That very evening, Guan Baiyu told Shi Zhen that he was going to take Zhao Qiujuan and the others to the provincial capital for fun.

Shi Zhen thought for a moment and said, "I'll go too, and I'll bring my parents. They've never been to the provincial capital before."

He has been very busy these past few years and has never taken his family out for fun.

With Shao Baitong's incident, a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders, and he wanted to go out and relax.

Moreover, going to the provincial capital only takes a day and doesn't take much time.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so Shi Dalin's shop will be closed for a day, which won't have a big impact.

"Great! I'll take them shopping for some clothes and stuff then," Guan Baiyu said.

He spent time with Shi Dalin and the others during the Chinese New Year, but hadn't seen them since. This was a good opportunity for him to make a good impression.

Shi Zhen immediately called Shi Dalin and the others and told them about it.

The next day, Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu drove separately. They set off from Changxi City at seven o'clock, first picking up Shi Dalin and Zhao Meiyun in Anshan Town, and then heading to the provincial capital.

Shi Ting, Zhao Qiujuan, and Duan Hongming were in Guan Baiyu's car. Duan Hongming sat in the passenger seat, while Shi Ting and Zhao Qiujuan sat in the back seat.

Duan Hongming was planning to take his driver's license test recently and wanted to familiarize himself with the roads, so he sat in the passenger seat and paid close attention to the road the whole way. As for Shi Ting and Zhao Qiujuan, they were chatting enthusiastically in the back seat.

Early this morning, Guan Baiyu gave the earrings he had worn yesterday to Shi Ting, who was particularly delighted with them.

Guan Baiyu took a moment to say, "Tingting, this isn't a real ruby, it's made of glass... These little things aren't expensive. You can buy a few more when we get to the provincial capital."

In recent years, all kinds of small commodities have become more common.

Pretty hair clips, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings... they're not made of real gold or silver, they generally cost only a few dollars, but they're still very popular with many girls.

Guan Baiyu bought this earring on a whim at a store.

He wore them specifically to show Shi Zhen, but Shi Zhen only paid attention to his ear piercings... so he became too lazy to wear them anymore, since it was too much trouble.

"Hmm!" Shi Ting said, "Brother Bai Yu, I saw the necklaces they wore on TV before, they were so pretty, I want to buy one."

Shi Ting started talking about which TV series featured a character whose clothes were particularly beautiful, or how pretty someone's ring was, and so on.

Guan Baiyu: "..." These TV dramas are all very popular recently, and Mu Tian has watched them all. When Mu Tian was watching them, he glanced at them a few times, but didn't notice what they were wearing at all.

Therefore, everyone's focus is truly different.

In the other car, Shi Dalin and Zhao Meiyun talked about the houses outside: "Those houses are really beautiful."

"That building is so beautiful!"

"They're building a road over there, and it's getting bigger and bigger!"

...

They arrived in the provincial capital before nine o'clock in the morning.

Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu drove directly to the vicinity of the internet cafe.

This is a commercial street; they can browse the shops and have a meal nearby.

After parking the car, Shi Ting got out and looked around. Then she spotted "Baishi Internet Cafe" at a glance.

“Brother, look, that store has the same name as your company,” Shi Ting said.

Shi Zhen glanced at it and laughed: "That's a place that Xiao Yu opened in partnership with someone. You guys can go and have some fun later."

"Wow! Brother Bai Yu, you're amazing! How can you be so incredible!" Shi Ting couldn't help but exclaim. The store looked incredibly large. Although she didn't know what the store was used for, having such a big store in the provincial capital was truly impressive!

Guan Baiyu laughed: "Since you've been praising me so enthusiastically, I'll pay for whatever you want to buy when we get to the store."

Shi Ting's eyes narrowed with joy.

Shi Zhen glanced at her and said, "Don't buy too much."

Shi Ting made a face at Shi Zhen.

Shi Zhen smiled and said nothing more.

Compared to her previous life, Shi Ting's life in this one is so much better.

She's still a bit vain and likes good food and pretty things, but at least she doesn't waste money.

It's probably because she didn't lack anything during her adolescence.

After thinking about it carefully, Shi Zhen realized that in his previous life, back in 1994, when Shi Ting was going through puberty, his family was really struggling.

He was working away from home but couldn't get paid. Zhao Meiyun broke her leg and they had no money for medical treatment...

Zhao Qiujuan got married in a hurry, and Zhao Dongjuan was unwilling to do anything at home.

