Epiphanies of Rebirth 27
Chapter 27
Tian Dahua felt like he was flying. He had never expected that Lin Jingzhe would actually come.
His heart, which had been beating fast ever since he received Lin Jingzhe’s first phone call, sped up until it was pounding. He shook Lin Jingzhe’s hand a few times, so excited he was unable to speak; it took him a long moment before he returned to his senses and stepped aside. “Ah, this won’t do. The airport is full of people, it’s not a place to talk. You just got off the plane, Mr. Lin, you must be tired. Please come this way—I booked a hotel for you, let’s go there first so you can rest.”
Tian Dahua splurged—the car he had prepared was a luxury version. In the early nineties, there weren’t many car models available in China; Tian Dahua had rented one that ranked close to the top of the pyramid.
Tian Dahua personally closed the car door for Lin Jingzhe and placed his luggage in the trunk. When the friend who had tagged along saw his eagerness, he reached out to grab his arm. “Old Tian, are you sure this is the right person? You dragged us to the airport to wait for some big shot for over two hours, and that’s the one who came? Isn’t this just some kid? Why would you…”
“Shut up!” Tian Dahua snapped at him. “Are you an idiot? Don’t speak if you don’t know what you’re talking about! ‘Just some kid,’ really, your eyes must just be there for decoration…”
After entering the suite on the top level of the Garden Hotel which had been booked by Tian Dahua, Lin Jingzhe strolled to the half-open window to look out at the park below.
This hotel, which had opened only a few months prior, would have an outstanding reputation in the future. From the treatment he enjoyed since exiting the plane, Lin Jingzhe could sense Tian Dahua’s sincerity. He accepted the cup of tea the man hurriedly prepared, and cradled it in his palm.
Smiling, Tian Dahua watched him drink the tea. “You haven’t visited Shen City for nearly two months, Mr. Lin—now that you’re finally back, I must do my best to perform the duties of a host. I’ve booked tables in the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant and the most famous club in our city…”
“Mr. Tian,” Lin Jingzhe interrupted him with a smile. “Thank you for taking so much trouble, but while I will certainly have dinner with you, let’s put off the club until next time—I have to return to Yan City soon.”
“Oh, that’s a pity.” Tian Dahua naturally agreed—how could he dare to disagree? As he watched Lin Jingzhe look out of the window for a while, then saunter back to the sofa and leisurely sip his tea, his heart burned with anxiety. He gritted his teeth and began, “Mr. Lin, the stock we talked about…”
“Oh, right!” Lin Jingzhe put on an expression as if he had just remembered. He didn’t make a move to rise from the sofa, and only replied unconcernedly, “Why are you so worried? Isn’t that why I came here?”
Tian Dahua sat opposite him. Though he didn’t dare urge him, he felt as if a fire was burning under his buttocks, making it hard for him to sit still. Every time he faced Lin Jingzhe, he had the illusion of looking into a deep lake or an unfathomable abyss. Though he was older and more experienced, he knew that the higher one stood, the scarier it was when one could not see the ground anymore.
Lin Jingzhe looked at him, then sighed and leaned against the back of the sofa. “Mr. Tian, this mindset won’t do. If you act like this, then you’re already out of the game.”
Tian Dahua wiped the sweat on his forehead. He realized that his thoughts were no secret to Lin Jingzhe and said, a little embarrassed, “Please make allowances for me, Mr. Lin. You can see how Shen City’s stock market is right now—time is literally money! Every second that passes with me out of the market, is a second where others are making money that I could be earning.”
As he spoke, he looked at Lin Jingzhe, but the youth didn’t reply, only fixed a profound gaze upon him. After a while, he sighed and shook his head slightly.
Lin Jingzhe didn’t make things difficult for Tian Dahua—he only rested for a moment longer before accompanying the man to the securities exchange. Tian Dahua remained solemn and alert the whole way there. After they arrived, he got out the car and vigilantly scanned the surroundings, making sure there were no suspicious people nearby. Only after he was satisfied did he open the door for Lin Jingzhe. “It’s safe, Mr. Lin, you can get off.”
