Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the final exams were over.
This time Chen Yuanming didn’t get into it with that bunch of trash again. Instead, he concentrated on cramming from the textbooks for a few days.
He was no longer that youth whose head was filled with nothing but pointless pride. This world was never fair to begin with. If you didn’t want to be discriminated against, you had to show something that made people take you seriously.
***
After finishing the last exam paper and carefully checking it twice, he finally let out a breath, handed in his paper, and walked out of the exam hall.
After finals there were two days off for the teachers to grade the papers. Having nothing to do with the responsibility of being a top student who helped grade papers, Chen Yuanming started his winter break warm-up early.
During these two days, aside from studying, all his focus went into organizing and sorting through his memories. Although he had now accepted his identity as a revenant, the memories in his head were too complicated.
More importantly, Chen Yuanming couldn’t be sure whether the things in his mind were accurate and real. These days newsstands were still a rare thing. The scarcity of newspapers and magazines meant a direct subscription sales model.
He couldn’t find newspapers to check, there was no TV at home, and even the radio was controlled so he couldn’t listen to the news on time.
Matching the memories in his head with reality was not easy. Without any basis to rely on, he would rather spend more time on preparation.
Early in the morning on the second day after exams, without telling anyone, Chen Yuanming pocketed the keys and the two yuan he had painstakingly saved, and walked out the door.
It hadn’t snowed yet this winter. The whole city looked gray and hazy. The main roads in the city only had single lanes for now, half of the road was filled with bicycles, and occasionally a bus dragging cables would lazily drive past.
The three- and four-story residential buildings along the road were still new and bright, probably all built in the last two years. L City was considered a well-known heavy industry city in the central and western regions.
Besides the Bearing Factory, the Tractor Factory, Steel Factory, Copper Processing Plant and other factories were all crowded around the city proper.
In the early 90s when large state-owned enterprises hadn’t yet declined, this city still radiated a vigor and a grand sense of pride.
But to Chen Yuanming, this city was unfamiliar. In his other life, after graduating from middle school his grades weren’t ideal. In the end he didn’t attend high school and instead chose to attend the factory’s vocational high school.
After two years of half-work half-study, he got into the factory through connections. However, 1994 happened to coincide with the market economy system reform. In the following years the factory’s performance declined steadily.
Less than a year into the job he resolutely quit and set out on the path of a beijing drifter. After that he drifted between Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, hauling bricks, driving trucks, selling computers in Zhongguancun.
When the stock market surged and crashed in ’03 and ’04 he started studying stocks, and even took night classes specifically for that.
Around the 1000-point bottom in ’05 he entered the market, and it took two years of struggling before he made something of himself.
In that life of his, the first half was repressed and miserable, the second half was adrift and unsettled. He had no time to carefully observe the changes happening around him.
Now, observing this city with completely unfamiliar eyes, he realized how pitifully little he knew about his hometown. All that remained was that deep impression of snacks from his adolescence.
Sighing, Chen Yuanming turned and left the city government compound that hadn’t yet been relocated and had no newspaper display board at the entrance, heading toward the Guangzhou Market a few stops away.
In 1991, L City had just welcomed its first wave of development fever. A commercial street was built not far from People’s Park, and it was even named “Guangzhou Market.” But the current Guangzhou Market didn’t yet have the supporting facilities of later generations.
The Youth Cultural Palace hadn’t been built yet, and the Xinhua Bookstore and the snack street were nowhere to be seen.
There was only a three-story reinforced concrete building standing alone in the middle of an empty lot like a crane among chickens. Since TV coupons, cloth coupons and other ration tickets disappeared in the late 80s, the shopping mall had gradually started to attract people.
Walking into the entrance hall of the Department Store, Chen Yuanming looked around at the scene before him. The architectural structure of that era was still far behind later generations.
The first floor wasn’t cosmetics and jewelry counters, but all kinds of daily necessities, rigidly displayed on shelves.
The salesclerks standing behind the counters still maintained the arrogance of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative era. They just glanced at the shabbily dressed youth, then turned their faces and continued chatting with the person beside them.
Chen Yuanming didn’t pay them any attention either. He carefully examined the shelves one row at a time. The front row was the most popular study supplies counter—schoolbags, pencil cases, cartoon-shaped erasers and notebooks.
The prices were very unappealing, but practically everyone in his class had them. Further back was the watch counter. A row of wall clocks hung carelessly on the wall, each one wiped bright and shiny, though you could tell at a glance the casings were plastic.
In the counter were watches. Half were various electronic watches, the other half were locked firmly in the cabinet, looking like quartz watches.
Chen Yuanming looked at each one. Electronic watches were generally priced at 50 to 100 yuan, and some marked waterproof with lots of buttons sold for as much as 150.
Although the peak season for electronic watches had passed, these things were still the favorite of teenagers. A few days ago when he fought with those bastards in the front row, one of them was wearing the most expensive style. Quartz watches were a different picture altogether.
