C127

In 1978, the reforms made the market start to open up. People started becoming self-employed, and the era where opportunities were everywhere quietly unfolded.

At this time everyone's perceptions had not yet changed, and no one was willing to become a businessman unless they were pushed to the breaking point.

But Song Qinghan had already started. He travelled to Guangcheng during the winter and summer holidays to buy fashionable clothes to sell. He had been doing this since before the market opened up, only now he was doing it much more openly than before. And with previous experience, he knew how to go to and fro easily, even convincing one of his classmates and Xi Shu to join him.

Ji Xuan returned to the city with her grandfather many years ago and hadn't joined them. [1]

Su Jiaojiao didn't follow because three people should be enough.

They transported the goods and brought them to the capital to sell. Xi Shu had a good eye and was very eloquent, so she sold things very quickly. The fashionable and beautiful women's clothes were much more colourful than regular drab clothing, so they raked in money easily.

In addition to clothes, they sold all sorts of cosmetics like lipsticks. Beijing doesn't have nearly as many cosmetics as it will in the modern age. There was plenty of room for its development, and these were small things which were easy to take and highly profitable. However, there weren't many high-quality cosmetics, so this couldn't be the main business.

Su Jiaojiao thought Song Qinghan would stop when school started. After all, he had homework to do, and failing an exam would make him unable to get a diploma.

But the next year, Song Qinghan said, "I've saved up enough and I'm planning to open a hot pot restaurant."

"Huh? Why a hot pot restaurant?" Su Jiaojiao was confused, "Weren't you still selling clothes a few months ago?"

Song Qinghan laughed lightly, "That was to earn some money. Now we have enough money, it's time to buy a plot of land to sell our goods."

Su Jiaojiao had nothing to say. "You decide. The family is not short of money now anyways, so don't worry. As for the hot pot base, you can also make it, but I'll help you if you want." [1]

Song Qinghan clearly had a plan, so Su Jiaojiao didn't intend to interfere.

She wasn't ambitious, but she didn't object to her husband being ambitious either.

Song Qinghan smiled, "Well I know, but I still need to tell you. I'll have half of the shares. As the manager, Xi Shu will have 15% of the shares, and my classmate has the rest. We'll split the profits equally." [2]

"Write a clear contract and get a lawyer to notarize it. Even blood brothers have to settle accounts clearly, you know?" There was nothing that Su Jiaojiao could do to help him with this, so she could only say the little she knew.

Song Qinghan nodded. "That's natural."

After giving her a brief explanation, Song Qinghan let her go. Su Jiaojiao was still quietly attending classes, and her grades were so good that her teachers had thought of letting her graduate early.

So Su Jiaojiao worked even harder.

One day, she found people around her discussing a restaurant called Song's Hotpot.

"What are you guys talking about?" Su Jiaojiao was flabbergasted by her classmates' discussion.

One of her female classmates who she was pretty close to laughed, "You really need to get out more! There's a hot pot restaurant next to our school. It looks very expensive, but it's actually very affordable, and most importantly it's definitely worth every penny!"

"When did it open?" Su Jiaojiao asked.

The classmate thought about it and said, "It's been a month, right? We didn't know about it at first, but I heard that several professors from our school went over to eat it, and after eating it they all smelled like hot pot and when they returned to lecture. It smelled so good the students on the front row were drooling, and all of a sudden everyone knew about it."

Su Jiaojiao smacked her lips. They were so lucky they got a 'celebrity effect'. Aside from the school itself, the most effective advertisement was naturally the professors.

She didn't know that it was Xi Shu who had thought of this trick and managed to pull it off.

Xi Shu didn't have much experience running a restaurant, but she was competent enough as a modern girl with a strong capacity to learn.

She also remembered that Song Qinghan mentioned this to her, but she didn't really take note of it then because she was busy with her studies.

And now, it's already been open for a month.

She was a failure who couldn't help in any way.

But after a short while, she became calm. A failure was a failure, besides, she made the hot pot base.

Armos D. Platypus: Hot pot. Just had it today (Feb 10th), and it was delicious.

[1] Children in the 70s didn't go to a lot of after-school classes, so it didn't cost as much to raise a child.

[2] I'm not sure what this actually means, but I hope you get the gist.

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Chapter 128

After graduating from university, Xi Shu had already found a very good boyfriend who she met at work. The two were rivals at work who had been in a love-hate relationship. In the end, they became an item.

She didn't give up her career after she got married, but Song Qinghan and Xi Shu still went in different directions. Xi Shu switched to the clothing business, while Song Qinghan concentrated on the food industry.