Lin Jingzhe held 170,000 shares, placing him among the big hitters. The current price of Aeon Technology’s shares was a little more than 21 yuan per share, so the market value of his stocks had risen to over three and a half million yuan in total.
Tian Dahua was overjoyed by the final result of the negotiation because Lin Jingzhe was willing to sell 50,000 shares to him.
With the current market conditions, the trader had hardly ever been entrusted with such a large transaction. He didn’t have time to be surprised though, because the anxious Tian Dahua continuously urged him to hurry with the formalities.
The trendlines on the stock chart were still going up, but looking at their growth no longer made Tian Dahua distressed—the 50,000 shares he now owned did a good job of setting his mind at ease.
The big cruise ship had set off a long time ago. He chased after it in his small boat, rowing as if his life depended on it, and had finally managed to catch up.
Tian Dahua’s eyes were riveted on the stock market board. He snapped out of his daze a long moment later and promptly glanced over at Lin Jingzhe, afraid he would feel slighted by his lack of attention. Seeing Lin Jingzhe reading the latest financial magazine, he breathed a sigh of relief.
These past two days, his emotions had wildly oscillated between excitement and worry, but now his confused brain recovered a bit of clarity.
In fact, he still had some misgivings.
For example, he really couldn’t figure out why Lin Jingzhe agreed to sell him this stock. It was a hen that was laying golden eggs every minute!
Tian Dahua did not doubt that the young man was much more farsighted than himself. When the stock exchange opened, the financial circle had adopted a wait-and-see attitude, yet Lin Jingzhe calmly and confidently threw his chips on the table, allowing him to reap in the profits. Every decision he made must have some deep meaning.
When he bought stocks, he was definitely optimistic about the stock market. If he was now dumping them…
Was the situation changing?
At that thought, Tian Dahua broke out in a cold sweat, but he didn’t have the courage to ask outright. After hesitating for a long time, he decided to take a roundabout approach. “Mr. Lin, you still have 120,000 shares left. Should I help you find…”
Lin Jingzhe raised a hand, interrupting him. “No hurry, I’m keeping the rest for now.”
Hearing this, Tian Dahua’s runaway imagination immediately calmed down. He nodded hurriedly and said, with an embarrassed smile, “You made a special trip here, Mr. Lin, so I thought you wanted to sell them all. I’ve been hanging around here recently, and I’ve become acquainted with several bosses much bigger than me. Right now, it’s hard to find people willing to part with the shares they own, so perhaps you can get a better price than expected…”
Holding the open magazine, Lin Jingzhe listened to him, his head slightly tilted with a small smile on his face.
“You’re too anxious, Mr. Tian. I will certainly sell these stocks, but not now.”
The only reason he sold the shares to Tian Dahua was because he needed money. The last time he was in Shen City, he had created a fake company with a registered capital of 200,000 yuan, for which Tian Dahua was the intermediate guarantor. This had to be paid off within three months. However, before he could dissolve the company, he needed to repay the bank’s six-month loan.
Until 1993, the domestic stock market was in a stage of rapid development, and there was almost never any significant declining trend in prices. Although in the near future, the state would take steps to regulate Shen City’s stock market, Lin Jingzhe knew it would only slow the rise. If he didn’t need to pay off his loans, he would never have decided to sell his shares.
He smiled at Tian Dahua, who looked somewhat awkward now that his thoughts had been seen through, and patted him on the shoulder. “Mr. Tian, we might be businessmen, but it doesn’t mean that everything we do has to be for profit, does it? We’re friends, so I’m naturally willing to help you out—as for the others, I can’t be bothered to care.”
Tian Dahua was so embarrassed he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. “Mr. Lin, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean…”
Lin Jingzhe nodded good-naturedly. “It’s fine, I understand.”
