Chapter 4: A New Life

"Di Ye, are you up yet?"

Di Ye was startled awake by the knocking, opened his sore and gritty eyes, and stared blankly at the yellowing ceiling for a moment. Then, regaining his senses, he reached out to grope around his pillow, found his Electronic Watch, and let out a sigh of relief. He shouted toward the door, "Teacher Feng, I just woke up. Is something the matter?"

"Nothing much, just looking for you to go get breakfast together."

"Then wait a moment, I'm getting up now."

Di Ye glanced at the time and saw it was already 7:30. He put the Electronic Watch on his left wrist, got out of bed, got dressed, opened the door, and said to Feng Shijie, "Teacher Feng, come in and sit for a bit, I'm going to wash up."

"Alright, go ahead."

There was a rectangular niche in the wall of Room 303 for storing daily items. Di Ye took out an enamel mug containing his toothbrush and toothpaste, grabbed a towel from a hook behind the door, put them into a plastic basin, and walked out of the room while yawning.

In 1995, housing had not yet been fully commercialized. The Tongzi Building was packed with all sorts of people, and the corridor was bustling with activity. There were not only the sounds of adults chatting and children crying, but also radios playing news, televisions playing commercials, and tape recorders playing music—noisy and lively, full of the flavor of life.

Di Ye had never experienced such a scene. He observed his surroundings with great interest and strolled slowly to the public restroom on the west side of the hallway. He froze at the entrance because the sinks inside were crowded with people, and there were quite a few residents queuing up behind them.

"1, 2, 3... six faucets in total, and it's still not enough. Truly spectacular."

Di Ye clicked his tongue in wonder and had no choice but to follow suit, carrying his plastic basin to join the line. It took three or four minutes for his turn to come. He brushed his teeth in a rush, and when he used the towel to wash his face, he shivered from the freezing tap water. An old man nearby saw this, gave a disdainful snort, and mocked, "Pampered and spoiled!"

"Old sir, do you live in 306?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Nothing, I just see you're in good health, why keep a cane by your door?"

"I use it to beat my grandson."

"You're truly imposing, old sir."

Di Ye chatted aimlessly with the old man for a few sentences, went to the restroom next door, and then returned to 303 while humming the lyrics, "No credit card and no her, no home with 24-hour hot water." He put the enamel mug and towel back in their place and said to Feng Shijie, who was sitting at the desk, "I'm ready, let's go."

Feng Shijie put the *Computer Composition Principles* book in his hand back in its place, stood up, and said, "Computers are becoming more and more widely used now. I've always wanted to learn. After you finish your postgraduate entrance exams, lend me these books to look at."

"No problem."

Di Ye agreed readily, but he felt some doubt in his heart. When he was a senior in 2018, he had joined the crowd to take the postgraduate entrance exam, which was held at the end of December. But today was already January 2, 1995. Judging by Feng Shijie's tone, the exam clearly hadn't started yet.

"Hurry and test if the Electronic Watch can be used to cheat, otherwise, forget about the postgraduate exam, even the final exams will be a disaster."

Holding this thought, on the way to the cafeteria, Di Ye pretended to set an alarm. In front of Feng Shijie, he pressed the button on the top left of the Electronic Watch and summoned the Light Screen. He discovered that Feng Shijie had no reaction at all and truly could not see the Light Screen.

"I've hit the jackpot! This way, as long as I maintain a good relationship with the old antique, it's like having an invisible technical consultant—and one with a 28-year time gap, at that."

The top-left button was the Message Transceiver. After his excitement, Di Ye saw two messages on the Light Screen. He pretended to be casual, touched the Light Screen with his finger, and clicked play. He observed Feng Shijie again and found he still had no reaction, clearly unable to hear the voice of Di Ye.

Di Ye was very meticulous. The two messages sent over were both about campus life. The first told Di Ye that he lived in Room 402 of Student Dormitory Building 11, and introduced the names, appearances, and personalities of several roommates. The second notified him that there was a large lecture in the morning for three classes of the Computer Science Department.

"At 9:50 in Room 208 of the Main Teaching Building, it's the last class of *Compilation Principles*. They'll be outlining the exam key points. Shi Yucheng will definitely go to class. He likes to sit in the front row and has a black mole on his left cheek; he's very easy to recognize."

This old antique has such a good memory. Even after more than 20 years, he actually still remembers the time, location, and content of the class...

Di Ye was full of admiration. He pressed the button, switched to speaking mode, whispered "Got it" to the Electronic Watch, then turned off the Light Screen. Led by Feng Shijie, he walked into the Second Student Cafeteria located between the sports field and the Main Teaching Building.

