Rebirth: Growing Up Together

I took Lin Wanzhou to a toy wholesale store. It was normal for children to buy toys, but buying other things would arouse suspicion among adults.

He and Lin Wanzhou looked around the store for a while, and waited until an uncle came in and bought something from the owner. Then he ran to the front desk and said to the owner, "Auntie, I want five Tamagotchis that uncle just sold wholesale, and ten plastic pistols."

He just heard the prices. Five Tamagotchis are 40 yuan, and ten plastic pistols are 2 yuan. I believe the owner will not feel comfortable cheating him now.

"Little boy, why did you buy so much? Does your family know? Auntie can buy one here, but the price is a little higher."

Xu Cheng responded calmly, "Auntie, I have many brothers and sisters at home. Mom said I can't be a selfish child. I want to buy some toys for them too."

"Ah! You are such a sensible child. Auntie will help you put it together."

Everyone likes a sensible child. The owner packed the things for Xu Cheng and gave him the change. He spent a total of 42 yuan and got 5 Tamagotchis and 10 plastic pistols.

Tamagotchi, also known as electronic pet eggs, is now popular all over the world. The one Xu Cheng bought is a pirated copy with good quality and low price. Pirated products driving out genuine products is a characteristic of Dragon Country. Bandai's genuine products have always performed poorly in the Chinese market because of their high prices.

Carrying the black plastic bag, Xu Cheng left contentedly and went to Lin Wanzhou who was waiting at the store door.

"Xu Cheng, are you okay?"

"Okay, okay, we've completed the shopping."

"So what are we going to do next?"

"Sales, but you don't have to worry about this, let's go back quickly."

The way back was very long for a child. The two walked for more than ten minutes. Lin Wanzhou cried and grabbed the corner of Xu Cheng's clothes, saying pitifully that she couldn't walk anymore.

"If you can't walk anymore, take a break."

Xu Cheng found a roadside lawn with three abandoned cement pipes piled on it. The two men climbed up and sat on them.

At dusk, the setting sun cast a golden edge on the clouds in the sky. The chirping of birds mixed with the music from the loudspeakers of a primary school not far away after school. It was melodious and peaceful. With a slight breeze, a few pale pink petals of peach blossoms fell like drizzle, bringing the fragrance of peach blossoms to the tip of the nose, refreshing the heart.

Xu Cheng leaned against the pipe and stretched leisurely. The world was incredibly beautiful at this moment. He hadn't stopped to look at it for many years.

"Xu Cheng."

Lin Wanzhou picked up the paper cup phone hanging around her neck and threw it to Xu Cheng, "Let's talk!" Her little face looked rosy under the setting sun.

Xu Cheng yawned and put the paper cup to his ear. Lin Wanzhou's crisp voice came from the paper cup, sounding a little magnetic.

"Xu Cheng, what is your dream?"

Xu Cheng blurted out, "Buy a house."

Lin Wanzhou seemed disdainful and pouted, "Tsk, your dream is too boring."

"Then what is your dream?"

“I wish I could grow up quickly!”

Xu Cheng was surprised, "Why do you have to grow up so quickly?"

"When you grow up, you can do a lot of things. You can watch TV for a long time without anyone bothering you, you can buy whatever you want, and you can get married..." When it comes to marriage, Lin Wanzhou seems to become shy. She secretly glanced at Xu Cheng a few times, her face blushed a little, and her voice became softer.

"Is growing up so good? Have you ever thought that you won't recognize me when you grow up?"

Lin Wanzhou looked confused, "Why don't you know Xu Cheng?"

"There are many reasons. For example, we will be going to primary school soon. Your family's financial situation will definitely send you to the best experimental primary school in the city, and I can only be assigned to the ordinary Chengguan Primary School. By then, it will be difficult for us to see each other every day, and it may even be difficult to say a word to each other."

"In the future, maybe we won't say a word to each other for a year, three years, four years, ten years... Even if we occasionally run into each other, we will feel awkward and pretend not to know each other. Slowly, we will forget about each other."

Lin Wanzhou, who had never experienced separation, had never thought about these things. When she heard Xu Cheng's words, tears came out all of a sudden, as if she had lost something important.

She put the paper cup on her lap, her eyes sparkling in the sunset, "I don't want to go to a different elementary school than Xu Cheng... I don't want to forget Xu Cheng... wuwu..."

Lin Wanzhou was crying so hard that Xu Cheng was at a loss. He patted her back and tried to comfort her, "Ahem, don't cry. We can definitely go to the same elementary school."

Lin Wanzhou raised her head and looked at Xu Cheng with tears in her eyes, her eyes red, "Really?"

Xu Cheng wiped the tears from her eyes with his sleeve, "Really, really, you've cried like a kitten."

Lin Wanzhou sniffed hard, then searched around and picked a bunch of white fluffy dandelions from the lawn.

"Then let's... make a promise to the dandelions..."

"Lin Wanzhou and Xu Cheng...neither of us can abandon the other...we will grow up together!"

Lin Wanzhou held his hands in front of his chest, closed his eyes, and blew gently at the dandelion. The seeds like small umbrellas flew away with the wind.

