Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 9

The supermarket was still in its early stages. With Jiang Rui’s “investment,” there was no problem with funding. The money he had on hand was enough to handle the supermarket’s needs. The only things his parents lacked were experience and connections. Every business owner had a hard time with these things at the start.

In his previous life, before he met Wang Chenghui, Jiang Rui had been a street vendor, sold snacks, worked as a waiter, and cleaned toilets. Later, a drunk customer at a nightclub took his drunken anger out on him. Wang Chenghui, who happened to be there to relax, witnessed it.

At the time, he was beaten so badly he was unrecognizable, and he didn’t even fight back once. He knew that as long as he was wearing the waiter’s uniform and working at that nightclub, he couldn’t retaliate.

Afterward, the nightclub was supposed to compensate him since the fault wasn’t his. He should have just taken the money and moved on, but he had no idea what came over him. He didn’t want the money or an apology. He staked out the street for several days until he found an opportunity to beat up the drunk customer, cracking his skull open.

Jiang Rui had been prepared to be arrested by the police. But after hiding for a few days, Wang Chenghui’s people found him. The issue that had kept Jiang Rui up at night was resolved by Wang Chenghui’s men. He never went back to being a waiter again.

Later, the owner of that nightclub would nod and bow to him, flattering and respecting him as if he were their ancestor.

Looking back, Wang Chenghui gave him a job and opportunities. Whatever he lacked, Wang Chenghui seemed to know what he needed before he even asked. Whenever he encountered a problem, Wang Chenghui would always stand by him, watching him take one step forward at a time. If he made a mistake, he would teach him. If he didn’t understand, he would teach him over and over again. For Jiang Rui, Wang Chenghui was not only his boss and his superior, but also a mentor.

That was until he met Ye Wenbin.

Ye Wenbin’s family was not well-off, and his father was a compulsive gambler. After losing a lot of money, he sold his own son. Ye Wenbin was a high school student at the time. He was young and proud and had never experienced anything like this. He beat up the person who had bought him in the hotel room. When he was escaping, he saw the manager who had tricked him standing next to Jiang Rui and mistakenly thought that Jiang Rui was the mastermind behind the whole thing. He raised his fist, ready to fight Jiang Rui.

Jiang Rui’s fighting skills had been trained by a professional hired by Wang Chenghui. Before this, Ye Wenbin had rarely even had an argument with anyone, let alone a physical fight.

Jiang Rui was naturally too lazy to fight him. He just found the man’s reckless ferocity interesting. He told his people to keep an eye on him. Little did he know that this “keeping an eye” would last for nearly a decade.

Jiang Rui always felt that he and Ye Wenbin were very similar, so he thought he understood him at his core. It wasn’t until he found out that Ye Wenbin had been secretly with Wang Chenghui behind his back and that Wang Chenghui had used him as a pawn to protect Ye Wenbin that Jiang Rui realized that he and Ye Wenbin were two completely different people. He had never truly understood him.

Jiang Rui didn’t know why Wang Chenghui had built him up only to abandon him, and he didn’t want to know. No matter how much he owed him in the past, he had given his life in his previous one, so they were even.

As the high school entrance exam approached, Jiang Rui remained calm. But his parents didn’t have the same composure, especially He Fulan. With a little more money on hand, she no longer had to spend every penny carefully. She bought a pile of walnuts, calcium tablets, and oral liquids for Jiang Rui, regardless of whether they were useful or not, just in case he strained his brain or body.

Jiang Rui was fine, but his mother was making him feel like something was wrong with him. In the end, Jiang Jianjun couldn’t stand it and had a heated argument with his wife. Jiang Rui also asked his homeroom teacher to visit their home and talk to his mother for a long time. Only then did He Fulan calm down a bit.

During a weekend study session organized by the school, Wang Xiaorui, the top student, unexpectedly didn’t show up. Jiang Rui passed a note to Zhou Yang to ask him what was going on. Since Jiang Rui had a good relationship with Wang Xiaorui, Zhou Yang had also gotten to know her well, and the three of them had long been the “iron triangle” of the class. Zhou Yang was always the most informed about school gossip, but this time, he didn’t know anything.

