Returning to '97, creating a new life

In Xu Kai's previous life, almost all of his junior high school classmates had disappeared without a trace. There was a QQ group with more than 20 people, but there had been no news circulating in the group for many years. Later, after WeChat became the mainstream social tool, the QQ account was just a pendant hanging on the phone and had no use at all.

I want to get in touch, but I don't know how to start. We haven't seen each other for more than ten or twenty years, and we've become like strangers.

Occasionally, I would hear news from my mother, such as Zhang Chunlei going to work in other places after returning from the army, or Huang Lili marrying someone from the south.

It's not about how much we cherish it, but about having a second chance to maintain a connection and leave a unique mark on our youth.

Xu Kai doesn't mind becoming such an anchor point. In the future, no matter how far apart his classmates are or how long it has been since they last heard from each other, there will always be someone to maintain a fixed connection with. If he wants to go back to his hometown and reminisce about his youth, there will be a familiar old classmate who will organize a gathering. No matter how big or small the gathering is, and no matter how much we have changed, sitting at the dinner table with the innocent and naive topics from junior high school will make the meal a truly satisfying experience.

Xu Kai collected his classmates' contact information, which was currently just home landline numbers and home addresses. However, he knew that these things would become ways to lose contact over time. With Wang Lei's diligent efforts in gathering information, he also learned about the homes, workplaces, and other aspects of his classmates' lives. Xu Kai also kept a notebook to record these details.

A year or two later, when the Penguin Media Platform is available, it will be easier to keep students in a stable and contactable range.

Even if they've lost contact in the last two years, most of them are still in school or working in their hometowns because of their age, so they're not impossible to find.

By the time they parted ways in the afternoon, Xu Kai's phone number had already been memorized by the classmates who were present that day. They were impressed that their old classmate was doing better and better. Having a private phone number for a campus basketball star doesn't mean anything, but everyone would still make sure to record it.

Xu Kai and Yunshang created a couple's account.

In this day and age, it's not that difficult, but in the early 21st century, a cool phone number was, to some extent, a symbol of status.

139AABBCCCC.

The middle four digits of the phone number are unique to Songcheng. Xu Kai's last four digits are 9, and Yunshang's last four digits are 6. The first four digits are the same.

After buying the phone number, Xu Kai also asked Fang Jinyao to help him contact his uncle. No matter where it came from, as long as it was a good phone number and could be transferred at a China Mobile or China Unicom branch, he would buy it without haggling over the price.

In this era, many phone numbers don't have minimum charges, and caller ID and monthly fees are no burden for Xu Kai. He'd rather pay ten or twenty yuan a month to transfer the phone numbers to his own name and maintain them. Four-, five-, and six-digit numbers are easy to get money from; he can take them anytime, anywhere.

In the future, the last four digits of a set will easily sell for five figures for a long time. Even if you are not short of money in the future, it will be a very good gift for business purposes for a certain period of time.

In fact, many couple numbers are worth collecting. At this time, Xu Kai does not have that much energy. Only numbers ending in four or more can give him the energy to manage, store and hold them.

Yunshang's arrival in the afternoon brought Tong Dan together with her classmates, and Huang Lili's initial sighs turned into smirks. Tong Dan, Tong Dan, you think you can take it all? You've been put down by someone else's girlfriend, haven't you?

Wearing black knee-high leather boots, skinny jeans, a white turtleneck sweater, a white long down jacket, and a pair of white mink fur handbags, her height combined with high heels gave her an aura that would make most men afraid to walk past her.

The simple color scheme, without any unnecessary embellishments or heavy makeup, subtly conveyed a mature aura, letting the peers present know that your lipstick and makeup are nothing more than a child imitating their mother.

Once she took off her down jacket, her exquisite S-curve was revealed to the girls present, letting them know what true beauty that makes men unable to look away is.

Judging by just one face? You're too naive, kids.

A white turtleneck sweater in a shaping style; among those stealing glances, some eyes will linger there.

Jeans covering her buttocks—some people in the roller skating rink would steal glances at Yunshang from behind.

Yunshang's radiance was imbued with confidence. She greeted Xu Kai's classmates with a warm smile, without needing to put on a show like a peacock back in No. 1 High School. Here, a gentle breeze was enough for these tender young shoots to grow, break through the soil, and bloom. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have the confidence to stand here.

No matter how you grow after breaking through the soil, at least you've opened up. And now?

Dong Bin, Fei Wenxin, Bai Rui, and the others were cricketing in the corner. The three of them were in the same state, hahaha, see? When the big sister comes, she can kill all the monsters and demons.

After saying goodbye to his junior high school classmates, Xu Kai turned around and greeted Zhang Peng. He was too familiar with the others, spending almost all his time together. Only this elementary and high school classmate, a top student, was someone Xu Kai was willing to be more enthusiastic about after realizing that he wasn't a rigid bookworm.

"Zhang Peng, I'm leaving now. You guys have fun."

Zhang Peng paused for a moment, then smiled and replied, "Okay, I'll learn to roller skate today."

