Seeing this reply, Chen Mo actually found it rather amusing.
In his past memories, the two of them had exchanged mostly lengthy letters.
Yet because he had only sent four words earlier, not knowing what to write right after his rebirth, the other person had actually replied with "Tit for tat."
He thought to himself: "We've really mastered this now; we turned a proper 'correspondence' into 'texting'."
As for the content, Chen Mo, who still had a basic grasp of English, translated it literally, and it roughly meant:
——The wise man says: Only a fool gets trapped in it.
Combined with his previous letter mentioning [failure in confession], the precise and concise translation should be:
——[Wise men don't fall in love.]
"As expected, you really get me!"
Chen Mo sighed with emotion, then put the letter away.
Originally he wanted to reply right away, but honestly, at the moment he really didn't know what to write.
After all, he wasn't some unscrupulous author's novel character who could casually pad out text to deceive readers.
Writing letters was something that required the right mood to pick up a pen.
In the end, Chen Mo decided to reply depending on the circumstances.
He turned on the computer, casually browsed the information for a while, and went to sleep early.
……
Having been exhausted for days, he had intended to sleep the clock around, but never expected He Yunlan to drag him out of the blankets right at noon.
Rubbing his eyes as he entered the living room, he found his dad was also home, and the envelope used for holding money that had been left on the coffee table and dining table last night was still lying there untouched.
"Go wash your face quickly and fix your hair," He Yunlan urged as she served the food.
When he came out of the bathroom, his parents had already taken their respective seats.
Chen Mo walked dazedly to the dining table, eating almost with his eyes closed.
He Yunlan gave him a sideways glance and said.
"Ever since you retired from sports, you've gotten lazier and lazier."
"Mom, why don't you mention how tired I've been these past few days?"
He Yunlan couldn't be bothered to argue with him and cut straight to the point.
"Your dad and I discussed it, and we plan to take you to visit your paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents respectively this weekend.
So this afternoon, go buy a few decent clothes by yourself, and get your appearance sorted out while you're at it."
"Oh, got it."
At that moment, He Yunlan suddenly pulled out a wad of cash, placed it on the table, and continued.
"What was said was said, and joking aside, your tuition and living expenses are already prepared and will be given to you before school starts.
As for the money for buying a phone and clothes, your dad and I won't go back on our word either; just spend it however you see fit, we won't be tagging along."
"Really, there's no need. Didn't I earn enough money for a phone myself?"
"What's yours is yours, and what the two of us give is what the two of us give—those are two different things."
Chen Mo knew he couldn't afford to provoke Comrade He Yunlan, so he looked at Chen Guozheng.
"Just take it. Your mother and I discussed it long ago."
Since it had come to this, Chen Mo knew that saying anything more would be useless.
……
Once his parents had all gone to work, Chen Mo simply tidied up, took the money, grabbed his backpack, and left the house.
However, he only took the 6,000 yuan he had earned from Qin Xiaojun along with the remainder of his competition prize money, leaving the money given by his parents untouched right inside his desk.
Originally, Chen Mo had actually wanted to cut off this long hair as a way of saying goodbye to the past.
But on second thought, the past had damn all to do with his hair, so he didn't go.
He went straight to the largest shopping mall in Wen County.
……
"Hello, who is this?"
"It's me."
"Xiao Mo? What's up? Are you calling me to play video games?"
"Play my ass! I'm at the public phone booth outside your residential compound, get down here right now."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Hanging up the phone, Luo Botao hurried out of the compound and saw Chen Mo teasing a dog by the roadside.
"What's wrong? Why didn't you come inside when you got to my front door?"
Hearing Luo Botao's voice, Chen Mo stood up.
"Luobo, did you test out that 'brick'? How does it work?"
Mentioning the phone, a trace of awkwardness appeared on Luo Botao's face.
With college just around the corner, who wouldn't want to use the newest and buy the best?
However, not every family could afford the newest and best phone.
Actually, Luo Botao's family wasn't so strapped for cash that they couldn't afford a new phone; rather, based on memories from his previous life, his grandfather had fallen ill at the beginning of the year.
The surgery fees had wiped out almost all the family's savings, making their life genuinely more frugal than usual.
Chen Mo didn't want to tease his best brother any longer, so he pulled a box straight out of his bag and handed it to Luo Botao.
