1926, Jiaxing, Zhejiang.
Today is the Chinese New Year, and the water town is filled with the sound of crackling firecrackers.
In the bright alley, there was only one dark, open door.
Bao Guowei sat on the dark threshold, the cold wind howling, and he held the thin cotton robe tightly to his body.
"What the hell, time travel and rebirth as Bao Guowei?! It's really the beginning of hell! Ah!" Bao Guowei was muttering, and couldn't help sneezing due to the cold wind.
Obviously, Bao Guowei, who can say these words, is a modern time traveler.
Before time travel, his real name was Bao Benwei.
In his previous life, Bao Benwei was an out-and-out science geek. During high school, I scored 320 in Chinese, Mathematics and English, and 140 in English and Chinese.
In the end, I failed the college entrance examination and entered a dual-featured university, majoring in cattle and horse racing. After graduation, I had ChatGPT for writing articles and iFlytek for translation.
Moreover, he was born to be an unlucky guy. He could not do anything he did. He was busy for half his life, but in the end he was still a pauper. Finally, he realized that making money in this era was really futile, so he looked down on life and stayed at home.
As a result, Bao Benwei stayed at home for many years, ignored by dogs, unloved by people, and simply decayed. When I went to the toilet, I slipped and fell into the cesspit, and I was inexplicably transported back to Bao Guowei in the old movie "Bao and Sons".
"well……"
Bao Benwei sighed. He had traveled through time for two days and had basically figured out Bao Guowei's current situation.
Bao Guowei's father, Lao Bao, was the housekeeper of Mr. Qin, a wealthy gentleman in Shuixiang Town. Bao Guowei's mother died when he was five years old. Old Bao took him to the Qin Mansion and allowed him to attend a foreign school through Master Qin's connections.
Lao Bao worked hard and lived frugally to support Bao Guowei's education, but he only knew how to fool around in the foreign school and did not want to study books. He followed the rich brother Guo Chun every day and worked as his pawn, dreaming of using this opportunity. Enter the circle of rich people.
However, this Guo Chun was also an uneducated and incompetent dandy, so how could he take the humble Bao Guowei seriously.
Years ago, Guo Chun had a dispute with his classmates in school. In order to please Guo Chun, after his order, Bao Guowei stepped forward to fight with the man. He struck hard and beat the man. In the hospital, Guo Chun sold him back.
Later, because of the fight, the school not only expelled Bao Guowei from school, but also required Lao Bao to pay 50 yuan in medical expenses!
Lao Bao originally owed a lot of debts for Bao Guowei to go to school. Now the new and old debts are gathered together to settle them. Needless to say, the beginning is a good start for the second generation!
Bao Benwei shook his head and lamented that Guo Chun had such a dark heart and Bao Guowei was so stupid.
Having said that, soldiers will block it, and water will cover it.
Life is still manageable after all. Now Bao Guowei has only one thought in his mind, and that is to make money!
In his last life, his life was too bad and he would lose money no matter what he did. I originally wanted to find a girlfriend to comfort my soul and stay with me for the rest of my life, but which girl could fancy a poor guy like him, so she went round and round, and she turned out to be a virgin!
However, now that God has given him a chance to come back, he must firmly grasp it. Even in this era of the Republic of China, he must turn it upside down, change his destiny against the will of heaven, and stand out!
Having said that, in this era, the old and the new are merging. If you want to be conservative, it will be difficult to make money, and if you want to be new, it will be difficult to save your life.
As a time traveler, Bao Guowei waited expectantly for two days, but he didn't wait for the plug-in system or anything.
When he was frustrated, he suddenly thought that maybe his own skills were useless under the impact of modern technology, but they might be of great use in the Republic of China.
First of all, although Bao Guowei has not passed the IELTS or TOEFL foreign language test, he has no problem communicating fluently with Wai Guoren. It is no exaggeration to say that he is his second mother tongue.
And although it is not a problem to be full of knowledge, it is not a problem at all to write some short compositions.
Secondly, this kid Bao Guowei, although he failed in every subject at the Foreign School, he was excellent at sports, had a lot of tendons, could play basketball, and had the strength to play basketball.
1926 was a period of conflict and fusion between Chinese and Western cultures. Perhaps these advantages were of some use, but Bao Guowei still didn't know what the use of this ability was.
Be a translator for Wai Guoren? Tutoring essays for the silly son of a landlord? Foreigners are too far away, whether you meet them or not is one thing. For tutoring on composition, it is no longer popular to go to private schools and go to foreign schools instead.
Bao Guowei smiled bitterly, "Why do you feel these things are a bit useless!?"
"Gu Gu."
It was his stomach that was growling.
Bao Guowei stood up and squatted for a long time, feeling that his legs and feet were weak.
