Ah Wen is back!
Yaowen Ge, I have a problem I can't solve, can you teach me?
Yaowen, how are things going with the school?
Ah Wen, I heard your Dad say you went to apply for a teacher position at Hong Kong University today?
From the moment he stepped into the stairwell and started walking up, Huo Yaowen was quite the sight; everyone who saw him would instinctively greet him, asking about his well-being and showing concern.
This made Huo Yaowen, who in later generations would barely speak to neighbors except to argue about leaky pipes, feel a hint of what it meant for distant relatives to be Not as good as neighbors.
Huo Yaowen politely responded to the enthusiastic greetings and inquiries from the Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunties, Uncles, younger brothers, and younger sisters who were cooking in the stairwell, occasionally stopping to chat.
Upon reaching the seventh floor of the Public Housing Estate, Ming Zai said, "Yaowen Ge, I'm going home for dinner."
"Okay, thanks for running that errand for me today." Huo Yaowen patted Ming Zai's shoulder. He was really in a rush this morning; not only did he have to get a haircut, but he also had to go to the optician to pick up a pair of custom non-prescription glasses. So, he could only entrust this task to his childhood friend, Ming Zai, who had always followed him around.
Ming Zai said sheepishly, "It's nothing, Yaowen Ge. I've never even been to a university in my life! Let alone Hong Kong University. Although I didn't go inside, I still saw the university's sign."
Huo Yaowen waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and go home, I'm going home for dinner too."
"Then I'm off, Yaowen Ge." Ming Zai waved and turned to walk into the seventh-floor stairwell; his home was at the very end of that floor.
Watching Ming Zai leave, Huo Yaowen also walked directly upstairs.
Huo Yaowen's family lived on the eighth floor of Public Housing Estate number eight, making him and Ming Zai upstairs and downstairs neighbors. Because they both came from the same area, the two families had a close relationship. Additionally, Huo Yaowen could be said to be the only high-achieving student from Tsz Wan Shan Estate to be admitted to Hong Kong University, and Ming Zai's plainclothes Dad, Chen Dabiao, also hoped his son would learn well by following Huo Yaowen.
Hong Kong's Public Housing Estate are very distinctive, especially the first batch of Public Housing Estate built in the late 1950s, which were mostly U-shaped. This type of residential building had two advantages: first, it could accommodate more people, and second, this type of layout was not difficult to construct, and the progress was very fast. This is why U-shaped buildings were particularly suitable for these inexpensive Public Housing Estate built with government assistance.
Each floor could accommodate at least twenty households, with each household's actual area being less than 250 square feet, or about 25 square meters. Don't think 25 square meters is a lot; in later generations, it's only the size of one room, but in the Public Housing Estate, the whole family, old and young, lived together!
Families with many members basically had to sleep on the floor, or simply had no living room, with eating and living all done in the open. Huo Yaowen's family had five people: Dad, Mother, Grandma, and Sai Mui. Previously, his parents lived in one room, and Grandma and Sai Mui lived in another room. As for Huo Yaowen, he had been sleeping on the living room floor since he started primary school, and after getting into Hong Kong University, he lived at school. Sai Mui also attended Diocesan Girls' School and lived at school, only coming home for short stays on weekends.
And now, with the school holidays, Sai Mui was also home. So, since Huo Yaowen's rebirth, for about a month, he had been sleeping on the living room floor. If it were in his previous life, sleeping on the floor like this would definitely make him feel uncomfortable all over the next day. But now it was different; with his young, vibrant body, and perhaps the golden finger brought by his rebirth, even the original body's severe myopia of over 500 degrees was completely gone, and his body was even stronger!
Upon reaching the eighth floor of the Public Housing Estate, Huo Yaowen first saw his Mother and Grandma stir-frying vegetables on the small stove they had set up outside their door. He walked over with a smile and said, "Mother!"
This sudden shout startled Mother Huo, Li Yiping. Seeing that it was her most beloved son, she patted her chest and gave him an annoyed look, saying, "You scared me, child! You don't even make a sound when you walk."
Huo Yaowen smiled and said, "Mother, you're stir-frying vegetables, how could you hear me walking?"
"Yaowen is back." Grandma, who was next to them, brought over a plate of washed vegetables. Looking at the increasingly tall and refined Huo Yaowen, her face was full of joy as she said, "Yaowen, how are things going with the school?"
Huo Yaowen nodded and said, "Hmm, I've been hired. I'll be teaching new students when school starts next month."
