Chapter 549 A time traveler [first update]
Summer is unpleasant for many people. High temperature, dust, sunlight, mosquitoes...all are irritating. It's better in cities, but in the countryside, there's one more thing to add - flies. Whether it's the aroma of food or the sweetness of fruits, they are all fatally tempted.
Zhu Minghan watched coldly as a few flies lingered on the seemingly clean dining table, flying up and down for a while, his brows furrowed tightly, and his eyes full of disgust.
This is a square table with a perfectly sized white floor tile of one meter on a side. So the table looks very clean, but in reality it is very dirty just by looking at how many flies it attracts. Because less than twenty minutes ago, Grandpa Zhu cut a watermelon on it. After eating the watermelon, he just wiped it casually with a dark rag a few times. It looked clean, but in fact, the sweet taste remained, thus attracting these flies.
"Hahaha, it's time to start dinner." Grandma Zhu walked in slowly with a smile and two plates of food.
Upon noticing the movement, the flies on the table flew up in fright.
After Grandma Zhu put down the dishes, they boldly approached again, probably because they smelled the fragrance and looked even more excited.
Grandpa Zhu quickly picked up the fly swatter and swatted it.
Those flies looked stupid and stupid, or they were too greedy to escape. After a "pop" sound, two of them were swatted to death by fly swatters, and their dark bodies lay stiffly next to the dishes.
Zhu Minghan instantly lost his appetite and frowned even more tightly. Taking a closer look, he saw that the two dishes were stir-fried water spinach and stir-fried leeks with green peppers. He kicked over a bench beside the table and strode outside.
The bench fell to the ground with a "dong" sound. Grandpa Zhu stopped swatting flies and turned his head to look.
Grandma Zhu asked anxiously: "Hanhan, it's time to eat soon, where are you going?"
Zhu Minghan kept walking and said angrily: "I'm not hungry! Go for a walk!"
Grandpa Zhu frowned and looked Looking at the dazzling sunshine outside, "Where are you going for a walk at noon?"
Zhu Minghan ignored him and quickly walked away, his figure disappearing around the corner of the courtyard wall.
Grandma Zhu took a few steps and asked, "Then your grandpa and I will wait for you to come back before eating?"
"You guys can eat! I won't eat!"
Grandpa Zhu and grandma Zhu looked at each other.
Grandma Zhu muttered inwardly, and after being silent for a long time, she whispered: "Old man, do you think that Hanhan has been acting a little weird since he woke up from his nap in the afternoon? It's like... he's possessed by an evil spirit."
Grandpa Zhu Qing Waving the fly swatter lightly, she said after a long while: "What's the matter? Don't talk nonsense."
Grandma Zhu didn't argue with him, just said: "Although Hanhan usually talks less, he is still very filial to us, but from now on, he started to feel weird yesterday afternoon. Don't tell me you didn't notice that he kept looking at me with disgust, and his brows never widened."
Grandpa Zhu was speechless, "Maybe it's because school is about to start, he in a bad mood."
Grandma Zhu sighed, without saying anything else, she took out the curtain and covered the dishes on the table. They only have this grandson, what else can they do if they don't love and pamper him?
It is now the 1920s of the 21st century. China's economic development is very fast, and one of the most obvious impacts is that the permanent population in rural areas is getting smaller and smaller.
Luliu Village, where the Zhu family is located, is a typical representative. Originally there were more than a hundred households in Luliu Village, but now there are only six or seven permanent residents left, including the Zhu family. Others have either gone to work in the city or have settled in the city. The whole village is very deserted all year round.
Zhu Minghan's family originally had the opportunity to move to the city, but unfortunately Zhu Minghan's father became addicted to gambling the year before last, and the family owed a lot of debt. The couple had been working in the city for a long time, leaving their only son to be taken care of by the elderly.
Because they had to pay off their debts, the old couple had a tight life. Fortunately, the two of them are still in good health, and the fields grow food and vegetables all year round, basically ensuring that the three of them are self-sufficient.
The two old men were quite contented, but Zhu Minghan felt aggrieved. From the day he woke up yesterday to now, he hasn't had even a trace of meat and fish. Every meal has been vegetables and radish. At most, he can eat steamed egg custard in the morning. For him who is used to eating big fish and meat, it is simply not possible to bear.
