Returning to '97, creating a new life

"Eat."

With a hint of reluctance, Yun Sheng heated up the two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a soup that he had packed from the restaurant, plated them, and served them on the table.

Yunshang glanced at him, and Yunsheng's expression immediately changed. He took a bowl and went to serve rice to the two ancestors.

Xu Kai suppressed a laugh, got up, and went to serve rice, taking only a little for himself: "I went to my grandma's house tonight and ate a little there."

Yunshang hummed in agreement and served him food. Seeing him eat with relish made her feel good too. Whether it was her innate physical condition or her daily energy expenditure, she didn't have any anxiety about controlling her food intake.

Yun Sheng brought over freshly squeezed orange juice for the two of them and sat down beside them: "The arcade will be inspected again in a while."

Xu Kai understood what he meant: "Right now, we'll make money as long as we can, but when there are explicit regulations to ban it on a large scale, we'll withdraw."

"What's next? Open a branch of the restaurant?"

"cybercafe."

Facing Yun Sheng, Xu Kai did not choose to hide anything. His business did not need to be concealed. In the next ten years, this business would be a sure-fire way to make money, making it very suitable for the steady accumulation of funds without complete certainty.

"We'll work together then, at most we'll bring Wang Jianshe along."

Xu Kai nodded, acknowledging Yun Sheng's underlying message: Xu Dalong was somewhat unreliable; it would be fine to work with someone else, but with Yun Sheng, the selection of partners was based on careful consideration.

It could also be interpreted that Wang Jianshe has gained recognition and is likely to be drawn into Yun Xuesong's camp.

Xu Dalong was young, but he was eliminated.

Since her parents weren't home, Yunshang pulled Xu Kai inside and stayed for a while. Yun Sheng also made it easy for them.

Xu Kai left after a dozen minutes. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold back, but having to endure it was very uncomfortable, and stopping after only a little was even more painful.

"Want to go out for some fun tonight?"

As he was leaving, Yun Sheng came out to see him off, whispering something and raising an eyebrow—a secret signal that men understand.

Xu Kai did not respond. He started the car, drove to the side of the building, and less than ten minutes later, Yun Sheng got into the car.

They said they were just having fun, but in reality, they both tacitly avoided trying anything inappropriate. That would be too outrageous. If they actually ended up together in the future, and the brother-in-law and sister-in-law went out and did something inappropriate, they would lose face. It's not like they don't know how to have fun; why do they have to be together like this?

Take a shower, enjoy a sauna, get a milk bath and a scrub, and then have a full-body health massage in the multi-person rest area. Afterwards, you'll receive a head massage and a foot massage simultaneously. The two of you can then lie down on a comfortable massage bed and fall asleep. During the massage, you can tell the masseur that you don't need to be disturbed if you fall asleep, and to use a light touch. You can leave on your own when the massage is over.

Paying someone to do your job, after a busy day at work, you get a professional massage on your muscles and joints, the pressure penetrating deep into your body. You fall asleep with the massage intensity gradually decreasing, the room temperature is just right, and you're covered with a thin blanket, allowing your body to enter a state of perfect comfort and sleep for several hours.

Xu Kai got up at three in the morning, stretched, listened to Yun Sheng's soft snoring not far away, picked up a note from the bedside table, and left a message: "I'm leaving first."

She got up, went downstairs to take a shower, brushed her teeth, changed her clothes, paid for her and Yun Sheng's expenses, and drove home through the deserted streets in the chilly drizzle.

The stove fire inside had long since gone out, but it was relit. I turned on the TV and randomly picked a satellite channel to watch a rerun of a TV series. I wasn't asleep, but I still took off my coat, made up the bedding, because true comfort is still in my familiar bed.

………………

Yunshang packed Xu Kai's suitcase, forbidding him from leaving the house and just going through the motions.

Staying in the provincial capital for three days and two nights, he wouldn't actually need many changes of clothes. Yunshang had packed two pairs of shoes for Xu Kai to carry in his suitcase, ensuring that he wouldn't be caught off guard by unexpected events when it came to his most important combat equipment, and that he would have a spare pair.

Sitting in a minibus rented directly from the school makes travel convenient and ensures unified management, saving team members the hassle of traveling between the school gate and their hotel.

Holding a copy of Wang Xiaobo's "The Golden Age," Xu Kai read a few pages and found himself somewhat amused and exasperated.

Novelists of that era were fortunate. People say that the creative environment was limited, but that only applies to the scope. The content was basically up to them to create whatever they wanted. If this writing had been placed in the later era of online novels, it would probably have been banned and banned forever, without even a chance to stand out and become famous.

He casually tossed it to Dong Bin, who stared at it for a moment before his eyes lit up: "Wow, this is awesome!"

His shout drew Fei Wenxin and the others' attention. Soon, they exclaimed, "No wonder Xu Kai, you didn't come with us to rent books. You must have another way. I need to get a library card too. Damn, so this is what real S is like. It's way more awesome than those descriptions with ellipses and only single syllables."

A new world has been opened up. More importantly, when Park In-ji saw that Dong Bin was holding "The Golden Age," she praised him, saying, "Wang Xiaobo's writing is amazing. You should learn from him."

