Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

"Where?" Li Zhao asked.

"The secret base, see you at the bakery then," He Shuyao said.

"it is good."

Chen Nian looks like he's been holding back for ages.

Usually, He Shuyao is picked up by the housekeeper who is responsible for cooking and housework. He Wenping rarely comes by himself. Li Zhao even suspects that the last chance meeting was not a coincidence at all.

While waiting for the bus, Chen Nian hesitated several times before speaking.

"What's wrong with you?"

"So...you don't know where I can buy textbooks?"

The way he said this to Chen Nian was particularly awkward and made him look especially irritating.

"I have no idea."

Because the textbooks were all provided after starting school, Li Zhao cherished books. Even after graduating from university, he could still find his well-preserved elementary school textbooks at home and had no need to "buy textbooks from outside".

"Let's go to the secret base that Shuyao mentioned..."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I don't know, I don't know."

Li Zhao, too lazy to pay attention to his inexplicable behavior, instead asked, "Why aren't you reacting at all to me learning junior high school material ahead of time?"

"I thought you had finished learning everything."

Oh... I see.

"I was just thinking, you already know high school level material, and according to what Teacher He and Teacher Huang said in class, your level is even better than that of college students. You should have finished junior high school a long time ago, right?"

So this is how others perceive me? Am I a bit too awesome?

"That's different. There are so many more subjects to learn in middle school, where would I find the time..."

"Winter break."

A sincere light shone in Chen Nian's eyes.

In his eyes, Li Zhao must have fallen into a time wormhole during that winter break, and one day of his was equivalent to a year for others.

On the bus home, Li Zhao suddenly realized that he had become very busy.

I need to review my junior high school knowledge in advance, continue to leverage the information gap I have gained from my deep expertise in the planning industry, write a coming-of-age novel, and work out...

This was all before I had a computer, no money, and wasn't even in junior high school yet.

What will life be like in junior high school?

Li Zhao felt that he could breathe much more easily, and a sense of fulfillment filled his heart.

Li Zhao didn't take it seriously at first, simply regarding the feeling as "happiness".

But after finishing his meal and taking a shower, Li Zhao, sitting at his desk, could still feel a unique sense of peace. He suddenly realized that this feeling of fulfillment...

unprecedented.

It is a feeling of fullness that is completely free of any emptiness; it is gentle, warm, and powerful.

None of the things Li Zhao was busy with were particularly urgent; they were all things he wanted to do.

No one told him he had to do it, society made no demands, it was simply Li Zhao's own enjoyment.

Li Zhao recalled his past life: in high school, he buried himself in a sea of ​​practice problems, thinking that doing a lot of problems was fulfilling; in college, he attended all sorts of lectures and internships, thinking that running around was fulfilling; after starting work, he was surrounded by numerous projects, and he was happy to do so.

really?

of course not.

After doing practice problems comes doubt about exam-oriented education; after running around everywhere comes reflection on "what am I actually doing"; after being busy in projects comes the habitual self-numbing—"at least I made a lot of money."

But you fucking don't spend it.

Essentially, those so-called fulfilling experiences are just reasons for people who can't find meaning in life forcibly added to their lives.

Society says it should be this way, everyone says it should be this way, so I'll just work hard at it.

In his previous life, Li Zhao was passively placed on a stage built by others, his limbs manipulated by countless threads, busy acting out a play called "Life".

Now, he is actively immersing himself in his own world.

He didn't know what the future held, but he was full of anticipation.

It turns out that motivation doesn't necessarily come with pressure, and expectations don't necessarily bring anxiety. Wanting to do something doesn't require too many external reasons.

There is never a main storyline in life.

[True inner fulfillment. Happiness +5, Total 37]

Li Zhao was taken aback; he had actually added 5 points in one go?

He stretched and decided to write the youth novel that he was currently most interested in and motivated by.

The weather is starting to get a bit warm, so I have to turn on the small fan every now and then. I can hear people talking outside the window, but it's not noisy. The sound of people talking and the fan working together creates a rhythm that doesn't distract me.