Why is this happening? Because Zhu Minghan is no longer the original Zhu Minghan.
Yesterday afternoon, when Zhu Minghan woke up, there was another person in his heart. Coincidentally, the names of the two people before and after are exactly the same.
Zhu Minghan died in a car accident due to drunk driving. In his original world, he was an ordinary person, his parents were ordinary workers, his relatives and friends were also ordinary people, he went to an ordinary university, and later found an ordinary job, and lived to the age of thirty without accomplishing anything. It's not that Zhu Minghan doesn't want to change, it's just that he has never been able to take action. Instead, he is always immersed in unrealistic fantasies. His favorite thing besides playing games is reading novels. He often fantasizes that he can travel through time or be reborn, and then turn over with his golden finger!
Zhu Aiguo and Yang Hongmei, Zhu Minghan’s parents in this world, first earned some money working in the city. After earning money, the first thing they did was to build a new house for their family. They considered marrying their son in the future. Wife, the two-story building is quite nicely decorated.
Yesterday afternoon, when Zhu Minghan woke up and found that not only was he not dead, but he had also traveled through time, he was ecstatic, thinking that he had traveled through time to a rich family, and could finally bid farewell to his ordinary life and reach the peak of his life.
After receiving the memory of the original owner, he realized that he had thought too much. Now this family still owes others more than 100,000 yuan, which is worse than his original family. Although the original family was ordinary, at least they had no debts. They owned a car and had tens of thousands of yuan in savings.
Zhu Minghan here lives with his grandparents and often only eats meat once a week or two. He wears old clothes that relatives' children don't want. Even if they are not worn at all, he can still tell that they are shabby. He couldn't believe that there were still such poor families in the twenties.
Last night, Grandma Zhu made cold amaranth and stir-fried cowpeas. This morning, she made spicy and sour potato shreds, braised eggplant, and a steamed egg custard. So when he saw that the lunch meal was vegetarian again, Zhu Minghan couldn't bear it and would rather not eat it than "eat grass".
The scorching sun was high and the heat was unbearable. The sun burned the top of my head and even my breath felt hot. The leaves of the poplar tree were wilting and motionless, making Zhu Minghan feel more and more irritable. A gray-haired puppy stood in the shade of a tree and looked at him curiously. He raised his eyebrows and kicked him. The puppy nimbly turned away, barked at him angrily, and ran away quickly.
Zhu's family is located at the outermost edge of the village. He is the only family here, separated from other residents by a weir pond of more than 100 square meters. Leaving home means leaving the village.
Zhu Minghan had nowhere to go. The original owner was very introverted and had no friends in the village with whom he could talk. After thinking about it, he could only walk to the river a mile away.
This river has no name. It is just a small river with an average width of four or five meters. The water is turbid and gurgling. The river bank is overgrown with weeds and green willows are dancing, and it is still cool.
Zhu Minghan walked to a tree and felt a little better while enjoying the wind. However, when he thought about his current situation, he became irritable again. He couldn't help but blame God in his heart. Since he could travel through time, why not let him be reborn? If he could be reborn a year or a few years ago, he could use his "prophet" ability to seize opportunities and not expect to make fortunes in the stock market. He could get rich even by buying a few lottery tickets. In his previous life, he often fantasized about getting rich overnight. He bought almost every lottery ticket and often looked forward to being reborn. He remembered the winning numbers of many draws. Unfortunately, the reality is that he has traveled to another world.
After he calmed down yesterday, he checked some news and determined that this was a completely unfamiliar world. In this world, he has almost no advantages. It's not like he hasn't thought about plagiarizing other people's works like the protagonists in novels, but the problem is that time travel has not given him an incredible memory. He can only remember a rough outline of the novels he has read before, and it is difficult to copy them. He also didn’t understand musical notation. If he plagiarized other people’s songs, there was no guarantee that the secret would not be revealed... Because he was thinking about this, he stayed up almost all night, and in the end he still had no clue. This was also the main reason why he was so irritable just now.
There is another thing that worries Zhu Minghan. School will start in two days, but his incompetent parents have not sent money back yet, and his living expenses and tuition fees have not been paid. In addition, according to the memories he received, he was not popular in school because of his poor food and clothing, and was often bullied.
