Back to 1993: The family splits up at the start, and the ingrates regret it so much they cry.

Wang Peng used to be the breadwinner at home, while Wang Xia had never cooked a meal before.

Now that her eldest brother has run away, the hard work has fallen to her. How could her pampered and delicate second brother possibly cook?

She was chopping spinach with a kitchen knife when she accidentally cut her finger, and blood gushed out.

Li Guifen cursed as she bandaged her up, "How could I have given birth to such an idiot? Even the pigs in the pigsty aren't as stupid as you."

Her insults were vile, every word of which was vulgar and offensive.

While scolding her, she chopped up the spinach and then taught her eldest daughter how to cook, as she didn't want to do any housework.

Wang Xia cooked the vegetables with tears in her eyes, but ended up making the spinach too salty. Her second brother, Wang Cheng, mocked her, which made their father's face turn black with anger.

"You think our salt is free?" Li Guifen slapped her on the head and launched into another tirade.

"Alright, Daya, be more careful from now on." Wang Song tapped his pipe on the dining table. "Daya, come with me to the pig market tomorrow to sell piglets."

Wang Xia cursed Wang Peng in her heart, "It's all your fault. If you hadn't left, I wouldn't have had to cook, I wouldn't have had to be scolded and beaten. You might as well have starved to death outside."

Ping'an County, pig market.

After finishing two sesame seed cakes, a large bowl of chicken blood soup, and a pound of braised beef, Wang Peng patted his belly and burped contentedly.

He was so full that his stomach ached. In his past life, he couldn't bear to eat a single bite of beef, so in this life he was determined to eat and drink well.

Your body is your own; eating and drinking well is the most important thing.

At this moment, he agreed even more with what the beef vendor said: it's really worth spending money on yourself.

Someone once said in a past life that the most important thing in life is to love yourself. He used to scoff at this, but now he thinks it is true wisdom.

"Hey buddy," said Old Duan, the pancake vendor sitting opposite him, "you have a scale on your cart, what kind of business do you do?"

"I sell watermelons, I'll save two for you tomorrow," Wang Peng chatted with him.

Old Duan chuckled and scratched his head, pointing to the residential area next to the pig market. "That's the textile factory's staff quarters. There are lots of people there. You can sell melons there."

"Thanks for the reminder, brother." Wang Peng thought it was a good idea.

The textile factory's residential compound is quite large, significantly larger than the railway residential compound, so the sales volume should be substantial.

The key point is that after selling the watermelons, you can come over and eat sesame cakes, beef, and chicken blood soup.

Seeing that he was thin and weak, Lao Duan reminded him, "The highway robbers are rampant. With your small frame, your toll must be higher than others, right?"

Wang Peng smiled; he was using a secret passage and didn't need to pay any tolls.

Someone came to buy sesame cakes, and Lao Duan stood up to greet them.

Wang Peng pulled his cart away and passed by the People's Department Store, where he bought a waist bag, the kind you tie around your waist to carry money.

I wanted to buy sneakers, jeans, and a shirt, but I realized I couldn't afford them at all; the three items together cost several tens of yuan.

After leaving the People's Department Store, he chose to take the main road to reduce the chances of the secret passage being exposed.

Outside the bridge of the Longhai Railway, a burly man wearing only shorts and carrying a butcher's knife at his waist led a group of thugs in beating up a melon farmer couple.

The male melon farmer's cart was full of watermelons, and he was curled up in a ball, enduring punches and kicks.

"I'll pay, we'll pay, please stop hitting me..." His wife knelt on the ground and wept bitterly.

"Why didn't you do this sooner?" The man with the knife reached out to take the money, sneering, "If you had paid earlier, you wouldn't have gotten beaten up. What were you after?"

At this moment, the man with the knife turned around and saw Wang Peng, and immediately led several people to stop the car.

His fanny pack and steelyard were in a snakeskin bag, and his money was hidden in his shoes. Wang Peng glanced at him and walked past him.

This man, nicknamed "Northern Overlord," is the number one road bully in Ping'an County. In a few days, he and his gang will be shot.

