Chapter 02: Ten years ago

“Argh… my head hurts!”

It was still in a community building on Xinghua Road, Xinjian District. On a single bed, a handsome teenager with long hair sat up, then he touched his face to get a clear sense. He looked like the young version of Gu Xia from the past.

It was rainy weather, and the room was somewhat dark. Gu Xia was wearing a patterned white shirt and jeans. His eyes were dazedly open, and he kept rubbing his temples.

“Eh…where is this? Didn’t I get burned to death?”

“This… isn’t this the bed I slept on when I was in high school? Is this a dream?” Gu Xia looked at his body after getting out of bed, then he spoke in a dazed voice.

“Shi*t… it hurts! Isn’t this a dream?”

Gu Xia pinched his thigh, and suddenly hissed in pain, sucking in a breath of cold air.

Gu Xia was stunned, he couldn’t understand what was going on.

Suddenly he got up and ran to the sink in the toilet without even wearing shoes. He stared blankly at himself in the mirror for more than ten minutes.

“Is this a rebirth? The same as the one written in those fantasy novels?” Gu Xia said to himself.

“Isn’t there any system or something attached to me or even some old grandfather?” Gu Xia touched his entire body with both hands after speaking, but he didn’t find any rings, pendants, or anything like that. _{(Goblin: Nice one author!)}

“Forget it, it would be better to not think too much about it if I don’t understand it. If there is something, then I will naturally find out in the future. If there is nothing, that’s fine too. I will just live a dull life as usual. Just look at those people who got systems or an old grandfather, they have to save the world at every turn.”

Gu Xia walked to the living room and saw the calendar on the wall, it showed the date July 5, 2008.

“July 5, 2008? That is…not long after the National College Entrance Examination. I remember that my score was just enough for the second grade. In my previous life, I envied those people of the same age who earned 3,000 a month in the factory. So, I didn’t go to get myself admitted to the university. I was tempted by the words of my classmate when he said that the factory was full of beautiful women. And at that time, I thought that I had only passed the exam with a second grade, so it would not be very useful. In the end, I went to work in a factory outside the city, and did not study in the University. My parents got very upset as well.”

Gu Xia clenched his fists, he remembered that when he went to the factory to work, he didn’t even tell his parents, and his parents were very angry about it.

He could still remember that when his grades came out, his parents were all smiles all day long. They told people wherever they went that their son got admitted to the university. But, he disappointed them both.

Thinking about it now, he was really ignorant at that time!

Gu Xia secretly vowed, ‘In this life, I will go to the university to learn things well. I will make my parents happy, and proud of me. I will change my destiny, so that I will no longer be the same as my previous life.’

“Knock…knock!”

The sound of knocking on the door interrupted Gu Xia’s thoughts. He opened the door, and there was a fat young man standing at the door.

“Gu Xia, are you at home alone?” the fat young man asked softly, and looked inside after he finished speaking.

“Well, don’t worry, I am alone, my mother is not at home, come in.” Gu Xia said with a smile.

This fat young man in front of him was the culprit who tempted him to go to the factory in his previous life. His name was Li Yuanbao.

What this guy was most afraid of was his mother. Because when they were studying, Gu Xia and Li Yuanbao went to the Internet cafe to play games. And it was Li Yuanbao who taught Gu Xia to play fantasy games like Dungeons and Warriors, and Journey to the West. 

At that time, when Gu Xia’s pocket money was not enough, he often stole his father’s cigarettes and went to the store to sell them. Thirteen packs of Liqun were sold in the store for ten yuan, and then he went to the Internet cafe with the money to play games on the Internet. _{(Goblin: Liqun is a Chinese cigarette brand.)}

Every time his dad found out, he couldn’t avoid being beaten up. That also led to Gu Xia’s mother scolding him every time she saw Li Yuanbao. His mom was very familiar with Li Yuanbao’s mother, which made the poor guy unable to avoid her scolding.

“Gu Xia, I’m going to Shenhai City, are you going?” Li Yuanbao said while sitting on Gu Xia’s bed.

Gu Xia couldn’t help laughing when he heard those words. Seeing this Fatty again made Gu Xia very happy. In his previous life, he returned home after working in the factory for half a year, while the fatty continued working in the factory. After that, Gu Xia became an owner of his own business, and apart from some occasional phone calls, there was no more contact between them. They never met again.