He will be a senior in high school after school starts and will have to take the college entrance examination again. He was not a genius in his previous life, but he is still a scumbag in this life. He also thought about not studying at all. The problem was that even if he didn't study, he had no idea what to do to make money. None of these things go as planned!
He raised his head and looked at the sky, and couldn't help but curse: "Damn God! Since you have given me a chance to live again, why not be more generous and give me another golden finger?" He stood up like a madman. Just like that, he picked up stones one by one and threw them into the river to vent his anger. The water splashed and quickly wetted his clothes, but he didn't care at all.
"Hanhan, Hanhan..."
Grandma Zhu's call came from the distance.
Zhu Minghan just pretended not to hear and continued throwing stones into the river.
"Hanhan, Hanhan!"
The shouts came closer and closer.
Zhu Minghan had no choice but to turn around, "I heard that!"
Grandma Zhu sighed, "You kid, it too hot to stay here. Let's go home and eat."
"I won't eat it! Water spinach and leeks are the same. It's better not to eat anything delicious. I'll eat some watermelon when I go back later." Zhu Minghan threw away the stone in his hand.
Grandma Zhu turned around and said, "You kid, have you thrown away the big rocks here? They are used by the villagers to wash clothes." Zhu Minghan didn't care, "Just wash it at home."
Grandma Zhu said with a helpless face, "The washing machine is not as clean as hand washing. People in our village are still used to washing large clothes and bed sheets and quilts by the river."
"Throw them away, what is there to say." Zhu Minghan walked a few steps impatiently.
Grandma Zhu couldn't help but sigh again.
"Go back, grandma will give you money to buy braised pork in the supermarket."
Zhu Minghan's tone became better, "I know, hurry up, I'm starving to death!"
Grandma Zhu really didn't know what to say, We can only speed up the pace.
Chapter 550: Same person but different destiny [Second update]
Zhu Minghan didn't know that not long after he left the river, a boy of the same age as him also came to the river...
When he got home, he stood at the door without going in. He looked at Grandma Zhu who was walking towards the dining table as if she was getting ready to eat. He was a little suspicious that she was just trying to trick him into coming back by saying she gave him money to go to the supermarket.
When Grandma Zhu walked to the table, she remembered that she had forgotten something. She patted her head in annoyance, "Look at my memory!"
She felt in her pocket and took out a handful of change. Zhu Minghan saw one yuan and five coins inside. There are yuan, ten yuan, and twenty yuan ones, but there are no hundred yuan ones.
Grandma Zhu took out a ten-yuan note and handed it to him, her eyes full of love.
"Go quickly, your grandpa and I will wait for you to come back for dinner."
Grandpa Zhu was hungry for a long time. Seeing this scene, he put down the chopsticks he picked up, frowned, and finally said nothing.
Zhu Minghan stared at the shabby ten yuan in his hand, a little reluctantly, "Is this possible?"
Although he got all the memories of the original owner, he was not very clear about some prices.
Grandma Zhu said with certainty: "That's enough, go and ride a bike."
Zhu Minghan was also hungry, so he went to push the electric motorcycle parked in the corner of the yard. The town is more than ten miles away from the village, and it takes more than ten minutes to ride there and back.
Grandpa Zhu cherishes the electric motorcycle, the family's only means of transportation, very much. He built a carport in the yard to prevent the car from being exposed to wind and sun. Zhu Minghan touched the seat and found it was still a little hot. But he could bear it for the sake of eating meat. He never imagined that one day he would be so aggrieved just to eat a bite of meat.
"Put on your hat and sunglasses." Grandma Zhu came over with her hat and sunglasses.
Zhu Minghan had long been impatient. He shook his head and rushed out of the courtyard on his electric car without even taking his mobile phone. Although there are two apps, Essen and Alipay, on his mobile phone, there is no money at all.
The electric car sped along the spacious and flat cement road. There were few people at noon, and there was no pedestrian on the road. It was convenient for Zhu Minghan, and he quickly arrived in the town.
He was hot and thirsty, and wanted to find a cool little restaurant to eat before going back. But thinking that he only had ten yuan in his pocket, he had no choice but to give up and drive to a familiar braised vegetable restaurant.