It would be a waste to have a treasure in the family and not use it.

Feeling that she could make a contribution, Su Jiaojiao was proud of herself, and officially gave herself a position under Song Qinghan's company name -as a culinary advisor.

When the others saw it, their faces were full of shock and awe.

She also got paid every month, which made people even more envious and jealous.

The two took advantage of the golden period of the eighties and became the dominant force of the Beijing restaurant scene, with all the various restaurant chains bearing the name of the company Song Qinghan later set up – Jiaoyue. [1]

Ji Ya who joked, "Are you afraid people won't know you have a wife?"

Song Qinghan nodded vigorously, "Yes!"

Su Jiaojiao covered her mouth and laughed.

Song Tianning raised his hand in response and said, "Mom, in the future I'll open a company too, and it'll be called Mama!"

The rest of the family couldn't hold back their laughter.

****

Of course, Song Tianning's naive thoughts didn't come true in the future.

Song Qing Han was extremely successful and shone brightly in the food industry. Meanwhile, Su Jiaojiao quietly worked on literature. Because she had good fundamentals, she began to write various books during university.

There were no e-books in the 70s, only paperbacks. The publisher would send her a bunch of copies for each book she published, and compared to the son's great achievements, Ji Ya and Song Huaijin thought their daughter-in-law's books gave them more bragging rights. Each time new copies were sent to the family, they'd keep two and give the rest to their family and friends.

So everyone around knew that the Song family's daughter-in-law was a formidable writer.

Authors were very rare in the 70s, and things that were rare were priceless. These books would be well-received in the modern day, needless to say how popular they were then.

Su Jiaojiao was complimented by her family members and friends to the point where she was afraid to mention that she had published a book.

It's too humiliating!

Song Tianning's PoV

In the eyes of the young Song Tianning, his parents could be said to be an inseparable pair, and his presence as their son wasn't very strong. It wasn't that they didn't accompany him, but rather he felt like he was a third wheel in their relationship.

To the casual observer, they seemed like a power couple who were busy all the time. One had gone into business and became extremely successful, while the other was a wildly successful author.

But in reality, their lives were uneventful. His father would always come home to rest no matter how busy he was, as long as he wasn't on a business trip. While his mother was very lazy and sometimes didn't even bother leaving her room when her husband was away, asking her young son to help her bring food.

But she occasionally followed her husband on business trips, partly for work and partly to relax and find inspiration.

So Song Tianning was mostly raised by his grandparents.

Even if he didn't realise it as a child, he would subconsciously choose to play with his grandparents, because in their eyes, he was their everything.

This started when Song Tianning went to primary school, as Su Jiaojiao believed that children had begun to officially grow up and were less dependent on their parents so didn't need all their attention.

As Song Tianning grew up, this feeling became more and more apparent to him, but he didn't feel too dejected but instead grew up with a vague envy.

This envy reached its peak after he graduated from university.

Because his dad gave him the company!

Just gave it to him!

"It doesn't matter if you bankrupt the company."

That's what Song Qinghan said when he was leaving, and then he took Su Jiaojiao and went off to travel the world without looking back.

Song Tianning didn't know what to say.

The good thing was that he didn't bankrupt the company, because he didn't like the feeling of lacking money. He had been taken to the company by his parents since he was a child, and would occasionally help out when he grew older. Although he was unskilled and tired at first, he quickly learned the ropes.

So he became an ATM for his parents.

It was heartbreaking.

Thankfully, they were still good to him and never forgot to send him a bunch of souvenirs from wherever they went, although a lot of it couldn't be used by the time they got there because of the long delivery times.

But because of his parents' good relationship with each other, he didn't become spoiled like other second-generation rich people and treated relationships like toys. Instead, he was extremely serious in this regard and wanted to find someone who he'd get along with.

It was not until the year he turned twenty-five that he met a girl, understood what it felt like to feel love, and started wooing her, eventually winning her over.

It was then that Song Tianning understood why his parents always stuck together and thus ignored him.

When the person you liked was here, there was no room for anything else in your eyes.

His parents died of old age peacefully,and their funeral was not a big affair.

Song Tianning held his wife's hand, and then hugged his son. His mood was unexpectedly calm.

He was even able to smile and say, "After this, there will be no one to disturb your two-person world."

Armos D. Platypus: This story cut so quickly it was like it cut from a second 'rising action' to 'epilogue'. And then the author made another spin-off.

[1] Yes, it was named after Su Jiaojiao.

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Chapter 129

With the Marrow Cleansing Pill she had earned from her previous tasks, Su Jiaojiao had lived a life free of illness and pain.

