Returning to '97, creating a new life

After taking a shower, it was almost 2 a.m.

The washed clothes are hanging on the clothesline in the yard.

With the addition of water-heated pipes along the walls, the stove burned brightly, raising the temperature inside the cabin. Lying on the bed, one no longer had to let their arms, exposed outside the blankets, feel icy cold.

Flipping through the newspaper has become a recent habit for Xu Kai. He needs to read news from all over the country to recall information about the times that he might never have paid attention to in his previous life.

Stock subscriptions in Shanghai and the speculators coming and going from north to south—these gold-digging opportunities that were hallmarks of the 1990s were completely unknown to Xu Kai during his lifetime. It was only later, after the internet became ubiquitous, that he learned about these ways of making money in the 1990s.

It's too late to catch up, and it's beyond our reach, plus it's beyond the scope of our own capabilities.

The newspaper contained a lot of content. In the past, Xu Kai did not have the habit of reading the newspaper thoroughly, mainly because he could not bear to read it. He would only read the cultural and sports news. Now, however, he had many interests. Who knows which seemingly unrelated news item might trigger some memories in him and turn it into an opportunity to start a small business in his hometown.

Xu Kai is now full of energy, and four hours of sleep a day is enough to sustain him throughout the day.

When something happens, I can endure not sleeping for three days and three nights.

Occasionally, like today, I don't fall asleep until 3 a.m., and when the alarm goes off at 6 a.m., there's not much pressure to get up.

Washing face and brushing teeth, the advantage of short hair is that you don't have to wash it every day. Before walking to the bus stop, there are two baskets of xiaolongbao, a bowl of millet porridge and a small dish of pickled vegetables at the breakfast stall. Sun Xiuyun has long been immune to her son's self-care ability. He can play in the chess and card room until late at night and then rest there or go to his parents' house to rest. She has no worries about her son's ability to take care of his own breakfast.

Dong Bin's family is well-off. Both his parents work for the railway, with his father being a junior cadre in the rolling stock depot. His grandparents are also retired railway employees, and his grandmother and mother prepare a hearty breakfast for him every morning.

In this era, without relatively comfortable living conditions, it would be almost impossible to grow to his height. From childhood to adulthood, Dong Bin never lacked milk, eggs, beef, or mutton. This almost exceptional case belongs to Fei Wenxin. Even though his family was poor and his parents worked away from home, they never let him go hungry. His big appetite could satisfy him; he just didn't eat as well as others.

At this time of day, at least one-third of the passengers on this bus route are from a high school. Initially, Dong Bin would save a seat for Xu Kai, but now the two of them stand for almost the entire journey, giving their seats to students from the same school.

It wasn't that they were particularly noble or had such awareness; rather, they were both prominent figures at school, and many people knew them and would greet them. They would run into each other on the bus every day. Being tall and strong, they were too embarrassed to sit down and would give their seats to female students.

As usual, Dong Bin skipped class to sleep, staring at the blackboard and listening to the teacher's incomprehensible words. In less than five minutes, he was guaranteed to fall asleep on his desk.

Xu Kai was quite focused during his morning classes. Unless he didn't understand anything, he would try his best to learn as much as possible, going from not understanding to understanding, and with his mature mindset, he was able to find some enjoyment in it.

It's not about rote memorization or passing exams; what he gains is the absorption of knowledge. Even if the teacher covers 100 points, he doesn't feel ashamed for only remembering a few. At least those few points have been thoroughly understood and become part of his knowledge and understanding for the next few decades.

While others are studying or doing practice tests at noon, these are undoubtedly high school level tests.

Dong Bin and Fei Wenxin would play on the playground or find a corner on campus to chat and exchange "extracurricular knowledge".

Xu Kai wouldn't force himself to roll up the paper. After lunch, he would go for a walk outside the school with Yunshang. It didn't matter where they went, they would just stroll around and listen to each other talk about their studies and life. Boys and girls, this feeling of being happy even just walking side by side only belonged to these few years.

Xu Kai tried to immerse himself in the experience and find that unique feeling. He actually found it, and for that, he was very grateful to Yunshang for giving him a second chance at life, adding more vibrant colors and experiences he had never felt before.

With the trip to Beijing for the competition approaching, Park In-ji refused to give everyone time off at noon. Everyone had to participate in the theoretical training of tactical drills, including the basketball team members who did not participate in the three-on-three challenge. After lunch, they would use the limited time during their lunch break to do some simple tactical drills.

Yunshang is the type who plays hard when she wants, but when she studies, she is completely focused. Before, her goal was just any public university in Songcheng, but now her goal has been raised to at least get into a key university.

She attends classes diligently during the day, and on weekday evenings, she studies hard at home. Her family is well-off, and they found her a tutor to give her extra lessons in the evenings.

On weekends, no one should take away her leisure time.

As the older brother, and also a business partner of Xu Kai, Yun Sheng knew the young man relatively well. He gave his parents an answer regarding his sister's change.

"She was afraid that Xu Kai would be specially admitted to a better school, so she wanted to make sure that her grades would give her more options."

