The small town outside the train window grew increasingly distant, its place gradually taken by newly sown winter wheat, replacing the clusters of low-rise steel structures. The sweeping view of greenery and tranquility stood in stark contrast to the chaos and noise inside the carriage.
The hard-seat car was packed to the brim. Most of the newly boarded passengers carried bulky luggage and spoke in the distinctive Huaiyang dialect. Some were discussing with their companions how to stow their bags, while others asked fellow passengers for a hand. Chen Zier, with his 1.8-meter frame, stood out like a crane among chickens. There were advantages—he had managed to stash his luggage on the overhead rack early on. But there were drawbacks, too: the uncles around him had no qualms about asking him, one after another, to hoist their luggage up. Bags were fine, but some suitcases were quite heavy. Fortunately, Chen Zier was fairly strong and could manage. However, one oilcloth bundle was particularly weighty. From its feel and the clattering sound, he could tell it was filled with pots, pans, and kitchenware. Twenty years from now, who would even travel with this stuff? You could just buy what you need after arriving, he thought. He wanted to complain but held back—these were hardworking people just trying to save money and get by.
After what felt like ages, Chen Zier's back was drenched in sweat. He quickly sat down and took a sip of water. Just then, a lean middle-aged man sitting diagonally across from him smiled and struck up a conversation: "Tired out, young man? You don't look like you've done much heavy labor at home."
Chen Zier, with his fair, unweathered complexion and dressed in loose, casual wear that was somewhat trendy for the time, clearly stood out as someone from a comfortable background. The man wasn't wrong—Chen Zier's father did have some modest wealth. But Chen Zier was naturally low-key. After taking a sip of water, he simply replied, "No such luck. I've herded cattle and farmed the land. I'm a country boy." It was the truth. His family's circumstances had only improved in recent years. As a child, he really had herded cattle.
The middle-aged man wore an "I see through you" expression but didn't press further. He just smiled and continued making small talk.
As they chatted, the situation in the carriage gradually stabilized. It seemed everyone had found their spots, ready to settle in for the next few hours—or dozens of hours. A few passengers were still rearranging their luggage, especially bags that seemed at risk of falling. Just then, a father and daughter approached Chen Zier's row, claiming their seats were there. The two uncles who had been temporarily occupying them were reasonable—they'd only sat down to rest after the crowding—and they stood up without a word when the rightful passengers arrived.
Seeing it was a father and daughter, the lean middle-aged man who had been chatting with Chen Zier politely offered, "I'll sit in this row with the young man here. You two can sit together."
The father smiled gratefully. The young girl, however, flushed with irritation from the crowding, wordlessly took the window seat inside, ignoring her father. Under her breath, she grumbled, "I told you to buy the tickets earlier. Now look—no air-conditioned train, not even a sleeper ticket. We're lucky we're not standing all the way to Zhonghai."
Her father, wearing large brown glasses typical of the era, had delicate skin and sleek, dark hair—he seemed like an office worker. Embarrassed by his daughter's scolding, he looked visibly uncomfortable. Even Chen Zier, a grown man, found the crowding overwhelming, so it was no surprise the girl was upset. But he pretended not to hear, instead gazing absentmindedly out the window.
Originally, Chen Zier had also wanted to take an air-conditioned train, but tickets were hard to come by, and online booking didn't exist yet. As the girl had said, at least they had seats—they were lucky not to be standing all the way to Zhonghai.
Chen Zier wasn't one for sentimentality, but as Huaiyang City disappeared from view outside the window, he couldn't help recalling an overly maudlin line: "When I stepped onto the train years ago, I didn't realize that from then on, my hometown would only have winters and summers—no more springs or autumns."
In his previous life, Chen Zier had been an English teacher in his hometown and had never experienced life as a wanderer far from home. He hadn't related to those feelings back then and had found the line overly sentimental.
Chen Zier had been reborn for a year now. His temperament wasn't restless, and he'd never imagined that rebirth would instantly bring vast wealth. He was just a foreign language teacher, not a business tycoon. He was familiar with exam traps, not corporate battles. So, he had spent the past year studying intensely for the college entrance exam. Thanks to his hard work, his strength in English, and the advantage of remembering the essay topic, he had achieved excellent results.
The joy was that he had been admitted to Zhonghai University, one of the city's three top institutions. The frustration was that while Zhonghai University was renowned for its liberal arts, his score hadn't been competitive enough, and he'd been assigned to the more engineering-focused Transportation Engineering program.
In both his previous life and this one, Chen Zier had no idea what this major entailed or what its graduates even did. It troubled him, but there was nothing to be done. He was no top scorer—getting into Zhonghai University at all had relied on the test-taking skills honed during his years as a teacher.
