Chapter 4: The Advantage of the Time Traveler
At the crossroads, Chen Fan parted ways with Guo Shuai and rode his bike home alone.
Chen Fan’s home was in a nearby town, quite far from school. It was a small, self-built cottage in the village.
Pushing open the weathered black gate, the familiar small courtyard came into view. Although modest in size, it was meticulously maintained.
Chen Fan’s parents were diligent people who had set up a small vegetable garden in the yard, growing eggplants, tomatoes, green beans, and other vegetables.
After parking his bicycle, Chen Fan stepped inside.
“Mom, Dad, I’m home.”
“Xiaofan’s back! Hurry and wash up, dinner’s almost ready.”
From the kitchen, his mother, Li Jinqiu, poked her head out to greet him.
Seeing that familiar face, Chen Fan’s eyes welled up with tears, nearly bringing him to tears on the spot.
His parents were ordinary workers; his father, Chen Jianye, worked at a ceramics factory, while his mother was employed at a power plant.
Perhaps due to work conditions, in his previous life, Chen Fan’s father had fallen seriously ill and passed away in his fifties.
His mother, stricken with grief, had passed away three years after his father.
They had scarcely enjoyed any happiness from their son.
Unable to contain his emotions, Chen Fan rushed over and embraced his mother from behind.
“Mom, I missed you.”
“That child, what’s wrong now?”
Li Jinqiu smiled and patted Chen Fan’s hand.
“Let go, let go, I’m cooking. Be careful of the hot oil.”
“Hurry and wash your hands, dinner will be ready soon.”
“All right!”
Chen Fan turned away, secretly wiping his tears, then went outside and splashed cold water on his face, using the moment to wash away his tears.
“Mom, where’s Dad?”
“He’s working overtime at the factory tonight; he should be back soon.”
Her voice came from the kitchen as Chen Fan looked around the house with nostalgia.
In truth, the old house was small, barely seventy square meters.
Two bedrooms and a living room—his parents shared one room, and Chen Fan had the other.
In the center of the living room stood an old-fashioned red lacquered wooden cupboard.
Atop it rested a bulky twenty-one-inch color TV—the only valuable item in the home.
There was no sofa, only a few wooden chairs with peeling paint.
In the middle of the room was a square, low wooden table.
On top lay a large ceramic tile with cracks, brought home by Chen Fan’s father from the factory, serving as their dining table.
Chen Fan entered his bedroom, a small space under ten square meters, everything so familiar and heartwarming.
The room contained a single bed, a wardrobe, and a desk by the window on the right side.
Under a glass cover on the desk were numerous photographs—family portraits and countless pictures chronicling Chen Fan’s growth from childhood to now.
In the corner stood the only electric fan in the house.
There was nothing else.
Such a simple little home, yet Chen Fan had slept here for over a decade.
---
That evening, when Chen Fan’s father returned from work, the family gathered around the table to eat.
Listening to his parents chat about children from other families who had succeeded, Chen Fan couldn’t help but speak up.
“Dad, Mom, I’m planning to aim for the top-tier university this year. I want to make you both proud.”
Chen Jianye glanced at his son leisurely and said,
“Top-tier university? If you can get into even the second-tier, I’ll be over the moon.”
Li Jinqiu smiled and reassured him, “Xiaofan, don’t pressure yourself too much. We don’t have high expectations; just do your best in the college entrance exam.”
“No matter what happens, we won’t blame you.”
Chen Fan looked disheartened.
It seemed his parents had little confidence in him.
“Dad, how much money do we have left at home?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Just curious.”
Chen Jianye took a sip of wine. “Ask your mother. I’m not sure.”
Li Jinqiu thought for a moment. “I believe there’s about twenty-seven thousand left in total.”
“The factory’s been struggling these past two years, and your father is still owed two months’ wages.”
Chen Fan promptly suggested, “Dad, why don’t we sell the old house and, together with the twenty-seven thousand, buy an apartment in the city?”
He remembered that in 2000, housing prices in Luocheng were just over nine hundred per square meter.
A hundred-square-meter apartment would cost less than a hundred thousand.
Put down a down payment with the twenty-seven thousand, live there for a few years, then sell it for a substantial profit.
What better investment could there be?
Chen Fan was excitedly planning.
However, his parents exchanged worried looks.
“This child… has studying turned his brain to mush?”
“Buy an apartment? Do you know how expensive housing is now?”
“It’s outrageously expensive!”
“The deputy factory manager bought an apartment for over a hundred thousand. He lived there for less than two years before selling it.”
Chen Fan’s interest was piqued.
“Why did he sell it?”
“Why?”
Chen Jianye set down his wine glass and glanced at his son.
“Because housing prices were too high.”
“He sold the apartment while prices were high, rented a place, and planned to buy back at a lower price when the market cooled, saving tens of thousands.”
“That’s real smart thinking. Otherwise, how could he be a deputy factory manager?”
Chen Fan was speechless.
“This money is saved for you—to help you find a job and get married after graduation.”
“Why buy a house now? You must be out of your mind.”
...
That night, lying in bed, Chen Fan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
It seemed he’d have to give up the idea of getting his parents to buy a house for now.
Having been reborn, he was determined to start his own business and make money himself.
---
In his previous life, Chen Fan had always felt he owed Su Ruochu.
So in this life, he was determined to make it up to her.
He would rebuild a new business empire and have Su Ruochu witness and share in all his achievements.
Since relying on his parents wasn’t an option, he had to depend on himself.
Lying in bed, Chen Fan pondered how to start a business and earn his first pot of gold.
To be honest, as a reborn person, his sole advantage was his foresight of the future.
And that was enough.
As someone who knew the development trends of the next twenty-plus years,
Chen Fan was well aware of every policy, national development plan, leadership promotions, entrepreneurial waves...
In truth, for a reborn person to make money quickly, there were only a few ways:
Buying property, investing in mines, stocks...
He recalled that in 2000, housing in both Puxi and Shenzhen cost just over four thousand per square meter.
Also, investing in stocks like Maotai, Tencent, Baidu, and Taobao at that time was the perfect opportunity.
Any one of these, with early investment, would yield great profits.
Of course, there was an even better option in the future:
Purchasing Bitcoin.
He remembered that Bitcoin was born around 2009.
At first, it was worth less than a cent each—about six or seven yuan could buy over a thousand Bitcoins.
By 2021, Bitcoin’s value peaked near seventy thousand dollars per coin.
If he could accumulate a few million Bitcoins early and sell at the 2021 peak,
His wealth would be an endless string of digits.
However, all these—buying property, mines, or stocks—required a substantial initial capital.
And right now, Chen Fan had barely a few yuan in pocket money.
“Ah, so close yet so far. It’s painful.”
“It looks like I need to find a way to get my first startup capital.”
Chen Fan shook his head and sighed, deciding to put that thought aside for the moment.
For now, there was something more important.
The college entrance exam was coming soon, and he had to get into the same university as Su Ruochu.
He remembered that year’s exam was especially difficult.
Mathematics, physics, and chemistry were practically hellish, leading many students to wail as they left the exam.
Moreover, the cutoff scores were relatively low.
The top-tier university cutoff was only 535 points, while Yunhai University’s admission line was about 553 points.
In his previous life, Su Ruochu had been admitted to Yunhai University.
In the darkness, Chen Fan lay in bed, eyes burning with determination.
“553... I must make it!”