She was very fortunate to be able to die peacefully in that time and space, so she did not have any expectations of living once more. She was already content.

Who knew that the moment she died, she could suddenly open her eyes. She thought it was a flashback to the past, but what she actually saw was a computer screen playing a TV series, on which people in ancient costumes were fighting with each other, making a lot of noise. All sorts of funny pop-ups were also floating by as well.

She looked at the unfamiliar room, the keyboard, and the still-unclosed code interface at the bottom of the screen, all of which told her that she...seemed to be back in her past life?

Unfortunately, too much time had passed, and she barely remembered what this world was like.

What time was it anyway?

She thought that even if she was back, she'd be in hospital, after all, she'd fallen down a sinkhole in the middle of nowhere on a camping trip, and she'd have to be injured somehow, but what was going on now?

It was as inexplicable as why she had transmigrated to the 70s in the first place.

Having lived in another time and place for almost fifty years, when she died, it was already several years past the modern day.

When she returned, she was dazed for a long time before she remembered anything.

This was where she lived.

Her parents were not very young. They had both been senior engineers when they were young and had retired early after she could support herself, using their non-insignificant retirement money to go play around. So they weren't at home very often.

There was only her brother and sister-in-law at home. She and her brother were not really a family after all, and there were always all sorts of arguments when they lived together, so she moved out when she started getting paid for writing webnovels at university.

The flat was given to her by her parents. It was a two-room apartment with an area of just ninety square metres, and it was small and cosy.

After graduation, she just shut herself inside her home, occasionally travelling for inspiration if she became too bored. It was similar to the life she lived when she transmigrated, the difference being that there wasn't another person around to keep her company.

"Song Qinghan ......" Su Jiaojiao muttered. jerking up and quickly finding her familiar phone from under her pillow, taking a look at the time, she froze again.

She remembered when she transmigrated over clearly. May 1st, 2018.

But now, the phone was showing April 30th!

Su Jiaojiao's heart sank, so wasn't May 1st tomorrow?

Her brain suddenly hurt a little. There was a throbbing pain, like something was about to make her head burst for a moment.

She found the girl who had asked her to go camping, but found that they last messaged each other on April 28th, and after going through the chat logs for quite a while and recalling quite a few things, she realised that they...hadn't discussed going camping at this time?

Su Jiaojiao's vision went black, her heart was dull and aching, and the blood was gone from her face.

She was trembling and her hands were covered in sweat as she sent this message: [Let's go camping on May 1st!]

The other party replied in seconds: [Yo, you're finally going outside?]

It seemed like something went wrong when she transmigrated back.

[Where do you want to go? I'm getting bored at home.]

[I would love to, but my mum is forcing me to go back on a blind date this May 1st, and I'm miserable. I envy you for not needing to go on any blind dates...]

Then, Su Jiaojiao immediately tried to call the matchmaker system, but there was no response.

Suddenly her heart palpitated, her eyes rolled up and she passed out.

Armos D. Platypus: Yup. Another spin-off.

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Chapter 130

Su Jiaojiao woke up again and was rolling around in bed.

The twenty-three-year-old girl looked very young, with white skin and a face full of collagen.

A pair of long and slender legs were raised high in the air before their master opened her eyes as she was air cycling.

Suddenly, those legs froze in mid-air.

Su Jiaojiao sat up violently. She rubbed her hair, ran to the computer with a collapsed face, then opened the software that had been on for half a day. "It's over, I'm about to be late for an upload!"

"Why did I suddenly fall asleep yesterday?"

"I'm going to be dead!"

She uncomfortably covered her heart, silently looking at the half-written script and the drama that was playing in the background.

Hungry, Su Jiaojiao rubbed her stomach. She felt like she had forgotten something very important, but nothing was more important than finishing this chapter for her webnovel right now.

She took out her phone and ordered takeaway. She chose what she picked last time and started reviewing the content she wrote, taking out the outline again.

Surprisingly, she actually wrote like a god, just like she had help from another word. Looking at her outline's twists and turns, she could imagine all kinds of exciting plots with a little thought in her head.

Su Jiaojiao took a deep breath and began to write.

And it was evident something had clearly changed.

The words that appeared on the screen also didn't feel quite the same as the ones she had written before, similar in nature but significantly more advanced.

Her wording was simple and concise, yet still flowed well.

The more Su Jiaojiao wrote, the more astonished she became in her mind, yet her hands did not listen.

Her typing speed was good, and now that her brain could keep up, she wrote even faster. In just an hour, she had finished the chapter.