After that, Tian Dahua didn’t dare to talk randomly again; he felt like he had acted like a shameless scoundrel in front of Lin Jingzhe. So, when the next day arrived and Lin Jingzhe asked to go to the bank to repay the loan, he was puzzled but didn’t ask any questions, only reminding Lin Jingzhe that there were still a few months before the deadline.
Lin Jingzhe rested, leaning against the car window with his entire body emanating a sense of lethargy. “I know, but I have to pay it back before I shut down my company,” he replied nonchalantly.
Tian Dahua was shocked. “Is your company in trouble, Mr. Lin? But you only opened it two months ago…?”
Lin Jingzhe was unruffled. “Ah, it’s just that I miscalculated. I didn’t think about this problem at the time, but Shen City is too far away from Yan City and I find traveling back and forth too troublesome.”
Tian Dahua glanced in the rearview mirror and caught sight of Lin Jingzhe pinching the bridge of his nose; the youth’s face looked tired.
If Lin Jingzhe really lived in Yan City, then having a company based in the Shen City was inconvenient indeed. As he thought that, a funny feeling appeared in Tian Dahua’s heart, as though he had seen a sage who never made mistakes do something stupid.
Poker-faced, he said, “All right, I’ll help you take care of this.”
All the expenses, such as transaction fees, were paid by Tian Dahua, so after the transaction was finished, Lin Jingzhe had more than one million yuan on hand—returning half a million was no problem.
Thanks to Tian Dahua’s help, paying off the loan, along with the accompanying interest and liquidated damages for prepayment, went quickly. The formalities were completed well before it was time for lunch.
After this was dealt with, they went to close the company. In 1990, it was an easy process—an intermediary guarantor could accomplish this by making up whatever reason they wanted. This was why there was real money in being an agent like Tian Dahua, and why Lin Jingzhe went to such great pains to bluff the man.
Tian Dahua handled the tax issues, and after confirming that the company didn’t have any liabilities, deregistration was a simple matter. During this period, the relaxation of the regulations on private businesses resulted in a tsunami of start-ups; naturally, many of those companies closed down soon after. The Administration for Industry and Commerce employees dealt with multiple similar affairs every day and were already thoroughly familiar with the process.
Once the company was fully shut down, the 200,000 yuan guarantee was returned to Tian Dahua, clearing both sides’ accounts.
As of now, Lin Jingzhe no longer had any financial obligations. He started out with 20,000 yuan; in less than three months, he turned it into more than two million yuan in stocks and 500,000 yuan in ready money.
His current mood was impossible to describe to outsiders. After getting in the car, he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees with his face in his palms, and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.
“Are you tired, Mr. Lin? We’ve been running around since morning, after all.” Tian Dahua naturally didn’t know what was on his mind. He said, still feeling sorry that he hadn’t managed to persuade Lin Jingzhe in the bank just now, “Mr. Lin, you really are… I told you I would return the 10,000 yuan guarantee fee you paid me before, so why did you refuse?”
Lin Jingzhe chuckled but didn’t raise his head. He seemed tired, but the voice coming through his palms was as steady as ever. “‘Even reckonings make lasting friends’—friendship is friendship, business is business. You’re a company boss, Mr. Tian, people depend on you to eat.”
Tian Dahua couldn’t help but be moved by Lin Jingzhe’s attitude and gave a solemn nod. Seeing how fatigued the youth looked, he drove back to the hotel as smoothly as possible.
Lin Jingzhe laid down after the meal and woke up the next day. Faced with Tian Dahua’s invitation to socialize, he only said that he had things to do in Yan City and couldn’t stay any longer.
Tian Dahua still wasn’t sure of Lin Jingzhe’s background. Afraid of delaying his client’s business, he immediately asked someone to book a ticket for the next flight and rushed around, personally carrying his luggage to the car and driving him to the airport.
