Chapter Thirteen: Dinner

As expected, when I arrived home, my godmother was chatting with my mother, waiting for us to return, and even complaining about how Siya was so late. After greeting my godmother, I flopped onto the couch to watch television, waiting for my mother to finish preparing dinner. Soon, my godmother and Siya joined me on the couch, watching TV together.

Before long, my godmother approached me with a mysterious smile and said, "Qiangqiang, how was your first day at Fourth High? Did you understand everything?"

I nodded, my eyes still fixed on the TV screen. "Yes, everything was pretty straightforward."

"That's good." My godmother seemed pleased with my answer. She patted my head and said, "You know, your parents have pinned all their hopes on you, Qiangqiang. You must work hard and study diligently—don’t end up like your sister, who could only become a flight attendant after graduating from vocational school. She’s always flying about, rarely at home, and not making much money either."

"Mom…" Before my godmother could finish, Siya pouted in protest. "What do you mean 'could only'? Becoming a flight attendant is not that easy! And besides, it’s a noble profession…"

I nearly laughed out loud at her words. Flight attendant—a noble profession, true, but thanks to certain foreign films, that title had become tainted. But in 1997, those films weren’t exactly popular in China, and a girl like Siya would never have seen them. All I could do was let my imagination run wild, picturing my stepsister in a flight attendant’s uniform…

"Ew… Brother, you’re so gross. You’re drooling…"

Her words snapped me out of my reverie, and I quickly wiped my mouth with a sheepish smile before turning to my godmother. "Godmother, don’t say that. Being a flight attendant is a great job—lots of girls would kill for the chance. And think about it: only wealthy people fly, right? That way, she’ll meet plenty of important people. If a good man takes a liking to her, wouldn’t that save you a lot of worry?"

I knew my godmother had started looking for a match for Siya, so I added that last bit, subtly praising her job. My words made Siya blush deeply and lower her head.

"Oh? Now that you put it that way, it’s true—I’d forgotten about that." My godmother was clearly pleased with my flattery and nodded. "Qiangqiang, you’re grown now, so I’ll tell you—I’m thinking of leasing the school shop at Third High. What do you think?"

"You want to lease the school shop at Third High?" I looked at her in surprise, but quickly smiled. "That’s great! Shops near schools always do good business."

"Is that so? That’s what I thought. After all, your stepsister is rarely home, your stepfather is working on a project in H City and won’t be back much, and Third High is close to my place. I’m at home anyway. If your mother weren’t so busy at the factory, I’d have asked her to do it with me." She sighed. "But honestly, Qiangqiang, I’m not confident. Business may be good, but if I don’t have enough help, it’ll be tough."

I pondered her words and nodded. "You’re right, godmother. I have an idea—if you take over the shop, you could renovate it a bit and turn it into a convenience store. That way, things would be much more organized, and you wouldn’t need to hire so many people. It’s a win-win."

"Convenience store? What’s that?" she asked, puzzled. Only then did I remember that in 1997, the concept of a convenience store didn’t really exist in China—only large supermarkets in cities had anything similar. I hurried to explain: "A convenience store is a bit like a small supermarket. You display all the goods on shelves with price tags, and customers pick what they want, then pay at the register. Of course, to prevent theft, you’ll need a camera surveillance system. That way, you won’t have to serve too many customers at once, and customers won’t have to crowd and scramble to buy things."

Her eyes lit up at my words. "That’s a brilliant idea, Qiangqiang—why didn’t I think of that? If I do it this way, I’ll only need to hire two assistants."

"Exactly," I nodded. "And if you want to expand in the future, you can open more convenience stores—make it a chain, one in each school."

"My godson is incredible—I never knew you were so smart! Qiangqiang, if I make money, I’ll be sure to reward you!" she said happily. Of course, I knew the convenience store model was the inevitable evolution of retail. By the 21st century, convenience stores had basically replaced school shops as the new urban trend. If my godmother followed this model and did well, she’d definitely make a fortune. But in the end, it would all depend on her—after all, I wasn’t the one running the business.

Soon, my mother finished cooking, and the four of us sat down to a joyful dinner. Throughout the meal, my godmother kept praising me, making my mother beam with pride. Seeing that look of satisfaction on her face, my heart ached a little; I’d let her down so many times before. How I wished her face could always wear that smile…

After dinner, my mother saw my godmother and stepsister off, while I returned to my room and stared into the small mirror on my desk. Tonight was the first night of my new life; I had already changed history and everything that had once been. I told my reflection I’d never regret these changes—on the contrary, I would keep changing things, erasing my past life entirely from this existence!

Earlier this morning, I had tried hard to recall all the alien technology the octopus had implanted in my mind, but I understood that these technologies were far too advanced to be used for now—they’d cause an uproar. Besides, even if I wanted to use them, I couldn’t—technology requires equipment to become reality, and that’s what I lacked. Still, while I couldn’t use alien technology, I could put my knowledge of Earth technology to use. But I had neither funds nor power. Forget alien tech—even 21st-century Earth tech would be hard to implement in 1997 China, where technology lagged far behind the world and hardware was inferior. After much thought, I realized that industry was not feasible; my only option was to quickly accumulate wealth. Only with money could I bring the technology in my mind to life. And aside from finance, the fastest way to make money was through software.

In my previous life, I’d majored in software engineering at university and worked in mobile software development, so computers were no mystery to me. With the Earth technologies the alien octopus had given me, I was even more confident—just give me a computer, and I could create wealth. Programming languages, software technology—none of it would be a challenge, even with only the basic systems of 1997 like Windows 97. The only question was: what kind of software should I make to earn my first pot of gold?

A sudden idea flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t help but break into a smile of excitement.

The world belonging to Xiao Qiang was about to be born!