September 2013.
Zhou Yuwen left his hometown for the first time and came to Jinling alone.
Jinling Station was exceptionally noisy.
Passersby were coming and going, carrying luggage of all sizes.
In the distance, plainly dressed elderly men and women asked travelers in a Jinling accent where they were headed.
"Heading to Lishui?"
"Going to Gaochun?"
"Hey, handsome, wanna hang out?"
And some scantily clad young ladies: "Handsome, can I borrow two yuan for the subway?"
Looking at this familiar yet strange city,
Yuwen felt a wave of emotions: "Someone like me actually got reborn."
At thirty, having climbed to middle management at a company and seen the world after extensive travels, he was not surprised by the concept of rebirth.
On the contrary, he was somewhat reluctant.
After divorcing Su Qing, Yuwen's life could be described as smooth sailing.
Promotion and pay raise, bestselling novels.
Back then, Yuwen not only owned a flat in Jinling worth eight million, but also had two million quietly lying in a savings account and a BMW 5 Series worth five hundred thousand.
Of course, a Yuwen like that never lacked for big sisters or little sisters around him.
Yet now, Yuwen, who once had everything, had been reborn back to a time when he had nothing.
As he left the train station, following the route in his memory, Yuwen reminisced about his youthful self.
Back then, he had nothing—no money, no love.
The gloom of his senior year in high school had not yet lifted.
Like all high school students, Yuwen believed that the national college entrance exam was his only way out, struggling desperately in the last half-year of grade twelve.
As a result, Yuwen barely made it into a second-tier college in Jinling.
His parents sighed and lamented over this all day.
Yuwen, too, felt he had let his parents down.
Honestly, if it hadn't been for his parents suddenly pulling out a million yuan for Yuwen to buy an apartment in Jinling after he got married in college,
Yuwen truly believed his family was quite poor.
All his life, his parents had created the illusion that they both worked regular jobs, earning a fixed salary of three or four thousand yuan a month; then Yuwen's mother would count on her fingers, listing off his tuition, living expenses, and even questioning if he really needed guitar lessons, as those would cost hundreds more.
"Your father and I only make three or four thousand a month.
"Just the other day, your dad guaranteed a loan for someone and now we're deep in debt. How could we have money? You need to study hard," she would say.
The bus terminus at the train station.
A group of students dragging their suitcases were waiting for the bus there.
Yuwen checked his pockets, a total of two thousand yuan in his bag.
That was his living expense for a whole semester.
When leaving, his mother did tell him to ask them for more money if it wasn't enough.
The young Yuwen was very sensible, thinking that his parents didn't have much money either and, with his poor academic performance, how could he have the nerve to ask for more.
He hailed a taxi.
In those days, there were hardly any ride-sharing cars around.
All the taxis were those old Pulsars, emanating a sense of the era.
They looked like they would fall apart if you hit them.
The taxi driver, a true Jinling local, asked straight away, "Where to?"
Yuwen asked, "How much to Xianlin University Town?"
The driver blurted out a hundred.
"Whoa! Charging me a hundred for just over 20 kilometers, you sure know how to ask for money, mate!"
They haggled back and forth.
Yuwen said he would only pay fifty.
Take it or leave it.
If not, he'd get out of the car.
"Alright then, alright! I'm losing money driving you there!" the driver complained.
In the end, the driver couldn't bear to turn down the fifty yuan ready at hand and set off with Yuwen.
He kept grumbling about taking a loss en route.
Meanwhile, Yuwen, sitting in the passenger seat, casually took the cigarette box the driver had placed up front and said, "Well then, if it's a loss, it's a loss, let's just make friends, alright!"
"Oh man! I'm already at a loss here, and you're still taking my cigarettes!"
"Just one, come on, come on!"
Zhou Yuwen said, attempting to light the cigarette for the driver.
The driver's face showed displeasure, but he still took the cigarette.
"Need a light?"
He pulled out a lighter, and Yuwen expertly lit a cigarette for himself.
In Jinling City of '09, plane trees were planted densely along both sides of the road, their canopies blotting out the sky.
On both sides of the street, people were coming and going incessantly.
Yuwen slouched in the passenger's seat, drawing deeply on his cigarette.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
He couldn't help but cough violently.
It was only then that Yuwen remembered that at this time, he didn't know how to smoke.
Thanks to good family education.
Before he turned eighteen, Yuwen didn't smoke or drink, had no bad habits, and kept up with running and swimming.
Right, he also had a six-pack.
Thinking of this, Yuwen couldn't help but reach under his clothes.
A slight smile crept onto his face involuntarily.
Fortunately, it was still there.
Eighteen-year-old Yuwen had many extravagant hopes; back then, he wanted to eat, sleep, and become the flickering clouds in the sky. Yuwen felt as strong as an ox, like he could burst through the heavens.
Suddenly, Yuwen's thoughts drifted to his college days.
In truth, when dating Su Qing, Yuwen had often thought about taking things a step further with her.
But Su Qing always guarded herself strictly.
It wasn't until after graduation and stepping into the hall of marriage that Yuwen and Su Qing shared their true first time together.
But by that time, Yuwen no longer possessed the robust vigor of his eighteen-year-old self.
Did he even know how formidable he was at eighteen?
Thinking of how even at thirty he was somewhat lackluster with his young girlfriends.
Yuwen felt that there were some benefits to coming back to life after all.
At the very least, this time, he wanted to properly indulge himself.
No, he was already a thirty-year-old uncle.
He had to maintain his persona!
Anyway, this time, there was absolutely no way he would date Su Qing again.
Reflecting on the past, Yuwen felt he must have been blind—how could he have chosen Su Qing out of all the beauties at university!
Anyway, this time, he was definitely not going to get involved with Su Qing again.
"We're here!"
While Yuwen was pondering his future development, a voice brought him back to reality. Looking up, he realized they had arrived at the university entrance.
Yuwen handed over fifty yuan.
Before going, he even haggled with the driver, asking if a discount of two yuan would be okay, tugging at their shared human feelings.
The driver rolled his eyes in frustration, "There are more mountains beyond mountains, and buildings beyond buildings—how about I just give you a free ride, okay?"
"That'd be great!"
"Great my ass!"
The driver promptly snatched the fifty yuan from Yuwen's hand, didn't look back, and sped off with a stamp on the gas pedal.
Watching the departing driver, Yuwen thought, the big bros of Jinling are still as irritable as ever.
Two thousand yuan, minus fifty.
Current gaming funds: 1950.
How should he make money?
Yuwen, with a cigarette in his mouth, was deep in thought.
"Excuse me, are you here to register?"
While Yuwen was deep in contemplation, a gentle female student approached.
Yuwen raised his head, only to see a girl with flowing long hair, wearing a volunteer's vest.
Chen Wan, the senior?
"Do I look like it?" he said with a slight smile as he encountered another familiar face.