Bab 1: Chapter 1: Rebirth in Hong Kong
Kowloon, Hong Kong. In a remote small fishing village.
In the yard outside a simple bungalow, a long bamboo pole was set up, with a shiny fishing net hanging from it. Five members of a family were busy removing small fish from the net.
Among them, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, dressed plainly but with an unmistakable air of energy, was skillfully and quickly handling the fish. However, the middle-aged woman beside him frequently glanced at him with a look of concern in her eyes.
If one looked closely at the boy's face, they would notice that something was off—his eyes were vacant, and it was clear that his mind was not on the task at hand. Yet, even in this state, he still moved with speed and precision, making no mistakes.
The boy's name was Xia Yu, the eldest son of the middle-aged woman, Chen Mei. He was 16 years old, a source of pride for his parents, a role model for his younger siblings, and a child admired by others in the village—a prodigy known throughout the small fishing village.
From birth, Xia Yu had been quicker to learn to walk and talk than most children, and once he started school, he always came first in every subject, a trend that continued until now. This was all the more impressive given that he also spent much of his time helping with the family's work.
However, Xia Yu's original name was not Xia Yu but Xia Yu (with a slight difference in the Chinese character for "Yu"), a subtle yet significant difference.
The former name shared a character with Yu, the legendary founder of the Xia dynasty, while the latter was far more ordinary.
This curious name change had a somewhat mysterious origin. Xia Yu's father, Xia Dahai, came from a long line of fishermen. He was uneducated, and since Xia Yu was born on a rainy day, his father named him Xia Yu.
But the reason for the change to Xia Yu was tied to an air of superstition.
Since ancient times, prodigies often had tragic fates, like Gan Luo and Cao Chong. Xia Yu seemed no different, suffering from intermittent headaches and a frail body, showing signs of an early death. His parents, Xia Dahai and Chen Mei, were deeply worried, spending all their savings on hospital visits, but no cause could be found.
In Hong Kong, where superstition is widespread, from common folk to wealthy elites, people often turned to spiritual remedies. With no other options, Xia Dahai took his son to see a master. The master calculated and said that Xia Yu was the reincarnation of the celestial Wenqu Star, destined for greatness, with a celestial body guarding him. However, being born on a rainy day had caused moisture to enter his body, weakening him. Moreover, his given name, Yu, associated with rain, further added to his fragility.
The master advised that changing his name was the only way to counter this, but it couldn't be just any name. After some calculations, the master suggested the name Xia Yu, referencing the ancient Yu, who controlled the floods, implying that this name could suppress the rain and thus strengthen him. However, due to years of influence on his fate, the change wouldn't bring immediate improvement.
Xia Dahai, deeply superstitious, eagerly agreed and renamed his son Xia Yu. Remarkably, after the name change, Xia Yu's health began to improve, though he still occasionally suffered from headaches, but much less frequently.
This convinced Xia Dahai of the master's words, and he would often thank the master in public. Meanwhile, the rumor that Xia Yu was the reincarnation of Wenqu Star spread widely. Coupled with Xia Yu's outstanding academic performance, this reputation became firmly established.
Xia Yu had been free from headaches for two years, and his parents believed his condition had been cured. But three days ago, while out at sea fishing, Xia Yu suddenly had a headache and passed out, falling into the sea. Fortunately, his father quickly jumped in to save him.
Since then, Xia Yu had become silent and withdrawn, with vacant eyes, often lost in thought, which terrified his parents, who feared something was wrong again.
However, aside from this, Xia Yu still ate well, worked as usual, and communicated without issues, which slightly reassured his parents. The only thing that troubled them was his newfound habit of daydreaming.
Noticing his mother's worried gaze, Xia Yu smiled at her and said, "Mom, I'm fine, just thinking about something."
"That's good," Chen Mei nodded, her expression relaxing slightly. She didn't say more and continued removing the fish from the net. She wasn't one for many words, embodying the typical traits of a traditional Chinese woman.
Xia Yu kept working, but even three days later, he still found it hard to believe what had happened to him.
He never imagined that the rebirths and transmigrations he often read about in novels would one day happen to him.
Xia Yu, in his previous life, was also named Xia Yu. He was a poor farm boy, the eldest of three brothers, who managed to get into college against all odds.
But with Xia Yu's high tuition fees, plus the cost of his two younger brothers' education, his family, relying on a few acres of land and his parents' work, simply couldn't afford to send Xia Yu to college.
But education was the only way for poor people to get ahead. To ensure their children wouldn't end up like them, tilling the land with their backs to the sky, Xia Yu's parents worked tirelessly, borrowing money to send all three sons to school.