"Luobo, you wouldn't take the money, but you can't refuse this thing."
When Luo Botao saw the box, he was stunned for a moment, and then his two not-so-large eyes widened fixedly.
Because right on the cover of that box was the Nokia 6680 he had been thinking about day and night and dreaming of owning.
Coming slightly to his senses, Luo Botao instead pushed it right back.
"Xiao Mo, I know the official price of this phone is 3,850 yuan, and buying it here in our county might be even more expensive. You only earned 6,000 in total, I can't take this!"
"Good grief, you're starting to be polite with me now? Take it and hold onto it right this instant.
I said back then I wouldn't let you work for nothing, and you said you didn't want money either.
So buying you a phone means neither of us broke our promise."
Chen Mo said as he pushed it back again.
He had to admit that the final price of 4,050 yuan for this phone truly made Chen Mo's heart ache. He thought to himself: You damn well should've just taken that 3,000 yuan instead.
Yet since Luo Botao genuinely liked it, no matter how much his heart ached, he had to buy it for his brother.
First, to repay a favor, and second, to "pay a debt."
Luo Botao still didn't reach out his hand, and only said.
"Xiao Mo, my uncle and the elders gave me a red envelope for starting college, and my mom said she'd pitch in some more money when she comes back around the National Day holiday to buy me the latest model phone."
Seeing that Luo Botao still wouldn't take it, Chen Mo's temper flared up instantly.
"Damn it, what are you being so coy with me for? Keep your college red envelope to spend yourself; take this since I'm giving it to you, and if you don't take it right now, believe it or not I'll throw it straight in the trash."
As his best childhood buddy, Luo Botao naturally knew Chen Mo's stubborn and fiery temper, so he took it through his tears.
The moment Chen Mo saw this, he immediately smiled and said.
"Alright, stop crying and sniffling like some woman, aren't you ashamed? Anyone who doesn't know better would think I defiled you."
Luo Botao wiped away his tears, as if he had made up his mind, and declared in a grand, heroic tone.
"One day, I'll earn money with my own two hands just like you, and buy the things I like."
"That's right, now that's more like a real man."
Luo Botao nodded and said through gritted teeth.
"Don't bully the young for being poor!"
As soon as those words came out, Chen Mo froze instantly, then suddenly bowed deeply toward Luo Botao.
Actually, he had originally intended to bow two more times, but then thought it was too ominous and there was no funeral feast to attend, so he let it go.
"What's wrong? Why are you bowing?" Luo Botao looked completely baffled.
"It's nothing, I was just suddenly filled with a sense of admiration for you."
Afterwards, the two of them chatted for a bit longer before heading home separately.
……
Next, Chen Mo spent a couple of days hanging around Qin Xiaojun's internet cafe, though not for the sake of playing.
After all, he was the one who had assembled those machines, so even if testing showed no problems, there was no guarantee some malfunction wouldn't pop up during normal operation, so he figured he'd go do some after-sales service.
During this period, he also received invitations from the coach and his former teammates, attending a team gathering to bid farewell to his fellow apprentices and seniors who were advancing to higher education or entering sports schools.
Before he knew it, the weekend arrived.
He went with his parents to visit both sides of their extended families in the countryside.
Just as Chen Mo had said at the start, these two trips to the countryside certainly weren't in vain, and each netted him a small profit.
By the time the family of three arrived home on Sunday night, there were only two days left before the official start of school.
They even held a small family meeting regarding when Chen Mo would officially set off to report for school.
Chen Guozheng and his wife's opinion was that both of them should take a day or two off work to send Chen Mo to school; after all, the distance from Wen County to Jingdu wasn't very far, taking only about two to three hours by car.
Provided, of course, that getting the [Jingdu Entry Permit] went smoothly.
Yet Chen Mo was firmly opposed to it, refusing to compromise no matter what Chen Guozheng and his wife said.
For this, Comrade He Yunlan almost treated Chen Mo to another serving of his favorite "big mouth-slaps."
Even so, Chen Mo insisted on going to report by himself.
In the end, Comrade Chen Guozheng, the "head of the household," took the risk of getting a helping of "big mouth-slaps" himself and cast the deciding vote in agreement with Chen Mo's view.