His younger sister did receive her junior high school diploma, as schools usually issue them, but in reality... Shi Ting didn't attend school much afterward.

There are all sorts of things going on at home!

When he went back to pick her up in this life, she was still happy and in the mood to make hair ties by wrapping yarn around rubber bands. She had never suffered before.

Actually, in his past life, he knew that his younger sister had nothing when she was little, and she would cherish even a piece of candy. So, after seeing that young girls in J City had everything they wanted, he gave his sister a lot of money.

His sister then went completely out of control.

In this life, Shi Ting's standard of living was not the best in the junior high school she attended, nor was it bad. She basically had everything that others had, and she was happy with that.

Shi Zhen took them to a nearby shopping mall.

Clothes in the provincial capital's shopping malls are particularly expensive, with many costing over 100 yuan.

At that time, the average wage in the provincial capital was only about one-tenth of what it would be twenty years later, so these clothes were undeniably expensive.

But Guan Baiyu still paid for a set of clothes for the Shi family, and Shi Ting even got an extra set.

Afterwards, Guan Baiyu took them to buy skincare and cosmetic products.

"A big bag of face cream costs only one yuan, this face cream is too expensive, why buy this!"

"Why are you wearing lipstick?"

"I don't need it..."

...

Zhao Meiyun kept refusing, and Shi Dalin, a man of few words, occasionally managed to stammer out, "Too expensive..."

Guan Baiyu said, "It's a rare opportunity to come here, so buying some things is nothing."

The internet cafe was making a fortune every day. He bought things for the Shi family, and even if he spent a thousand yuan on each person, it would only add up to a few thousand yuan.

This is a rare purchase.

In the end, Zhao Meiyun and Zhao Qiujuan each bought a set of clothes, plus a few skincare products and cosmetics for each of them, which cost them a total of five or six hundred yuan.

Shi Ting bought a bit too much, spending over 800 yuan.

After buying these items, Guan Baiyu led them into a shop specializing in small trinkets, where the items were cheaper, generally costing only a few yuan each.

Shi Ting and Zhao Qiujuan were absolutely fascinated by the items inside, and even Zhao Meiyun couldn't take her eyes off them: "There are so many good things these days..."

"Aunt Zhao, why don't you pick out a few things too?" Guan Baiyu said to Zhao Meiyun with a smile.

Zhao Meiyun felt that those were things that young girls liked, and she was a little embarrassed at first, but she went anyway.

Even Shi Dalin followed behind, watching intently.

Shi Zhen liked all these things and asked Guan Baiyu, "Xiaoyu, do you have anything you like? Let's go buy a few things too."

Guan Baiyu narrowed his eyes slightly, moved closer to Shi Zhen, and whispered, "Brother, I'm buying jewelry only so you can see it, so I don't care what I like, I care what you like."

Shi Zhen suddenly felt his face getting hot: "Ahem... The shop is small, I'll go stand outside for a while."

After Shi Zhen finished speaking, he went outside.

Guan Baiyu laughed. He had no interest in standing in the hot sun, so he stayed in the store and watched Shi Ting and the others choose things.

Besides jewelry, the shop also sells other items such as pretty notebooks, mugs, and hats.

These kinds of stores are usually called "gift shops" at this time, and people will go to these stores when choosing gifts.

Shi Ting liked everything she saw. Zhao Qiujuan and Duan Hongming also selected quite a few things. Before Guan Baiyu could pay, Duan Hongming took the initiative to pay.

As for Zhao Meiyun, she looked around and liked quite a few things, but didn't buy anything—the things here were indeed beautiful, but they were really not suitable for someone her age.

As for Shi Ting, she chose items worth about a hundred yuan, and Guan Baiyu paid for them without saying a word.

Shi Ting was deeply moved.

Bai Yu is so great!

In comparison, her brother is so stingy!

At lunchtime, they found a restaurant and sat down at a round table to eat. During the meal, Shi Ting sat next to Guan Baiyu and kept talking to him.

Shi Zhen suddenly stood up and looked at Guan Baiyu: "Xiaoyu, let's switch seats."

Guan Baiyu couldn't help but laugh.

Shi Ting was speechless: "Brother, you're such a jealous person!"

Shi Zhen sat between Guan Baiyu and Shi Ting, and put a braised duck leg on Shi Ting's plate: "Eat well."

At this moment, Zhao Meiyun asked about Guan Baiyu's parents.

Guan Baiyu selectively mentioned some of the points.

