your Second Brother after only two years?!”

Ah, with this sentence, a light suddenly flashed in Chen Yuanming’s mind, “Sun Lang?”

“Nonsense! Who else but me?!”

This time Chen Yuanming really remembered. This boy was one of his former neighbors. Three years ago, he also lived in the staff dormitory with his family. Later, his parents drew lots based on seniority and got a unit in the newly built family area, so the whole family moved out. The Sun family had two children in total. Sun Lang was the second child, half a year older than him. Since childhood, he had been calling himself Second Brother. They were buddies who grew up wearing the same pair of pants. It was just that later, due to different social circles, they slowly lost contact.

“What happened to your head? Got into a fight? Brother will avenge you!”

A rough hand rubbed the gauze on his forehead, making Chen Yuanming grimace in pain and slap it back. “Accidentally bumped it.”

“Hehe~~” Sun Lang didn’t pursue the question, happily put his arm around him and dragged him towards the door, “Let’s go, come home with me for a meal.”

“Wait, I still…”

“Waiting for someone? Buying something?”

“No, I only browsed the first floor…”

“Hey~~ The store won’t run away. It’s noon, come home with me to eat first!”

Staggering a few steps, Chen Yuanming revealed a bitter smile, didn’t insist anymore, and followed Sun Lang out. Dragging a 28-inch Flying Pigeon bicycle from the parking area at the entrance, Sun Lang clumsily stuffed the pile of wool into the front basket, pouted at Chen Yuanming, “Get on quick, I’m starving to death~”

Shaking his head, Chen Yuanming jumped onto the back seat of the bicycle.

“Hold on tight, Brother rides fast!”

This sentence was completely unadulterated. Dressed like a ball in the dead of winter, this guy could still pedal the bike flying fast. The area of the new family building belonged to a newly developed section, with no cement roads at all. The bumpy ride almost threw Chen Yuanming off the bike, so he could only hold on tightly to the other’s waist to maintain balance.

It only took about ten minutes to get to his house. The two chatted all the way, the strangeness gradually fading. Chen Yuanming seemed to have finally found his coordinates belonging to this era, and even his expression relaxed. Parking the bike in the community shed, Chen Yuanming looked at the large pile of wool Sun Lang carried in his hand, feeling a bit curious.

“Knitting sweaters now?” The yarn didn’t look very thick, mostly bright colors, but knitting sweaters at the end of January was a bit out of season.

“No way~~” Sun Lang chuckled, waving the bag in his hand, “Mom took a job. The mall provides the wool, and she knits according to the seasonal styles. Thirty-five yuan a piece! Can make three pieces in two months, just in time for the spring sales. Several skilled workers in her unit are doing it too.”

So it’s processing… Needless to say, Chen Yuanming understood completely. In these years, some high-end knitted sweaters in shopping malls were directly distributed to private individuals, which was much cheaper than unified factory OEM, and the patterns were better. Back then, many idle female workers took on this kind of work, but his mother was clumsy with her hands and did tiring work like loading and unloading, so she didn’t have the energy to earn this extra money.

“But I’m miserable, acting as a yarn rack every day. Look, this circle on my hand is almost calloused…” Sun Lang complained to Chen Yuanming without treating him as an outsider, but the smile on his face was an out-and-out show-off.

“Using child labor without pay?” Chen Yuanming couldn’t help joking.

“Five yuan pocket money! New Year’s money is self-care!” This time it was a real show-off.

Talking and laughing, they walked to the third floor. The new family building was a unified six-story structure. The location on the third floor was quite good. There were ten households in a row, all one-bedroom and one-living room structures, with bathrooms and kitchens inside. This 30-40 square meter apartment type was already a very high-end architectural structure at that time. When they moved away, the neighbors envied them for a while.

