Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 156 Summer is Running Out

Time flies, and life is fleeting.

Summer is still going on, but it's almost over.

Zhai Da ultimately didn't get to eat Nanjing duck. That day, when he saw Teacher Shen Rui off at the train station, the train happened to be delayed by more than an hour, and the two chatted for a long time in the waiting hall.

When they turned back, most of the restaurants in Nanjing that served big meals had closed, so Zhai Da could only have barbecue with his driver.

Fortunately, Lu Wei and Yu Xiaoli were well taken care of. They spent a long time sightseeing in Nanjing during the day and had a big meal in the evening.

The next morning, the family of three set off to return to Dongyang. Zhai Da resumed his usual routine, attending classes at Utopia during the day and learning metalworking from Old Man Xu in the evening. No, it was no longer just metalworking; perhaps "craftsmanship" would be a more accurate description.

Several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

In his previous life, he spent half of his summer vacation in internet cafes and the other half wandering around with Wu Yue. It felt like the days were endless until he was tired of playing. Only then did he pack his bags and head to his mediocre college.

Time really flies in this life.

On August 8th, Zhai Da, who had been busy all day at Utopia, took another day off to attend the "craft class" in the evening. He took Lu Wei home early and sat in front of the TV.

"Mom, where did you put that half-empty bottle of Coke?"

"From the fridge? I cooked it."

"Huh? When? Where's the food?"

"I ate it myself."

In the cozy home of Sanmao Residential Area, Zhai Da, dressed in shorts and a vest, was fanning himself, looking nothing like the "high-value, academically gifted writer" circulating online.

This neighborhood is too old; the electrical wiring can't accommodate air conditioners, so we just have to make do with what we have.

Even dressed like this, I'm still sweating.

Lu Wei was also wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, but this girl was naturally cold and rarely sweated.

The results of the physical examinations for all three individuals have come back.

Lu Wei is in the best health. Apart from her height and weight being somewhat unhealthy, she doesn't have any specific health problems. The doctor's advice is to eat more, but little did they know that Lu Wei used to be thinner than she is now.

Yu Xiaoli escaped unscathed. After all, she was over forty and some common ailments of middle-aged and elderly people had emerged, such as lymph node nodules and high blood pressure. However, the breast cancer that was truly fatal in her previous life had not yet left any lesions.

Although he may not repeat the same mistakes in this life because he is mentally happy and stress-free, Zhai Da will still continue to follow up.

The funniest thing is that Zhai Da himself was eighteen years old when he was diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Zhai Da was completely dumbfounded, thinking to himself, "I didn't have this problem in my past life, is there some mistake?"

I later called the doctor and found out that Zhai Da had grown too fast recently, which caused calcium deficiency. It was mild and nothing to worry about. He just needed to pay more attention to calcium and vitamin D supplementation.

So Zhai Da got a lot of the currently popular "calcium gluconate" and drank the little blue bottle as a beverage every day.

The taste is not bad.
His height has increased to 179 cm. Although it has only increased by two centimeters in total, this has happened in just over a month, which is quite fast, so it is normal for him to be calcium deficient.

Of course, despite the calcium deficiency, he still needed to drink cola, so Zhai Da went to great lengths and ran to the small supermarket.

The night outside was quieter than usual, and there seemed to be fewer people in the streets and alleys.

Inside the restaurant next to the convenience store, a group of diners tilted their heads and watched TV, waiting for something.

A large poster was pasted on the glass, advertising high-paying summer part-time waiters, 700 yuan/month.

Judging from how long it's been hanging there, they probably haven't been able to recruit anyone, even fewer than what Teacher Shen Rui said.

Zhai Da bought a bunch of snacks and drinks at the small supermarket, checked his watch, and continued rushing home, barely making it back in time.

The family of three squeezed together on the sofa, waiting for the time to arrive.

2008年，8月8日，8点8分8秒。

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics officially began. In the massive Bird's Nest stadium, cameras swept across countless spectators; 80,000 fixed seats plus 10,000 temporary seats, a total of 90,000 people gathered here.