Duan Hongming listened and felt something was off. After they finished eating, he and Zhao Qiujuan walked behind and he asked, "Isn't Guan Baiyu Shi Zhen's cousin? It doesn't sound like that at all."

Guan Baiyu's parents are actually university professors?

Zhao Qiujuan said, "Xiaoyu and Shi Zhen are not related by blood."

"I see..." Duan Hongming said, "When Shi Zhen was eating, he didn't let Guan Baiyu and Tingting talk much. Was he afraid that Tingting would fall in love too early?"

Zhao Qiujuan: "..."

Duan Hongming continued, "If they're not related by blood, how come Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu have such a good relationship? Shi Zhen comes to the provincial capital every week... He also has investments in internet cafes?"

Zhao Qiujuan tugged at him: "Let's hurry and follow them!"

In the afternoon, Shi Zhen planned to take them to visit nearby attractions.

As for internet cafes, you can just come back and check on them after you've finished browsing.

Before they even reached the tourist attraction, they saw a huge crowd of people.

In recent years, the tourism industry has developed rapidly, and as the number of wealthy people has increased, everyone has started thinking about traveling.

Shi Zhen wasn't interested in sightseeing, and neither was Guan Baiyu, but everyone else seemed quite happy. However, as they were strolling around, someone suddenly called out, "Shi Zhen? Zhao Qiujuan?"

Near the tourist attraction, houses are under construction, and the people who stopped them were construction workers.

Shi Zhen quickly recognized the other party as Shi Zhiqiang, along with several other fellow villagers.

As the business grew and the need for more workers increased, more and more of Shi Zhen's fellow villagers began to work on his construction sites.

Many of them were people who had caused him trouble in his past life.

However, he set many rules in his life, so it's impossible for these people to cause him any trouble anymore, so it doesn't affect him much.

But not everyone from his hometown who came out to work came to his construction site. Many people worked in the provincial capital with Shi Zhiqiang and his colleagues.

Shi Zhen and his group hadn't returned to their hometown for the past two years, and Shi Zhen was unaware of their current situation. He never expected to run into them.

Shi Zhen greeted them and then left.

As Shi Zhiqiang watched them walk away, he was filled with regret—how could his family have severed ties with Shi Zhen's family? Why hadn't he put in more effort when he was on a blind date with Zhao Qiujuan?

However, there are others who regret it even more than him.

Shi Zhiqiang went on a blind date with Zhao Qiujuan when Shi Zhen and the others went out to work and returned home for the Spring Festival... Among the people who worked with Shi Zhiqiang, there was another person who almost married Zhao Qiujuan back then.

However, their family didn't want to pay a bride price at the time, so the marriage didn't happen.

Now... Shi Zhen has become a big boss. If that marriage had gone through back then... he wouldn't be here laying bricks!

That evening, Shi Zhen took them to KFC.

There are no KFCs in Changxi City yet, so this is a completely new and exciting thing for the Shi family.

Everyone enjoyed the meal, but felt it was a bit expensive.

When they saw a teenager buying a hamburger with a fifty-yuan note, Shi Dalin and Zhao Meiyun were even more amazed.

These kids in the provincial capital are living such a good life, they're so rich.

After dinner, everyone went to the internet cafe to play games.

On weekend evenings, internet cafes are especially lively, with many people waiting for seats, and others simply watching others play.

At that time, the domestic internet was not very developed, and the gaming industry was even less developed, but there were many different kinds of games from abroad, which were particularly interesting to play.

"So many computers..." Shi Ting exclaimed. She had heard from her classmates that a computer costs more than ten thousand yuan! The key point is that even if you buy one, it doesn't seem to be of much use.

"Let's go upstairs." Guan Baiyu led Shi Ting and the others upstairs, but as soon as they got there, they saw one of his seniors excitedly rushing out of the private room he had reserved for them.

The senior student rushed out of the private room and jumped around outside for a while before seeing Guan Baiyu. He then excitedly said, "Guan Baiyu, we made a little game!"

"What kind of mini-games?" Guan Baiyu asked curiously.

"This little game is called fishing. There's a group of fish swimming below, and someone is fishing with a rod above. Wherever you click the mouse, the hook will drop there, and you see if you can catch a fish. Different fish have different prices, calculated in coins. Each level lasts one minute, and once you have a certain number of coins, you can advance to the next level... Hmm, it's a very simple little game, nothing like the games on our computers, hmm..." The person was very excited at first, but later became a little embarrassed.

Guan Baiyu, however, was very interested: "Take me to see it!"