The entire time, Tian Dahua was beside himself with joy. This morning, the price of Aeon Technology’s shares had risen again by almost one whole yuan. Only one day after Lin Jingzhe let him board the cruise ship, he had already made a lot of money.
As they approached the security checkpoint, he thumped his chest, his heart filled with boundless excitement and ambition. “Mr. Lin, I will never forget your kindness. If there ever is anything I can do for you, please just tell me—I will go through fire and water to do it!”
Lin Jingzhe just smiled faintly. He shook hands with him. “Take care.”
On the plane, Lin Jingzhe was pondering what he should do with his two and a half million yuan.
Before he was reborn, this figure was roughly equivalent to several years of his salary—it was enough for him to buy a good car or a nice apartment in a second- or third-tier city. At present, however, the average cost of residential property in Beijing was no more than 1000 yuan per square meter; the purchasing power of over 2 million yuan was far beyond ordinary people’s imagination.
Looking back on how his last life turned out, Lin Jingzhe knew he wasn’t that smart. In the next few years, the inflation rate would rise to unprecedented levels, so he should use the money before it started to lose value. The safest way he could think of was to buy real estate in several first-tier cities. After ten or so years, when prices soared, he would earn enough to support himself for a lifetime.
He leaned his head against the window, silently watching the clouds below. Just like the plane, after he broke through the cover of dark clouds, the clear sky stretched in all directions, as far as the eye could see.
But was it really a clear sky? Images from both the past and present flashed through Lin Jingzhe’s mind and his heart swelled with defiance and stubbornness. He sighed, finding that despite receiving a miraculous chance to start all over again, he still held unrealistic expectations for the future.
Sure enough, he was a fool.
That year’s summer was hot, and the sweltering heat in Yan City was punishing.
When Lin Jingzhe returned to room 305, he found Deng Mai there.
Deng Mai currently had nothing to do and he lived close to Yan University and Wutong University, so he went wherever his fancy took him. Quite the social butterfly, he divided his time between visiting the two schools and made lots of friends in both of them.
He had his own way of conducting himself in society. He was well-spoken but not glib, and it was rare for anyone to dislike him. The boys in Lin Jingzhe’s room had a good relationship with him and as Lin Jingzhe pushed open the door, an enthusiastic conversation was taking place inside.
Upon seeing him, everyone’s eyes brightened. Deng Mai jumped to his feet and rushed forward to take his luggage. “You’re back, Big Bro! You went away for three whole days, I’ve been worried sick!”
Their previous trip to Shen City left an indelible impression on him and Lin Jingzhe’s bold and daring actions had broadened his outlook on life. He remembered that Lin Jingzhe had borrowed 700,000 yuan in Shen City, and since he refused to take them with him this time, Deng Mai’s mind had been busy making up all kinds of wild stories ever since the day Lin Jingzhe left.
What was Lin Jingzhe planning to do? He owed so much money—he wouldn’t do anything dangerous, right?
Lu Xiaojiang was a Shen City native. Sensitive to news of his home and curious about his beautiful but mysterious roommate, he asked, a puzzled expression on his amiable, pudgy face, “Why did you go to Shen City at this time? School is about to start.”
“I had something to do there,” Lin Jingzhe replied casually, then changed the topic. “Was the date of military training set?”
Military training was what all of them were most worried about; their expressions changed at the mere thought of standing in the scorching sun for hours. Wang Jun fell on the bed with a sigh. “Yes, it’s set, it starts next weekend. We’re supposed to get our uniforms in a few days. What’s more, there is apparently not enough space in our school and we have to go to the actual base. And it lasts for more than ten days! Fuck!”
Lin Jingzhe counted in his mind—there were only six days left.
He had suffered enough hardships in his life that his feelings were quite different from this group of children. They felt as if doomsday was approaching, but he actually looked forward to it. He had been busy ever since he returned to the past and didn’t have any time to care about his physical condition. Military training was the perfect opportunity to get some exercise.
