"Zhang Yang, you prodigal son! Where's the family's money? That money should be used to save your father's life!"
"Zhang Yang, let's break up. My mom doesn't approve of our marriage!"
"Congratulations, my man! The youngest Special-level Competitive Fishing Master! Your future is limitless!"
"Mr. Zhang Yang, our company is offering a signing annual salary of a hundred thousand for the first year, and we'll renew it next year after the contract expires. Are you satisfied with the salary?"
...
Zhang Yang felt like he was dreaming, with different voices constantly speaking beside his ear.
He forced himself awake, and the scene in front of him gradually became real.
The room he was in was no larger than 18 square meters, with a poster of NBA star Allen Iverson prominently on the wall, an old desk by the window, and a piggy bank on the desk. At the side was a stack of pirated martial arts novels held upright by books.
The scene before him perfectly overlapped with a point in Zhang Yang's memory.
Am I in my old home's bungalow? Wasn't the old home demolished?
In disbelief, Zhang Yang rubbed his eyes, then, with determination, pinched his thigh!
A clear, real pain came, confirming it wasn't a dream.
It was April 17th, 2012. Zhang Yang confirmed multiple times that he had been reborn, returning to nine years ago with memories of his past life!
At this moment, Zhang Yang's emotions were complex: shock, relief, and finally bursting into tears of joy!!
Is this heaven's mercy on me? Giving me a chance to turn over a new leaf and make up for the regrets of my past life!!!
In his past life, Zhang Yang dropped out after high school, found a job in a town's textile factory at 19 through a relative's introduction, and learned repair and maintenance of rapier looms from a master.
The locals called this work "maintenance," mainly responsible for the daily repair and upkeep of rapier looms, offering plenty of free time and a decent income.
Following an ordinary person's life path, young men like Zhang Yang from a small town would learn a skill, work steadily for a few years to save money for a new house, and when the time came, marry, have children, and achieve a complete life.
However, Zhang Yang did not follow this path; his obsession with fishing led his life into another tragic extreme.
The story begins with him joining the factory and learning loom repair from his master.
Zhang Yang's master was a forty-something fishing enthusiast, with the textile factory being very close to Wen River, and soon Zhang Yang learned to fish from him to pass the time.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yang had been doing "maintenance" for over two years, his loom repair skills showed little progress, but his fishing addiction grew stronger.
Fishing in Wen River no longer satisfied Zhang Yang's appetite, so he began to explore commercial fee-based ponds. The commercial ponds within a fifty-kilometer radius became Zhang Yang's territory.
With frequent fishing trips, Zhang Yang's fishing skills sharpened, but his career skills did not progress.
Initially, the boss tolerated him until a routine maintenance laziness led to a workshop fire and production accident, with Zhang Yang as the person in charge, resulting in his dismiss and job loss.
After losing the maintenance job, Zhang Yang found various jobs, either too dirty, exhausting with low pay, or too stringent with no time for fishing, leading him to not stick with any of them.
Coinciding with the new rural reconstruction in 2014, the village underwent demolition, and the Zhang Family received two relocation apartments and a compensation of thirty thousand, relieving much of the family's financial pressure.
With money for his son's marriage and a wedding house secured, the Zhang Family quickly elevated from ordinary to moderately prosperous.
Unable to find a suitable job, Zhang Yang spent a long period unemployed at home, fishing all day. Though his family disapproved, they didn't impose excessive intervention.
Time unconsciously reached 2015, and under the encouragement of several fishing buddies, Zhang Yang asked his family for five thousand yuan to open a moderately-sized fishing gear shop in town.
With the shop, he at least had a legitimate occupation, and fishing turned from a hobby into a business necessity, leading him to fish more recklessly.
Initially, shop operations were fairly successful with little competition, high profits, and decent income.
But good times didn't last.
During the shop's operation, he befriended some city professional competitive anglers who engaged in tournament matches, and Zhang Yang followed them to compete locally, luckily winning a division championship in an individual match.
This unexpected victory sparked a different idea in Zhang Yang.
Apparently, the professional anglers pursuing competitions weren't all that skilled!
From the circle of anglers, Zhang Yang learned that as long as he achieved the nation's Competitive Fishing Master certification, he could sign a contract with fishing gear companies for an annual salary, becoming a glamorous professional angler with favorable treatment.
To chase this dream, over the next year or so, Zhang Yang traveled around seeking tournaments,
The shop was often closed, and many customers were taken by another fishing gear shop in town, business progressively declining.
Frequent travel was costly, and in his pursuit to blend into someone's circle to acquire so-called bait secret recipes for winning, Zhang Yang was extravagant when traveling with friends for tournaments.
Lodging, meals, and even registration fees were often paid by him. Within less than a year, his savings and shop funds were depleted.
With no money, Zhang Yang turned his attention to the family's demolition compensation money in the bank.
At that time, Zhang Yang's rationale was straightforward, considering his skill level and current achievements; obtaining a professional certification was just a matter of time.