They say the children of the poor grow up early. After getting into college, Xia Yu worked hard in his studies and took up part-time jobs during his free time to support himself. At first, he barely made ends meet, but by his third and fourth years, he even had extra money to help his family pay for his brothers' education.
After graduating from college, just as his parents fell seriously ill, Xia Yu took on the responsibility of the family, working tirelessly to support his brothers through school and pay for his parents' medical bills.
Being poor and short on ambition, Xia Yu had thought about love more than once. He even tried to find a partner under his parents' urging, but as soon as they learned about his family situation, they left. After that, Xia Yu gave up on love, focusing solely on helping his brothers avoid his fate.
Xia Yu often saw billionaires boasting online, sometimes even turning their boasts into a ditty: "King of nothing, the richest man; Regretful founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma. Pony from an ordinary family, Liu Qiangdong, who doesn't know his wife is beautiful."
Whenever he saw such envious comments, Xia Yu was always speechless.
In his heart, he often fantasized that if he had that much money, he would boast even more grandly than those tycoons.
But this was a dream that only existed in his imagination.
By the time Xia Yu was 28, his second brother had also graduated from college, and his third brother was in his senior year of internships, while his parents' health had improved significantly.
At that point, Xia Yu's fortunes seemed to take a turn. Out of boredom, he had once dabbled in Bitcoin and almost forgotten about it. But one day, while watching the news, he discovered that Bitcoin had risen to $20,000 per coin, and he suddenly remembered he had over a thousand Bitcoins in an old account.
After much effort, Xia Yu finally found his account password. When he logged in and saw over 1,400 Bitcoins in his account, he was utterly stunned.
At the current Bitcoin price, that was equivalent to 200 million yuan!
Suddenly, Xia Yu had achieved the two small goals that the richest man in China had spoken of!
He quickly sold the Bitcoins for 200 million yuan and sent one million to his family, which he had to explain for several days. Xia Yu decided to keep the rest of the money for himself, not daring to tell his parents.
Suddenly wealthy, after being repressed for so many years, Xia Yu found it hard to adjust. He decided to relax by taking a trip to Davos abroad and even splurged on a stay at a five-star luxury hotel. But that night, in his sleep, he vaguely heard several loud noises, followed by violent shaking, and then he lost consciousness...
Three days ago, Xia Yu found himself transformed into a teenager with a chaotic mind, filled with new memories. Over the past few days, he had been sorting through these memories, trying to understand what had happened.
He still wasn't sure if he had been reborn 16 years earlier and only awakened to his memories three days ago, or if he had just transmigrated into this young boy's body three days ago.
However, Xia Yu leaned towards the former. The boy's memories were fully intact, making Xia Yu feel as if they had happened to him personally, without any sense of disconnection. Moreover, the boy had suffered from headaches and was a prodigy, giving Xia Yu the sense that he had been reborn into a fantasy world where his soul wasn't strong enough to awaken his past memories immediately.
This even made Xia Yu wonder if he had entered a fantasy world. But upon recalling the boy's 16 years of memories, Xia Yu laughed at himself for overthinking it.
This was clearly a modern world, and specifically Hong Kong in early 1978.
Although it was a modern society and Xia Yu had been raised under the red flag in his previous life, making him naturally skeptical of anything supernatural, science couldn't explain his rebirth. Xia Yu could only attribute it to being thrown here by some deity, and that was how he con
soled himself.
After three days, Xia Yu finally adjusted to this new world and accepted his new identity.
He had an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister, and his mother Chen Mei was currently removing fish from the net beside him.
His father, Xia Dahai, was busy mending the net next to his older sister, who was next to his younger brother, Xia Ming, who was busy untangling the fishing line.
The younger sister was not present, likely still asleep, given her young age.
Although his father's family were fishermen and their lives weren't wealthy, they were still much better off than in his previous life.
Xia Yu had made up his mind to accept this new life and make the most of it. He would seize this opportunity to live a good life. The lessons from his previous life had taught him to be prepared, and this time he wouldn't let anything slip by. He knew the future, and now, with a second chance, he could plan ahead to be well-prepared.
Thinking about this, Xia Yu's spirits lifted. Even though his life had been difficult before, he had finally struck it rich in his previous life. Now that he was reborn in Hong Kong, a place filled with opportunity in the upcoming years, he was confident that he would do well. He was eager to see what the future would bring.
"Xia Yu, don't just stand there. Help your father with the net." His mother's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Xia Yu nodded and moved to help his father.
He had a plan. This time, he was determined to make a name for himself and live a life of luxury and success. He wouldn't settle for anything less.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone