Chapter 9: Which Summer Job Pays 1,500 a Day?

On the night the high school entrance exam ended, Li Luo sat in Ying Chanxi's study chair, turning on her computer and staring at the screen with rapt attention.

He skillfully typed in his QQ account and logged into his QQ from twenty years ago.

At this moment, the friend list still contained only elementary and junior high school classmates.

It was foreseeable that his high school and junior college classmates from his past life would likely never meet again in this life.

At the very least, they probably wouldn't appear in his friend list anymore.

After the high school entrance exam, his life had already taken a path entirely different from his past life.

With a faint sigh, Li Luo opened Baidu and searched for a long list of well-known websites.

This period could be described as the turning point where the internet gradually shifted from PC to mobile.

In film and television, Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku Tudou were still battling each other for market share.

Live-streaming platforms had sprung up like mushrooms after rain, with Douyu and Huya emerging prominently during this time.

Offline, the three food delivery platforms—Meituan, Ele. me, and Baidu Waimai—were fiercely competing for customers.

In the ride-hailing sector, Didi and Kuaidi were locked in intense competition, the scene blazing hot.

The battles on mobile internet had not yet settled as they would in the future.

Yet for all these things, even Li Luo, reborn as he was, could only sit back and watch.

Whether the 35-year-old Li Luo or the 15-year-old Li Luo, he was merely an ordinary person.

He had no capital, no connections, and no exceptional abilities.

Though the Memory Palace ability was powerful, it was limited by mental strength and energy—it was not omnipotent.

So after flipping through the familiar names on the web pages with a slightly excited heart, Li Luo's enthusiasm gradually cooled, returning to a calm state.

Though behind each dazzling name on the screen lay countless streams of wealth.

But these things, whether before or after his rebirth, were most likely unrelated to him.

He patted his pockets—only thirty-some yuan in loose change; even with his minor status, he couldn't even buy stocks…

After realizing this, Li Luo sighed and abandoned the grand blueprints that had endlessly circled in his mind since his rebirth.

He'd simply watched too many rebirth novels in his past life—he was just a poor worker; getting his parents to buy a house was far more practical than anything else!

Aside from that, he could only try to find ways to earn a little money first.

After all, in this era, almost every industry required some initial investment to succeed.

The only truly zero-cost, zero-barrier paths to earning money were honest wage labor—there were simply no other options.

Thinking of this, Li Luo reopened Baidu and searched for two websites.

One was Bilibili, the other was Qidian Chinese Literature Network.

Unfortunately, Douyin was still far from launch; otherwise, Li Luo would have preferred to pursue it.

He had no further ambitions now—only hoping his family could eat and live comfortably and enjoy a pleasant high school life.

Real money-making? He'd wait until college.

…

"What are you looking at?" At nearly nine at night, Ying Chanxi's voice suddenly appeared behind Li Luo.

Her head poked out from beside his right shoulder, her long hair brushing his face as it slid down his shoulder and landed on his chest.

"Why are you reading novels now?"

"Oh… just browsing." Li Luo inhaled the faint scent of her hair, glanced at Ying Chanxi, and saw she was already wearing her panda pajamas—he knew she'd already bathed.

He then snapped back to attention and continued scrolling through the website he'd logged into, skimming its rankings.

"I Want to Seal the Heavens," "Perfect World," "Manghuang Ji," "Douluo 2"… these were all ancient relics.

Li Luo felt dazed—he never imagined he'd one day return to when these novels were still being serialized.

"You're not playing games today? Switched to novels?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously.

"You want to read?"

"No," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "I still need to preview first-year high school material—I don't have time for idle reading."

"You're too intense…"

"What's too intense?"

"Uh… I mean, I'm complimenting your hard work."

Ying Chanxi didn't overthink it, leaned closer to check the time, then said: "You can only play until ten. You have to go home then."

"Got it."

"Then I'm going to sleep."

"Alright, go ahead."

