[TEASER] The Scum Gong Begs Me to Get Back Together, but I Just Want to Get Rich

2 - Returning to third year

In a daze, Jiang Xiao smelled the aroma of roasted chestnuts. He seemed to be fast asleep in the darkness, but he was suddenly yanked into consciousness by a sweet-smelling fragrance which drilled into his nose.

Then he heard someone hawking something, one shout after another. A loudspeaker was playing a recorded sales pitch on repeat. It was sharp and attention-grabbing.

"Chestnuts here, roasted chestnuts! Sweet and fragrant, cheap and delicious, five yuan a catty!"

At first Jiang Xiao's brain was in chaos, but when he heard the high-pitched calls he slowly regained some sense. His first thought was where on Earth could anyone buy sweet chestnuts for just five yuan a catty?

Ahh, that sounds so good.

And the sales jingle he was listening to was both familiar and nostalgic, because it was in the local dialect of Houlin County, his hometown, a small county in central China. After he dropped out of school at sixteen and left to work in the coastal city of Liujiang, he'd never returned, much less heard anyone selling merchandise in that dialect.

His head was dizzy, and the roasted chestnut sales pitch together with other street sounds poured into his brain. Jiang Xiao was so annoyed that he covered his ears with his hands and tried to force open his eyes. While he did his best to wake up, his other senses gradually returned.

The mattress under his body was hard and rigid. He sensed that he was resting on a cushion layered over a wooden bed board. To keep it from getting too stuffy, the pad wasn't very thick. It didn't compare to the expensive, ultra-soft, luxury brand mattress in Xingfushu Private Hospital.

Next to his bed was a desk, which was a bit of a mess. Piles of foreign language and mathematics textbooks and blank test papers were heaped on it. A ballpoint pen hung partly off the desk, ready to roll off. Just beyond the desk, an upright electric fan slowly rotated to direct air towards the bed. In the corner against the wall was a wooden wardrobe with a red jersey hanging crookedly from the topmost handle. A few good student awards were on the wall, but they looked a little old and dusty.

The room wasn't very large and there were only a few furnishings, but as Jiang Xiao gazed at everything his face took on an expression of indescribable shock.

He knew exactly where he was. This was his room. It was his room in junior high school.

How could that be possible?

As Jiang Xiao struggled to sit up, feeling very lightheaded, he happened to glance down at his hands, which were immature and not fully grown. Then he got out of bed to look around and saw his current appearance in the mirror.

His brain was as wide awake as anyone's could be.

This was indeed what he looked like during his younger teenage years. In junior high school, Jiang Xiao was already 1.75 meters tall. He stopped growing at sixteen, having added only four or five more centimeters, with a final height of about one meter eight. Right now his face was very boyish. Because he'd just woken up, his hair was like a chicken nest. His eyes were wide with surprise and his slightly open mouth revealed two pointed tiger teeth. Everything about him resembled a teenager full of youth.

Jiang Xiao, who was both familiar and unfamiliar with his young face, jumped in place, then pinched his cheeks with his hands.

It hurt. He wasn't dreaming.

His height wasn't the point, the point was... he was actually reborn?

He had so many regrets when he died. He wished more than anything he could do it all again, but he never thought God would actually give him the chance!