“Hearing the sound and tone of Mom on the phone, I can be at ease about home for now.”

　　Wrapping the thread around the needle’s tail several times, Evan Ford tied a knot, felt it wasn’t secure, so tied another one. Only then did he lower his head, bite off the end of the thread, put away the newly bought needle and thread, and tuck them into his backpack.

　　Having learned from Dad and Mom, Evan Ford wrapped the two hundred subscription certificates in several layers of plastic bags and sewed them into the inner pocket of his clothes. He could feel them against his chest, and it gave him peace of mind.

　　Sitting on a bench in the roadside park, he took a sip of water and looked at this city that would be worth its weight in gold in the future—the slightly shabby streets, the endless stream of bicycles, and the simple faces of the people riding them.

　　Still worried… still unwilling to accept this.

　　If only I could get my hands on one more set.

　　There are only 10 days left, just 10 days… What should I do?!

　　And there’s barely any money left.

　　It was only now that Evan Ford realized he’d been too hasty before and made a huge mistake. He shouldn’t have rushed to buy those two sets of subscription certificates; he should have found a way to use that six thousand yuan to make more money first.

　　Three thousand yuan, in ten days—where could he get that three thousand?

　　Not willing to spend extra on lunch, Evan Ford just ate the steamed buns he’d prepared in the morning with some water. At night, he looked for a hotel, but when he asked, it was thirty yuan a night, and he couldn’t bring himself to spend it.

　　These days, thirty yuan—do they think this is Shenzhen?! They’re just taking advantage of the fact that there aren’t many hotels around, and that I’m young and from out of town, trying to rip me off, right?

　　Thirty yuan—that’s a subscription certificate! Who knows how much it’ll be worth by then?

　　Maybe in a few days, that thirty could turn into thousands or tens of thousands.

　　Before figuring out a way to make money, Evan Ford decided to save wherever he could. If it really came to it and he couldn’t afford a full set, he’d at least buy a few more certificates.

　　It was too late to look for a cheaper hotel farther away, so at night he could only go back to the train station and make do for the night.

　　It’s good to be young—no matter where you are, whatever the posture or environment, you can still sleep well.

　　On the second and third days in Shenghai, after getting up early and washing up, Evan Ford went out wandering. In two days, he’d checked out every street, alley, and market in Shenghai.

　　How come the protagonists in rebirth novels can always make thousands or tens of thousands just by doing something random? Just by selling some yarn or notebooks, they can get crowds of people to spend a month’s salary in a frenzy!

　　After looking around these two days, Evan Ford found quite a few ways to make money, but none were really suitable—time was too tight, and none of them could bring in money that fast.

　　Manual labor was out of the question. Next was buying and reselling, but with only two hundred yuan in capital, he couldn’t do any “bulk” business.

　　Setting up a street stall—realistically, that was the most feasible.

　　But this was Shenghai, in 1992. There were already all kinds of shops and stalls everywhere, so even if he could make money with a stall, it was unlikely he could make that much in one go.

　　On the third night, the temperature suddenly dropped, and Evan Ford was woken up by the cold in the middle of the night, realizing he was a bit hungry.

　　Hungry and freezing, staring at gold bricks all over the ground but finding he had no shovel to dig them up… There probably would never be a more miserable reborn person than me.

　　He pulled out the clothes from his backpack and wrapped himself up haphazardly, lying there, waiting for dawn.

　　Evan Ford gritted his teeth: “After this, I never want to be short of money again.”

　　……

　　……

　　January 25, 1992, the fourth day since Evan Ford arrived in Shenghai.

　　Early morning, the weather was overcast and cold, but at least there was no wind.

　　He walked through the small park next to the train station, biting into a coarse bread, thinking that if he couldn’t find a good way today, he’d set up a stall—but not in Shenghai.

　　He’d buy some novel gloves, scarves, and stationery, and go sell them in the small counties around Shenghai. The market should be better there, and he could set his own prices. After all, information asymmetry is the source of wealth.

　　It was just a pity about the travel expenses. Maybe he could hitch a ride on a truck.

　　Thinking about this, he turned a corner…

　　In the open area, a dense crowd of people appeared before Evan Ford.

　　Some of them were in all sorts of bizarre and twisted poses, slumping or sitting on the ground, motionless—this must be the famous Luohan Gong.

　　Another group stood with their hands raised or forming a circle, standing in stances—this was another major school, Tongzhong Gong.

　　Then there was a large group, all sitting cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed in meditation, but with an aluminum pot with a handle on their heads—could this be the legendary “information pot” that could receive cosmic energy and achieve communion with the universe?!

　　And there were even more: some squatting with both hands pointed forward, butts sticking up high; some in a row poking each other’s acupoints, supporting each other’s backs, pressing each other’s heads; some rolling around in pairs, one holding a six, the other a nine…

　　Probably Toad Gong or something—given Evan Ford’s “martial arts” knowledge, he couldn’t tell anymore.

　　After making a round, he saw that in this not-so-large park, there were at least over a thousand people practicing various schools of qigong. There were also quite a few qigong masters’ stalls, with flags that read:

　　[Qigong cures illness, no injections, no medicine].

　　Small note: Once cured a certain foreign dignitary, so-and-so.

　　What a “prosperous martial world,” the era of nationwide qigong.

　　How widespread was it?

　　As he recalled, there was a classmate who later became quite famous, named Peter Lane. In his youth, his life’s ambition was to observe astronomy and study supernatural abilities.

Chapter 12: Since Everyone Is Chuunibyou