"Haha..." Upon hearing that her son had successfully been hired as a teacher at Hong Kong University, Mother Huo, Li Yiping, beamed and said, "I knew my son could do it. It's just Hong Kong University, isn't it? I think even going to The Chinese University of Hong Kong wouldn't be a problem!"
Upon hearing The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Huo Yaowen raised an eyebrow. In fact, when he was reborn, after sorting through the original owner's memories, he had considered whether he could apply to a better school. However, combining the original owner's abilities and the knowledge he possessed, he still gave up on applying to The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
This time, Huo Yaowen was able to get the lecturer position for the Philosophy Class in the Faculty of Arts at Hong Kong University, not only because of his own hard work and solid knowledge acquired at school, but more so because of the recommendation from his previous Teacher Zhang.
At this time, the Philosophy Class at Hong Kong University was not independently departmentalized but existed as an elective course, attached to the Faculty of Arts, making it a somewhat dispensable subject. After all, philosophy, to put it nicely, is about humans' understanding and feelings towards the world, while also creating an optimistic spiritual world; to put it harshly, it's a common person's fantasy with little practical meaning.
However, the fact that philosophy has its meaning naturally has its reasons, and after Huo Yaowen received the original owner's memories, he actually developed a greater interest in philosophy. Especially with Huo Yaowen's rebirth, philosophy perhaps took on a few more unusual meanings.
"Yaowen, you're doing great, much better than your Grandpa!" Grandma was also very happy. Having a university teacher in the family would not only make the neighbors envious but also significantly improve the family's situation in the future.
Facing Grandma's praise, Huo Yaowen grinned. He glanced at the situation inside the house next door and saw only Sai Mui sitting at the small dining table in the living room, drawing and writing. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where's Dad?"
"Your Dad isn't back yet! He doesn't even come home early for such a big happy event for his own son." As soon as Father Huo was mentioned, Li Yiping was filled with anger. She had told him before he left in the morning to come home early for lunch, and now her son was back, but he still hadn't returned!
"Alright, Mother, Dad might be busy. School is about to start soon, so the bookstore must be very busy." To divert Mother Huo's attention, Huo Yaowen leaned over the pot to look at the braised pork inside and said, "Mother, the meat is about to burn."
"Oh dear." Li Yiping immediately looked down and began to stir-fry the braised pork in the pot.
"Yaowen, you go inside and rest for a bit. It's hot, and you're all drenched." Grandma pulled Huo Yaowen's hand, urging him to go inside and use the fan. It was dinnertime, and neighbors all along the corridor were cooking, which smelled good, but with everyone stir-frying together, the temperature was bound to rise.
"Okay, I'll go in then, Grandma."
Huo Yaowen nodded and turned to walk into the house.
Sai Mui, Xi Mei Huo Tingting, heard the movement and quickly turned to look. Seeing it was Huo Yaowen, she immediately threw herself onto the dining table, trying to cover something, and said with an awkward smile, "Ah Ge, you're back."
Huo Yaowen didn't even look at what Sai Mui was covering, and instinctively asked, "Are you drawing comic books again?"
"Hehe, yes, Ah Ge. It's the holidays, right? I'm just bored, so I'm drawing some little picture books to play with." Sai Mui, Xi Mei Huo Tingting, scratched the back of her head and said.
Huo Yaowen didn't pay attention to the comic book his younger sister was drawing. He directly took off his already soaked shirt, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and just as he was about to throw the shirt into the laundry basket, he saw his younger sister looking at him shyly, her face red.
Before Huo Yaowen could speak, he heard Huo Tingting shyly say, "Ah Ge, I've grown up."
"You silly girl! I don't know what you're thinking about all day! I told you to read fewer books by Yi Shu and Qiong Yao, but you never listen." Huo Yaowen smiled and walked over, poking Sai Mui's forehead.
Huo Tingting immediately covered her forehead with both hands, blinking her big eyes, looking very wronged, "That hurts!"
With her hands covering her forehead, the drawing that was originally covered on the table was revealed. Huo Yaowen noticed that it seemed to be a drawing of a man. He reached out and asked curiously, "What are you drawing? Let me see."
"Hmph, I won't let you see it." Huo Tingting suddenly threw both hands onto the table, not only covering the drawing but also making the glass teacups on the small dining table clatter.
Seeing that Huo Tingting wouldn't let him see, Huo Yaowen chuckled and didn't insist on looking at what the comic was. Having lived two lives, he wasn't a child anymore; why would he be so curious? He glanced around the small living room and asked, "By the way, Tingting, where did Ming Zai put the newspapers he delivered?"
Huo Tingting pouted and pointed to the fan's location, saying, "Mother put them all under the fan."