Restart life

Chapter 584, 0572: [Wanting to Buy Osmanthus Flowers and Share Wine]

The school anniversary celebration is tomorrow, and there will be a lot of people, making it inconvenient to go anywhere.

The school held a reception banquet to celebrate distinguished alumni, but neither Chen Guiliang nor Xie Yang attended.

If you go, you'll definitely be bombarded with toasts.

They didn't even stay at the hotel arranged by the school, but chose another one on their own. After resting at the hotel for a while, they put on their hats and went out for a stroll together.

It was already dark, but the heat of summer had not yet dissipated.

I hadn't walked far when my vest was soaked with sweat; this sweltering weather was unbearable.

"It's been several years since I graduated, and the county town hasn't changed much." Tao Xue looked around.

Qin Shanshan, who had rushed home to join the group, said, "The development cost of the old city is too high, so we've been developing the new city. Land prices are cheaper there, and we've built several new residential areas there."

Xie Yang said, "There have been some changes. The things sold in the store are different now. I remember that the store in front used to sell Walkmans, tape recorders, and cassette tapes, but now it sells mobile phone top-ups."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Does HarmonyOS have any stores in the county?"

Qin Shanshan said, "There is one, in the new city area, it's a HarmonyOS specialty store opened by a distributor."

The group didn't take a car, but chatted and strolled along. Two bodyguards pretended to be passersby, one leading the way and the other bringing up the rear.

As Xie Yang walked towards the street lined with internet cafes near the school, he remarked with a sigh, "At least a quarter of the internet cafes here are gone."

Chen Guiliang said, "There will be even fewer in the future, until only one or two are left to close down."

Xie Yang sighed deeply. This street represented his youth; he had spent countless nights in internet cafes here.

As they walked, they discovered that the internet cafe where they last went online during high school was gone too.

After everyone had their farewell dinner, Xu Haibo's roommates came to the internet cafe drunk, and he even watched adult films all night.

They walked towards the school gate, but instead of going in, they strolled around outside.

The bookstore where Chen Guiliang bought "Mengya" magazine to participate in the New Concept Writing Competition is gone, and it has become a shop selling paper, pens, magazines and various sundries.

Who still rents novels to read these days? Everyone downloads pirated novels and reads them on their phones.

Xie Yang lit a cigarette: "Damn, why do I feel a little melancholy?"

Tao Xue said, "I'm the one who's feeling melancholy. I used to frequent this book rental shop every day when I was a student."

Chen Guiliang glanced at the restaurant next door: "The restaurant is still the restaurant, but the owner and his wife are gone."

They strolled back, and when they came to a fork in the road, they went to the other intersection.

The mutton restaurants here haven't changed.

Xie Yang laughed and said, "I've treated you to a few treats here. The mutton offal soup is only three yuan a bowl. Rice is free and you can eat as much as you want. Once you ate seven bowls of rice from the owner, and you even used all the dipping sauce to mix with the rice. You even asked the owner to give you half a plate of pickled vegetables."

"Haha." Chen Guiliang chuckled.

Tao Xue said, "When I graduated, the price of mutton offal soup had gone up to three yuan and fifty cents."

The group chatted and laughed as they entered the mutton restaurant. The business was booming; all the seats were already taken. This was mainly because it was located between two middle schools, and there were many residents nearby, so they never lacked customers.

Chen Guiliang walked to the counter: "Boss, cut two catties of mutton and two catties of mutton offal. Also, one serving of houttuynia cordata, one serving of dried tofu, and one serving of pig's head meat."

The owner said, "The place is full; you'll have to wait in line."

“Okay, we’ll wait,” Chen Guiliang said.

The group each grabbed a plastic stool and ran to the entrance of the mutton restaurant to sit and wait.

There are two goats tied up there; they're for tomorrow's meals. They'll be slaughtered very early tomorrow morning to ensure diners get fresh lamb.

Then buy two more goats and tie them up to prove that the shop slaughters fresh every day.

Tao Xue picked up a few blades of fresh grass, squatted down, and fed the goats while saying with pity, "You're going to die tomorrow, so eat more of your last meal."

"Mea~~~"

The goat happily interacted with Tao Xue.

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "If you feel sorry for yourself, you can eat less later."

Tao Xue said, "The goats are already so pitiful. If I don't enjoy my food, wouldn't their deaths have been in vain?"

"That makes sense!" Xie Yang commented.

Wearing a hat all the time was too hot, so Chen Guiliang simply took it off and used it as a fan to cool himself down.

As soon as he took off his hat, someone recognized him: "Holy crap, it's Old Master Chen..."

"Shh!"

Chen Guiliang raised his index finger in front of his lips.

There were three students in front of him who had come to the shop to eat mutton soup. They were about to leave when they saw that the shop was full, but they didn't expect to see Chen Guiliang taking off his hat.

The three students lowered their voices and spoke to Chen Guiliang with great excitement.

"Senior, we're from No. 2 High School, and we're in our final year of high school this semester. We really, really admire you!" Student A said excitedly.

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "You're a senior in high school and you still travel this far to eat?"

Student B explained, "It's only the beginning of the semester, and there's no class tomorrow because of the school anniversary. We plan to eat mutton, go to an internet cafe, and stay up all night until tomorrow morning before going back to school."

Chen Guiliang said to Xie Yang, "You have the same style you had back then."

Xie Yang told the students, "Playing games is pointless. I only got into a second-tier university because I spent too much time online. Listen to me, quit the internet for a year in your senior year of high school and focus on studying for the college entrance exam."

"Who is this senior?" Student C asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "Xie Yang, Vice President of ByteDance."

