Chapter 1

In the early spring of 1980 in Heishui, the ground was covered with thick snow, and the north wind still blew intermittently. The streets were scattered with layers of deep red firecracker paper, and passersby wore thick cotton hats and military-green overcoats.

Hu Xinghe stood at the gate of Heishui No. 3 Middle School, looking around. Seeing this low, small town that he remembered, he felt a myriad of emotions.

Heishui Province borders the Soviet Union, and Heishui Region is located in the northernmost part of Heishui Province, separated from the Soviet Union by the Heishui River. The boundary is marked by the centerline of the Heishui River, and the two countries govern on either side of the river.

HS County is the seat of the Heishui Regional Committee and the administrative office. The only Soviet-style three-story building in the entire county is the administrative office, which is a brick and concrete structure. The red bricks, however, are from Fularji, known for their fine texture and hardness, making them extremely solid. As for other units, they are all rows of bungalows.

Hu Xinghe's family of four includes his father Hu Maohua, a technical expert at the Heishui Machinery Factory, his mother Gong Xue, a union official at the same factory, and his younger brother Hu Jun, who is two years younger and twelve years old this year.

Their home is in the family area of the Heishui Machinery Factory, a row of bungalows. Each household has a small garden in front and back of their house. At this time, only brown wooden stakes poke out of the snow, standing proudly in the wind and snow. These stakes are for supporting tomato and bean plants.

This year during the Spring Festival, a mysterious event occurred in this quiet border town.

In the early hours of New Year's Day, Hu Xinghe was woken up by the urge to urinate. Upon opening his eyes, he found himself back in the familiar home from forty years ago.

Just by sleeping, he had traveled back in time?

The house was still the same as when he was a child, and his parents were still as hardworking as ever, busy inside and outside the house.

Over the past few days, Hu Xinghe had been suffering from insomnia. On one hand, he was skeptical about the mysterious event that had happened to him, and on the other hand, he was excited and anxious about the opportunity to rewrite his past forty years of life.

Under this dual mental pressure, how could he possibly sleep soundly?

His classmates and close friends, Tang Mingxiang, Qiu Jun, and Cui Nongchun, came to visit him these days. After all, during the New Year, children would visit each other's homes, and no one would stay at home all the time.

Noticing Hu Xinghe's unusual demeanor, they became concerned.

"What's wrong? Did your parents beat you?" Tang Mingxiang asked in a low, gruff voice.

In Hu Xinghe's memory, Tang Mingxiang was always a robust, dark-skinned man. His most notable feature was his good singing voice, which was better than Hu Xinghe's, who could hardly find the right pitch. After graduating from junior high school, Tang Mingxiang learned to drive from his father and later ran his own transportation business.

"No." Hu Xinghe was absent-minded.

"You must have been beaten; otherwise, why are you so quiet?" Qiu Jun confidently made his judgment. Qiu Jun's most distinctive feature was his long, narrow face. He was also a good student, whose grades were better than Hu Xinghe's. It was said that he was admitted to a prestigious university and later worked in the government as a civil servant.

"Right, you must have been beaten; I was beaten yesterday too." Cui Nongchun chimed in. This boy was a genuine Korean, with small, single-lidded eyes and a pointed chin, making his head look like a triangular cube.

What could Hu Xinghe say? That he had traveled back in time? That he knew they wouldn't do well in the future? Well, he himself didn't do well either.

Although he looked only fourteen, his mental age was fifty-four. How could he have the heart to play and make mud pies with these little kids?

"Hey, do you guys have any dreams?" Hu Xinghe squinted at the confused little kids in front of him.

"What do you mean, dreams?" Tang Mingxiang thought for a moment, "Learn to drive from my dad." In Tang Mingxiang's mind, being a truck driver was really cool and highly sought after. Indeed, in the 1980s, being a driver was a very desirable profession, with high income and good social status. It was one of the "Eight Great Occupations," and the main advantage was the ability to travel all over the country, which was a huge perk. At that time, travel was a luxury, and it was difficult for ordinary people to travel far, but drivers could freely travel all over the country. How could this profession not be appealing?

