"Darn, you really know how to enjoy yourself!"
A 170 cm tall male student, with long, centre-parted hair, the ends of which were dyed a golden hue. However, a portion of the roots were exposing their original black color, indicating that the hair had been dyed for quite some time.
Reclining on a rattan rocking chair was a tall and imposing male student, his hair shaved at the sides but slightly longer on the top, a style atypical of this era.
Without more than a cursory glance at his childhood friend who was greeting him, he identified him as Zhou Bin, who also goes by the nickname "Mouse."
Zhou Bin's puberty came a bit late, hence the peculiar nickname bestowed upon him.
However, he was insistently claiming his height was 172 cm, and anyone who dared to question this would earn his ire. To him, it was an untouchable sore spot.
Of course, if the jibes came from the guy lounging on the rocking chair, he would not lose his temper but instead argue his case a bit before deftly changing the subject.
Seeing his childhood friend ignore him, Zhou Bin didn't take it to heart. He scanned the small living room before plonking himself down on an old, weathered black leather sofa.
The sofa had seen better days, with much of the leather torn, revealing the yellow sponge beneath. Sat upon, one would sink into the seats, indicating the springs had lost their original elasticity.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Zhou Bin asked his childhood friend.
"Looks like you haven't eaten either." He answered his own question, then placed the breakfast on the table: "Here, I got you two pork buns and one cup of soy milk."
"Can you grab that for me? I don't feel like moving."
The person lounging on the rocking chair didn't even lift an eyelid.
"Damn, do you want me to feed you?"
Zhou Bin's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, wearing an expression that said you must be kidding.
"Bin bro, my good bro Bin, I'll treat you to lunch."
His words sounded sly and insincere, as the person laying on the recliner didn't move an inch.
Nevertheless, Zhou Bin stood up from the worn-out sofa, handed him the breakfast, and adjusted the settings on the fan on the TV cabinet, probably to its highest setting, shaking his head.
The fan was of Diamond brand, and in a while, it started to creak and turn. By the sound of it, you could tell it was also an "old relic," having been in use for many years.
In fact, everything in this old house was "old relics," including the person lying on the recliner, who could be considered an "old relic," since he had reincarnated and was actually in his thirties.
His name was Zhao Chuyun, one of the two owners of this old house, but not the head of the household.
Lifting his head, Zhao Chuyun glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing it was just past 8:10 in the morning, no wonder the wind felt a bit cold.
"It’s only 8 o'clock, why turn on the fan!"
"Can’t you see I’m all sweaty?"
Zhou Bin lifted his shirt, facing the fan, complaining, "The damn weather, it's so early and I'm already covered in sweat. Damn it, the heat woke me up."
Indeed, the late August weather was scorching, well-known as an Indian summer.
Furthermore, the town, located in the south, was an obscure one, known for its numerous coal mines, which had caused significant damage to the natural vegetation.
Turning his head, Zhao Chuyun took a glance at Zhou Bin and noticed he had developed a beer belly. It seemed that this bastard had enjoyed plenty of late-night snacks since starting college, living a quite pleasant life.
Upon seeing that his childhood friend was ignoring him, Zhou Bin turned around and discovered his friend reclining leisurely on a sleep chair, holding a fan in one hand. His friend lazily flicked the fan back and forth, an image of relaxed contentment.
The fan was made of palm leaves, easily created through a few snips of scissors. It cost nothing but was quite useful. Nearly every household in that era had such fans. Beside the sleep chair, there was a small stool with a tea cannister on top. It was the same type of cannister used by the village officers during their meetings, and it was emitting steam.
Also placed on the stool were a packet of Huang Fu cigarettes and a lighter.
Zhou Bin felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His childhood buddy was usually a restless character, but over this summer break, he was glued to this sleep chair. Could repeating a year at school have completely changed his nature?
"I say, Chu Yun, have you struck it rich?" Zhou Bin walked over, picked up a Huang Fu cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag, savoring the rich flavor. "Now you've switched to smoking Huang Fu? And it's the same brand every time I visit."
At first, Zhou Bin thought his friend was just showing off with a pack of expensive Huang Fu to save face. After all, that was something young men were fond of - buying a pack of costly cigarettes at the start of the school term, and another when going home for the break, purely for impressing friends and classmates when they meet. Once the pack was finished, their true colors were revealed - smoking whatever came to hand.
If they ran out of money, they wouldn't hesitate to pick up a half-smoked cigarette from the ground just for a few more puffs. Surprisingly, his friend had been smoking Huang Fu the whole summer break, each pack costing 23 yuan - not a small expenditure.