However, being completely occupied for two weeks was a bit inconvenient—it would delay a lot of matters. Lin Jingzhe decided he needed to make some preparations.
He didn’t know anyone in Yan City. Although in his last life, he had a lot of disreputable buddies and knew how to handle them, they didn’t have much use in the business world. After spending some time contemplating his options, Lin Jingzhe remembered someone.
Fang Wenhao, Elder Fang’s grandson.
As Elder Fang’s family member, Fang Wenhao should be trustworthy. In addition, despite being somewhat frivolous, he was not naive and possessed enough savoir-faire. He should’ve already chosen his career path and begun to develop it. Lin Jingzhe remembered that on the day he had picked them up at the train station, Fang Wenhao’s pager had almost never stopped beeping.
It wasn’t easy to find a person who was both reliable and possessed some foundation in Yan City. Establishing a business relationship with him wasn’t out of the question.
The Publicity Department of Yan University’s Student Union was located on campus. After asking for directions, Lin Jingzhe headed there. Lost in thought, he absentmindedly listened to music as he walked—the campus radio was broadcasting a famous contemporary pop song by a Hong Kong star.
This was an ever-changing era. Today, this pop star was at the height of her popularity; who would imagine that in the future, she would fall so much that her concert tickets wouldn’t sell at all?
Yet Lin Jingzhe knew it would happen, and not only this—he knew many secrets that still lay buried under the shifting sands of time.
In the next few decades, the fastest developing and most promising industries accessible to ordinary Chinese citizens were IT, real estate, foreign exchange, stocks and bonds, energy, and certain manufacturing industries.
Among them, the most profitable was IT. Unfortunately, Lin Jingzhe had neither the knowledge nor the skills to develop in that area; at most, he knew about some little things, like selling domain names and so on. Programming was too hard for him. He couldn’t even play any of the popular MOBA games.
In his last life, he had been into currency speculation and stock market investments. However, this demanded a keen instinct and sense of timing, and even then, success heavily depended on an element of luck. Besides, once the market stabilized, it would take time to make money this way.
Energy… this industry was occupied by tycoons. He couldn’t get in, at least not with his current strength.
This left only the real estate and manufacturing industry, both of which required a significant amount of investment in the early stages.
Yan University’s dormitory building might’ve been shabby, but the surrounding scenery was still exceptionally beautiful. As he skirted around a gently sloping hill, he suddenly felt somebody’s burning gaze.
After so many years of fights and intrigues, he was very sensitive to people’s eyes and immediately turned to look.
The person watching him looked away in a hurry, adopted a casual expression, and strode away in another direction.
It was a serious, neatly dressed middle-aged man, with a deep wrinkle between his eyebrows and sharp eyes. He looked like a typical professor, the type that was strict and difficult to get along with. His acting was perfect, as if he passed this place just by chance and he and Lin Jingzhe were perfect strangers.
But when Lin Jingzhe saw him, his heart seemed to stop.
The man’s steps never paused, and his silhouette gradually disappeared in a small fruit tree grove not far away.
Lin Jingzhe stood where he stopped and watched him leave, his hands hanging loosely by his sides, trembling slightly. After a moment, he stiffly turned around and continued on his way.
Perhaps that person was hiding among the trees to peek at him again; he didn’t know. What he did know was that this stern-looking middle-aged man was someone he could never forget——
His father.
Lin Jingzhe recalled that his father, Lin Runsheng, was not a Yan University faculty member. At this time, he should be a professor at the Department of Information and Communication Engineering at a key university renowned for sciences and engineering. The two schools were not far from each other, but under normal circumstances, a teacher from one wouldn’t wander around another university’s campus, right?
Did he come to see me?
When this thought crossed his mind, he felt a lump in his throat. He couldn’t help but recall the past—had that person secretly kept tabs on him in his previous life too?
