"Boss, two jianbing guozi, please."
"Make them both the same: add egg, add tenderloin, add crispy cracker, add sausage, add scallions, and add cilantro."
"Both with sweet and spicy sauce."
Liu Chuanfeng tossed a ten-yuan bill into a small plastic bucket, watching as the batter spread smoothly under the vendor's wooden paddle to form a perfect circle. He couldn't help letting out a whistle.
"Boss, you draw these pancakes even rounder than my teacher draws circles."
The vendor was a lean, middle-aged man. Hearing the young man's compliment, the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
In all his years running a street stall, he had heard customers praise the aroma of his pancakes, the quality of his sauce, and the fact that his prices hadn't gone up in years. But this was the first time anyone had ever told him he was good at drawing round circles. Still, he couldn't help thinking—is this industry really that competitive nowadays?
"Do teachers even start out making pancakes these days?"
"Mm-hmm."
Liu Chuanfeng sniffed the rich aroma wafting from the cart, his nostrils twitching. It smelled amazing. "Educated folks are great at drawing circles."
"Oh?"
"How so?"
The vendor's interest was instantly piqued. He was always looking to improve his craft.
Right now, even with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back, if he wanted a pancake to be round, it couldn't possibly be oval; if he wanted an isosceles triangle, it couldn't be equilateral. Twenty years of professional pancake-making was no joke, but making any further breakthroughs was tough.
Liu Chuanfeng pursed his lips and smiled. "Every single year, our teachers tell us that this year is crucial to our lives, and that if we work hard now, our future will be full of hope."
"They say it in the first grade, they say it in the second grade, and they keep saying it all the way to the sixth grade. When you reach the sixth grade, they tell you this is the most important turning point of your life—hardship this year, and comfort ever after."
"Then you enter middle school and find out it's even harder. To make us study hard, they start saying that the first year of middle school is vital, that the first year builds the foundation, and the second year builds the foundation too. When the third year rolls around, they say this is the most important turning point of your life, and if you don't work hard, you'll be stuck doing manual labor."
"Boss, I don't mean any disrespect to you. That's just what the teachers say."
"And then the teachers tell us that once we reach high school, life will be very comfortable."
"Then you get to high school and find out it's even harder. They start repeating the exact same routine: the first year of high school is the time to build your foundation, and if you don't work hard now, how will you ever keep up? In the second year, you have to choose between arts and sciences, which goes without saying—definitely another crucial moment. And then comes the third year, and the turning point of life arrives all over again. To fool us, the teachers even bring in college seniors to talk about how free university life is."
"My youth has been filled with crucial years and life-turning points every single year. I've been walking on thin ice the whole time, and none of this could have happened without the circles our teachers drew for us."
"They've been drawing these circles for twelve years, and now that I'm about to enter college, I'm going to start eating four more years of them."
"I can already imagine college professors telling us that as long as we study hard, we're bound to make something of ourselves in the future."
"We've lived under this shadow for most of our lives so far."
"Boss, wouldn't you say that's pretty impressive?"
The vendor gave a hearty chuckle. He finally understood—this kind of "circle" wasn't made of batter. This young man must have just graduated from high school to dare mock his teachers like that. He laughed it off; even though the customer was paying, his loyalties still lay with the teaching profession.
"Teachers are bound to have your best interests at heart."
"Their goal is just to make sure you go to a good university."
"I heard the college entrance exam application period just started recently. Which school is young man planning on attending?"
Go to university just to graduate and become a corporate slave?
Liu Chuanfeng caught the two plastic bags with his index finger and sighed with a touch of melancholy. "I haven't the slightest idea."
"With my score, Tsinghua and Peking University aren't exactly going to fight over me."
The vendor's jaw dropped slightly. What was this kid talking about?
Could his score actually be that high—was he the municipal top scorer?
That couldn't be right; didn't they say the top scorer was a girl? Or maybe he was a specialized art or sports student?
Liu Chuanfeng didn't bother to clear up the vendor's confusion. He turned the corner with the bags, carrying them with an air of aloof pride.
He saw a clean-looking, chubby guy sitting on the steps. Judging by his build, he was definitely well over six feet tall. The fellow was propping his head with one hand, gazing listlessly toward Liu Chuanfeng's direction. His unfocused eyes slowly started to focus the moment Liu Chuanfeng appeared, though his voice remained lazy.
"Hurry up."
"I'm starving."