His physical limitations increase the difficulty of learning, but his strong learning ability is enough to ensure that Zhang Peng can learn it if he wants to, as long as he doesn't give up after the initial embarrassing falls and stumbles. Just give him some time.

Xu Kai smiled and gave Bai Rui a look. The latter understood and nodded in response, saying, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things and won't let anything happen to our class's top student, Guobao."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Kai and Yun Shang drove around the city looking for a place to eat. In the end, they could only go to a high-end hotel and had a meal that was not very satisfying. Yun Shang sighed that it would have been better to just cook a bowl of instant noodles at home. From the service attitude to the quality of the food, nothing was satisfactory, and they had spent a lot of money. What a waste!

After their meal, the two went to a bowling alley to digest their food.

It's such a great recreational activity with excellent value for money, yet it has slowly disappeared from the entertainment scene for ordinary people in the tide of the times. It's a real pity. Xu Kai himself doesn't even remember when bowling suddenly disappeared and nobody played it anymore.

Yunshang did not show any emotional change regarding going to the "Emperor's Palace" with Xu Kai to watch the performance.

shy?

No, I wasn't with anyone else. Xu Kai didn't invite Dong Bin and the others to join him tonight. Yunshang noticed this detail and was touched.

"Brother Gang is busy, but he's already made arrangements. He'll come over to offer a toast in a bit."

Upon arrival, Sister Yun personally greeted them and led the two to a private room upstairs. Although it wasn't the best viewing area directly facing the stage, Xu Kai and Yun Shang looked down and saw that it was only a little past eight o'clock, yet the room was already completely full. It was obvious that the tables and chairs downstairs near the stage had been moved and were now more compact, all to make room for more customers.

"By the way, someone gave Mr. Niu a gift. He doesn't like such small things, so he's just passing on the gift."

Sister Yun took out two boxes, the patterns on which made it clear what they were without even opening them: Motorola Pocket Edition.

Two new pocket-sized smartphones, each costing over ten thousand yuan, even though Xu Kai doesn't care about aesthetics, it must be admitted that holding such a phone in your hand has the same "street-shaking" effect as when someone first started carrying a big brick and making a phone call on the street.

Yunshang didn't move. Xu Kai opened the package, took out his phone, handed it to Yunshang, but said to Sister Yun, "Then I have to call Uncle Niu in a bit."

He accepted it readily, and his composure brought a smile to Sister Yun's face, making her think even more highly of this young man.

This is gratitude, and also a blessing in disguise.

The transformation of "Dihao" has caused a business boom that has swept the entire city. In just a few days, consumers from surrounding cities have come to experience the unique entertainment plaza.

If the gift had come entirely from Niu Dongyang, Xu Kai might have hesitated a little, but since Su Xingwan was involved, he wouldn't have been polite at all.

Humans are visual creatures.

Even if Su Xingwan was prickly, just thinking about her face would make Xu Kai lower his guard. Afterwards, he would curse inwardly, "Damn it, no wonder they say that when women get ruthless, they can really achieve great things. Just the fact that their opponents lower their guard is such a huge advantage."

A bottle of XO, a fruit boat, four plates of high-end dried fruit snacks, four bottles of drinks, four bottles of Corona, and a cooler filled with ice. After arranging everything, Sister Yun said goodbye and left.

She was very busy, welcoming and seeing off guests. Not to mention the private rooms on the second floor, even the booths on the first floor and some ordinary seats were always filled with capable people or business people she knew. As Niu Dongyang's capable assistant in public relations, she needed to take good care of every guest.

With core content established, the performance style of the entire entertainment plaza also changed. Knowing what customers like, even the singers who come up to sing now include more energetic songs and dances and change their attire.

After the knocking, Huo Gang rushed in with a smile that didn't match his image or profession: "I was too busy and I'm late. I have to punish myself with a few drinks."

Xu Kai stood up, and Yun Shang followed suit.

After shaking hands, Xu Kai casually put his arm around Huo Gang's shoulder and pulled him to sit down next to him. Instead of pouring him a drink, he poured him a beverage: "Brother Gang, you wouldn't be so stingy, would you? It's just one bottle of wine, are you going to come up and drink it back?"

Huo Gang patted Xu Kai's knee, how could he not understand the other party's goodwill? Throughout this round of welcoming and seeing off, he had mainly entertained some underworld figures and people who operated in the gray area. He had drunk quite a bit and was reeking of alcohol. Now that he had come to Xu Kai, how could he not understand the other party's goodwill?

He took a sip of ice-cold Sprite, took out a cigarette, glanced at Yunshang who was sitting by the railing looking down, and made a gesture as if to take it back.

"Brother Gang, Sister Yun said this was your arrangement. There are only two of us, so we can just find somewhere to sit down. It's a waste of space..."

Huo Gang was already getting used to the young man's maturity beyond his years. He took another sip of his drink. Seeing his posture, Xu Kai took the cigarettes from his hand, took out two, one for each of them, and lit one for him: "We're already surrounded by smoke here, a little more won't make a difference. Brother Gang, rest here for a while, I'll give you a reason to rest..."