When did he learn that Lin Jingzhe had been admitted to Yan University? How did he know his department? When did he start following him? How long had he waited near the dormitory simply to see Lin Jingzhe’s face?
There was something Lin Jingzhe had never been able to figure out despite racking his brains throughout his last life: how could someone be so reserved that they would go to such great efforts to hide all of their feelings under a cold appearance, to the point that not even a glimmer could be seen from the outside?
Weighed down by a soul-deep exhaustion, he walked up the stairs, found the publicity department room, and knocked on the door.
Inside, Fang Wenhao was talking with several people. He was slightly surprised upon seeing the youth. “Lin Jingzhe? Why are you here?”
A slight smile, akin to battle armor, immediately climbed up Lin Jingzhe’s face. Leaning against the door, he nodded hello to the people in the room, then asked leisurely, “Brother Fang, do you have time? Would you like to have lunch together?”
Fang Wenhao certainly had time, not to mention the fact that his grandfather had exhorted him to take care of Lin Jingzhe in school. Seeing as it happened to be lunchtime, he excused himself from his fellow student union members, gathered his things, and came out. After exchanging a few words of greeting, they went down the stairs, casually chatting about various topics.
“If you want to join the student union, you should do it soon. There are still several vacancies in our publicity department,” Fang Wenhao spoke as they walked. “Anyway, there’s nothing else to do at school except for studying. The student union also has a special way to publish papers, which can help you accumulate your credentials. This will benefit you after graduation.”
Lin Jingzhe smiled absent-mindedly. “Thank you, but I don’t think I will. I’m not very good at working with people like this,” he refused.
Fang Wenhao didn’t really believe in this kind of excuse. However, since he saw that Lin Jingzhe wasn’t interested, he didn’t try to convince him—every person had his or her own aspirations, after all. He simply changed the topic and began to explain the inner workings of the university.
“Later, I will introduce you to some of the seniors in our department. The school is akin to its own small world—if you don’t join the student union, you have to make connections in other ways,” Fang Wenhao continued to ramble. “You will know later on, but Yan University is different from other universities; things are more complicated here. That’s why you shouldn’t show off or make trouble in school, especially with the student union—there are some people even I can’t deal with, so I won’t be able to help you. The student union president, Hu Shaofeng, is particularly unbridled. If you run into someone like that, just stay away.”
Lin Jingzhe felt that this name sounded a little familiar. After thinking about it, he remembered that in his last life, he seemed to have heard it when having fun with his bad friends. There was a group of scions from wealthy and powerful families, quite different from those ordinary “rich young masters,” who were several levels higher than Lin Jingzhe’s social circle. Hu Shaofeng should also belong to that group. However, Lin Jingzhe had only heard of it, and had never met any of its supposed members.
Right now, his mind was occupied by his father, Lin Runsheng; he had no leisure time to think about other matters. He just nodded perfunctorily, stating that he would remember.
They arrived at the campus canteen and got lunch.
Fang Wenhao’s chopsticks paused, and he looked at Lin Jingzhe with a bit of a surprise. “You want to let your friend take a class? Didn’t he say he didn’t want to study?”
“A short one is fine, one that lasts about a month or so. It’s important that he learns business fundamentals,” Lin Jingzhe replied. “I don’t know anyone in Yan City, so I can only ask you to help me with this.”
Fang Wenhao tsked. “In recent years, many workers have gone on to become businessmen. I know a few good supplementary schools, but the tuition fees…”
“Please find a reliable one, tuition is not a problem.”
Listening to Lin Jingzhe’s tone, he seemed completely serious. Fang Wenhao scrutinized his expression for a moment, then shook his head, bemused. “I don’t understand why you are going this far. You’ve rented a house for him, are even arranging a remedial class for him, and don’t want him to work. At the moment, the wages for workers in Yan City are not low.”
“That’s just blue-collar work, there’s no opportunity for advancement,” Lin Jingzhe said. “He’s my good brother, I naturally want the best for him.”