Gu Xia felt that he had to persuade Fatty, because he felt that Fatty was eloquent and had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. If he could do something better, why should he have to go to the factory?

“Fatty, why do you want to go to the factory?” Gu Xia asked.

“Eh… this, there are many girls in the factory, and the salary is also not low. It’s about 3,000 yuan a month, and that’s quite a lot, so isn’t it good?” Fatty thought for a while and replied.

“Heh, who did you hear it from?” Gu Xia said with a smile.

“I heard it from a distant cousin of mine, he has been working there for four years, and his salary is now 5,000, and he has also found a wife there. The couple makes more than 8,000 a month. Everyone says his life is better. So I also want to go. My parents also agreed with me, and said that I’d better find a beautiful wife there.” Fatty said with a smile.

“So do you think you can adapt to the life in the factory? Can you adapt to the life of getting up at seven in the morning to go to work, working overtime until ten o’clock in the night, and taking only two days off a month? Don’t talk about chasing girls there, you won’t even have the time to get a proper sleep! Do you think this kind of life is what you want?” Gu Xia recalled his experience in the factory in his previous life, and couldn’t help but get a little emotional.

That factory was really not suitable for young people. In there, you will have no time to communicate with people, no time to make friends, no time to fall in love, and you will spend the whole day in the factory on the one-third of an acre, just like living in a prison. Except for the fact that there is a stable salary and a place to live, that place is no different. 

If young people stay there for a long time, their spirit will be worn down. Gu Xia really didn’t want Fatty to go to the factory. Of course, he couldn’t decide that for him. But, he could at least give an opinion.

“I don’t know. You also know that my grades have not been very good. If I don’t go to the factory, where can I go?” When Fatty heard Gu Xia’s questions, he didn’t know how to answer, and spoke in a low mood.

“I think you can try to do sales work. If you do it well, the salary will be very high. That job is like the current insurance salesman, loan officer, etc…and the monthly salary is in tens of thousands. You can also exercise your eloquence and communication skills, and work more freely. Except for meetings in the morning and evening, the rest of the time is your free time. You can do whatever you want, as long as your performance is good.” Gu Xia told Fatty what he had in mind.

“The salary is in tens of thousands? My God! My dad makes 5,000 a month and even that is enough for our family to live for a month, and have enough left over. What is the concept of tens of thousands a month! Don’t you know? You can eat whatever you want and play whatever you want!” Fatty stared at Gu Xia with wide eyes and said exaggeratedly.

“Hehe, that’s right, you can eat whatever you want, and play whatever you want.” Gu Xia said with a smile.

“Then what do you think I should do? Should I sell insurance or be a loan officer?” Fatty asked excitedly.

“You can be a loan officer. Right now the country’s financial industry is just emerging, all aspects of policy are lax. It is the optimum time to start a business.”

Gu Xia’s suggestion that Fatty should try to be a loan officer was not a casual thing. It came from the basis that Gu Xia was also a loan officer in his previous life. The threshold for being a loan officer was low and the income was high. Moreover, the current financial market had just started, and it was very profitable to do it now.

“I’ll go back and discuss with my parents and ask for their opinions. What about you, what are you going to do? Are you going to the university?” Fatty nodded and said.

“Well, I’m going to Jiangbei University.” Gu Xia smiled.

“Oh, well, remember to introduce me to a beautiful girl from the university.” Fatty winked and smiled.

Gu Xia told Fatty some tips for running the business, and Fatty didn’t leave until it was dark.

After Fatty left, Gu Xia went to the kitchen to cook, and then went to the refrigerator to take out the ingredients to wash.

He was going to prepare dinner before his parents came back, so that they could have warm food when they came back. As for his sister, she should be back soon as well. She and her classmates went to play who knows where and they would not be home all day long.

Gu Xia’s father was a decoration worker. He went out early and returned late everyday from work, while his mother did housekeeping outside. The two earned quite a lot of money every month. They paid more than 3,000 mortgages a month, and saved on household expenses. They also had some savings, so Gu Xia did not have to worry about food and clothing since he was a child.