Seeing a white sports car parked on the side of the road not far from the braised vegetable restaurant, Zhu Minghan was quite surprised and took a few more glances. He did not expect to see a million-dollar luxury car in such a small town.
He parked his electric car and walked towards the braised vegetable restaurant. When he entered, someone happened to push the door open and come out.
The two came face to face. It was a young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was wearing a white T-shirt from family A, black knee-high pants from family B, and shoes from family C. He wore a D-shirt worth hundreds of thousands on his wrist. He looks like a young master from a wealthy family. Even if he is carrying a variety of stewed vegetables in both hands, his temperament will not be affected.
But what surprised Zhu Minghan was not his status as a rich man, but the fact that this person looked 70% or 80% similar to him! The reason why he is so sensitive is because he looked in the mirror for a long time after waking up yesterday, and he is very clear about what he looks like now.
Zhu Minghan was stunned! Originally, he had not really accepted the fact that he had traveled to this world, but now he met someone who looked so similar to himself, which had a huge impact on him, causing him to lose his calmness and his mind was in a mess. In just a few seconds, Already thought about it a lot. Why did he travel through time? Why does this person look so similar to him? Could it be that he is actually the missing eldest son of a wealthy family? Is it because of his special status that he can travel through time? Or was he switched with someone else when he was born in the hospital like in the novel? His true identity and this boy are actually twins, but Zhu Aiguo and Yang Hongmei secretly exchanged their son with him in order to let their real son live a rich life...
Meng Sirui was blocked from the way. He said politely to the person opposite him: "Please give way." He was thinking about other things, and didn't pay attention to this person, nor did he find that the other person looked like him.
Zhu Minghan subconsciously stepped aside and watched helplessly as he got into the sports car. The sports car ran away quickly and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Same people have different fates." This sentence suddenly flashed through Zhu Minghan's mind, making Zhu Minghan feel disappointed. Since he looks so similar to this person, why didn't he travel through time and become this person, but met Zhu Minghan instead?
He walked into the store in a daze, and the ample cool air in the store made his brain slightly clearer. He heard the two female clerks talking and laughing in his ears.
"Hahaha, this is the first time I have received a tip!"
"There is no such thing as a tip in our small town, so just have fun with it! They are really rich people, they only have more than 40 yuan. I don't bother to ask for it at all. Why can't I encounter such a good thing?"
The older clerk was the one who got the tip. He was about to speak when he saw Zhu Minghan, he quickly stopped and asked enthusiastically: "Young man, what do you want to buy? "
Zhu Minghan handed over the ten dollars and said, "I'll buy some braised pork."
"Okay, wait a minute." The clerk held the money with a clip and quickly cut a long strip of braised pork with his hands wearing disposable gloves. The next section, when it was weighed, was 10.2 yuan, "It's 10 yuan, do you want to cut it?"
"No, no need." Zhu Minghan looked at the piece of meat that was no longer than his index finger, and his cheeks burned instantly, and he didn't dare to look at the two clerks. From the look in his eyes, it felt like they were all laughing at his stinginess and shabbyness.
After the clerk put the braised pork in a plastic bag, he quickly took it and left with his head lowered, as if there was a dog chasing behind him.
The two clerks looked at each other inexplicably behind him.
When he got home, Zhu Minghan was unwilling to talk and sat on the chair silently.
Grandma Zhu cut the braised pork, put it on a plate, and placed it in front of him.
Zhu Minghan thought of the young man again, and his interest in braised pork waned.
"Grandma, do you know where I was born?"
"Why do you suddenly ask me this? Of course you was born in a hospital." Grandma Zhu said, "It's the hospital in the town." Zhu Minghan asked again: "Then Am I like my dad or my mom?"
Grandma Zhu said with a smile: "Of course you like your dad, but also like your grandpa." Grandpa Zhu smiled. He was originally in a bad mood, but looking at his grandson, he was in a good mood. . No old man would dislike his eldest grandson, especially one who looks very much like himself.