Learn from me?

Dong Bin understood, and so did the guys on the bus. So this is what real awesomeness is. Doesn't it mean that if I take this book to class and read it, as long as I cross my legs, even if the teacher walks around the back row, he will at most glance at it and won't say anything?

Wouldn't that be far better than renting those shabby pseudo-martial arts novels from a book rental stall? Those are just empty promises, missing pages, and crude, uninformative descriptions. If the teacher catches you doing that, not only will the book be confiscated, but you'll also get a scolding and have your parents called in.

I think this is fine.

Xu Kai laughed, these guys have evolved again.

As last year's national 3x3 champion and a traditionally strong team in the province, Songcheng No. 1 High School is an absolute top seed in its provincial division. Apart from Experimental High School, which has always been eyeing them, other school basketball teams greet Park In-ji with polite gestures, saying they are there with a learning attitude.

The venue used is the training ground for Siberian tigers, which can accommodate two matches at the same time.

Students from other places envy schools in the provincial capital, where they have a home-field advantage. But when they arrive in the city, they are pleasantly surprised to see basketball stars from the Northeast Tigers basketball team, but they are also amused and exasperated to see players from Songcheng No. 1 High School chatting happily with them.

Strong teams are highly sought after everywhere.

There was no rest, no reasonable schedule. As long as the intervals between games didn't lead to exhaustion, the rest was up to the teams to overcome. For example, Songcheng No. 1 High School had just arrived and hadn't rested for long at the hotel before having a game that very night.

Xu Kai did a few casual warm-ups in his training clothes, and spent the rest of the game sitting in a chair.

Sun Jun and the others who came to watch at first were a little confused, but after looking at the scene, they understood.

Five minutes into the game, both Dong Bin and Hu Yuxuan were substituted.

Ten minutes later, Fei Wenxin was also substituted.

The opponent is a regular high school team from a prefecture-level city 300 kilometers away, whose center is 185 centimeters tall.

Based on the principle of friendship first, apart from Fang Jinyao playing with the substitutes on the field, the main players withdrew early, and Xu Kai did not play for a minute. It was necessary to give the opponent some room to perform and launch a few beautiful attacks, otherwise it would be too much of a blow to the children.

"Let's go, the gap is too big. Songcheng No. 1 High School is not even in the same league as an ordinary high school basketball team." Sun Jun turned and left.

"That number 9, um, Hu Yuxuan, is that his name? He's a very skilled guard, quite good. He came to our team before, but he didn't have any particularly outstanding features back then. Now he's much better."

"Um."

The following Saturday, Xu Kai didn't even come to the game. He was on the roster, but just in case, he took a taxi to the home appliance building in the provincial capital early in the morning.

Here, on the fourth floor, there is already a cluster of computer industry chains and related products. At present, it seems to mainly sell various game discs, anti-DDoS software, and movie discs that can be read by computer CD players. In fact, there are already very professional products in each shop.

I'm not exactly a professional, but I'm somewhat of an enthusiast. In my early twenties, I always assembled my own computers. Times have changed, and many things don't match up anymore, but the overall chain of events remains the same.

Xu Kai already possessed the composure and confidence of an adult, and now he has the added advantage of his personal temperament and fashion sense, along with the Motorola handheld device that he doesn't want to hold and the simple Jetta car key.

Respect the clothes first, then the person; clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse.

Overall, Xu Kai sat down and directly discussed mass assembly with the boss. He didn't engage with the boss's technical jargon, but he was also a professional. He clearly stated that he was very interested in opening an internet cafe and was currently in the process of learning about it. If the price was right and all the conditions were met, he would go beyond consulting and start negotiating the price.

The owner didn't feel it was a waste of time, and bluntly stated that the conditions for opening an internet cafe in Northeast China, apart from the three provincial capitals and that coastal city, were all somewhat lacking.

It's not that we can't afford it, it's not that we don't have enough machines, it's not that the broadband is bad, it's none of those things, it's simply a matter of the purchasing power of ordinary people.

If you lower the price of internet access at your internet cafe, you won't make a profit.

The prices are too high, making it unaffordable for ordinary young people. The entry barrier is too high. It might be acceptable as a high-end venue, but it won't be suitable for the average person.

Xu Kai said, "Internet cafe computers are not bought and used for several years. They are maintained, upgraded, or even replaced every six months to a year."

The boss realized he'd met someone sensible who understood the situation. He understood that it wasn't something you could open just because you had money. He thought that opening an internet cafe would have a promotional effect as the first one, but since prices couldn't be lowered now, he could take it slow. Things were changing rapidly, and the prices might come down in a year or two, making it affordable for everyone.

People with this mindset who try to be pioneers in the internet cafe industry will find it difficult to earn their first pot of gold unless they have a strong financial foundation. It will take a year or two for the computer hardware to be upgraded and replaced, which will be enough to make them spend a large sum of money before they even start making any money.

The conversation went well, they exchanged business cards, and Xu Kai also left his phone number. They both agreed that the internet would spring up across the country at the beginning of the new century. Not making a deal today doesn't mean they can't do business in the future.