Zhai Da felt a pang of regret. These were the lucky ones out of 1.3 billion people. Of course, there were also many foreigners. It should be said that they were the lucky ones out of 67 billion people.

How can one say that everyone's youth is without a trace of regret, even if they could relive it all?
However, the people in the field probably have no idea what kind of historic performance they are about to witness.

Yu Xiaoli exclaimed, "So many people! Aren't they hot crammed together?"

Zhai Daxin said that we were also quite cramped, with three people squeezed onto the double sofa.

Subconsciously, he rubbed his leg against Lu Wei's leg; it felt smooth and cool.

Well, he's definitely not lustful; he just craves coolness.

Lu Wei looked over expressionlessly, and after a moment of apparent confusion, she pressed her white legs against Zhai Da's legs.

Zhai Da: Hehe~
Soon, a stunning scene appeared on the television: a giant "footprint" made of fireworks walked step by step from the sky above Beijing to the Bird's Nest.

Like an invisible giant, striding forward.

This imaginative scene once led many to suspect that it was created using special effects.

Immediately afterwards, the lights came on in the center of the huge venue, revealing a total of 2008 drummers.

They pounded on a square drum shaped like a bronze tripod that lit up, and the flashing electric lights formed a countdown.
Neat and uniform, highly coordinated!
This impressive display immediately stunned Yu Xiaoli; she was genuinely surprised that her country could do such a good job.

However, soon, based on past thinking, I came to a conclusion that others often mentioned.

"China's strength lies in its large population."

Zhai Da smiled and said, "There are many people, but they haven't accomplished anything great. If they do it well, they do it well; if they do it poorly, they do it poorly."

In 08, when the Chinese people lacked self-confidence, public intellectuals were revered as treasures online. Stories included stories of nationwide power outages for saving a bird, the idea that toilet water was drinkable, the sacred spirit of contracts, and Japanese elementary school students hiking 100 kilometers carrying 20 kilograms of weight.
Many people believe that China should indeed be inferior to other countries, including Yu Xiaoli, an ordinary middle-aged woman in a small town.

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics truly surprised many people.

The following series of performances were all very impressive: flying dancers, waves of movable type printing, recitations of the Book of Songs and the Analects, a martial arts performance in white, and finally, a torch being lit while suspended by wires.

Zhang Yimou has only done this one brilliant thing in his life, and after that, all that remains is "shock".

The only song that's hard to judge is "Me and You." Zhai Da still doesn't like it. Liu Huan's voice always makes him think of "Heroes' Song."

On television, fireworks continued to rain down, and a spectacular opening ceremony came to a close.

Zhai Da sighed again.
It's such a pity I didn't have a chance to go there in person.
Yu Xiaoli suddenly said, "By the way, Xiaoda, it's already August 8th. You have to report for duty on September 1st. When are you planning to leave?"

Last week, Zhai Da and Lu Wei received their admission notices from Harbin Institute of Technology, as did many other students.

Some parents who participated in volunteer tutoring also shared the good news in the QQ group. Utopia has received several banners, which are now hanging in the office.

In other words, summer for high school students is indeed coming to an end, and summer for college students is about to begin.

Zhai Da glanced at the calendar on the wall: "The 20th? I've never been to Harbin before, and I'm planning to rent a place, so I should arrive at least a week in advance, right?"

Yu Xiaoli continued, "So, is it time to close down your tutoring institution as well?"

Zhai Da nodded. He wasn't the only one whose summer was running out; others also needed time to prepare for university and college. Even teachers of various subjects would need to frequently return to school for meetings as the start of the semester approached.

If he departed for Harbin around the 20th, then the end of his utopia would have come even earlier than that.

That means there are only about ten days left before the summer vacation rush to tutoring classes.

Actually, it was planned long ago, and the exit time was set during the sales process. It was only when his mother mentioned it that Zhai Da realized how close it was to the event.

Or perhaps, compared to Zhai Da, the other members of Utopia realized this earlier, and some have already started counting down the days.

Summer is almost over for everyone.

　An extra chapter is added today for plot purposes.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)