"If I keep hanging around you, I'll get accustomed to your luxury habits, I won't even be able to enjoy my usual cheap White Sands anymore," Zhou Bin teased, drawing on his cigarette and chattering away non-stop all the while.
Zhao Chuyun was busy eating buns, he looked up at him and muttered, "If you have it, just smoke it. Why all the nonsense?"
Actually, Zhou Bin had said this many times before. Zhao Chuyun even told him before, "If you're afraid of addiction, don't smoke mine. That could help me save some money."
But it's useless. Every time Zhou Bin came, he never bought cigarettes. He has set his mind on smoking Furong Wang, what the heck is Soft White Sand?
Get out of here.
"Hehe."
Zhou Bin chuckled awkwardly, "When's my hometown guy coming?"
The 'hometown guy' Zhou Bin referred to is Zhou Xiayu. In fact, there's no relation between the two of them, they just share the same surname.
But the three of them have a good relationship, mainly between Zhao Chuyun and Zhou Xiayu. Zhou Bin only hangs out with Zhou Xiayu because of Zhao Chuyun.
Zhou Xiayu and Zhao Chuyun live in the same compound. The compound belongs to the company, it has three floors with a long corridor outside, each floor has twelve households. It's a U-shaped compound that's company-supported housing for a large coal mine.
Zhou Bin isn't from this compound, his parents do a small business at the market, specializing in fried foods, without packaging. Their products are mainly sold in the towns below, and the business isn't bad during festivals.
"He should be here soon, probably still lazing in bed."
Zhao Chuyun responded confidently.
As long as Zhou Xiayu isn't out, he will come over, because Zhao Chuyun lives alone. As young people, if their parents or elders were at home, they would be somewhat restrained and careful in their speech.
Zhao Chuyun grew up with his grandpa, a retired soldier who stepped into the coal mining industry when he returned from the army. He even got a minor director position with some power in a state-owned enterprise.
Of course, now most coal mines in the town are almost depleted. Some are closed, others are stopped, even the town is in decline, leaving many young people to work elsewhere.
Zhao Chuyun's grandfather passed away last year, and his grandmother had passed away when he was too young to understand.
As for his parents, Zhao Chuyun only knew that his father was named Zhao Jianshe. He had never met him much, although he had heard some of his "glorious deeds" from his neighbors.
His father liked to fight and play cards. He was idle all day and did not have a decent job.
Put simply, he was a street ruffian, a little thug.
The key point is that he was somewhat handsome when he was young and had the gift of gab. Apart from being able to brag, he was also quite good at pleasing girls, and Zhao Chuyun's mother was deceived by him.
Zhao Chuyun's mother, Liu Cuixi, was very beautiful. However, Zhao Jianshe, as the saying goes, "a leopard cannot change its spots," carried on his philandering ways after marriage, causing all sorts of trouble.
The most outrageous thing was that even though Liu Cuixi was pregnant, Zhao Jianshe brought other women home, nearly causing Liu Cuixi to have a miscarriage from rage.
Which woman could tolerate such a man? Divorce was inevitable.
Zhao Chuyun's grandfather scolded and beat him, but all to no avail. He could only cut off his financial resources, but this had little effect.
The town was so small that no one could hide anything. All in all, Zhao Jianshe's reputation in the town was very poor.
After Liu Cuixi gave birth to her child, the two divorced. Zhao Chuyun's grandfather fell seriously ill from anger and vowed to sever the father-son relationship.
In a fit of anger, Zhao Jianshe took a woman and headed south to Guangzhou, seldom returning home afterwards.
Liu Cuixi, on the other hand, went back to her hometown. It was said that she came to the town when Zhao Chuyun turned one, wanting to raise the child herself.
But how could Zhao Chuyun's grandfather agree? In his opinion, lineage was very important. Since his son turned out this way, he must raise his grandson himself.
In reality, it was mainly Zhao Chuyun's aunt who took care of him, until he was old enough to attend primary school, only then did his grandfather bring him to the town.
Zhao Chuyun has two aunts. The elder aunt lives not too far away; it only takes half an hour by car, while the younger aunt lives much farther, approximately two hours car ride. Both of them are younger than Zhao Jianshe.
Actually, Zhao Chuyun was not particularly familiar with these details. He heard all these from the neighborhood gossip.
Even in his previous life, he did not bother to inquire about these things. As for who was right and who was wrong, he wasn't terribly concerned.
As for Liu Cuixi, Zhao Chuyun should be meeting her soon. He repeated a year in school and got admitted to a university in Junsha, where Liu Cuixi resides.
If he follows the step of his previous life, they will likely meet on the first day of school registration.
As for Zhao Jianshe, no one knows where he's hiding.