Knocking on the door, a woman who was a bit older but had delicate features and a bit of the flavor of a Jiangnan lady appeared in front of Chen Yuanming. Sun Lang’s mother, Liu Yun, had a scholar in her ancestry. In the early years, they even opened a private school, so it could be considered a family of scholars. It was just that in those years, the family fortune really declined, and the class status wasn’t very good, so she finally married a factory worker’s son. However, Sun Lang’s father, Sun Jun, was also ambitious. He had already made it to the branch factory management level before transferring Liu Yun to the finance department as an accountant.

“Doudou!” Seeing the teenager outside the door, Liu Yun shouted in surprise, pulling him directly into the room, “Where did you meet?! Oh my, haven’t seen you for so many years, you’ve really grown up! Heard you’re in the key class of No. 3 Middle School now? Grades are good, right? Is the family okay?”

A string of words blurted out, but the concern in them was unmistakable. Chen Yuanming patiently answered with a smile one by one, until he was cut off by Sun Lang.

“Who is your son anyway? Is the food ready? Hurry up and serve the food!”

“Annoying brat!” Snatching the bag from her son’s hand, Liu Yun tilted her chin, “Wash your hands quickly, I’ll go get another pair of chopsticks! The house is a bit messy, Doudou don’t mind.”

This room was a bit messy. A pile of wool balls was placed on the cabinet in the corner, many with only a few loose loops left, obviously leftover yarn balls from knitting sweaters. But after all, it was a one-bedroom apartment, and the home arrangement was quite warm and comfortable, much more decent than his own cramped staff dormitory.

Looking at Sun Lang bickering with his mom, and the bright and clean new house, a trace of melancholy floated in Chen Yuanming’s heart. How long had it been since his family had such intimacy? Since grandma fell seriously ill? Or since the family started to be heavily in debt? It wasn’t yet the era of true polarization between rich and poor, but poverty could deprive too many things, and make people never able to find them back…

After washing hands and sitting at the table with the two, Liu Yun served a full bowl of hand-rolled noodles, topped with shredded pork and cabbage, and some dried tofu. “Your uncle is working overtime today, your sister is on the day shift of the three-shift rotation, just the two of us at home, was worrying about rolling too much noodles.”

Looking at the pile of vegetables almost peaking in the bowl and Sun Lang’s bowl with obviously more soup, Chen Yuanming only felt warm in his heart. After hesitating for a moment, he only squeezed out “Thank you, Auntie”.

“No need to be polite.” Sun Lang had already started eating, slurping loudly, and reached his paw towards the chili jar, digging a big spoonful and throwing it into the noodles.

“Starving ghost reincarnated?!” Scolding her son, Liu Yun pushed the vinegar bottle and chili jar forward, “Doudou eat quickly, the noodles get cold fast in this weather, add whatever you need yourself~”

“En.” Haven’t seen meat for many days, Chen Yuanming was no longer polite and ate the noodles in big mouthfuls. The hand-rolled noodles were quite chewy, indescribably delicious in the mouth.

Liu Yun also started eating unhurriedly, occasionally asking Chen Yuanming a few questions. Back in the staff dormitory, she and Wang Juan had a very good relationship. It was just that she had been an accountant in the factory, and contact faded after leaving the dormitory. Now seeing the son of an old friend again, it would be fake to say she wasn’t happy.

The meal was finished quickly. Over there, Sun Lang had already started burping. Chen Yuanming also picked up the bowl and drank the last of the noodle soup. Liu Yun suddenly let out a soft “Eh?”, “Doudou, do you have chilblains on your hands?”

Chen Yuanming was stunned, put down the bowl, and looked at the back of his hand, “Yeah, for two years now, it flares up every winter.”

“It’s too cold. Ask your mom to buy some ginger to rub on it, it will be better. And wear gloves when you go out. You boys never know to pay attention, how uncomfortable it is to have bare hands in such cold weather!”

Listening to Liu Yun’s serious exhortation, Chen Yuanming’s fingers paused. He suddenly thought of something, and the person in front of him might be the best practitioner. Putting down the bowl and chopsticks, he looked seriously at the woman in front of him.

“Auntie, have you ever thought about selling something yourself? Like knitwear…”