He turned around and looked at the bare-walled house.
All are black.
The walls were the color of cooked pork liver, the dark brown plank bed, and the gray-black floor. Some lackluster light came in through the window, ending at the foot of the cold bed.
The square table that was originally used for Bao Guowei to write on had all the things used for homework taken away by the creditor. Even the reading glasses and bed rolls that Bao Guowei had used for decades were taken away.
Lao Bao is from the Qin Mansion. He is in debt, and Master Qin is still in Jingkou and has not come back. Looking at Master Qin's face, he cannot make a decision.
But Lao Bao definitely can no longer work as an errand in the Qin Mansion. In the countryside, everyone heard that Lao Bao's family was in debt, and they did not dare to hire Lao Bao to do work.
But father and son also have two mouths to eat!
Therefore, forced to make a living, yesterday Lao Bao went to another place to seek a living. He is old, has no strength, is alone in a foreign country, and does not know how to make money.
Thinking of this, Bao Benwei himself couldn't help but lament that Bao Guowei was really nothing!
He had never seen pitiful people since he was a child. Moreover, in this time and space, Lao Bao was his own father, and he was so heartbroken that he couldn't help but shed tears.
He wiped away his tears and touched the two or three moldy pancakes left in his arms, which were left behind when the old man left.
It was necessary to get ahead, but the current problem was that he himself could not starve to death first. If he didn't go find something to eat, he might have died in this dark room before he even started making money plans.
After making up his mind, Bao Guowei opened his legs and walked out. He subconsciously wanted to close the door before he remembered that the door panel of his house had also been taken away by the creditor Chen San.
Bao Guowei was walking on the small road. In the empty alley, every house had festive Spring Festival couplets posted on it.
"Oh, um." He wrapped himself in the oil-soaked cotton robe and looked up at the sky.
There are still clouds in the sky, but where the clouds are thin, you can still faintly see the blue color, maybe it's snowing.
I remember that a few years ago, Bao Guowei was still wearing a pair of leather shoes on this road, and he was quite proud. Just because his childhood friend was wearing a pair of tattered straw sandals, he ignored him and walked over with his head held high.
But now, the leather shoes have all been taken to pawn shops to exchange for money to pay off debts, and the leather shoes have turned into tattered cloth shoes.
"Damn it, where can I eat during the Chinese New Year!?" Bao Guowei complained, taking a bite of the pancake as he spoke, and it smelled musty.
In fact, although the situation of the country people is not good, every household can have some leftover food during the Chinese New Year. If you come to the door and say a few auspicious words, the host family can also exchange some food for the sake of good luck.
But this is too shabby!
Bao Guowei was a man of character. When the aroma of food wafted from the houses around him, he just moved forward.
Suddenly, Bao Guowei had a sudden thought. It was the Chinese New Year, and the country people were busy celebrating the New Year, so naturally they would not go out to do anything.
However, work cannot be stopped at the south dock. Moreover, the goods shipped there are also foreign goods, and the boss in charge of the goods is also a foreigner. Naturally, like the foreign school, he pursues the new and is not frugal.
Therefore, Bao Guowei thought that there must be a shortage of laborers at the dock. He had a lot of strength, and he would definitely be able to earn a lot of wages now!
Of course, Bao Guowei has his own little Jiujiu in his heart. Opportunities are everywhere in life, but whether you can grasp it is another matter. Even if you are a nugget of gold, no one can find it if you hide it in the deep mountains and forests.
The dock is always home to the largest number of foreigners, and they control the biggest business in Shuixiang Town.
In this era, people who understand foreign languages can count them on their fingers, so for Bao Guowei, the best way to get ahead is to interact with more foreigners! It’s best to have a relationship!
Just do it, Bao Guowei felt much more relaxed, quickened his pace, and walked quickly towards the south dock.
After a while, Bao Guowei arrived at the south pier. There was not much movement on the street now, only there were a lot of people on the pier.
Boats of all sizes docked at the shore. Some of the big boats were old-fashioned steamboats, steaming black and hot. They looked very eye-catching in the quaint Jiangnan water town.
There were laborers on and off the ship. Although it was already winter, they were all wearing mandarin jackets, and some were even naked from the waist up, carrying goods wrapped in linen from the ship.
Bao Guowei walked into the busy dock and faintly heard two middle-aged men in new clothes sighing and talking, so he leaned closer to listen.
"What the hell, there's still a shortage of people!"
"This batch of goods must be unloaded today, otherwise it will be difficult for the Chamber of Commerce to explain."
"Yes, but isn't this the Chinese New Year? How can we recruit people now?"
"Hey! Who is this?! What are you doing there!?"
This sound really startled Bao Guowei.