The cheap ones cost over 200 yuan, and a few expensive ones sold for over 1000, bearing the labels of double lion and citizen.
“What are you looking at?! Can you even afford it?”
After he had stood there just a few minutes, the salesclerk behind the counter immediately grew impatient and shouted at Chen Yuanming. Having a poor kid standing in front of the counter was bad for business!
Chen Yuanming ignored her and continued to seriously examine the entire row of shelves, then turned and walked toward the other counters.
In the mall, the brands commonly seen in later generations were basically nowhere to be found. Compared to the wages of around 100 yuan at the time, everything was priced absurdly high. At least it didn’t disgrace the name of “Department Store.”
After browsing around, Chen Yuanming had a vague idea in his heart. If he remembered correctly, from the 80s to the mid-90s was the most glorious era for individual and private businesses. If he could find a suitable supply channel…
“Dou Dou?”
A voice suddenly came from beside him. Chen Yuanming turned his head and saw a boy standing behind him, about his age but half a head taller.
He was wearing a dark jacket and a bright green wool scarf, but the color coordination was quite good, making him look a bit more cute and sturdy.
The boy’s eyes were wide open, his eyelashes long and thick like a pony’s. He was carrying a large bag of yarn balls in his hand, looking at Chen Yuanming in surprise.
“Why are you here? Helping your family buy things?”
Who is this? He felt somewhat familiar, but couldn’t recall the other’s name at all. Chen Yuanming stood there awkwardly and returned half a smile.
Realizing the other hadn’t recognized him, the boy let out a “ha” and pounced over, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and rubbing vigorously.
“Good kid! Just two years and you’ve forgotten your second brother?!”
Ah, with that sentence, a light suddenly went on in Chen Yuanming’s head. “Sun Lang?”
“Nonsense! Who else would it be?!”
This time Chen Yuanming really remembered. This boy was one of his former neighbors. Three years ago he had also lived with his family in the Employee Dormitory.
Later his parents drew lots based on seniority and got a spot in the newly built family housing area, so the whole family moved out.
The Sun family had two children. Sun Lang was the second, half a year older than Chen Yuanming. When they were little he always called himself “second brother,” and they were buddies who grew up in each other’s pockets. It was just that later, because their social circles differed, they gradually lost contact.
“What happened to your head? Got in a fight? Let your brother go get revenge for you!”
A rough hand rubbed against the gauze on his forehead, making Chen Yuanming grimace in pain. He slapped it away with the back of his hand. “Bumped it by accident.”
“Hehe~~” Sun Lang didn’t press further. Cheerfully, he wrapped an arm around the other and dragged him toward the door. “Let’s go, come home with your brother for lunch.”
“Wait, I still…”
“Waiting for someone? Buying something?”
“No, I’ve only looked at the first floor…”
“Hey~~ the store isn’t going to run away. It’s noon, come home with me for lunch first!”
Dragged stumbling several steps, Chen Yuanming showed a wry smile and stopped resisting, following Sun Lang out.
From the parking area at the entrance he pulled out a 28-inch Flying Pigeon bicycle. Sun Lang haphazardly stuffed the pile of yarn into the front basket and jerked his chin at Chen Yuanming. “Get on, I’m starving~”
Shaking his head, Chen Yuanming jumped onto the back seat.
“Hold on tight, your brother rides fast!”
This statement wasn’t watered down at all. Dressed like a ball in the dead of winter, this guy could still pedal the bike incredibly fast. The new family housing area was in a newly developed section with no concrete roads at all.
The whole ride was so bumpy Chen Yuanming almost flew off the bike, and he could only hold tightly to the other’s waist to keep his balance.
The trip to his home only took about ten minutes. The two chatted the whole way, and the unfamiliarity gradually faded. Chen Yuanming seemed to finally find his coordinates in this era, and even his expression relaxed.
Parking the bike in the neighborhood bike shed, Chen Yuanming watched Sun Lang carry the large pile of yarn in his hands and couldn’t help feeling a bit curious.
“Knitting sweaters now?” The yarn didn’t look very thick, mostly bright colors. But it was already the end of January and only now knitting sweaters seemed a bit out of season.
“Where’d you get that idea~~” Sun Lang chuckled and waved the bag in his hand.
“My mom took on a job. The department store provides the yarn, she knits according to the seasonal styles, 35 yuan per piece! Two months for three pieces, just in time to sell a batch in spring. Several skilled workers at her unit are doing it too.”
So it was processing… Chen Yuanming understood completely without needing further explanation. These days some of the high-end knit sweaters in department stores were directly contracted out to private individuals.
It was much cheaper than unified factory production, and the patterns were better too. Back then quite a few idle female workers took on this kind of work.
It was just that his own mother was clumsy with her hands and did heavy loading and unloading work, so she had no spare energy to earn this extra money.