Fang Wenhao was convinced. He examined himself. He was also loyal to his friends, and in his circle, his way of taking care of them was well-received and praised. However, if he was in the same situation as Lin Jingzhe, he would at best introduce his friend to a well-paid job. Doing things like Lin Jingzhe, who even considered his friend’s future development, would be absolutely impossible for him.
This was the kind of friendship young people admired and yearned for. Fang Wenhao raised his glass in a respectful toast. “Alright, this big brother is impressed! Leave it to me, I promise to handle this for you.”
Lin Jingzhe smiled and clinked glasses with him. This smile made him look like a harmless little white rabbit, dazzling Fang Wenhao’s eyes. “Thank you, big brother.”
Now that this was out of the way, Lin Jingzhe could attend his military training without worries; the rest could be taken care of after Deng Mai graduated from the short-term course. Deng Mai was smart and his brain was flexible, it wouldn’t be hard for him to learn the basics. It was necessary to choose the best cram school possible, no matter the expense. In the current era, the most valuable resource was talented people—if it was ten or twenty years later, who knew how many business owners would scramble to snatch someone as capable as Deng Mai.
If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he was actually taking advantage of Deng Mai.
After eating, Fang Wenhao left in a hurry. Lin Jingzhe headed back, lost in thought, idly kicking a pebble that had the misfortune to lay in his path.
He had become accustomed to never stop thinking. After years of too many troubles knocking on his door all at once, he couldn’t tolerate letting himself slack off.
He turned a corner and climbed the gentle slope under the hot sun as a warm wind blew, slowly walking towards the dormitory building.
He happened to kick the pebble a little harder and it rolled out of his sight with a clatter. The sound woke him up and he raised his head, looking for it.
At this moment, from behind, came a voice he hadn’t expected to hear, one deeply buried in his memory——
“Lin Jingzhe?”
His heart skipped a beat and his footsteps faltered. He turned around.
The middle-aged man behind him stared at him with a frown, his eyes sharp and his expression cold. He looked impatient and unapproachable.
He glared at the youth’s sun-reddened face. However, Lin Jingzhe saw the hesitation hidden beneath his stern appearance.
For a while, the two just looked at each other, locked in a stalemate. Then, the man’s feet shifted; he seemed to have lost his nerve and wanted to leave.
“Let’s have a cup of tea,” Lin Jingzhe said, letting out a helpless sigh. “Dad.”
Translator’s Notes:
- “Even reckonings make lasting friends” – 亲兄弟明算账, lit. ‘Financial matters should be settled clearly even between brothers’ or ‘Even with your own brother, keep clear accounts.’
- “He couldn’t even play any of the popular MOBA games” – what is actually mentioned here is Wangzhe Rongyao, released outside China as Arena of Valor. I don’t know how many of you know about it (I for one had to google it – I’m more of ‘ye good olde RPG’ person), hence the change.
Translator: Eques
Consultant: Austera
Editor: Luoshenhua, Austera
Eques:
Sorry for not updating last week, I was sulking (never mind why – I thought about mentioning it but finally decided not to, so this is the end of that matter).
The next chapter is even longer than this and there’s no place to split it in the middle, so a fair warning – I will do my best to finish it in time, but there might be no update next week either.
And the ML is coming back soon! Not in the next chapter, but soon! o(*≧▽≦*)o
(Ok, I was mistaken – he appears at the very end of the next chapter 💦)
Thank you for the update, I am enjoying this so much!
Thank you for reading, I’m happy you like it! 🥰
ooo thanks for the chapter and heads up!
Hope everything is going ok *sends love from afar * <3
Can't wait to see what is going to happen next and whatever the deal is going on with his dad…
(and more so interested in when the ML finally makes his appearance again OwO )
Yes, everything is fine, thank you! 💕
LJ’s dad… he’s quite a personality, you’ll know soon. And I was kinda wrong, the ML does appear at the very end of the next chapter. 💦
thank you for the update.