Student B laughed and said, "Senior Brother Xie can become a vice president even with a second-tier university degree, which means that first-tier and second-tier universities are pretty much the same. My grades should be fine for getting into a second-tier university."

Xie Yang was too lazy to explain: "You'll find out when the time comes." Chen Guiliang asked, "How did the college entrance exam go this year at No. 2 High School?"

Student C said, "I did a pretty bad job on the exam. Two students got into Tsinghua and Peking University, but only 180 got into top-tier universities."

Student A asked, "Senior, what are the hiring standards at Game Science? We are proficient in all kinds of games, is it possible for us to work at Game Science in the future?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Positions with good career prospects no longer recruit graduates from second-tier universities. Study hard and try to get into a top-tier university."

"Can we take a picture together?" Student B asked.

Chen Guiliang stood up to take a group photo with them, and warned, "Don't post the photos tonight. I want to have a nice meal."

"Don't worry, senior. If the photos are released tonight, we'll all get hit by a car as soon as we step outside," Student C swore.

After chatting for a few more minutes, the waiter called out that there were available seats, and the three students happily said goodbye. They didn't go online anymore, but instead excitedly chatted as they headed back to school.

Chen Guiliang put his hat back on and went into the store to enjoy the mutton that he used to only be able to eat as a treat when he was in high school.

To be honest, the meal wasn't as enjoyable as I'd imagined.

If you want to buy sweet-scented osmanthus with wine, it doesn't seem like you are a teenager.

Chen Guiliang had tasted this flavor before his rebirth, but he never expected to taste it again ten years after his rebirth.

He discovered that since his rebirth, he had been so busy from high school to university that he had never really experienced his student days.

If I could be reborn again, well... I'd probably still be busy with school and making money.

People!

……

Night, hotel.

After a thoroughly enjoyable exchange, Chen Guiliang and Tao Xue returned from their showers and lay down.

Tao Xue scrolled through the class group chat and said, "Only six or seven of our classmates can come back this time, and half of them are still working locally."

"We're all busy working to make a living, who has the time to attend the school anniversary reunion?" Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

Tao Xue asked, "What about your class?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I estimate there will be a lot more, definitely more than the ten or so Xie Saobang mentioned."

"Why?" Tao Xue asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "If you were the boss, and an employee asked for leave to attend a reunion with the richest man's classmates, would you approve the leave?"

Tao Xue immediately understood: "I will definitely approve the leave."

Chen Guiliang opened the class group chat and looked through the chat history. Sure enough, he had said he couldn't come back, but then changed his mind and the leader approved it.

It was so boring. I guess a lot of my old classmates came to the reunion with a mission in mind!

Even if we don't talk about attracting investment or cooperation, at least we should hand out a business card to the leader, toast Mr. Chen on behalf of the leader, and take a photo with Mr. Chen.

The next morning, Chen Guiliang and his group set off from the hotel.

When they arrived at the school, thousands of students were already lined up in the large playground.

Leaders from both the city and county levels, along with many prominent alumni and journalists, visited the old school gate (a historical site).

Upon hearing that Chen Guiliang had arrived, everyone rushed to the old school gate to greet him.

Chen Guiliang and Xie Yang kept shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with them, while reporters snapped photos incessantly.

The principal's name is Zhong Dahe, Chen Guiliang's high school physics teacher. He's the one who often brags about quitting smoking as soon as he said he would, and how successful his younger brother is in the United States.

He had only been the principal for a month.

If it weren't for the fact that a richest person had emerged from the school, and the school leaders hadn't taken the opportunity to invite him back, No. 2 Middle School wouldn't have held its 110th anniversary celebration this year.

The school anniversary celebration needs to be prepared several months in advance. How could the old principal work so hard only to benefit the new principal?
Zhong Dahe, who had just become the principal, smiled and said to the leaders and reporters, "President Chen was my student. I taught him for three years. From the first year of high school to the third year, his geography grades were excellent, and he never needed the teacher to worry about him."

Chen Guiliang said, "Teacher Zhong, don't flatter me. In my first month at school, you confiscated a novel from me. That novel was rented by our Vice President Xie."

Xie Yang stood speechlessly to the side.

"Hahaha!"

The leaders, reporters, and prominent alumni all laughed.

Especially Zhong Dahe, he was too embarrassed to go into details, because it was a yellow martial arts novel by Song Baisheng.

Zhong Dahe helped introduce the leaders and well-known alumni, and then led everyone to visit the school's historical buildings, confidently stating that a certain room was where he wrote "The Thick Black Theory".

Chen Guiliang and Xie Yang took turns taking photos with everyone, and the background of all the photos was Li Zongwu's desk.

Just then, Guo Xiaosi arrived late.

Guo Xiaosi originally didn't want to go back to school, but his agent insisted that he could try to ride on Chen Guiliang's popularity.

Encouraged by a large group of people, Chen Guiliang and Guo Xiaosi took a few more photos together.

The visit came to a temporary end, and everyone headed to the flagpole.

First, the national flag was raised and the national anthem was sung, followed by speeches from leaders at all levels, and then Chen Guiliang spoke on behalf of the alumni.

Before Chen Guiliang even stepped onto the stage, many students cheered, and quite a few shouted his nickname.

Ordinary alumni who had already arrived at the school were taken to a separate area.

Xu Haibo and Guan Zhiqiang were over there, waving wildly at Chen Guiliang, while Li Jun was whistling in a rather exaggerated manner.

Chen Guiliang glanced down and suddenly remembered ten years ago, when he had just been reborn.

(End of this chapter)