For the first few days, he'd brooded over it. But then it occurred to him: most people ended up in jobs unrelated to what they studied. So, perhaps his major didn't matter all that much after all.
The train had been away from Huaishui for half an hour, yet Chen Zier still faced nine and a half hours on this journey. Without the speed of a high-speed rail, the train could only manage around 100 kilometers per hour, and with frequent stops along the way, the progress felt painstakingly slow. No smartphone, no laptop—these nine and a half hours were truly going to test his patience.
He had brought a few books, but the noise in the hard-seat carriage exceeded anything he had imagined. Staring blankly into space seemed to be the only option left, but as the sky darkened, he checked the time—almost 7 p.m. Outside, everything was pitch black, with nothing to see.
His gaze drifted to the girl across from him. She seemed to have inherited her father's good genes—fair skin, a round face, and a pair of exquisite, expressive eyes that sparkled with life. Unfortunately, round faces weren't Chen Zier's type, so in his eyes, she wasn't particularly beautiful, merely cute.
The girl appeared to have resigned herself to the reality of a long hard-seat journey and sat in silence. Her father, meanwhile, was chatting animatedly with the lean man beside Chen Zier. Chen Zier caught snippets of their conversation—money and the stock market.
After nearly two decades of reform and opening-up, the pursuit of wealth had shifted from being a taboo topic to something openly, even proudly, discussed. The lean man seemed to have made a considerable profit in the stock market. Though he spoke with a veneer of modesty, his words were unmistakably boastful.
The girl's father remarked, "Our country has only been dabbling in stocks for a few years. Most people, including myself, don't fully understand it. But one thing is certain: no matter how it operates, it must follow economic laws. In your opinion, are the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets behaving normally or not?"
Chen Zier observed that the bespectacled middle-aged man carried himself with the demeanor and eloquence of a government official. Faced with the other's thinly veiled bragging about money, he remained neither subservient nor arrogant, his gentle elegance putting others at ease.
As for the abnormal bull market of 1996, Chen Zier had naturally heard of it. In fact, he had participated in it just two months ago. The public enthusiasm for stocks ignited by that year's bull market was no less intense than in 2007. What left the deepest impression on him was the most severe case of securities fraud in China's history, which also occurred that year. A company called HN Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. had become the biggest dark horse in the 1996 stock market simply by publishing falsified annual reports. Its stock price skyrocketed from a low of 2 yuan per share to a peak of 26 yuan! To Chen Zier, this was unimaginable. While everyone knew listed companies might use "technical means" to embellish their annual reports, outright publishing false reports was truly baffling. Why would anyone engage in such blatantly illegal behavior?
As Chen Zier pondered this, the lean man beside him retorted, "I understand that stock markets rise and fall, but there's no way it will drop within the next six months, or even a year!"
Hearing such a confident prediction about the future, Chen Zier couldn't help but overthink—how did this man know? And with such certainty? Unable to resist, he asked, "Why do you say it won't drop?"
The lean man replied, "Do you know what year next year is?"
Chen Zier thought to himself, *1997? What does that have to do with the stock market?*
The bespectacled man across from him interjected, "You're referring to Hong Kong's return, right?"
"Exactly! Hong Kong's return! How significant a political event is that? The whole world will be watching. Can you imagine us celebrating the return while the stock market crashes? What would foreigners say? Wouldn't that embarrass our government?"
Chen Zier understood immediately. Though such a far-fetched notion still held some sway at the time, and in a country with a strong governmental role like theirs, it wasn't entirely without merit. Still, the fundamental rule of "what goes up must come down" remained unshakable. While rising markets made everyone happy, a downturn would reveal the true nature of human behavior.
Since sitting idle was boring anyway, Chen Zier added a few more words: "Many people are bullish on the stock market now, but no market rises indefinitely. Identifying the turning point is far more important. Staying vigilant amid greed is the key to navigating the stock market steadily and sustainably."
The bespectacled man raised an eyebrow in appreciation and praised, "Young man, that's a truly cautionary remark. Well said, well said."
The lean man beside him, not one to stubbornly cling to his views, nodded reluctantly and admitted, "That does make sense. Investing in stocks should indeed be like that. It's just that many things in this world…"
Chen Zier picked up where he left off, "It's just that many things in this world are easier said than done, especially when you're caught in the midst of it. Blinded by personal stakes and desires, one often loses sight of the bigger picture."
Hearing this, both men couldn't help but take a closer look at Chen Zier, thinking to themselves that this young man was clearly not an idle scholar. Not that they were deeply impressed—Chen Zier's insights were neither groundbreaking nor particularly profound. But the way he spoke, calm and composed, his tone unhurried, his smile gentle yet cutting straight to the point—such confidence and poise were indeed exceptional for someone his age.