Zhu Minghan looked at Grandpa Zhu seriously. Grandpa Zhu is over sixty years old. He is old and thin. Although he can see that his facial features are very regular, after careful observation, he does not feel that he looks much like himself. He looked at Grandma Zhu again. Grandma Zhu has a small face, delicate facial features, small eyes, and single eyelids, and she has no resemblance to him. Zhu Minghan couldn't help but feel a little excited. Was he really not the son of Zhu Aiguo and Yang Hongmei?
He forced himself to calm down, thinking that this matter should not be rushed. Even if it was really what he thought, he could only plan slowly.
His hungry stomach gave a warning, and he concentrated on eating. The braised pork tasted pretty good, which dispelled some of his irritability.
Grandpa Zhu and Grandma Zhu saw that their grandson was enjoying the meal. They did not even reach for the plate of braised pork with their chopsticks, and only ate water spinach and leeks.
The portion of braised pork that costs ten yuan is not much. Zhu Minghan ate two bowls of rice with it and was still unsatisfied.
"Grandma, what's for dinner?"
"Tonight..." Grandma Zhu now understood what her grandson was fussing about. She thought about it and said, "I'll make you a green pepper omelette tonight. I'll make sure it's appetizing and delicious. Wait. I’ll buy meat next time.” Although she doesn’t need to pay off the family’s debt, how could she not worry about it. Those debts were like a huge stone. If they were not repaid, they would weigh on her heart for a day.
Zhu Minghan put down his bowls and chopsticks coldly. Although he admired the original owner for insisting on being a vegetarian, he couldn't do it. He said coldly: "It's up to you. Grandpa, can you go to the river to catch some fish or shrimp? I want to eat."
Grandpa Zhu was very embarrassed, "No, where do I have time? Your grandma and I have to go weeding in the vegetable field this afternoon."
Zhu Minghan clicked his tongue: "Forget it, I'll go by myself later!"
Grandpa Zhu nodded, "Okay, you go by yourself. It rained some time ago and the river is very deep. Don't go into the water."
"I know." I'm going to go to bed."
Grandma Zhu looked at the dishes on the table and sighed. In the past, her grandson would help her pick up the dishes and chopsticks in the kitchen, but now she doesn't help anymore.
Grandpa Zhu shook his head and went out with his hands behind his back.
Zhu Minghan returned to the room and did not sleep. Saying sleep was just an excuse. So many things had happened in the past two days, it was strange that I could sleep at all. But after tossing and turning in bed for two or three hours, he couldn't figure out anything. Now he needs money but no one, and he needs people but no one. Even if he wants to do something, it is impossible. There is nothing I can do except remind myself over and over to take my time.
By the time he got up from the bed in frustration, it was already past four o'clock. There is no one at home, so Grandpa Zhu and Grandma Zhu should have gone to the vegetable field.
Zhu Minghan found a hat and put it on, took out the fishing rod at home, picked up a bucket, and slowly swung toward the river.
On the way, he met an uncle from the same village who greeted him, but he didn't bother to pay attention and pretended not to hear.
The man glanced at him unhappily and strode away, muttering as he walked, probably not having anything nice to say. Zhu Minghan didn't care at all. He had a feeling that he would leave here sooner or later, so there was nothing to care about here.
When he arrived at the river and walked to where he was yesterday, Zhu Minghan regretted that he had thrown away all those big rocks yesterday, so that now he didn't even have a place to sit. If he sat directly on the grass, he was worried about poisonous insects. It would be nice if I brought a stool.
He walked a few steps along the river bank and saw another big stone and decided to fish here.
After putting bait on the hook, he sat down and waited for the fish to bite.
I have to say that the scenery here is pretty good. Only then did he notice that there were many cattails growing in the river, as dense as a forest, with brown fruits growing on them, like lovely candles, and slender The wickers dance in the wind, inviting the blue sky and white clouds to be reflected on the turquoise water, with rich colors and bright picturesque colors.
Fishing is an activity that requires patience to put it more elegantly, but is a boring thing to say it more informally.
Zhu Minghan was bored waiting for the fish to take the bait. Suddenly, a dazzling golden light flashed across the cattail bushes diagonally across the way, accompanied by a splash of water, which immediately caught his attention. He subconsciously squinted his eyes and waited until the discomfort in his eyes was relieved before turning his head to look over.
Upon seeing this, his eyes suddenly widened and his mouth opened wide with disbelief on his face. Then, what is that!