Chapter One: Past Lives and Present Life

In June 1999, in the city of Shenzhuan, Huaguo, the Shenda New Village.

Shenda New Village was the faculty apartment complex for Shenzhuan University, located in the Futian central district of the city. It was among the first batches of university-subsidized housing, and its residents were all professors and teachers from Shenzhuan University.

Built in 1993, Shenda New Village stood less than seven stories tall, but in those days, it was considered a rather fine residential area for Shenzhuan.

After finishing his dinner absentmindedly, Gu Zhi greeted his parents and returned to his room.

He closed the door tightly behind him, stood alone by the window, gazing in a daze at the distant evening twilight.

In 1999, Huaguo’s economy was just beginning to take off. As a window city for the reform and opening-up, and a special economic zone, Shenzhuan was developing at a rapid pace. Skyscrapers replaced farmlands, and the city’s commerce gradually took shape.

As night fell outside, dots of dazzling orange-yellow lights flickered to life.

Even as darkness deepened, Gu Zhi could still clearly see the occasional white clouds drifting across the sky.

The teachers living in Shenda New Village, most having just finished dinner, now gathered in small groups.

Some practiced tai chi, others strolled with their spouses, and a spry old gentleman in his fifties stood listening raptly to Peking opera on a battered radio—a sound Gu Zhi found utterly incomprehensible.

From time to time, the sharp chirring of cicadas drifted in, echoing in Gu Zhi’s ears.

The lively atmosphere outside the window pulled him back from his trance.

Today marked the third day since his rebirth.

From his initial disbelief, anxiety, excitement, and fear, Gu Zhi had worried that all of this was nothing more than a dream.

Only now was he certain—it was not.

Given a new lease on life, his parents had noticed his odd behavior these last few days. But at sixteen, some strangeness was to be expected in their son, fitting the rebellion and restlessness of adolescence.

Both were open-minded, their parenting always balanced and encouraging, so they did not inquire too deeply.

His father, Gu Wenzhi, was a professor in the computer science department at Shenzhuan University—a textbook intellectual: refined, focused, and a champion of rational thought.

On the other hand, he lacked a certain ruthlessness in his character.

His mother, Lin Zhi, after graduating from university, had secured a coveted position in Shenzhuan’s banking system—a “golden rice bowl” envied by all.

Though the salary wasn’t high, it was steady, with generous hidden benefits.

But Lin Zhi was not content with a life of stability. There was a rare tenacity and sharp business instinct about her.

After the reforms, disregarding the objections of family and colleagues, she resolutely resigned from her ironclad job, caught the wave of history, and plunged into the business world.

Faced with her determination, Gu Wenzhi gave his full support.

Her perseverance paid off. After more than a decade of hard work, Lin Zhi had, in recent years, become a leading figure in Shenzhuan’s garment industry, holding a substantial market share across the entire province.

By 1999, the Gu family’s assets had reached nearly one hundred million, making them renowned for their wealth and success.

With a father who was a university professor and a mother who’d become a prominent entrepreneur, Gu Zhi enjoyed a smooth and privileged upbringing.

Even though he hadn’t been admitted to the very top universities in Huaguo, he still attended a renowned 985 institution in the capital.

After graduation, he went on to study in America, pursuing his master’s and doctorate at a top Ivy League university—his future seemed limitless.

But the good times did not last.

The internet era arrived with astonishing speed. No one could have predicted how rapidly Huaguo’s internet industry would develop, leaping in just over a decade to become one of the most advanced in the world.

From initially copying foreign products to independent innovation, even the Chinese themselves could hardly believe how the internet had quietly transformed their way of life.

The impact of the internet was not limited to itself—it also drove major breakthroughs in traditional industries.

From ride-hailing to food delivery, group buying to apartment rentals, shopping to travel, every sector felt the shockwaves of the internet.

Some businesses seized the opportunity and soared with the internet boom; many more were swept away and left behind.

Lin Zhi and Gu Wenzhi were among those eliminated by the internet age.

Despite his deep expertise in computer science, Gu Wenzhi’s understanding of the internet left him skeptical of Huaguo’s prospects in the field. If not, he might have started his own internet venture long ago rather than continue teaching at the university.

Influenced by her husband, Lin Zhi too missed the wild growth of the internet era. Her company’s sales plummeted, their share devoured by countless merchants on Taobao, collapsing almost overnight.

By the time she realized and tried to catch the last internet train, it was already too late.

Desperate to fill the growing deficits, Lin Zhi borrowed money everywhere. She gave up the garment industry entirely, pivoting to other businesses in a last-ditch effort to save her company.

But progress stalled.

The former glory crumbled in an instant. Eventually, Lin Zhi went bankrupt, leaving behind over five million in debt.

Proud as she was, she turned gray overnight, suffered a sudden stroke, and became bedridden and paralyzed.

A once-happy family fell from the pinnacle to the abyss.

To care for his now-helpless wife, Gu Wenzhi applied for early retirement from the university. Gu Zhi, who was still in America at the time, had no choice but to abandon his doctoral studies and return home, shouldering the family’s burdens.

Adversity brings suffering, but also growth.

For years, Gu Zhi worked tirelessly to rebuild their lives.

Not wanting to drag down his girlfriend still in America, he broke off their relationship and remained alone.

Though he had never touched alcohol before, he began frequenting banquets, drinking heavily until he could hold his liquor like a seasoned veteran.

The pressure of enormous debt, the harm of chronic drinking, and the loneliness of singlehood left him prematurely gray and wrinkled, aging before his time.

Carrying such a heavy burden, every step felt treacherous.

It wasn’t until the beginning of August 2017 that he finally paid off all their debts. The once-bankrupt clothing company was back on track, achieving stable income.

That day, the three of them gathered in their now dilapidated Shenda New Village apartment, laughing, crying, and embracing one another.

But years of exhaustion had already wrecked Gu Zhi’s health. Though his face seemed flushed and healthy, his body was riddled with hidden wounds.

That very day, overwhelmed with joy, he suffered a sudden heart attack and died.

When he awoke again, he found himself back eighteen years earlier, at the dawn of Huaguo’s internet boom.

In his past life, he had given everything, doing work he never truly loved, only to be left with nothing in the end.

In this life, blessed with foresight and the advantage of rebirth, the tides of fate were in his hands—he was the pig standing at the wind’s edge.

“It’s time to do what I truly want,” Gu Zhi murmured to himself, gazing at the sun as it finally slipped below the horizon.