After a final check to make sure it was okay, she posted it.

Not long after, a whole bunch of readers commented: [Huh, it's suddenly gotten better!]

Su Jiaojiao didn't know what to say.

To be honest, it was a little scary. She wasn't possessed by a ghost, was she?

She took out her mobile phone and started to cry as she called her mother, and as soon as the other party picked up, she shouted, "Mom, where are you? I'm going to look for you... no, it's better if you come over. I'm so scared!!!"

*****

Song Qinghan thought he was going to die. He had lived a good life and came to terms with his death a long time ago. He had no regrets at all.

He did die. But the very next moment, he woke up in excruciating pain.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital.

There were several people standing around him with concerned faces, and when they saw that he had woken up, they were overjoyed, "I was scared to death. Qinghan, don't you ever scare your mother like that again, what's so good about car racing?"

Sing Qinghan didn't know how to react.

He kind of understood what that person meant, but also not really. He thought: What the hell is going on? I want to go back to my wife. Do I have to die again?

Song Qinghan tensed his face, and didn't say anything. He silently looked at his current body; it was youthful, and looked just like him when he was young.

It was really strange. Was this what his wife had been talking about? Transmigration?

Seeing that he didn't say anything, the middle-aged woman dropped her lecturing tone dishearteningly. She sighed and turned stern, "I have confiscated your car and I have your driving licence. When you are discharged from the hospital, you'll be driven around by a chauffeur. Do you understand?"

Still no response, the man beside the middle-aged woman patted her shoulder and said comfortingly, "He has just woken up. Let him rest first."

The man in the suit who was following the two was silent.

The middle-aged woman looked at the young man lying on the hospital bed, his head still wrapped in gauze, his handsome face cold and silent. His eyes seemed oddly different from before, but they still seemed the same. Holding on to the slightest hint of hope that her son had grown wiser after his near-death experience, she nodded and turned to go out.

After that, the room was quiet.

Song Qing Han lay on the bed. He inclined his head to look at the things on top of the bedside table, and thought to himself: Was there not a fruit knife?

He wanted to commit suicide after all, his daughter-in-law was dead and there was no point in living. [1]

[This is your previous life. Your obsession with your wife brought you back.] A voice that sounded like a five year old child suddenly appeared in his mind.

Song Qinghan's heart skipped a beat in that instant.

The voice hurriedly said: [I'm the matchmaker system! The host lost her connection to me due to returning to her original world, so in order not to leave, I forcibly bound myself to you and followed you over here!]

Song Qinghan started to speak when the matchmaker system immediately said: [Just think in your mind, I can hear it.]

Song Qinghan asked, "Where is Jiaojiao?"

Although he and the matchmaker system couldn't communicate until now, they had lived together for decades anyway. After knowing it was it, he wasn't worried at all, and he went from thinking about ending it all to trying to find Su Jiaojiao.

The matchmaker system anticipated this.

The two lived a very carefree life in their old age and didn't care about much except for each other.

[The host has returned to where she lived in her previous life.]

Where she lived in her previous life?

Song Qinghan remembered the address that Jiaojiao had told him a long time ago, even though there was no such place in his previous life.

The first thing he did was to lift the blanket and try to get up, but his entire body was in pain. Before he could stand up, he felt dizzy and he collapsed helplessly back onto the bed.

The pain is unbearable ......

The matchmaker system reminded him: [New host, your body damage level has reached forty percent. You can't get up for the time being.]

[Oh.] Song Qing Han responded indifferently as he pondered how to contact his wife.

The matchmaker system wanted to break something. So the host's husband was even more difficult to deal with than the host herself!

[You can go find the host after you recover from your injuries.] The matchmaker system said. But after seeing a hint of joy flash in Song Qinghan's eyes, it quickly said: [But the host has lost her memory and doesn't remember you. If you want her to regain her memory, you must purchase a magical pill.]

She's...forgotten me?

Song Qing Han's pupils shrank slightly. He clenched his fist somewhat nervously and asked, "How much does it cost?"

[When the host's affection level reaches 100 points, you can buy the magic pill!]

[Good.]

The matchmaker system further enticed him by saying: [You can also use these points to purchase the magical spray. It can completely take care of all injuries.]

Song Qinghan's eyes narrowed slightly as an idea appeared.

Armos D. Platypus: This spin-off seems to have an interesting premise, with Su Jiaojiao losing her memory. Although I think the author should've made this more obvious at the beginning.

[1] Neither the author nor the translator thinks suicide is a good idea. Please don't do it.