At this moment, there was no adult's playful expression on Xu Cheng's face.

It's still quite sad. I remember that every time I saw childhood sweethearts like Shinran and Yubing showing off their love, I would feel a little lost and regretful deep in my heart.

But he didn't expect that in the time when he had completely forgotten everything, there was such a sweet and soft girl who regarded him so important.

Of course, life is always filled with misses and separations, and no one dares to say that anyone can stay with anyone forever.

But since time has given him the opportunity to meet again with the destined person he missed, he should hold on to the fate tightly. Perhaps this bond will really be like the language of dandelions and will never end.

Chapter 8: Give Him a Little Shock

As the weather gets warmer, a Latin song with cheerful tune and passionate melody is quickly spreading around the world.

Even in China where football is not very developed, the children in the government kindergarten have been humming in Xu Cheng's ears these days.

"Enough! Enough!"

“Oh tired, oh tired, oh tired!”

Several times more popular than "The Lone Warrior", this World Cup theme song "The Cup of Life", which is a perfect match for football, has always been hailed as one of the most popular World Cup theme songs.

Its melody announces that the passionate summer is coming, as well as the exciting football festival - the World Cup.

The host of this World Cup is France, and the match schedule is quite tight. Xu Cheng has been planning to stay up late to watch the games these days.

Because I was still young in my previous life, my impression of the 98 World Cup was limited to its theme song. It was only after I fell in love with football that I realized how exciting the World Cup was that year.

The first expansion was to 32 teams, with all the top teams participating and a star-studded cast... There were no Messi or Ronaldo yet, this era belonged to Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham...

There is simply no reason not to watch it!

But forget about football betting. Legal football lottery was only introduced thanks to the Chinese national football team's qualification for the 02 World Cup. It's not available yet.

Of course, apart from coming up with plans for watching the game, Xu Cheng spends almost all of his time selling the toys he purchased.

He was running a legitimate business, and he was fair in price. He sold his products to children from families he thought were well-off. Through his unique sales strategy, he barely had to push the products forward; the products were passed around among a few children, and were sold out in the kindergarten.

After lunch that day, Xu Cheng lay on the bed and pretended to sleep for a while. After Teacher Xiaoyang checked him, he lifted the quilt and pushed Lin Wanzhou who was lying next to him.

"Teacher Xiaoyang is gone... Stop pretending to be asleep..."

After pushing for a long time, Lin Wanzhou finally turned around. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and stuck out her tongue embarrassedly, "Sorry... I really fell asleep..."

Lin Wanzhou was not on the bed originally arranged by the teacher, and Xu Cheng didn't know what method she used to replace the little girl who was originally lying next to him. The young boy easily accomplished the small achievement of "sleeping in the same bed" with his childhood sweetheart.

The two of them climbed down from the bed quietly and slipped into the empty classroom.

The classroom was empty in the afternoon, with the few dozen tables and chairs placed in a mess. There were still some unerased blackboard notes from Teacher Xiaoyang teaching arithmetic. The sunlight poured in through the clean glass, making it warm and quiet.

Sneaking into the space under the table, Lin Wanzhou's little face flushed, and Xu Cheng's heartbeat accelerated. It sounded particularly clear in the quiet environment, giving him a suffocating feeling as if he had done something bad.

He took out a handful of change from his pocket and whispered to Lin Wanzhou, "Here, this time we made a total of 85 yuan from the other kids. You hold 42% of the shares of Qiangsheng Group, so your half of the dividend is 5 yuan. But because you have to develop a good habit of paying transaction tax, I will deduct 2 yuan from you, and the total will be 5 yuan."

He handed the 40 yuan in loose change to Lin Wanzhou. Lin Wanzhou didn't understand how Xu Cheng calculated it, and didn't understand why after all the operations, the 50 yuan she contributed suddenly became 10 yuan less by 40 yuan. Anyway, she was very happy to receive the money. She folded the money with a sense of accomplishment and put it neatly into her pink wallet.

"Xu Cheng, this company is so fun! You make more money than my dad!"

Xu Cheng's face turned red, and I said, "I'll just take it as a compliment."

"Haha! I caught you!"

A shrill sound suddenly appeared in the quiet classroom.

The annoying little fat boy Li Qiuyang secretly followed them at some point, with two big snots hanging from his nose, pointing at Xu Cheng excitedly as if he had discovered some big secret.

"Xu Cheng, I'm going to tell Teacher Xiaoyang right away that you cheated everyone out of their money! You bad boy, just wait for your scolding. Teacher Xiaoyang will never like you again!"

"Li Qiuyang, what nonsense are you talking about! Xu Cheng didn't cheat me!" Lin Wanzhou seemed very angry. "Xu Cheng earned the money by doing business!"

"Humph! Who are you kidding? Xu Cheng obviously can't even do arithmetic. Last time, he was the only one who couldn't do the math problems assigned by Teacher Xiaoyang."

"You bullshit!"