Li Zhao, dressed in loose short-sleeved shirt and shorts, swung his legs, his mind filled with images of youthful campus life in a parallel world.

From the beginning, Li Ziyang was him, and He Qianxia was He Shuyao.

However, as the concept unfolded, the numerous literary works and stories he had read and heard in his previous life began to be pieced together, and the characters gradually detached from their original prototypes and existed independently.

Li Zhao's desire to write also grew stronger.

The theme songs of many youth movies also echoed in Li Zhao's ears, and he subconsciously began to hum along—

"If we meet again, we can't have tears in our eyes..."

Eh?

This song doesn't seem to have appeared yet, right?

If you understand music theory, wouldn't you be able to debut by plagiarizing songs?

The thought only briefly crossed his mind before Li Zhao dismissed it with a laugh.

Firstly, he had no interest. Li Zhao was proud and had so many things he could do, and he might even lead the advancement of urban planning as a discipline. Wasn't that better than being a "music creator" who relied on plagiarism?

Secondly, it's unnecessary; financial freedom is enough.

"Son, what song are you humming?" Zhou Xiaoyun asked softly from the doorway.

"Just humming nonsense."

"Well..." Zhou Xiaoyun glanced at Li Changlin in the living room, "Your dad and I have made a plan for the operation of the next store."

Li Zhao glanced at her, said nothing, and continued writing in his notebook.

"There are some things we're not quite sure about, and we were thinking, why don't you come over and discuss them with us, and offer some suggestions?"

That's quite respectful.

However, since he took the initiative to ask, Li Zhao decided to do some things for him while he was at it.

"Mom, I'll go over and discuss it together, but who will make the decision?"

"It was a decision made by our family."

"Fine then, you guys just wait and see."

"...Son, if you find any problems with us, just point them out, and we'll change them. That will be your decision, okay?"

"If there are too many problems and you can't argue with me, then I'll make the decisions on store operations."

He wanted to keep all the credit, letting his parents handle the specific tasks while he made all the key decisions. In other words, he was the boss with two assistants.

No amount of hard work can compare to making the right decision.

Li Zhao had originally planned to take the initiative at a certain time, but he didn't expect the two of them to be so proactive, handing him the opportunity.

Zhou Xiaoyun was stunned. "This... I'll talk to your dad first..."

Comfortable.

With the status of a child prodigy, one can treat absurdity as a daily occurrence.

Before long, Li Zhao heard Li Changlin ask in an incredulous, high-pitched voice, "Aren't we the ones working for him?"

Then Li Changlin and Zhou Xiaoyun arrived at the door of Li Zhao's room. It was a total of ten steps, and with each step, their momentum waned.

"Son, what do you mean by 'you making the decisions'? In the end, the actual operation of the store will still depend on your mother and me, right?"

"right."

"You want me and your mother to be your assistants?"

"Yes." Li Zhao replied decisively.

"This isn't right..." Li Changlin frowned.

"I didn't force you," Li Zhao said. "Mom and Dad, you can run it yourselves. I don't care if you make money or lose money."

"I...I'll think about it some more."

Then the couple went to the living room to agonize over it.

The following day, Monday.

The elementary school students on the pedestrian street looked even more listless than yesterday.

Indeed, what's even more terrifying than having to go to school on Sunday is having to go to school on Monday the next day.

Li Zhao bought a newspaper at a newsstand. This time, the owner didn't say anything, just observed silently, and then smiled and took the money.

It was published in the newspaper, but the layout was a bit poor. It seems that the South China Weekly is still very cautious when it comes to policy-related matters.

As Li Zhao walked into the school gate while reading the newspaper, he suddenly heard a series of short footsteps behind him.

Then I felt a crisp, clean tap on my shoulder.

"Ah Zhao! Reading the newspaper again?" Chen Nian's voice rang out crisply.

Li Zhao smiled and showed the South China Weekly in his hand.

"Huh? It's those four knives again... By the way, have you ever heard of this saying?"

"Um?"

"You are the Four Knives."