"Surely it's not that bad."
Liu Chuanfeng pointed back at the sign for the bathhouse. "Did a six-hundred-and-eighty-eight-yuan package really wear you out this much?"
"By all accounts, that shouldn't happen."
With that, he stroked his chin, looked the other guy up and down, and said with a hint of worry, "Wang Yaofa, my friend, you're so young and yet you're already like this. How are you ever going to inherit Old Wang's millions?"
"I'm totally fine."
"I'm just hungry."
Wang Yaofa snatched the jianbing from his hand with a flash of annoyance and took a vicious bite. As the color gradually returned to his brightened eyes, he mumbled defensively through a mouthful of food, "Once I'm full and get my strength back, I can go back in there three more times."
His fierce expression made it clear his dignity was on the line—he looked ready to march right back in and take another stroll if anyone dared doubt him. Yet paired with his chubby, fair-skinned face, it just looked kind of cute.
Liu Chuanfeng watched with a faint smile. Youth always came with an unwillingness to admit defeat.
Ah, right. He was a young man himself now.
He had just been reborn back into 2014 yesterday, and he still hadn't fully adjusted to the new environment.
An 18-year-old body with a 32-year-old soul—what a wonderful feeling.
"I forgot, you're VIP Wang, who loaded two grand into their account over there. Of course you can go in three times."
Hearing the subtle sarcasm in Liu Chuanfeng's voice, Wang Yaofa quickly swallowed his mouthful of pancake to defend himself. "You don't understand. Number Sixty-Six, whom I requested—she has it so hard."
"Oh?"
Liu Chuanfeng sat down beside him and ate his jianbing leisurely. "Do you think she's a really good person and very motivated?"
Wang Yaofa arched an eyebrow and muttered a muffled assent.
Liu Chuanfeng looked up at the sky. "Let me consult the stars."
"Is she divorced, with a kid?"
"Huh?"
A flash of surprise crossed Wang Yaofa's eyes. How did he know that?
Still, refusing to back down, he retorted, "It's completely normal for someone in their twenties or thirties to be married."
Liu Chuanfeng smiled faintly. "Did her ex-husband beat her, leading to a divorce, leaving her to raise her child all alone with no one to rely on, compounded by elderly parents who fell gravely ill, plus a younger brother who's still in school?"
"And is her little brother just a bit younger than you, still studying and right at the age where he needs money?"
"Holy crap!"
By this point, Wang Yaofa's eyes were full of astonishment. "How do you know everything?"
He wasn't an idiot, either. As a high-quality youth on the verge of entering university, he immediately grew suspicious. "Was your girl just as tragic?"
Before Liu Chuanfeng could speak, Wang Yaofa couldn't help sighing, "True. If she hadn't been driven to desperation with nowhere left to turn..."
"Who would leave their hometown and take up a path like this?"
Liu Chuanfeng opened his mouth to say something, but seeing the absolute conviction on his face, he hadn't the heart to break the cruel reality to him. College students were supposed to be like this—pure-eyed, holding beautiful illusions about the world.
They would rather believe their bro couldn't tell fortunes than accept that the girl was just running a routine.
"Then you should go keep her company more often."
"It's not like you have a girlfriend anyway."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."
Wang Yaofa nodded earnestly. Talking about this seemed to revive him. "You really should try this package yourself. What's the point of the 198 package? Let me tell you about this 688 package..."
"Stop, stop, stop."
Liu Chuanfeng quickly cut him off. None of this was broadcast-friendly material; was this any way to talk?
It was utterly unrefined, and he wasn't that kind of guy.
He was just afraid that if Wang Yaofa said any more, he'd be tempted to go inside himself.
"I don't need any of that."
Seeing him refuse so resolutely, Wang Yaofa had already come up with a reason for him. "True."
"It's not like you're short on girls liking you."
"If you wanted to date, it'd be way too easy."
"Oh, speaking of dating..."
"I meant to ask you yesterday. When Zhang Jingyi confessed to you yesterday, why did you turn her down?"
"She's the campus belle, for crying out loud. Countless guys are into her."
"Do you even know she's had a crush on you for three years?"
"I heard she even cried yesterday, and a bunch of guys have broken hearts, screaming about coming over to teach you a lesson."
"Especially since you told her she's a good girl and you couldn't afford to mess with her."
"I just want to know—if she's a good girl, why can't you afford to mess with her?"