"Then… goodnight?" Ying Chanxi blinked, eyes fixed on the screen, not looking at Li Luo's face, speaking with cautious inquiry.

"Mm, goodnight."

Hearing Li Luo's reply, Ying Chanxi's lips curled slightly, then she turned and walked out of the study, her slippers tapping pata-pata as she returned to her bedroom.

She folded the small blanket Li Luo had given her as a child into a rectangle, draped it over her pillow, lay down, inhaled its scent, and soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

Meanwhile, Li Luo, still checking websites in the study, watched the clock tick steadily to ten p. m., then shut off the computer on time and returned across the hall to sleep.

…

The next day, just after three in the morning.

While the sky was still dim, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong had already risen on schedule, stumbling awake in the dark.

They washed quietly, avoiding waking their son, preparing to leave for the breakfast shop.

But just then, Li Luo's bedroom door opened.

Li Luo, already dressed, stepped out and slipped effortlessly into the bathroom, squeezing between them to grab his toothbrush and cup: "Move aside, move aside—I need to brush my teeth too."

"What are you up to?" Lin Xiuhong stared at her son in surprise. "It's three in the morning—why are you awake? Where are you sneaking off to now?"

"To work a summer job," Li Luo said, dabbing water on his toothbrush, squeezing paste into his mouth, and speaking muffled through the foam.

Li Guohong raised an eyebrow: "Why the sudden urge to work a summer job? Your mom doesn't withhold your allowance."

"What summer job?" Lin Xiuhong added. "Go back to bed. I'll give you a thousand yuan for summer spending—just don't waste it."

"I'm already up—how can I sleep now?" Li Luo rinsed his mouth with a gurgle, washed his face with cold water, dried it, then followed his parents out the door. "Come on, let's go!"

Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong walked out of the house, bewildered, watching Li Luo trail them all the way to the breakfast stall they'd rented across the neighborhood.

Then Li Luo tied on an apron and joined them, tidying the tables and preparing the morning menu.

The couple stared at their son, diligently working inside the shop, their expressions dazed.

And this kid wasn't even getting in the way.

Not just washing and prepping vegetables—he learned how to steam buns and mantou after just one try.

With all three preparing ingredients, what usually took until 5:30 a. m. was finished before five.

All that remained was waiting for customers.

"Alright, alright, done!" Lin Xiuhong pulled Li Luo to a chair. "Rest a bit. We'll head home later for a nap."

"I'm not tired," Li Luo looked at his mom strangely. "I'll nap after lunch—no need to rush."

"Really not tired?"

"Really not!" Li Luo laughed, then spotted a man entering the shop and immediately stood up. "Uncle, what'll you have? Buns, mantou, and fried dumplings aren't ready yet—but everything else is."

"Can I get fried noodles?"

"Sure."

"Add an egg. No spice."

"Got it!" Li Luo called into the kitchen. "Dad! Fried noodles with an egg—no spice!"

The man plopped onto a chair, glanced at Li Luo, then at Lin Xiuhong, and smiled. "Your son?"

"Yes, yes," Lin Xiuhong smiled back. "Just finished his middle school exam. Don't know what got into him—he couldn't sit still at home, so he came to help."

"Good kid," the man praised. "Your family clearly has good discipline. My daughter… ugh… such a headache. I wish she were as sensible as your boy."

"Oh, he's just average," Lin Xiuhong demurred. "He used to be a real handful."

"Boys are always mischievous when young," the man chuckled. Then he asked, "Madam, do you have soy milk? Sweet, and hot."

"Of course, I'll get it for you," Lin Xiuhong replied, turning to pour some.

But Li Luo had already scooped a steaming bowl of sweet soy milk and handed it straight to her.

Lin Xiuhong reached out, took it, stared at the bowl, froze for a moment, then snapped back to herself and hurried to serve the customer.

Li Luo's breakfast stall, a well-known name for over a decade, now did excellent business.

Especially among residents of two or three nearby neighborhoods, who always came here for breakfast.

From just before six a. m. until around nine-thirty, customers streamed in nonstop.