"Dreams? Of course, to go to university!" Qiu Jun said with a proud look. Since the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977, going to university had become the only way for young people to change their fate.

"I, I might go back to Korea." Cui Nongchun looked conflicted. For him, Korea was a distant and unfamiliar place, and he didn't know what the future held.

"What? You're going back to Korea?" Tang Mingxiang looked surprised.

"My mom said so, but I don't know the details."

Hu Xinghe looked at his classmate with small eyes and a single-lidded face. He knew that Cui Nongchun had moved back to Korea in recent years because his mother and father were Korean, and his father still lived in Korea. His mother had divorced her second husband and moved back to Korea with him. Later, he heard from classmates that Cui Nongchun had joined the military in Korea.

"Cui Nongchun, if you go back to Korea, don't forget us!" Tang Mingxiang said urgently.

"Of course not, we're good friends!" Cui Nongchun said with a serious look.

"Tell us when you leave, and write to us!" Hu Xinghe said.

"Sure, sure."

"What about you?" Qiu Jun looked at Hu Xinghe.

"Right, what's your dream?" Cui Nongchun asked eagerly.

"Me?" Hu Xinghe hadn't really thought about it. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary citizen. Now, his dream... was to live a good life.

"My dream is to make a lot of money and live a decadent life, hahaha!" Hu Xinghe said half-jokingly.

"Big money? How much is big money?" Tang Mingxiang, Qiu Jun, and Cui Nongchun couldn't imagine what big money was like; they only knew that having meat every day was the best.

In fact, in those days, children's dreams were to become scientists, soldiers, or doctors. No one would say their dream was to be a businessman, as there was no such profession at the time.

When he said he wanted to make money, it was natural that his peers wouldn't understand.

With the company of his childhood friends, Hu Xinghe gradually faced the reality of his time travel and began to think about his new life.

From his previous life, he knew that his personality and intelligence were not suited for a career in politics.

In his previous life, Hu Xinghe had attended a third-tier university and then joined a local government office. At that time, he was a naive newcomer, manipulated by his senior and junior colleagues, and eventually resigned to start his own business. Now, Hu Xinghe could see clearly what had happened, but at that time, it was all a blur. He was inexplicably forced to resign and start his own business, eventually becoming a freelancer. This path was not an option.

Academia? His personality was not suited for it either. He couldn't sit still and was too restless to be a scholar.

Looking at the future, the next few decades would focus on economic development. He knew many key events from the future, and while he might not become extremely wealthy, he could still make a decent amount of money. His goal was not too ambitious—how about a hundred million? But saying a hundred million now was like committing a crime; even robbing a bank wouldn't yield that much.

It was 1980, and the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which began in 1978, had been ongoing for three years. However, the process from the meeting to implementation and advancement was gradual. The reform and opening-up had just begun, and there were many opportunities as long as one was bold. This was the time to accumulate initial capital, but it was also easy to make mistakes and end up in trouble. Many people in his memory had made mistakes due to their boldness.

Heishui, where he lived, was an important city for Sino-Soviet border trade in the mid-to-late 1980s. During this period, many intermediaries, known as "international speculators," emerged.

Of course, before the international speculators, there were already many domestic speculators, mostly importing goods from coastal areas and reselling them inland.

Whether it was domestic or international speculation, it required capital and time to accumulate. However, he was still a second-year junior high school student. What should he do? This was a significant decision.

For Hu Xinghe, he was still young at fourteen. Dropping out of school to make money was an option, but it would disappoint his parents and make his relatives and friends look down on him.

After several days of contemplation, Hu Xinghe decided to continue his studies while doing some small business. After all, there was no end to making money, and having a prestigious academic background was also beneficial. He needed to consider not only himself but also his future children, so they wouldn't be at a disadvantage due to his educational background.