"This kid's got guts, isn't he afraid of me?" Bei Batian sneered, but didn't make things difficult for Wang Peng, who was pulling an empty cart.

The thugs all laughed. The kitten bared its teeth at the burly man, but the burly man only found it cute. Wang Peng was the kitten in their eyes.

Wang Peng heard the laughter but ignored it and kept walking. Why bother getting angry with a dead person?

It would be better to save your energy and go to Duzhuang, ten miles away, to wholesale watermelons and earn tuition fees; that's the real business.

Duzhuang.

Du Geda took out a bottle of wine and took a big gulp, then sighed as he looked at the few acres of melon fields.

"Old man, you've definitely been scammed. This notice is definitely fake," Village Chief Du Liu said gleefully. "How come you're getting more and more confused? You got swindled out of both the melons and the cart?"

"The notification is genuine; it's exactly the same as Du Lei's, even the stamps are identical," Du Geda vehemently denied.

People who have been deceived often refuse to admit it, as that would make them seem foolish.

Du Lei is his grandson, and he also got into Ping'an County No. 1 Middle School, but his ranking was much lower than Wang Peng's.

"Don't be stubborn, hehe." Du Liu laughed, "Even if the notice is real, the person who lied to you wasn't Wang Peng. It must have been a swindler who picked up Wang Peng's notice."

“Is Wang Peng an orphan? His parents are dead? How could they possibly make him pawn his college admission notice?” the village chief added.

“That kid looks honest, not like a swindler,” Du Geda continued stubbornly.

"Forget it, be more careful next time and don't get fooled again." Du Liu sneered. "You're still not convinced? Fine, I'll tell you this: if he comes to pay back the debt today, I'll cut off my head and let you kick it around like a ball."

Du Geda smiled bitterly, and could only continue to feel depressed.

“Old man, take the notice to Wang Village and find Wang Peng, and make his father compensate for the losses,” Du Liu said again.

Just then, he saw someone pulling a cart into the melon field. "Old man, someone's buying melons."

Du Geda had sharp eyes and recognized Wang Peng at a glance. He gave Du Liu a disdainful look and got up to greet Wang Peng.

"Wang Peng, you're here?" His gloom vanished instantly, and he beamed. "Goodness, the whole truckload of melons sold out?"

"Sold out." Wang Peng pulled out a wad of cash. "Uncle, give me another truckload, I'll pay for both truckloads of melons together."

"Good! Good boy!" Du Geda laughed, raised his right foot and swung it a couple of times. "Village chief, my foot is itchy, I want to play football, what do you suggest?"

"What can we do? You can rip my head off and use it as a ball, what else can we do?" Du Liu said angrily.

This is incredibly embarrassing, and the thing is, this whole thing is really a bit strange.

"Kid, how old are you?" Du Liu admitted defeat, adopting the air of a village chief.

"I just turned fifteen, sixteen in the traditional Chinese age reckoning." Wang Peng was born at the end of June.

"You're really brave, daring to do business at such a young age?" Du Liu gave a thumbs up. "If I were you, I would never dare to pawn my college admission notice even if you killed me."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "If they weren't desperate, who would be willing to mortgage their college admission notice?"

Throughout history, reading has been the best way for the poor to change their fate.

"Sixth Brother, I don't want your head, go and bring your family's scale over here," Du Geda said, pointing to the cart.

"If you dare bring that up again, I'll strangle you, you old bastard!" Du Liu roared, pulling his cart away.

Du Geda laughed again and took out the admission notice from the melon shed. "Young man, take it."

"Thank you, Mr. Du." Wang Peng gave him forty yuan and carefully put the notice into his pocket.

“Don’t pawn it again,” Du Geda laughed. “We’re both trustworthy, but there are many untrustworthy people. What will you do if I ask for another forty yuan and you don’t give it to me, or I don’t give you the notice?”

He patted Wang Peng on the shoulder and said, "Young man, the most unpredictable thing in the world is human nature."

Wang Peng smiled faintly.

If this situation really happens, he has a way to solve it; he can't let the reborn ones down.