Once achieving the Special-level Competitive Fishing Master, signing as a professional angler would at least provide an annual salary of over ten thousand, and the money would be borrowed from the family, promising to repay after earning the salary!
Over two years, the thirty thousand yuan demolition compensation was nearly spent by Zhang Yang.
Talent plus effort made Zhang Yang's persistence pay off.
By the end of 2018, when the CAA (Chinese Fishing Sports Association, abbreviated as 中钓协) professional technical level competition points were being settled, Zhang Yang successfully attained the national Special-level Competitive Fishing Master rating and became the youngest Special-level Competitive Fishing Master in China.
With the official title of Master, Zhang Yang signed with a fishing tackle company to become a professional angler, and his future seemed bright.
He originally thought that with so much effort, becoming a CEO, marrying a wealthy and beautiful woman, and becoming a life winner would be a matter of course.
At this critical juncture, an accident happened.
At the beginning of 2019, Zhang Yang's father, Zhang Guofu, was hospitalized with persistent high fever and diagnosed with lymphoma.
When the family urgently needed money to save his life, they found that the money in the savings account had been taken by Zhang Yang to fund his fishing competitions.
The Zhang Family, having no choice, sold a house at a low price to pay for Mr. Zhang's treatment, but the cost was so high that even selling a house raised more than two hundred thousand, leaving a huge gap.
Unable to come up with enough money to use a new treatment for their father, the family had to opt for conventional conservative treatment, and after several rounds of chemotherapy, Mr. Zhang's condition did not improve, and he passed away at the end of the year.
The death of his father left Zhang Yang in a state of extreme guilt and regret for a long time.
If the money at home hadn't been touched, his father could have used the imported targeted drugs and maybe could have been cured!
The promising future he pursued couldn't save his father's life, leaving Zhang Yang to seriously question whether the decision to turn professional was right or wrong!
As a result, for a long time, Zhang Yang was depressed, drinking heavily every day, living a dissipated life.
At this critical juncture, his girlfriend, upon learning that the house for their marriage had been sold, also chose to break up with him.
It can be said that Zhang Yang's life changed dramatically because he indirectly caused his father's death by secretly using the family's money, leaving Zhang Yang with irreversible regret.
And now, fate has given him a chance to change his destiny and start over!
...
"Yangyang, are you awake? Come have lunch!"
His mother's knocking voice at the door pulled Zhang Yang out of his heavy memories.
"Okay!" Zhang Yang replied, pulling on a T-shirt and stepping out of the room in his flip-flops.
In the living room, his father had just returned from work with the construction team, sitting bold as brass in a washed-out tank top on a hardwood bench.
Seeing his father's upright posture again, Zhang Yang felt a warmth in his eyes, barely holding back tears.
"Dad..."
His father took a large gulp of beer, frowned, and looked at his son, "I'm not dead yet, and you're already mourning? Got up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"No way, I just got dust in my eyes!"
"You're already twenty years old, staying up all night like a hero and sleeping through the day like a bear — what kind of life is that?" Mr. Zhang said disgruntledly.
"Enough, stop scolding the kid, Yangyang, go wash your hands, it's time to eat!" His mother, Li Xiuxian, glanced at Mr. Zhang, signaling her son to wash up!
"Okay!"
Zhang Yang turned around with reddened eyes and entered the bathroom to wash his face, hair, and brush his teeth, dawdling for over ten minutes before finally calming himself down.
At the lunch table.
After finishing a bottle of beer, Mr. Zhang casually asked, "Your uncle found you a job, learning maintenance at the textile factory in town. Once you learn it, you'll earn three thousand a month, the work isn't hard, and they provide insurance! Do you want to go?"
Hearing his father mention the job at the textile factory, Zhang Yang's heart stirred.
Reborn into this awareness, but the original life path hadn't changed, Zhang Yang vaguely remembered that it was a similar scenario when his father mentioned this matter to him.
Afraid his son wasn't interested, his mother also advised, "Your uncle's comrade works as a security master at the textile factory, the work is easy, and the salary is good. If you have nothing else to do, go and take a look!
You're already quite grown, lounging at home all the time makes people laugh at you, and the factory is full of young, beautiful girls. Work hard, and you might even bring a wife home!"
"Okay! Sure, once the time is set, I'll go take a look!"
Zhang Yang did not refuse and agreed in a deep voice.
Having owed his parents so much already, Zhang Yang didn't want to go against his parents' wishes. At the very least, he couldn't refuse without even going to see it.
"I'll call your uncle after lunch! In a few days, once there's news, I'll let you know!"
"Okay!"
Seeing his son agree to check out the job at the textile factory, Mr. Zhang was in a good mood, opening another bottle of beer, speaking in a noticeably lighter tone.
...
After lunch, Zhang Yang returned to his room, lay on his bed, and stared blankly at the plaster ceiling.
What to do next?