………………

call!

The air in Yanjing, which hasn't yet been deeply affected by smog, is worth taking a deep breath of as soon as you get off the train.

"Brother Kai, I'm feeling down."

"roll."

"Brother Kai, I'm frustrated too."

"You two get out of here."

Dong Bin's square face was contorted in an awkward expression.

Fei Wenxin's long, thin, shoehorn-shaped face was full of frustration.

Bai Rui didn't come, otherwise, if he had called me "Brother Kai," I would have had to add another person to the list.

On the train from Songcheng to Yanjing, those two bastards kept babbling on and on.

"Hey, if you're feeling down, just give him a piece of your mind, and you won't feel down anymore."

Fang Jinyao, who was in another sleeper compartment with his coach Park In-ji, was stretching and getting off the train with a relaxed expression, wearing sunglasses and an Adidas outfit.

Xu Kai's glance stirred up memories of the depressed duo's weekend getaway a few days ago. Oh right, how could they forget that bastard?

Like Fei Wenxin, Fang Jinyao was involved in a group activity with two different classes. However, the former was like a senior student, taking care of the junior girls along the way; while the latter hung out with Dong Bin and was assigned to the first-year class, becoming the bag carrier for the senior girls. He didn't get to eat any fish and was even invaded by the senior students' "fishpond".

"what!"

The two of them, one on each side, went up and hooked their arms around Fang Jinyao's neck, hanging on him like crazy boys who didn't need any preamble to start their silly antics.

Park In-ji wouldn't care about such things at all; he was only happy if the team members got along well privately. He simply asked Xu Kai, "What happened?"

"It's nothing, it's just hormones at work."

Speak like a human.

"Teacher Park, all I can say is that your training plan is too low-intensity, and they have too much free time."

The three people, who were fooling around, suddenly had a bad feeling.

"It seems the primal power within you is about to overflow. Listen to the command, prepare for frog jumps."

Xu Kai stepped forward with a grin: "Brothers, don't worry about the bags, I'll carry them for you."

Just like the team uniforms, the high school wasn't short of money, so they also provided each of them with a travel bag. The guys weren't too particular about what they wore when they went out; a pair of basketball shoes, two sets of team uniforms, some changes of clothes, and a travel bag were all they needed.

Xu Kai carried two travel bags in each hand, and then he could follow Teacher Park, who was carrying his own luggage, and watch as Dong Bin and the other two were completely dumbfounded at Yanjing Station, and helplessly entered into physical training.

It's no wonder that national-level TV dramas and anime have such a huge influence. In "Slam Dunk," Akagi Takenori makes his teammates squat and train in the car, a scene that everyone talks about. Now that it has happened to them, and it's the coach, who is even higher up than the captain, who gives the order, the three of them only feel ashamed, keeping their heads down and not daring to meet the gazes of the onlookers. Deep down, they don't think it's unacceptable.

With sufficient funds, after exiting the station, we'll take a taxi, or rather, two taxis.

"If this had happened a few years ago, a minivan could have held it all." Even though it wasn't her own money, Park In-ji, who was frugal when traveling, couldn't help but mutter.

The school communicated in advance with the staff of the official office in the area and asked them to help book three hotel rooms near the competition venue.

Some provincial teams weren't as strong as the No. 1 high school team. By the time the players arrived and started looking for hotels near the venue, there weren't any nearby, so they had to stay further away than others.

After checking in, Park In-ji told the four of them not to wander off and to listen to Xu Kai if anything happened. Then she went to the venue's organizer registration desk to report for duty.

"I've been here before, but I'm not very familiar with the roads. Let's not go out..." Faced with Dong Bin and Fei Wenxin's eager expressions, Fang Jinyao was unsure whether his experience of traveling with his parents could be transformed into experience in leading everyone on a trip.

Xu Kai took a shower without saying a word. After coming out, he leaned back on the bed, squinted, and picked up the remote control to adjust the TV.

He was very familiar with Yanjing. After finishing two important jobs during his growth, he saved some money and ran a small business here for several years. His performance was not bad, but it was not good enough for him to continue to develop. At least the problem of settling down here always existed in front of him, and he had no sense of belonging.

Finally, he chose to return to his hometown with a sum of money. When entrepreneurial opportunities came one after another, he neither caught them nor completely missed them, and he made some money along the way. Before his rebirth, he started a media company, which cultivated a million-follower and hundreds of thousands-follower internet celebrity, as well as a team of more than a dozen live streamers, which allowed him to finally step into a decent "comfortable life".

He likes the hutongs and the local snacks, but he dislikes the pace of life here. His inner aversion makes him always choose a leisurely, slow life when he sets foot on this land, and he will never be caught up in the fast pace of life.

"After the competition, tell Teacher Park to stay an extra day and sign up for a local day tour. It'll take you around to all the famous tourist attractions you've been looking forward to, with pick-up and drop-off service. It'll be very convenient. If you do well, the school might even reimburse you for the day's expenses." Xu Kai's words calmed the three restless people down.