Chapter 068: Roasted Sweet Potatoes

After thoroughly enjoying himself on stage, Yang Tian left hand in hand with Huang Juan. They had originally planned to wait for Zhou Bing and the others to pack up the sound equipment before all heading to the internet café for barbecue. Besides the sound system and other equipment, the flashlight from earlier was also arranged by Yang Tian, and it was Zhang Zhi who had held it. This surprised Huang Juan greatly. She had an incredibly joyful day; it seemed that, all of a sudden, she realized there was no difference between being on stage and off it. She had finally overcome her psychological barrier and become confident.

What surprised her even more was that the judges gave her and Yang Tian a near-perfect score of 99 points. The two of them won first place in the singing competition, and the song they performed, “A Bit Moved,” instantly became the most popular tune on campus, with students eagerly imitating it.

Especially among the first-year students, who had assumed, as in previous years, that their only role was to warm up the crowd for the second and third years. No one expected that first place would go to a pair of freshmen, and moreover, for a tender duet. For a time, the campus was swept up in a wave of admiration and imitation, with many seeking to emulate the romantic flair of Yang Tian and Huang Juan.

First prize included not just an honorary certificate but also a 300 yuan cash reward. Yang Tian initially wanted to give all the money to Huang Juan so she could savor the fruits of victory. But she absolutely refused, insisting that since he owed a lot of money, she wanted to help him save up and pay off his debts.

Helpless, Yang Tian had to accept. In truth, he wanted to say that he had been reborn from the 21st century—if he wanted money, it could hardly be easier.

There was one thing he didn’t dare tell Huang Juan, for fear of scaring her: he had already repaid the twenty thousand yuan owed to Zhang Qiang and his wife and even secretly stashed away another twenty thousand.

Under his direction, Hongyu Internet Café had opened four new branches in one go the previous month. He brought in Zhou Bing’s brothers from the auto repair shop—A Gui and the rest—to manage the various locations and to vigorously promote game membership cards.

He and Zhang Zhi remained at the main shop on Xuefu Street, only needing to occasionally inspect the other branches. With Zhou Bing present, A Gui and the others didn’t dare overstep their bounds.

In just a month, Zhang Zhi had managed to break even, for opening four new branches was costly, but the income was substantial. Meanwhile, Yang Tian made a tidy profit, taking a 40% cut from game membership card sales. If he hadn’t contributed some toward renovations for Zhang Zhi’s new café and shared some with Zhou Bing and the others, he would have made far more than forty thousand.

On the other hand, if he hadn’t been pressured by debt, he wouldn’t have been so aggressive in making money. After all, his goal after being reborn was to fulfill his dreams.

But now that the game membership card business was thriving, and as Hongyu Internet Café continued to expand, his income would only keep growing—he simply couldn’t avoid becoming wealthy.

Over the weekend, Yang Tian went home and handed five thousand yuan to Yang Bao and his wife. At first, they were astonished, but Yang Tian had a ready excuse: he claimed Angie’s family had repaid the money, which finally put their minds at ease as they accepted it.

"Next semester is the high school entrance exam. Are you nervous?" Sitting side by side at the roots of the old willow tree at the village entrance, Yang Tian smiled as he asked Yang Xueling.

"I am, brother. Were you nervous at that time?" Yang Xueling replied with a smile. It was clear that the tense life of her final year in junior high had left her looking a bit weary.

"Of course, I was. The high school entrance exam is a once-in-a-lifetime event—who wouldn’t be nervous?" As soon as Yang Tian said this, Yang Xueling understood and smiled sweetly.

"What about Sister Juan? Was she nervous?" Yang Xueling’s sweet smile lingered as she gently nestled against Yang Tian’s side. It had been a long time since she’d leaned on him like this.

"She must have been nervous too! Let me tell you a secret—she was even more nervous than you back then!" Yang Tian leaned in to whisper by her ear.

"Really?!" Yang Xueling’s smile grew wider.

"Of course it’s true! Oh, by the way, did you finish reading the review materials I gave you?" Yang Tian had handed her all the study materials that he, Chen Ming, and Huang Juan had used in their final year of junior high. As long as she found time to go through them, getting into Binhai No. 1 High School would be no trouble.

"I did! Brother, you’re amazing—the review books you gave me didn’t have a single answer filled in, and you still got into No. 1 High!" she giggled.

"That’s nothing! Do you know whose brother I am? With a sister this capable, how could her brother be anything less?" Yang Tian chuckled. Suddenly, he noticed Yang Xueling staring at the children nearby—three of them were eating roasted sweet potatoes.

For kids in the countryside, eating roasted sweet potatoes was simple; just dig up a few from the field and toss them into the fire pit beneath the stove. After a while, you’d have fragrant, delicious sweet potatoes.

Unfortunately, all the fields at Yang Tian’s home had been converted to vegetable greenhouses; they hadn’t grown sweet potatoes in years. Yang Xueling was probably missing the taste.

"Brother, I really want to eat taro!" She snuggled closer to Yang Tian, pouting.

"That’s easy—come with me!" Without hesitation, Yang Tian stood up, took her little hand, and dashed toward the mountain woods across the way.

Behind the woods lay a sweet potato field belonging to the neighboring village. He told Yang Xueling to wait in the woods while he snuck in to dig up some sweet potatoes. Yang Xueling was worried—if Yang Tian was caught by the villagers, they’d be scared for sure. But she was also excited; she loved doing thrilling things with her brother, just like when they used to fry fish or steal peaches as kids.

"Hurry, brother! Someone’s coming!" Yang Xueling stood watch, suddenly noticing an old man leading a big water buffalo nearby. She didn’t recognize which village he was from and anxiously whispered her warning.

Yang Tian, who was digging up sweet potatoes, glanced up and spotted the old man too. However, he had hidden himself well, his body concealed beneath a blanket of sweet potato leaves. In the vast field, unless one looked closely, it’d be hard to spot him underneath.

He dug up eight large sweet potatoes, decided that was enough, and quietly slipped away through the woods, grabbing Yang Xueling’s hand before sprinting towards the Bailang River.

Upon reaching the river, Yang Xueling immediately understood his plan. They made their way to a small black pit in the reeds—the same spot where, as children, Yang Tian used to take her to roast sweet potatoes.

To their surprise, after all these years, the little pit remained unchanged. They quickly gathered some dry reeds, started a fire, buried the sweet potatoes, and covered them with loose earth.

The rest was simple: fan the air into the left side of the little pit. Yang Tian’s invention, the pit had holes on both sides—one for fanning, one for smoke to escape, helping the sweet potatoes cook evenly.

As they played, little mischief-maker Xueling started up her childhood tricks again. She sat by the vent, fanning hard into the hole.

Watching the black smoke pour out on Yang Tian’s side, turning his face pitch black like the legendary outlaw Li Kui, she laughed until she stamped her feet.

But just as in childhood, she was so busy laughing she forgot about the swirling smoke inside the pit. Soon enough, her own face was streaked with soot, and it was Yang Tian’s turn to laugh.

"Oh! Brother, how dare you laugh at me!" Just like when they were children, Yang Xueling jumped up to chase and hit him. The siblings romped along the riverbank, chasing each other and splashing water as they went.

They played with abandon and ate with even more delight. When the sweet potatoes were finally ready, both of them grinned from ear to ear, eating their fill. With eight sweet potatoes between them, they were so stuffed they couldn’t manage dinner when they got home.