"Okay, okay..." Xu Cheng stopped the angry Lin Wanzhou and looked at Li Qiuyang beside him with a smile, "Are you good at math?"

"Of course I can! I'm the math king of the senior class in the government kindergarten. Even Teacher Xiaoyang said that the motherland is my hope for the future. I'm much more capable than you, a pants-wetting genius!" Li Qiuyang said proudly.

"Oh, then I'll give you a question."

"There are seven monkeys on the tree and one monkey on the ground. How many monkeys are there in total?"

Li Qiuyang counted on his fingers for a long time, and finally raised his hands and shouted proudly, "Hehehe, it's too easy, too easy, do you think it can stump me? There are eight monkeys in total!"

"wrong."

Li Qiuyang's eyes widened in disbelief, and he counted with his fingers, "That's right! It's eight!"

Lin Wanzhou pulled Xu Cheng's clothes in confusion and whispered in his ear, "Xu Cheng, he got it right. 1+7 equals 8..."

"If you say he's wrong, then he's wrong." Xu Cheng smiled. "There's a monkey riding on the tree and a monkey on the ground. There are obviously only two monkeys."

It took Li Qiuyang a long time to react that it was "qi" instead of "qi".

“Damn it… How could this happen?” Li Qiuyang’s face was about to swell up like a ball. He felt as if he had been attacked by some strange alien creature in his professional field. “No! No! Come on, if you can, come on! I will definitely not make a mistake!”

"Okay." Xu Cheng looked at him with a smile, "Tell me, there are seven monkeys on the tree and one monkey on the ground. How many monkeys are there in total?"

"Two!" Li Qiuyang looked at Xu Cheng with a smug look on his face. "Hehe, do you think I'm a child, Xu Cheng? Just now you told me that there was a monkey riding on the tree. Don't try to fool me again."

"Wrong." Xu Cheng shook his head. "There are seven on the tree and one on the ground. 1+7 equals 8. You can't even do single-digit calculations, and you still say you're good at math. You're so weak..."

"Ah? What? Not riding? Damn it!" Li Qiuyang seemed to be transforming into a Super Saiyan. His little face turned red, his nose kept running, and he kept sniffing.

"Damn it, I'm so pissed off! I'm so pissed off! The last one doesn't count, here comes another one! The King of Calculation will not be easily defeated by the evil pants-wetting spirit!"

"Li Qiuyang, Xu Cheng, Lin Wanzhou, what are you three doing in the classroom instead of taking a nap?"

The classroom door was opened, and a bald male life teacher stood at the door with a stern face, looking seriously at the three children in the classroom.

"Wow, teacher, Xu Cheng cheated everyone's money and he also bullied me!" Li Qiuyang cried and complained to Teacher Xiaoyang.

"Xu Cheng? Is what Li Qiuyang said true?"

"I didn't bully him, and I didn't cheat him out of money. I just gave him a few math problems, and I earned the money myself."

Chapter 9 Filial piety leads to strength

Studies have shown that there is a phenomenon of sharing negative information among people, the so-called "negative preference", that is, people tend to pay more attention to negative information and things, and strengthen this experience.

In layman's terms, people tend to notice bad things happening around them and become very interested in them.

He Ying is very interested now.

In the office, Xu Cheng and Lin Wanzhou stood side by side. In front of the desk was He Ying, who had hurried to the kindergarten. She listened to the life teacher's narration of the whole story with a shocked look on her face.

"Xu Cheng's mother, you have to have a good talk with Xu Cheng. He has developed the bad habit of making money through illegal means at such a young age. What will happen to him when he grows up?" The bald life teacher took a sip of tea and warned He Ying seriously.

"Yes, yes, teacher, you are right to criticize me. This child... always gets into trouble and likes to scheme for personal gain. I just follow my nature, hehe."

"Xu Cheng's mom! What's your attitude? Why are you so playful?" The life teacher spat out tea leaves and tapped the table heavily with her fingers. "Is this just a simple act of getting into trouble? I don't think you realize the seriousness of the matter! This is unorganized and undisciplined! Going to the sea... that's the lowest class!"

Xu Cheng rolled his eyes. This life teacher must have had his girlfriend taken away by some sea crab. It's almost the new century and he still has prejudices against people who go into the adult industry.

"Hmph, teacher, what do you mean by that?" A delicate snort came from outside the office door. Gao Manman pushed the door open and walked in. There was not a pleasant expression on her pretty face.

"Teachers advocate equality for all. There are top talents in all 360 professions. My husband is a businessman. How can you be considered the lowest class?"

The bald teacher coughed twice in embarrassment, "Lin Wanzhou's mother, I just got carried away and said that. That's not what I meant..."

Xu Cheng sighed. The adult world was indeed quite boring.

Suddenly, Lin Wanzhou pulled up her hands. It was the first time that her parents were called to the police station because she had gotten into trouble. She didn't feel scared but instead looked curious.

"Xu Cheng... I'll pick one, you pick one, and then we'll pick one together..."

Xu Cheng didn't move at all, his two palms were spread out in the air, and Lin Wanzhou counted them as "cloth".

"Yeah~ I won!"