Fighting!!
Thanks for reading! ❤
Thank you for the update! I love this story so much – your translation is just so incredibly good.
Thank you! 💞 This novel is good enough that it deserves love and care when translating, so I try to do the best I can (and my editors, who in this chapter were Luoshenhua and Austera, make everything better~ 🥰)
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
Thanks for reading~ 💗
Thanks for the chapter, wonder what we will find out about Dad.
Thank you for reading! 💕
The dad is really interesting, and unique – I don’t think I’ve came across similar characterization in web novels.
thanks for the chapter!!I guess ML would meet in military training because in first scene wasn’t he in a fighter plane?
Hehe, not quite. He’s not military, and there was a reason he was in that plane.
Thanks for reading~ 💖
Oh damn. That ending tho
Kinda cliffy, right? Sorry, I’ll try to translate next chapter as soon as possible (ˉ▽ˉ；)
I want to know too where the father learned about his stay. Well, at least this time LJZ won’t wreck his family x’D
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘) And I hope you’re doing better :3
Hmm, I don’t remember if it’s explained how he knew.
Thank you, I’m fine, and thank you for reading! (✿◠‿◠)
Thanks for the chapter!!!!
Thanks for reading~ 💕
Ahhh, I’m ready for a family reunion.
Thank you so much for your translation you are doing a wonderful job 💓
Thank you! 🥰
This is such an excellent translation! I applaud the translator and the editor/s. Beautifully done; it flows so well, it’s like I’m reading an English novel of the highest quality. I’m so glad I decided to read it even though it’s not fully translated; it skyrocketed to the first place right from the start. What I especially love about the plot is that 90s in China seem to be awfully similar to 90s in Russia after the USSR was blown up from the inside: gangs, shady businesses, the birth of stocks market, lay offs, dreary stuff like that. The novel… Read more »
Thank you, we’re happy you think so! 💕 I know exactly how you feel – I live in one of the countries that used to belong to the Eastern Bloc. While I’m too young to personally remember it, I know that period from my parents’ and grandparents’ stories (and let’s be honest here, it took a while to deal with the aftermath, so to speak). Even taking into consideration political, social, and cultural differences, EoR presents a rather idealized picture of those times, akin to a modern fairytale, I’d say (it’s more pronounced later in the novel) but perhaps this… Read more »
It kind of does but then it kind of doesn’t if you know what I mean. In a sense, it glosses over the atrocities that follow such a major political disaster, but then it shows the effect (suffering and deaths of people MC was close to, and how those deaths directly followed economical situation and consequences of changes happening in China), and those consequences are so in line with what I personally witnessed (I was a kid in the 90s but old enough to understand that the world around me was crumbling; even though my parents were never laid off… Read more »
You’re fine 😁. Sorry for the late reply.
Yes, someone who understands those times would have a different view of this novel. This might have nothing to do with anything, but I remember talking with someone about… the Gaokoao and its controversies, I think (tbh I can’t remember). Anyway, she was like, “If they don’t like it, they should just move.” I was like, “Uh, that’s not how things work…”
Thanks for the chapter~☆
Thank you so much
OH NOOOOOOOOO HIS FATHERRRRR
Thanks for the chapter!
I still hate his parents, the fact that nobody wants him. He grown up with his maternal grandfather… No one wants to have his custody. In fact, it’s reasonable to hate his father from his first life considering that he wasn’t there. It’s just ridiculous for him to not hate that same mother whom abandoned him as well. Hmmm whatever
I just don’t think that he should be depend on his neglective and incompetent parents. His father wasn’t excuse either. He may ruin his father new family from the first life, but he wasn’t indebted to him if he just ignore him and let him free from his responsibility as his father since he didn’t owed him anything. Just… Ughhh he shouldn’t expect anything from the father who wasn’t there.. now at this situation it’s like him thinking that his mother cared about him, the only difference it’s his father.