Chapter 15

Later, Song Haowen explained to Tian Yuxi the source of his money. He talked about how he caught wild chickens and rabbits, sold them into the lakeside city dozens of miles away from their village, and captivated Tian Yuxi with his tales. She started to believe why he had money, reluctantly accepting the watch he gave him.

However, Song Haowen didn’t dare to mention catching tooth deer, and he didn’t specify how much money he earned. He reassured her, stating that the money was absolutely legitimate, and after buying the two watches, he still had three to four hundred yuan.

Later, the two strolled around the square, and, seeing that it was getting late, they a had dinner on Front Gate Street before going their separate ways.

Finally, the classes officially began.

On the first morning, they had two main courses. The first and second periods covered “Mechanics,” and the third and fourth periods covered “Mathematical Analysis.”

These two courses were relatively easy for Song Haowen. However, what interested him was that the professors for both courses were the authors of the textbooks.

They had a great reputation in the academic community, and their logical reasoning was rigorous, making the lessons clear and enlightening.

Song Haowen remembered that in his previous life, in order to excel in these two courses, he had worked hard, using several sets of reference materials and solving numerous problems.

The most memorable were two sets of reference materials: “Fundamentals of Physics,” a widely used textbook at universities in the United States (written by Halliday and Resnick) for Mechanics, and “Advanced Mathematics Lecture Notes” by Professor Fan Yingchuan of Tongji University for Mathematical Analysis.

Thinking about the saying in his previous life, “Calculus torments me a thousand times, yet I treat it like my first love,” still made his blood boil.

After class, Song Haowen went to the school library and borrowed these two sets of materials again, relishing the feeling of revisiting old dreams.

Song Haowen spent a full two weeks reviewing all the courses for the semester. Feeling confident about passing, he started thinking about making money again.

Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee last year, reform and opening up had become the fundamental policy of China, and the market economy system was gradually being established.

In the previous summer, the southeast provinces took the lead in opening up to the outside world, and Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Xiamen, and Shantou became the first economic special zones.

The rural areas began to allow household contracting of land, and the family contract responsibility system was about to be promoted nationwide.

Based on his experience from his previous life, Song Haowen knew that soon, Wenzhou’s small commodities would sweep across the country and the world. Imported or smuggled goods from overseas would flood in. All of these presented limitless business opportunities.

In his previous life, many of the future richest individuals and giant enterprises were not yet established at this time. Dongfang Yu still had to attend a high school review class and wouldn’t become senior high until next year. Guanfu Ma was still working as a milling machine operator in a factory, dabbling in novel writing as a hobby. Lenovo Liu was still refining computer languages at the research institute, and Wanda Wang was still leading troops in military training. Jack Ma had three or four more years of high school review classes awaiting him. Penguin Ma and Baidu Li were still playing hopscotch in primary school, while Face Blind Liu was still in preschool, peeing in his pants and playing with mud.

At this moment, the business opportunities in front of Song Haowen seemed as abundant as stars in the sky. However, he needed to figure out where to start, and that required careful consideration.

Song Haowen thought, no matter what he did, he needed a place first, whether it was a storefront or a warehouse. He also needed helpers because a single tree doesn’t make a forest, especially since he was still a student with limited free time.

The idea of making money was still just a thought in his mind. Before putting it into work, he didn’t want to tell anyone, including Tian Yuxi, because he knew everyone would object.

Many college students during this period were pampered and idealistic. Influenced by foreign literature and Western philosophical trends, they were somewhat cynical and impetuous, with high aspirations and disdain for talking about money.

Unlike the college students in his previous life, they were not as pragmatic, taking up part-time jobs and earning extra income. Some male students were even willing to take risks for money, while some female students were willing to sacrifice themselves for money.

After autumn arrived, the temperature in Beijing dropped noticeably. Behind Beijing University, there was a small street where multicolored maple leaves covered the ground, making a crisp sound when stepped on.

Many girls liked to pick red leaves to use as bookmarks, wearing trendy ski jackets, gathering in twos and threes, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

This Sunday, Tian Yuxi didn’t come to find Song Haowen to hang out. He wandered the streets alone, searching for a suitable house. Passing through the small street behind Beijing University and turning a corner, he saw a group of young people causing a commotion ahead.

Song Haowen had been in the city for over two months now, and street fights like these were commonplace. Whether it was jealousy, territorial disputes, a glance, or a dirty word, the reasons varied.

Most of these young people were returning educated students or children of those sent to the countryside. Because they didn’t have jobs for the time being and were unwilling to do menial work, they caused trouble when they have nothing to do, becoming problematic youth.

Song Haowen had no interest in paying attention to these fights. He planned to do what other pedestrians did—lower his head and walk around the trouble.

“Help!”

Suddenly, a loud cry rang out near Song Haowen’s ear. When he turned around to look, he saw that the fight was coming to an end. Over a dozen tall, big, oddly dressed young people, wearing bell-bottom pants and sporting strange hairstyles, were beating a short, weak, and defenseless bespectacled student with sticks. The desperate cry for help came from this student.