“But I’m the one who suffers. Every day I’m a yarn rack. Look, this part of my hand is almost callused…” Sun Lang unabashedly held out his hand and complained to Chen Yuanming, but the smile on his face was nothing short of showing off.
“No pay for using child labor?” Chen Yuanming couldn’t help teasing.
“Five yuan allowance! New Year’s money is self-managed!” This time it really was showing off.
Chatting and laughing, they walked up to the third floor. The new family housing building had a uniform six-story structure. The third floor was quite a good spot.
There were ten households per row, all with one-bedroom one-living-room layouts, with bathroom and kitchen inside.
This kind of 30-40 square meter layout was already very high-grade architecture at the time. When they moved out, the neighbors had been quite envious.
Knocking on the door, a woman who was a bit older but had delicate features and a touch of Jiangnan lady charm appeared before Chen Yuanming.
Sun Lang’s mother Liu Yun’s ancestors had produced a xiucai, and in earlier years they had even run a private school.
Hers was a family of scholars. It was just that in those years, the family fortunes had truly declined, and their class background wasn’t good either, so in the end she married a factory worker’s son.
But Sun Lang’s father Sun Jun was also someone who strove to succeed. He had already risen to management at a branch factory, which was how Liu Yun was transferred to the finance section as an accountant.
“Dou Dou!” Seeing the youth outside the door, Liu Yun cried out in delighted surprise, directly pulling him into the house. “Where did you run into him?! Oh my, so many years and you’ve really grown! I heard you’re now in the key class at Three Middle School? Your grades are good, right? How’s the family?”
A string of words already came tumbling out, but the concern in them couldn’t be mistaken. Chen Yuanming patiently answered each one with a smile, until Sun Lang cut him off.
“Who exactly is your son here? Is the food ready? Hurry up and eat!”
“Little pest!” Snatching the bag from her son’s hand, Liu Yun tilted her chin. “Go wash your hands, I’ll add another pair of chopsticks! The house is a bit messy, Dou Dou don’t mind it.”
This room was indeed a bit messy. On the cupboard against the corner were piles of yarn balls, many with only a few loose loops left, clearly leftover from knitting sweaters.
But after all it was a one-bedroom one-living-room apartment, and the home was arranged quite warmly and comfortably, far more presentable than their own cramped Employee Dormitory.
Looking at Sun Lang joking with his mom, and the bright, clean new home, a trace of melancholy rose in Chen Yuanming’s heart. How long had it been since his own home had this kind of closeness? Since Grandma got seriously ill?
Or since the family started drowning in debt? This wasn’t yet the era of true polarization between rich and poor, but poverty could strip away too many things, and it could make people never able to find them again…
After washing hands and sitting at the table with the two of them, Liu Yun brought over a full bowl of hand-pulled noodles, topped with shredded pork and cabbage, plus some dried tofu.
“Your uncle is working overtime today, your sister’s on the three-shift rotation and it’s her day shift, so it’s just us two at home. I was just worrying I made too many noodles.”
Looking at the almost overflowing pile of vegetables in his bowl and Sun Lang’s bowl which clearly had more soup than vegetables, Chen Yuanming only felt warmth in his heart. He hesitated for a moment, but could only squeeze out, “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Don’t be so polite.” Sun Lang had already started eating, slurping noisily, and even reached a claw toward the chili jar, digging out a big spoonful and dumping it into his noodles.
“Are you a starving ghost reincarnated?!” After scolding her son, Liu Yun pushed the vinegar bottle and chili jar forward. “Dou Dou, hurry and eat. The noodles get cold fast in this weather. If you need anything, add it yourself~”
“Yeah.” He hadn’t seen meat in many days. Chen Yuanming stopped being polite and started eating the noodles in big bites. The hand-pulled noodles were quite chewy, indescribably delicious in his mouth.
Liu Yun also began eating at a leisurely pace, occasionally asking Chen Yuanming a few more questions. Back in the Employee Dormitory, she and Wang Juan had been on very good terms.
It was just that she had always worked as an accountant at the factory, and after leaving the dormitory they gradually lost touch. Now seeing the son of an old friend again, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t happy.
The meal was eaten quickly. Sun Lang was already burping, and Chen Yuanming had picked up his bowl to drink the last of the noodle soup. Liu Yun suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise. “Dou Dou, your hands have frostbite?”
Chen Yuanming paused, put down the bowl, and looked at the back of his hand. “Yeah, it’s been two years. It acts up every winter.”
“It’s too cold. Have your mom buy some ginger and rub it on, it’ll get better. And wear gloves when you go out. You boys never know to take care. It must be so uncomfortable going bare-handed in this cold!”
Listening to Liu Yun’s earnest advice, Chen Yuanming’s fingers paused.
He suddenly thought of something, and the person before him might be the best person to put it into practice. Putting down his bowl and chopsticks, he looked seriously at the woman before him.
“Auntie, have you ever thought about selling something yourself? Knitwear or something like that…”