Just like office workers, students were always unusually energetic on Fridays.
As soon as school let out that afternoon, several figures in the classroom bolted off like arrows.
“Hurry up! They’ve got pork trotters at the cafeteria today!”
“Lao Du, grab a Wu Dalang pancake and a can of 7-Up.”
“I’m dood, I need to take a dump—Brother Hui, go turn on the machine first!”
“Turn one on for too!”
…
On a normal day, Guan Ren might have been among this crowd.
But today, he had no such leisure. He dashed out of school like a streak of smoke, his eyes practically spelling out five bold characters:
【The Temptation of Going Ho】
Guan Ren’s ho was in an old residential complex, inside a seven-story building. It was barely a ten-minute run from Jiangzhou County No. 2 High School.
Out the school gate, across the road, through the old street…
The closer he got to ho, the more mories flashed before his eyes, like a torrent cascading through his mind.
“Huff… huff…”
The old building had no elevator, only stairs. Guan Ren moved with large, deliberate motions, gripping the wooden handrails like a climber scaling a cliff. Taking three steps at a ti, he quickly reached the sixth floor, where he saw the familiar, worn coffee-colored security door.
He pulled out his key, slid it into the lock, turned it halfway.
Then gave the door a knee to the panel, and turned the key the rest of the way.
Click!
The door swung open.
Guan Ren stepped inside, and was imdiately greeted by what looked like frozen ti.
Cool white walls and ceiling…
Old-fashioned turquoise floor tiles…
Frosted glass partitions…
Red corduroy-covered, chro-plated folding stools…
The curtain hooks gathered near the silver aluminum window fras, while sunlight stread through pale blue glass, casting dappled patterns that shimred on the maroon-toned furniture, now bearing the soft luster of patina…
…
Much in the room was older than Guan Ren himself.
But thanks to the excellent lighting on the sixth floor and years of careful upkeep, this not-too-big, not-too-small county apartnt built in the 1990s felt airy and fresh, clean and tidy. It had cradled nearly all of Guan Ren’s childhood, adolescence, and youth.
Guan Ren took in the space with warmth and joy, his face occasionally showing a gentle smile that could almost be called benevolent. Like an old man reminiscing about a lifeti.
“The Emperor has returned.”
He murmured, feeling montarily like Puyi stepping back into the Forbidden City in The Last Emperor.
Only, his throne room was his bedroom.
Creak—
Guan Ren pushed open the door to his room. The first thing he saw was the desk that had accompanied him through his entire youth.
It was another antique: topped first with a layer of green mahjong felt, then covered with a full sheet of glass.
Between the glass and the felt were all sorts of paper items.
Loose change, mbership cards, scraps with broadband passwords…
It wasn’t exactly pretty, but it was practical. Definitely safer than carrying things on his person.
But speaking of that…
Staring at the few bills pressed beneath the glass, Guan Ren blinked. A thought flashed through his mind. The very first, most pressing concern for any reborn individual.
Make money.
---
When it ca to making money, what was the big wave in 2011?
Mobile internet?
Smartphones?
Those required technical know-how—stuff Guan Ren hadn’t mastered in his past life and had no interest in now. He still had to start over with high school math, and investing required startup capital, so those were off the table for now.
Real estate?
Sure, it was an option. But he had no desire for it.
In fact, he disliked it—loathed it, even.
Being reborn was already a cheat code. With the ga rigged in his favor, wasn’t it reasonable to chase a little idealism? Wasn’t it fair to avoid doing things he despised?
“Thinking in circles is pointless. I need to look at the big picture first.”
2011 had long passed. Guan Ren decided to refresh his mory of that year’s events.
Beep—
There was a computer in his bedroom, boasting a whopping 4 GB of RAM. Guan Ren pressed the power button.
Soon, the screen displayed the wavy Windows logo, followed by the blue sky, white clouds, and grassy field of the desktop.
He paused, slightly stunned. It had been so long since he’d seen the XP system.
“Let see… ‘My Network Places’… ‘Dial-up’…”
The broadband password beneath the glass finally ca in handy. After entering it, he successfully got online, launched a relic of a browser called 【The Window of the World】, and slowly—painfully—loaded up the default hopage, 【hao123 Website Directory】.
The nostalgic design almost made Guan Ren feel like he was dreaming.
NetEase Blogs, Mop, Zhougong’s Dream Interpretation, Human Art, LeTV, Ku6…
After browsing briefly, Guan Ren felt it was clear. The cultural and entertainnt sector really did suit a reborn baby’s constitution best.
In 2011, entertainnt was indeed a major booming industry.
Admittedly, the concept of “entertainnt” might be a bit too broad for Guan Ren at this stage.
After thinking it over, he decided to aim for his first bucket of gold in this life through online fiction.
“Word doc! Activate!”
…
Truth be told, back when he used to read transmigration novels, Guan Ren often thought so protagonists were just la. Reborn and doing nothing “grand,” only knowing how to write novels.
Writing novels in real life, and then writing novels within novels—no vision!
But now that it was his turn, he realized: novelty didn’t matter. What mattered was effectiveness. And in that light, writing novels after reincarnation really was a solid choice.
Especially for soone like him, reborn as a student. Writing fiction could satisfy a wide range of needs.
For instance:
Flexible working hours and location, doing sothing he liked, having the ability to pull it off, relatively low pressure…
Most importantly, Guan Ren had written novels in his previous life.
Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong ti, entered the scene too late, and the few romance-tinged novels he did write were just starting to gain traction when they got censored. He’d poured in effort and got nothing in return.
“Sigh…”
Just thinking about it brought tears.
But! This life would be different!
In 2011, the online fiction industry was booming. A vast stage, full of potential.
So all things considered, the most suitable career to kick off his money-making journey really was writing novels.
As for how to write, where to start, and what genre to focus on…
That would require more research.
“No point in rushing and burning my butt. Better eat first.”
As a high schooler with a second shot at life, the one thing he had was ti.
Guan Ren wasn’t in a hurry. He first tidied up the room a bit, checked his pockets, grabbed what he needed, and headed out in search of food.
---
anwhile, in a certain teachers’ residential complex near the back gate of No. 2 High School.
“Is the seasoning okay?”
“Mhm.”
“Will this be enough for dinner? Should I cook more?”
“It’s enough.”
At the dining table, two figures sat facing each other. After a few simple lines of conversation, they quietly resud eating their bowls of plain noodle soup.
“……”
Gu Youli had just brought so noodles to her mouth when her chopsticks paused at her lips.
The taste…
Still as indescribable as ever.
“How is it? I tried adding so Listea Cubeba Oil today.”
Listea Cubeba Oil…
What was that?
Gu Youli had certainly never heard of it before.
She glanced up briefly at the face across from her. A face quite similar to her own, only more mature and refined. In the end, she swallowed a small bite just like usual and responded quietly.
“Mhm.”
Whoever invented “mhm” was a genius. Gu Youli was rather fond of the word.
It let her acknowledge she’d heard soone without actually committing to a stance. Perfect for dodging questions of right or wrong.
“By the way, I heard from Ms. Li today that that boy Guan Ren passed you a note.”
“……”
“If you want to change seats, I can talk to Ms. Li about it.”
“Got it, sis. I’ll think about it.”
Gu Youli took a deep breath and set down her chopsticks.
“I’m heading out for evening study.”
“Not eating anymore?”
“I’m full.”
“All right then. Rember to review the diagnostic quiz during study hall. The monthly exam is before National Day… Chinese is a major subject. You’re in your second year now. Don’t let it keep dragging your score down.”
“Mhm.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)