Returning to '97, creating a new life

Sun Xue went to Xu Kai's cabin.

The three brothers were on the kang (heated brick bed) in the main room, with the door open so that Sun Xue could join in the conversation. There wasn't much of a sense of propriety between the brothers and sisters, and since it was winter, they were all sleeping in thermal underwear, so there was no question of privacy or closing the door.

Now they are so curious about Xu Kai, they have so many questions they want to ask.

I hadn't felt that much when my parents told me about my younger brother starting a business at such a young age. But today, I truly witnessed the class differences in society. The gossip I'm seeing now not only satisfies their curiosity but also gives me a sense of exploration to see another side of the world.

They are just ordinary people, fresh out of school and not long into their jobs. They are just ordinary workers. In their world, being able to scrape together money to spend at "Emperor" during the Chinese New Year is already considered a leap in spending. They come here to broaden their horizons.

To be honest, when they came in, all four of them were timid and lacked confidence in exploring the unknown.

There's an element of uncertainty about the environment; they don't know how much it will cost to shop at the Emperor Hotel. There's a huge gap between their salaries and the level of consumption in this place. They come here hoping to broaden their horizons, otherwise they'll always feel inferior to their peers.

Once inside, Wang Tao felt even more insecure about his spending. He approached a waiter who offered him an extra table near the aisle. The waiter hinted that if he didn't spend three or four hundred yuan, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his friends, since so many people were queuing up and the extra table would be snapped up in the end.

After meeting my younger brother Xu Kai, everything on the surface became no longer a problem. He even became a distinguished guest, receiving VIP treatment and spending money at the top level.

But the fear in my heart deepened, and curiosity and gossip were also trying to fill the void. What was this place originally like? We haven't experienced it, but if we can learn more from people of higher social standing, then when we talk about "Emperor" in the future, I'll be the expert, saying I've been there, and you can forget about it.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating the group photo, a bragging right then and there. They believed that in just a few days, news of the foreign performers at "Emperor's Palace" would spread throughout Songcheng. By then, every ambitious young person would have to have "met" them; otherwise, they'd be embarrassed to call themselves a trendy young person.

Wang Tao wasn't sleepy either. He sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and played with Xu Kai's toy. This big toy was incredibly appealing to young people. It was far more impressive than having a genuine imported Transformers toy among your friends when you were a kid.

Seeing their condition, Xu Kai turned on the light, and everyone sat up wrapped in blankets. Xu Kai washed some fruit, took a few bags of grilled fish slices and spicy beef tendon, took a few cans of beer from the refrigerator, and called out to Sister Xue. Sun Xue, also wrapped in a blanket, came out of the room and onto the heated kang. The four of them sat around the kang table on the kang.

While drinking and chatting, Xu Kai also shared some interesting stories he had encountered with everyone.

At first, they wanted to understand those levels they had never been exposed to before. Gradually, they also became curious about Xu Kai's past experience of setting up a stall and how he earned his first pot of gold.

Hearing that Xu Kai was pushing a tricycle at two or three in the morning in the dead of winter, braving the wind and snow to go to the fruit wholesale market to select apples, everyone sighed with emotion.

Xu Kai also described his true feelings at that moment without missing a single word. Stepping on the snow, one footprint at a time, it wasn't just a vocabulary, but the feeling of resistance brought by the snow as you stepped on it, and the huge effort required to pull it out. He pushed the tricycle back little by little.

Xu Kai then told them about his trip south, which was the first time they had heard about it. They were all filled with admiration. Their younger brother had gone south alone to discuss video games. Even if they didn't know how difficult it would be, just thinking about the concept of being all alone in a strange place...

One of them drank two cans of beer and chatted until after four o'clock. In the end, without cleaning up the kang table, he pushed it aside. Sun Xue didn't go back to the small room either. Instead, she wrapped herself in a quilt and fell asleep on the kang.

Seeing that the three of them were asleep, Xu Kai got up, put on his clothes, and went to the kitchen to add some more coal to ensure that the fire could continue to burn.

They are all his close relatives. He doesn't necessarily want to manipulate them. In his heart, it's the same as wanting to be an anchor between classmates. With so many brothers and sisters in the family, no matter how capable they are, when everyone gets together, many hands make light work. Even if he is still an ordinary person in the future, in his previous life, his friends were always in a state of "welcoming and seeing off". He felt that life was originally like this, and it should be like this. They were all friends for a period of time.

Having been reborn, I prefer more warmth and less coldness around me, and Xu Kai doesn't even mind the sincerity of this warmth.

In the following days, Grandpa's house became lively, and his siblings all gathered around Xu Kai.

I don't know who spread it, but I guess they couldn't help it.

Sun Hao, the cousin from my second maternal uncle's side; Xiao Lili, the cousin from my second aunt's side; Sun Ting, the cousin from my third maternal uncle's side; Sun Peng, the cousin from my fourth maternal uncle's side; and even Sun Wei, the cousin from my fifth maternal uncle's side who is only in the first year of junior high school, all stared at Xu Kai with resentful eyes, as if to say, "You hurt us." This made many elders laugh. After listening for a few minutes and finding out that it was a matter between the young boys and girls, they laughed it off and stopped paying attention. It's not that there's a problem, but that it's okay. Let them solve it themselves.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I'll take you clubbing, but you can't go to the Emgrand."