The cafeteria was bustling with people. Since there was no social poison like smartphones in 1995, almost everyone was chatting and interacting with their companions, whether they were sitting at plastic tables or carrying bags while walking. Although most people were dressed plainly, their faces were filled with high-spirited and enthusiastic energy.

Di Ye liked this vibrant scene. While queuing behind Feng Shijie, he looked around. When he was about to reach the serving window, he discovered that the people in front weren't using money to buy things, but various colorful paper tickets. He was a bit confused and hurriedly took out his wallet to flip through it, finding a few plastic meal tickets in the inner pocket.

"There really isn't a campus card in 1995?"

Besides the meal tickets, the prices also surprised Di Ye. A meat bun was only 1.5 jiao, and white porridge was only 5 fen. This gave him a clearer understanding of the economic situation in 1995, and he felt that giving Feng Shijie 100 yuan last night was too much of a loss; 50... no, 10 yuan should have been enough.

Although the food in the cafeteria was cheap and the portions were sufficient, the taste wasn't great. Di Ye ate two meat buns with his porridge and felt he couldn't eat any more, so he gave the remaining one to Feng Shijie, said goodbye, and walked toward Student Dormitory Building 11.

Di Ye was a local of Yuncheng but had never studied at Yuncheng University, so he wasn't very familiar with the campus layout. After asking for directions twice along the way, he finally found Building 11. He walked up to the 4th floor against the crowd coming down, pushed open Room 402, and smelled a turbid air mixed with the scent of cigarettes and smelly socks.

Room 402 was a typical old-fashioned student dormitory, with four bunk beds on each side and a long, wide desk in the middle, crowding the space to be very narrow.

There were only three people in the room. Two were sleeping, and one was leaning against the head of the bed reading. Seeing Di Ye enter, he smiled and teased, "Yo, why does our great talent Di have time to return to the nest today?"

"Came back to get some books."

Di Ye saw he had a center-parted hairstyle and a slightly chubby build, which matched the person Di Ye had described. He greeted him, "Zhu Zichun, what are you reading so early in the morning?"

"*Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre*."

"You haven't read such an old novel?"

"I read it long ago. Recently, the TV series adapted from this book is playing everywhere, so I'm revisiting it."

Di Ye turned sideways to pass through the gap between the desk and the beds, walked to the window, and pushed the glass window open a crack. While breathing in the fresh air, he inquired, "You often hang out with the people from Class 3. Do you know which dormitory Shi Yucheng lives in?"

"411. He's just like you, a local of Yuncheng. He doesn't usually stay in the dormitory. You looking for him for something?"

"A small matter. I see this guy is quite rich. Do you know what his parents do?"

"Don't know."

At this moment, the guy on the upper bunk of Zhu Zichun poked his head out from under the quilt and chimed in, "I know. Shi Yucheng's dad is the General Manager of the Xinmin Pharmaceutical Factory. He lives in a big villa, rides in a Mercedes, and is especially rich."

According to Di Ye's description, the roommate sleeping on Zhu Zichun's upper bunk was named Su Zhaonian. He liked playing poker and often roamed between various dormitories, so he was very well-informed. Hearing him say this, Di Ye's heart stirred and he asked, "Is his dad named Shi Weidong?"

"I'm not clear on that. I just heard from people in Class 3 that Shi Yucheng's family is extremely wealthy."

Di Ye habitually rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

The Xinmin Pharmaceutical Factory was a very famous state-owned enterprise in Yuncheng, built in 1958. It was one of the key projects aided by the Soviet Union. Before the 90s, production and sales were booming, and business was thriving. However, after 1992, it took a sharp turn for the worse, suffering losses year after year, and finally underwent a joint-venture restructuring with a Hong Kong enterprise in 1998.

The 1998 restructuring caused a huge stir and even resulted in loss of life. After an investigation, it was found that during his tenure as General Manager from 1993 to 1998, Shi Weidong had abused his power, used various means to embezzle company assets, and caused major economic losses, eventually landing him in prison with a ten-year sentence.

Shi Weidong lived a corrupt life and there were many scandalous rumors about him, which continued to circulate in Yuncheng even years later. Therefore, even someone like Di Ye, born after '95, had heard of him.

"If the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be askew. No wonder Shi Yucheng is so ruthless."

Di Ye chatted with Su Zhaonian for a while longer and found that he didn't know much more, so he stopped asking. He found a *Compilation Principles and Technology* textbook from the niche in the dormitory wall and prepared to go to the Main Teaching Building to wait for Shi Yucheng.

Before leaving, Di Ye saw a mirror with a plastic handle on the large desk. He picked it up and looked at himself, finding that he looked better than the photo on his ID card—thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a dignified appearance. He was indeed a bit handsome and couldn't help but laugh, muttering, "Trading a house with 24-hour hot water in 2023 for this face, not a bad deal."