Wang Xiaorui didn’t show up until after class was over at noon. Jiang Rui secretly left the school with Zhou Yang and went to her house. When they got there, they found the door was locked and no one was home.

Jiang Rui asked the next-door neighbor, who said that Wang Xiaorui’s father had suddenly returned that morning and seemed to have an argument with her mother. Then, he took both of them to Qing City for something.

Jiang Rui and Zhou Yang exchanged a glance. Without asking any more questions, they left.

In this era, even the village chief’s house didn’t have a phone, let alone Wang Xiaorui’s family, which wasn’t well-off. They couldn’t contact Wang Xiaorui or find out where she went. Jiang Rui and Zhou Yang could only return to school.

They thought Wang Xiaorui would come back after being delayed for a day or so, but she was gone for two or three days. The teacher went to her house, but the door was always locked. The neighbors said that the mother and daughter hadn’t come back at all.

Jiang Rui had previously spent money to ask Yang Feng to bring him a cell phone from Xiangcheng so he could easily contact him. At that time, wealthy people used pagers, and most people had never even seen a small cell phone. He also hadn’t used it in front of people, except to let Zhou Yang play with it for a while when no one was around.

Jiang Rui dialed Yang Feng’s number. “Hey, Old Yang?” After they had gotten closer, Jiang Rui changed how he addressed him. After all, he wasn’t a real teenager. Calling him “uncle” as a joke was fine, but he didn’t have the audacity to genuinely call him that. Yang Feng wasn’t even as old as he was when he died in his previous life.

“How many times do I have to tell you? If you don’t call me uncle, at least call me brother. What’s wrong? You can’t say it?” Yang Feng would protest every time.

Jiang Rui ignored his protest. “I agree to what you said last time about adding two more pots of flowers a month.”

“Don’t change the subject! I’m going to make you… Wait! What did you say? You agree? For real?”

“I’ve already sent the flowers to the flower house. You can just have someone come get them.”

“Don’t tell me you’re setting a trap for me. I’ve been trying to convince you for three months, and you never agreed. Why the sudden change of heart? Let me tell you now, I won’t do it if you’re trying to raise the price on me.”

Jiang Rui laughed. “No way. I just have something I need your help with. Are you free right now?”

Yang Feng was suddenly silent.

Just as Jiang Rui was beginning to think something was wrong, he replied, “Yeah, I’m free. I’m in Qing City right now. How about we meet and talk?”

He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he felt that Yang Feng’s tone had suddenly become a little strange. Jiang Rui looked at the time on the wall. The supermarket would close in two hours. He said, “Okay, let’s meet.”

“I’ll come to pick you up. Are you at your family’s supermarket?”

“Yeah. I’ll wait for you at the corner of the street.”

He hung up the phone and told his parents that Mr. Yang had something to talk to him about and that he was going out. He might be back a little late, but he would try to return before the supermarket closed.

He Fulan was a little worried. “What does Mr. Yang need to talk to you about so late? Did something go wrong with the flowers you’re selling?” His mother had always been uneasy about her son’s flower business. She felt that it was making too much money, which made her feel insecure.

Jiang Rui said, “He probably wants to increase the price. Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be back soon.” After comforting his mother, Jiang Rui put on his backpack and left.

It was almost summer, and it got hot early in Qing City. Jiang Rui was only wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, a pair of loose jeans, and white sneakers his mother bought for him at the market. With his backpack slung over his right shoulder, he had the casual swagger of a teenager.

On the quiet street, the fifteen-year-old boy was dressed simply and plainly. The black long-sleeved shirt contrasted with his pale skin, making him stand out. It also made his body, which had recently begun to shoot up, look very thin. As he walked against the wind, the long-sleeved shirt and jeans clung to his body, outlining his slender waist and straight, long legs.

Jiang Rui wandered around the street corner for about ten minutes before he saw a familiar car in the distance.

For some reason, Jiang Rui’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.