Volume One: High School Years Chapter Five: Secretly Helping Dad Start a Business

In the office of the first-year group.

"The school can't contain the two of you anymore? As students, you drank alcohol, caused a scene on campus, and even fought with the class monitor and the Chinese class representative! They're so smart—if you made them stupid, could you afford to pay for it? Go stand in the hallway!" The homeroom teacher was furious.

Out in the hallway, Liu Sheng said to Ren Xiadong, "Weren’t you bragging you could handle twice as much as me? What happened today? Off your game?"

Ren Xiadong replied anxiously, "I just thought you’d been acting weird lately. Today’s actually my first time drinking. I’ve never touched it before—you know that!"

Liu Sheng paused, thinking, "Right, it’s 2010. We’re only seventeen or eighteen. Ren Xiadong only started drinking after his breakup in sophomore year. Damn, I just introduced him to alcohol early. He could already outdrink me twice over when he started in sophomore year—if he starts now, he’ll be able to drink three times as much as me."

From inside the office, the teacher’s voice came, "Hello, is this Liu Sheng’s parent? Today... Yes, could you please come over?" After hanging up, the teacher called Ren Xiadong’s parents, repeating the same words.

"It’s over. If you don’t see me tomorrow, remember to visit me in the hospital. I like grapes," Ren Xiadong said with a bitter smile. Liu Sheng wasn’t scared at all—after all, he’d just ranked first in the grade. He joked, "I’ll bring you some beer too!"

Soon after, both fathers arrived at the office. They spent the whole afternoon pleading with the teacher, but it was really the gifts they brought that softened the homeroom teacher’s heart. Not until dismissal were the two finally released, having successfully earned themselves a seven-day "vacation"—in reality, a week of reflection at home.

As they left the school gate, both boys were taken home by their fathers. Just before parting, Ren Xiadong looked back at Liu Sheng with utter despair, while Liu Sheng stuck out his tongue playfully.

When Liu Sheng got home, his father didn’t scold him. Nor did he praise him for ranking first in the grade. Instead, he sat alone on the living room sofa, brooding over a glass of liquor.

Suddenly, Liu Sheng remembered: during his first year of high school, his father’s company went under. While his dad was out of work, life at home got noticeably harder—sometimes there wasn’t enough to eat. His mother went wherever there was work, taking anything that paid. His father looked for jobs while also doing odd labor with his mother. His younger brother had it worst—still just a child, but all the good food and drink were reserved for him. Liu Sheng never complained; he loved his little brother, too.

But Liu Sheng had traveled back from the future—he knew what was to come. Later, after his father’s company closed, someone bought the first and second floors, converted them into a hotpot restaurant, and the business boomed. Liu Sheng now had a bold idea: buy the first and second floors himself, open a hotpot restaurant, and let his dad be the boss. That would surely improve their family’s life.

The next morning, Liu Sheng went to the site of his father’s failed company. At the entrance, he saw a middle-aged man crying. Curious, Liu Sheng approached and asked, "Uncle, what’s wrong? Why are you crying here?"

The middle-aged man, his southern accent thick, replied, "Oh, the hell with it. Yesterday I got drunk, lost my mind, and rented this huge place. I used up all my money for the rent. Now I’m broke! What do I need such a big place for? Now that I’m sober, I want my money back, but the contract’s signed. There’s no backing out."

"How long did you rent it for? How much was it?" Liu Sheng asked.

The man didn’t hold back. "A year—two hundred thousand. That was my down payment for a house. All because I got drunk."

"I can tell by your accent you’re from the south. What do you do for a living?" Liu Sheng inquired, now only wanting to pay him two hundred thousand and take over the lease.

"I make hotpot base. Not to brag, but my hotpot base is so good people line up for it every day, and still might not get any!" the man said proudly.

"Perfect! Uncle, how about this? I’ll give you two hundred thousand, and we’ll open a hotpot restaurant together right here. We’ll use your hotpot base, and I’ll cover all the renovations and supplies. You just handle the kitchen—your secret recipe remains yours. We’ll split the profits, sixty-forty—sixty for you, forty for me. What do you think?" Liu Sheng said excitedly.

The man was thrilled. "Really? I’ve always dreamed of running my own hotpot place. This is fantastic." But then he grew serious. "Wait, you’re messing with me, aren’t you? You’re just a student in uniform! How can you have that kind of money? Go on, stop making fun of me!"

Liu Sheng grew anxious. "Come on, give me your bank account number!" He had an Infinity debit card from Xinghai Bank, and he’d already tested that he could make transfers through their app.

The man handed over his card. Liu Sheng took it and immediately transferred two hundred thousand with his phone. When the man received the notification, he broke into a grin.

"Let’s get this straight—I’m here because my dad used to work at this company. I came today to buy the place. Since you’ve already leased it, we’ll keep the lease as it is. You’ll open the hotpot restaurant with my dad—sixty for you, forty for him. I’ll only handle the renovations and supplies; once the restaurant’s running, I won’t put in another cent. Most importantly, don’t let my dad know that any of this is my doing. If you tell him, I’ll take everything back."