Normally, with only two people, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong were constantly rushing, never catching a breath.

But today was strikingly different.

With Li Luo's help, though still busy, the entire operation ran smoothly and orderly.

Li Luo, this tall young man, moved constantly between customers and kitchen, taking orders and calling out to his parents to prepare meals.

With his Memory Palace, no matter how many customers came, Li Luo never mixed up orders—he delivered every dish accurately, never flustered.

This eased Lin Xiuhong's burden immensely—she no longer had to juggle accounting, cash collection, and the buns, fried dough sticks, and dumplings all at once.

Plus, many regulars noticed the new face and asked about him.

When they learned he was Lin Xiuhong's son, they smiled and praised him.

As a result, Lin Xiuhong felt no fatigue at all—she smiled brightly all morning.

After nine, the rush slowed, and things eased up.

Though called a breakfast stall, it stayed open all day.

Only the morning hours were busy; after lunch, customers dwindled to almost none.

In the afternoon, they cleaned up, then reopened briefly around five or six p. m. for another small wave of customers before closing.

Now that the morning rush was over, Li Luo stretched his limbs at the shop's entrance.

He was tired, yes—but not that soul-deep exhaustion that came with being over thirty.

No sore back, no stiff neck, energy still full.

No wonder—it was the body of a fifteen-year-old!

Li Luo savored the feeling of sweat sliding down his forehead, thinking everything felt wonderful.

At that moment, Li Guohong was cleaning the kitchen when he heard a low sob behind him.

He turned and saw Lin Xiuhong hiding in the corner, quietly wiping tears.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Li Guohong stepped forward, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder and offering her a tissue.

"It's nothing… just happy…" Lin Xiuhong laughed through tears, wiped her face, coughed twice, and patted her chest as she spoke to Li Guohong. "Do you think Li Luo has grown up? He seems to have matured all at once. I'm truly happy today—you wouldn't believe how many people praised him this morning."

"It's a good thing," Li Guohong smiled, hugging her. "Li Luo's grown up—that's all we want. Boys, I always said, eventually learn to be sensible."

"Yes, you're right," Lin Xiuhong said, tears still glistening in her eyes, smiling brightly. Then she walked to the counter, pulled out a stack of red bills, and began counting.

"What's this?"

"His summer allowance," Lin Xiuhong said, counting. Then she pulled out ten hundred-yuan notes.

But her hand paused—she added five more, making fifteen hundred yuan total, clenching them tightly in her palm.

After wiping away her tears, Lin Xiuhong took a deep breath, steadied herself, stepped out of the kitchen, and walked to Li Luo's side.

She looked up at her son, now one meter seventy-five tall, and remembered how rebellious he'd been just a few years ago.

Then the memory played the past few days, leaving Lin Xiuhong momentarily dazed.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Li Luo looked at Lin Xiuhong in confusion, waving his hand in front of her. "Tired?"

"No, I'm not tired." Lin Xiuhong shook her head, snapping back to herself, then grabbed Li Luo's hand and shoved fifteen crisp red bills into his palm. "Take it. Have fun this summer vacation. Once you get into high school, you'll need to work hard."

Li Luo lowered his head, staring at the money in his hand, blinked, then took a deep breath.

He vaguely remembered that summer in his past life—he'd gone playing basketball the day before the exam and argued with his parents.

He'd done poorly on the high school entrance exam.

He hadn't gotten a single cent of pocket money.

Yet now, the exam results hadn't even been released yet… he'd just done what any normal student would do, and happened to help out at the shop…

And yet he'd been handed 1500 yuan in pocket money.

When he'd gone to university, his monthly allowance hadn't been more than this.

Emotions surged inside Li Luo, but he said aloud: "Mom, are summer jobs here really this profitable? Can I come back tomorrow? A job paying 1500 yuan a day—I could work till retirement."

"..." Lin Xiuhong stared at this brat who could never say anything decent—all her warmth vanished in an instant. "Get out of here!"