Reborn in 2005, starting with repairing mobile phones

In January 2005, Class 9, Grade 12, Chaoyang District No. 2 Middle School, ST City, GD Province.

"Ah Dong! Ah Dong!"

My arm was shoved forcefully.

Lin Dong opened his eyes groggily, and in his line of sight was the face of his deskmate Wang Hao, who was too close to him, his pimples magnified in front of him.

"Wake up! You're still sleeping! 'Iron-Faced Li' is looking this way!"

The voices on the podium were buzzing, and Lin Dong's mind was still foggy; the lingering effects of last night's drinking session seemed to still be there.

He vaguely remembered that he eventually slumped onto the table, surrounded by various voices urging him to drink and boasting, as well as a slow, drawn-out voice with a slight Hubei accent saying something...

He clicked his tongue and muttered something unconsciously:

"Mr. Lei... your wife is so beautiful..."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear enough in a classroom where only the teacher was speaking.

Wang Hao's hand froze in mid-air, his eyes wide open, staring at Lin Dong as if he were a fool.

Several students in the front row with sharp ears turned around, their expressions contorted, wanting to laugh but not daring to, their shoulders trembling.

"Holy crap... Ah Dong, you..."

Wang Hao's voice changed, "What the hell did you say? What sweet wife? What did you dream about?!"

Lin Dong jolted awake, fully waking up.

He sat bolt upright, speechless at the sight before him: the mottled green paint on the walls, the peeling paint on the podium, and the posters on the walls...

"A life lived without struggle and effort is a wasted life."

"Strive for 100 days, change your life."

The red banners and the glaring, bright red countdown sign above the blackboard:

There are 146 days left until the college entrance examination.

2005 October.

"Lin Dong! Where was I?"

On the podium, the homeroom teacher, Li Guohua, had stopped lecturing, his eyes behind his glasses piercing like knives.

The whole class fell silent, and more than fifty eyes focused on it.

Wang Hao stomped on his feet under the table.

Lin Dong suddenly stood up.

The movement was a bit too forceful, and it almost knocked over the chair.

He stood ramrod straight and gave a near-perfect 90-degree bow towards the podium:

"Teacher Li! I'm sorry!"

His voice was loud and clear, full of energy, which startled the whole class.

"I have seriously disrupted class discipline and wasted everyone's precious review time! I sincerely apologize!"

He spoke rapidly and sincerely, "Please give me another chance! I promise, this winter break I will study with utmost dedication, fourteen hours a day, without ever slacking off!"

"I will do my best to achieve good results in the college entrance examination, bring honor to my class and school, and never let down my teachers and parents!"

He spoke like a machine gun, without any stumbles or missteps.

The chalk Li Guohua was holding fell onto the podium with a "thud".

He had taught for twenty years and had seen students panic when caught red-handed, stubbornly deny it, or pretend to be dead... but he had never seen such a fluent, standard, or... self-criticism that sounded like a speech at a school opening ceremony!

The students were also confused, looking at Lin Dong and then at Teacher Li, their eyes full of questions.

Li Guohua opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the other party's attitude of admitting his mistake was so "correct," his goals so "ambitious," and his skin so thick that he couldn't find a reason to get angry.

In the end, he could only force out a few words through gritted teeth, his face stern:

"Alright. Don't doze off in class, pay attention, and sit down."

"Thank you, teacher! You've worked so hard!"

Lin Dong bowed again before sitting down, his back ramrod straight, his hands folded on the desk, his eyes fixed intently on the blackboard, as if determined to join the Party.

Seeing Li Guohua turn around, Wang Hao leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said incredulously, "My goodness... Dong, what's possessing you? Where did you learn that...? Even the director of the political education department can't talk as well as you!"

Lin Dong rolled his eyes and said, "Basic stuff, don't be silly."

He then ignored Wang Hao.

His heart was pounding wildly in his chest.

I... was reborn?

He glanced around quietly, and the young faces that had long been blurred in his memory were now vivid and clear; it was all real.

2005. I was eighteen years old. Senior year of high school.

Mom and Dad... are still alive!

He pinched his thigh hard.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

This is real!

This isn't a dream!

Everything from his past life flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern: the illness that almost killed him when he was a child, and the debt his family incurred because of it, which they hadn't been able to pay off for over a decade.

Despite being admitted to Shenzhen University through the college entrance examination, the admission notice became another mountain weighing on the parents' shoulders: tuition fees, living expenses, and the old debts that could never be repaid.

He eventually tore up the admission notice and went to Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen to start his own business with a few hundred yuan and a heart full of resentment.

From running errands, working at counters, and repairing mobile phones, to saving up money to open a small shop and dealing in counterfeit and refurbished phones, I've done all sorts of dirty and tiring jobs.

Just when business was starting to pick up, the business partner absconded with the money, and then my parents collapsed and passed away one after another due to overwork and heart problems over the past few years...

The son wants to take care of him, but he doesn't want to be loved.

He desperately wanted to make something of himself, to settle down in Shenzhen, and to prove that his decision not to go to school was the right one.

The results of it?

He's almost forty and still just a nobody in Huaqiangbei, a "Xiao Lin" who's got a small reputation but can't really make it big.

It wasn't until a dinner party that he finally managed to speak with Lei Jun, who was already at the height of his fame at the time, and then...

"And then he fucking got reborn!"

Lin Dong cursed inwardly, but couldn't help but let a wild smile creep up his lips.

He looked at the countdown on the blackboard, at "Iron-Faced Li" who was still giving a speech on the podium but whose momentum had obviously been interrupted, and at Wang Hao who was still secretly observing him.

In this life, debts must be repaid.

Mom and Dad, please take good care of yourselves.

University... I absolutely have to go to Shenzhen University this time!

The girls on the Shenzhen University campus are famously beautiful.

As for Huaqiangbei... hehe.

His mind was filled with all the memories about the mobile phone industry over the next decade or so: which phones would become wildly popular, which chips would be in short supply, and which small workshops would eventually become giants.

Even the exact month in which certain accessories in Huaqiangbei will increase in price has now become an incredibly clear treasure map.

"In this life,"

Lin Dong lowered his head, pretending to take notes diligently, and forcefully scribbled a few words on the notebook:

"I will never be 'Kobayashi' again."

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

"Alright, school's out!"

Li Guohua, holding his breath, shouted, "Make the most of your winter break! Don't forget you're senior high school students!"

The classroom erupted in cheers as students packed their bags.

Wang Hao grabbed Lin Dong's neck: "Come on, Dong, let's go to the internet cafe! We'll have a sniping duel at mid-lane. You won last time, so this time the loser treats us to midnight snacks!"

Lin Dong pushed his arm away and slowly stuffed the textbooks into his schoolbag one by one.

"I'm not going."

"Huh? Why?"

Lin Dong slung his backpack over his shoulder, patted Wang Hao on the shoulder, and gave him a smile that the latter found extremely pretentious and enigmatic:

"Brother, I'm going home now."

He turned and walked out of the classroom with light steps.

The corridor was noisy and filled with youthful restlessness.

Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, ... and my parents.

Let's start over.