Seeing how wealthy Liu Sheng was, and moved by his own dream, the man agreed to everything Liu Sheng said.

He asked, "Alright, but how do I contact your dad? Why would he believe me?"

Liu Sheng replied, "I’ve got a way. My dad’s old company dealt in grain, oil, and food safety. He’s got all the supplier connections we’ll need. Just tell him you’ve leased the place, want to open a hotpot restaurant, but don’t have supply channels, and you want to partner up—he handles procurement, you handle the kitchen." With that, Liu Sheng gave him his father’s number. The man called and explained, and Liu Sheng’s father agreed immediately—he desperately needed the opportunity.

That very night, the two began planning. The next morning, they went to the relevant offices to register the hotpot restaurant, and quickly reached agreements for renovations and equipment procurement, totaling two million.

After the man called, Liu Sheng transferred him another two million to cover renovations. Just like that, Liu Sheng’s father began ordering ingredients according to the man’s list, while the man supervised the construction every day.

On the third-to-last day of his "vacation," which was a Saturday, Liu Sheng received a text message: "Hi, may I treat you to a meal? I’m waiting for you on North Ring Road."

Seeing it was from an unknown number, Liu Sheng replied, "Who is this?"

A moment later, his phone chimed: "Thank you for the five thousand yuan."

After reading the message, Liu Sheng put on his jacket, went downstairs, and rode his electric scooter to the meeting place.

There, he found Xiaoya—still in blue skinny jeans and a white shirt, but with a blue jacket this time, and a fisherman’s hat.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Liu Sheng said apologetically.

Xiaoya smiled graciously, "It’s fine. Let’s have lunch—I'd like to express my gratitude."

Liu Sheng let her ride on his scooter, and as they left, Xiaoya tentatively put her arm around his waist, but quickly pulled back. Liu Sheng noticed but said nothing. He took her to a small restaurant, knowing she didn’t have much money and not wanting her to spend unnecessarily.

During the meal, Liu Sheng asked, "How’s your father’s surgery?"

Xiaoya put down her chopsticks. "Thank you. My father’s stable now, and he’ll be discharged in a while. Without your five thousand, we really couldn’t have made it."

"It was seven thousand, actually," Liu Sheng teased.

Xiaoya retorted, "I won those two thousand myself! If it weren’t for my dad’s illness, I never would have competed with you in drinking. In fact, if it weren’t for my dad’s illness, I wouldn’t even have been there."

"So are you and Liu Po serious?" Liu Sheng asked, looking at Xiaoya.

Xiaoya laughed, "Are you jealous?"

Liu Sheng hurried to explain, "I just want to know if someone as awful as Liu Po could ever have a real girlfriend."

"He does. My best friend is his girlfriend. We all know he’s a jerk, but she’s only with him for money. He found out from her that my dad was sick and needed money, so he contacted me privately and said that if I spent a day and night with him, he’d give me five thousand yuan. I hesitated for days, but my dad’s illness couldn’t wait, and we couldn’t scrape the money together, so I had no choice but to agree." Xiaoya told Liu Sheng everything, holding nothing back.

"What a scumbag! Trash! So, since you took my five thousand, does that mean you owe me a day and a night?" Liu Sheng joked, eyeing Xiaoya. Inwardly he thought, "Xiaoya is a stunning beauty—even more striking than Tao Nan. If I could have a girl like her by my side, I wouldn’t mind dying beneath a peony blossom!"

Xiaoya, flustered, hurriedly picked up her chopsticks to eat, then looked down and said shyly, "If you want to, I wouldn’t mind."

Liu Sheng almost slapped himself—what nonsense was he spouting? He couldn’t betray Tao Nan.

"I need your help with something else," Xiaoya said quickly. "I told my mom the money came from my boyfriend and that she didn’t need to pay it back. But don’t worry, I have a job and I’ll pay you back little by little."

Seeing Xiaoya so flustered, Liu Sheng smiled, "Your wish has come true—you really don’t need to pay me back. But I’m curious, you said you have a job? Aren’t you a student? You look every bit the student."

Xiaoya burst out laughing. After a while, she said, "You’re quite the talker, aren’t you, Liu Sheng? I remember Liu Po calling you that. And by the way, I’m twenty-two this year. I graduated from college a year ago and now work as an office clerk at a small company in Xinghai City. The pay’s not great, but I’ll pay you back slowly."

"Now that you’ve said you’re twenty-three, I’m suddenly not interested anymore," Liu Sheng joked. In truth, having traveled back from age twenty-six, he thought of twenty-three-year-olds as just girls—how could he not be interested?

Xiaoya playfully hit him, "Just as I was praising you for being charming! Oh, right, I almost forgot—my mom wants to meet you and thank you in person." She grinned mischievously. Though Liu Sheng was six years her junior, his actions didn’t seem at all like those of a seventeen-year-old boy. Xiaoya’s affection for him had only grown since they’d parted ways at the hotel, and meeting him today, it doubled again.