Despite saying that, Xu Kai secretly took Sun Hao, Xiao Lili, and Sun Ting, along with Sun Bo, Sun Xue, and Wang Tao, to "Emperor Hotel" again. They were all older than him, so their reason was impeccable, and Xu Kai didn't mind spending some money.

Taking Sun Peng and Sun Wei along means going to nightclubs to dance, which is a bit of a chore, but in their world, that's a place only adults can go.

Xu Kai also invited the basketball team members and told his cousins ​​that they could bring their "close" friends as well. He explained that young people tend to hide their secret relationships from their parents, but are less wary of their peers.

There were more than twenty people, and everything was arranged very well. With so many people, and the big guys from the basketball team protecting them, even some local thugs wouldn't easily provoke such a group.

As a result, Hu Yuxuan came back. In his words, life in Yanjing was boring, his hometown wasn't there, and his former classmates weren't as fun as Xu Kai and the others.

Upon returning, he waved his hand and invited everyone to the "Emperor's Palace" for the next round, prompting Xu Kai to secretly kick him. Only then did he realize that there were younger siblings among them, and he quickly apologized, saying that there were no seats available there.

The next day, Hu Yuxuan arranged for the basketball team to experience "Emperor's Palace" and help them grow.

It's not even the seventh day of the Lunar New Year yet, and Xu Kai has already been to "Emperor's Palace" three times. Having experienced even more diverse and colorful programs in the future, he's become immune to them.

"Xiao Ning wants to go see it and wants me to go with her. She's the great captain of the high school basketball team, my boyfriend. Can you come with us?"

What could Xu Kai say? He could only nod. This was the fourth time in seven days. Not only did Yunshang's best friend Huang Ning come, but also several of her close female classmates. Xu Kai had no choice. The private rooms were always packed. It was only because Huo Gang and Sister Yun gave him face that he was able to squeeze in a cardholder.

Seeing a group of girls, Xu Kai could only pull Huo Gang to stay in the booth. The two of them sat on the edge of the booth, ignoring the whispers among the girls, and drank a few glasses of wine. "Brother Gang," Xu Kai said, "I'm afraid some of the clueless ones might cause some unnecessary trouble, so I can only rely on you for support."

Huo Gang laughed and beckoned the head waiter over, instructing him to keep an eye on this area. Then, two waiters stood upright with their hands folded in front of them, one on each side of the booth aisle.

Huo Gang sat with Xu Kai for about twenty minutes. When he left, he greeted Yunshang and the other girls. Without Xu Kai, he would have been more humble towards Yunshang. Who was the other party? That uncle of his was like a giant figure floating in the air, who could smash a deep pit with his palm at any time.

I found an opportunity, Xu Kai left, and the show was about to start. The group of girls were fine, but I was there by myself. It was so awkward. Everyone else was awkward, and I was awkward too. If I looked up and made eye contact with someone, it would undoubtedly be a major social disaster.

This performance is best watched secretly.

He had originally wanted to find a quiet place, but as soon as he arrived at the passageway, Sister Yun was waiting there with a smile, inviting him to go upstairs.

"Um?"

Sitting in the boss's chair, Su Xingwan was completely out of place in this environment. Even if you knew it in your heart, it would be difficult to associate her with the image of a behind-the-scenes big shot.

"Hey, Su-ge." Xu Kai jogged up behind her and reached out to massage her shoulders. At first, Su Xingwan looked quite relaxed, but as soon as Xu Kai spoke, she felt a frustrated feeling of wanting to get angry but not knowing how to express it.

"Hmph." Su Xingwan snorted coldly. She really didn't know how to respond to this address. No matter how fast her mind worked, she couldn't catch Xu Kai's completely unpredictable approach.

She remained silent; that was the best way to retaliate.

Xu Kai didn't say anything, just gave her a massage. Sister Yun smiled, brewed some tea, and left quietly, closing the door behind them.

Snapped!

Faced with this situation where he was not speaking and just kept getting a massage, Xu Kai had his own tricks. As he massaged, his hands started to become less obedient and began to slide down from his shoulders and neck.

Su Xingwan slapped Xu Kai's hand hard.

Xu Kai didn't want to joke around with a guy, but if it was someone like Su Xingwan, he didn't care what she was really like at heart.

The visual effects are top-notch, the tactile experience is top-notch, that's enough. Who cares what you think of me? That's not important.

"Brother Su, aren't you going down to see Yunshang?"

Xu Kai sat down opposite her and saw cigars on the table. These things don't go into the lungs, but smoking one occasionally is quite useful for passing the time.

"I'm going to open an entertainment venue. You plan it for me. If it makes money, I'll give you a 10% share. If it doesn't, I'll chop you up and bury you." In front of Xu Kai, Su Xingwan stopped pretending. Before, she thought having a basketball buddy like him was pretty good. But ever since she found out that this guy had a lot of crooked ideas, Su Xingwan started a different mode.

This guy is truly despicable. Burying him isn't enough to vent my anger; he's treating me like a thief. Does he think I've never seen anything like this before? No matter how good Yunshang is, would I need to resort to such low-level tactics? He really looks down on me.