Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5

The street still looked the same and so did the buildings. Even the broken streetlights had not changed.

Chen Hansheng stood at the door of his house. He wanted to knock gently, but they ended up being loud as always. “Mom, I’m back.”

The inner wooden door opened first and a middle-aged woman in her forties appeared in Chen Hansheng’s line of sight. The moment she opened the door, she was quick to reprimand him. “What are you making so much noise for? The entire building can hear your voice. You’re already an adult but you don’t even bring your keys when you go out.”

‘The same words and the same smell.’ Chen Hansheng thought to himself.

Chen Hansheng had been nervous before knocking on the door. But the moment he saw his mother and heard her talk, he felt as if he had returned to being his seventeen-year-old self. Nothing had changed.

Chen Hansheng eventually entered the house, despite his mother glaring at him the entire time. The living room might look a little stuffy, but otherwise, he felt truly at home. He bent over the sofa to look for a remote control. “Why don’t you turn on the air conditioning? It’s so hot. Where’s Dad?”

Liang Meijuan took out the refrigerated watermelon as she said, “All you know to do is turn on the air conditioner when you get home. Your dad hasn’t gotten off work yet.”

When he saw the refrigerated watermelon, Chen Hansheng chuckled. “Seems like my mother still dotes on me.”

“Well, I only have one son to feed.”

Liang Meijuan looked at her lively son. She loved him very much but pretended to be very stern with him. “Where’s the admission letter?”

Chen Hansheng casually threw the envelope containing the admission letter on the dining table. “Here.”

“Are you asking for a beating?!”

Liang Meijuan hurriedly picked up the envelope and made sure that there was no watermelon juice on it. Then, she used the spatula to lightly hit Chen Hansheng. “You little brat, do you still want to go to university?”

Liang Meijuan carefully took out the admission letter and read the words printed at the top. “Chen Hansheng has been accepted in the ‘Public Administration Major’. Please report to the university with this notice on September 1, 2002.”

Although domestic universities saw an increase in enrollments since 1999, getting admitted to one was still a good thing for those among the older generation.

After all, many of that generation such as Liang Meijuan did not attend university, and neither did many of her nieces and nephews. Although her son was not very obedient, he still did well in his studies.

He may only be in the second batch of admissions but he could still take the postgraduate entrance exam in the future.

As Liang Meijuan read the letter, Chen Hansheng had already wolfed down half of the watermelon. Once he was done, he patted his belly and left for the bathroom to take a shower. Liang Meijuan quickly advised him. “Let the water heat up for ten minutes first, or else you will catch a cold.”

Their place had a solar-powered water heater, which meant that they would need to let the water heat up for a while before using it to shower. But Chen Hansheng did not listen to her. He picked up a fresh set of clothes and walked into the bathroom. “It’s been such a hot day, so I’d rather take a cold shower.”

“Rascal!” Liang Meijuan could not persuade him, so she could only let Chen Hansheng be. She looked back at the admission letter again, and suddenly felt a sense of relief.

It took a lot of effort, financially and mentally, to support a child through their education.

“But in another four years, his father and I will be able to relax and just focus on helping to take care of our grandchildren. We won’t have to do anything else for the rest of our lives.”

This was the day Liang Meijuan, a middle-aged woman in Port City, was looking forward to.

…

Chen Hansheng took a cool shower to his heart’s content and then stared blankly at his eighteen-year-old face in the mirror. He was young, healthy, and full of vitality.

But if he looked deeper into the eyes of the face in the mirror, he could sense his true self in there, the thirty-five-year-old.

Chen Hansheng suddenly reached out and poked at his reflection in the mirror. “Since you’ve sent me back in time, I must do something worthwhile. Although I will never be short of money in the future, wouldn’t it all be pointless if I didn’t do anything slightly different this time?!”

At this time, Chen Hansheng heard the sound of the iron door opening and closing, then a man’s voice in the living room. He put on a serious expression, a loose shirt, a pair of underwear, and walked out of the door. “Dad, you’re back!”

A handsome and tall middle-aged man stood in the living room. This was Chen Hansheng’s father, Chen Zhaojun. Chen Hansheng looked very similar to him but their personalities were worlds apart.

Chen Zhaojun rarely spoke and Liang Meijuan often said that he was a no-nonsense kind of person, the complete opposite of their son who was more lively and less well-behaved.

Thus, despite their son’s cheerful greeting, Chen Zhaojun could only muster up a faint response of acknowledgment. When he turned to look at their son, he noticed that Chen Hansheng had just taken a shower and there were still water droplets on his back. Chen Zhaojun silently walked over and turned up the air-conditioning temperature in the living room.