Chapter One: The Chubby Ginger Cat
Blue Star, China.
Shen City.
Zhengxing Mansion.
“Dummy cat, stop looking like life’s no longer worth living, as if I abused you.”
Chen Jiang stared at the chubby orange tabby sprawled despondently on the sofa.
Just today, he had taken this big orange cat, which he had found three days ago, to the pet hospital and neutered him.
“Who told you to keep sneaking out every day to cause trouble with the female cats!”
“You scumbag dad, it might be fun for you, but it’s winter now—what about the kittens that would have been born?” Chen Jiang scolded.
“Meow~” The fat orange cat protested unhappily.
“No matter how upset you are, it’s useless. Your balls are gone. You can’t exactly have two eggs installed, can you?” Chen Jiang said, half laughing, half crying.
“Alright, today I’ll give you two cans of food. Stop meowing.”
“Meow!”
“Fine, I’ll add two cat treats too.” Chen Jiang sighed helplessly.
Finding this big orange cat was a coincidence. One day, as he passed by the greenery downstairs, a dirty, chubby orange tabby suddenly darted out from within.
Their eyes met, and Chen Jiang instantly recognized it as a stray from its filthy appearance.
Seeing no one around, he decisively took the silly cat home.
He hadn’t planned on keeping a cat, but this big orange one resembled so much the orange tabby he had raised for over a decade after graduating college in his previous life, he couldn’t resist adopting it.
“Seriously, it’s uncanny!” Chen Jiang said, gazing at the orange cat before him.
Indeed, Chen Jiang was, by some measure, a traveler across worlds—or rather, a reborn soul.
Among such travelers, he confidently ranked among the least successful.
Others had godlike abilities or unimaginable wealth, while he barely achieved financial freedom and spent his post-college life idling at home.
Ten years ago, specifically early 2013, he suddenly crossed into this parallel world.
He became an elementary school student again, retaining his original name and appearance.
His parents and relatives remained unchanged.
He confirmed this was a parallel world for two reasons: firstly, this planet was called Blue Star, differing from his previous world’s name.
Secondly, many entertainment works from his former life had vanished here.
Instead, this world had entirely new entertainment creations.
Many famous stars and writers from his previous world were nowhere to be found here.
The divergence in entertainment history began the year Xinhua Nation was established.
Apart from entertainment, the rest of history remained unchanged.
Originally, Chen Jiang planned to make easy money like other travelers by plagiarizing novels.
But when he tried to start, he discovered a shocking truth…
All memories of entertainment works he had seen or touched in his previous life had become vague.
He could recall names but had no impression of their content.
That year, a young boy dreaming of becoming a genius in entertainment felt his heart shatter.
However, he soon accepted reality and followed the usual path of schooling.
After all, life must go on.
Fortunately, besides making money from plagiarism, other opportunities still existed.
As an elementary student, though limited, he devised a path to wealth.
That was hoarding Bitcoin!
Luckily, though he lived in Guangdong Province, he wasn’t Cantonese but of Chaozhou descent. While his family wasn’t wealthy, his relatives were extraordinary.
He had kin in Hong Kong Island, the United States, and Shanghai, all within five generations—uncles and aunts from his grandparents’ generation.
Since childhood, he received generous red envelopes during New Year, though his mother often confiscated them with the excuse of returning them when he was older.
But the small leftovers accumulated over more than a decade added up to several thousand yuan.
One year, a wealthy relative who had emigrated to the US during wartime suddenly returned to acknowledge kinship and secretly gave Chen Jiang a five-figure red envelope before leaving.
Fearing his parents might refuse, he kept it a secret.
Unlike his previous life, Chen Jiang didn’t obediently inform his parents but gambled it all on Bitcoin.
He bought over two hundred Bitcoins and held onto them until the price peaked that year, then sold.
Although he knew the price might rise further in the next couple of years, he resisted temptation and sold all.
This sum was enough for him to fully relax, knowing stricter regulations would follow in subsequent years.
After graduating this year, Chen Jiang moved into the spacious apartment he had bought two years ago and began living leisurely.
He opened a can and watched the cat devour it greedily.
Chen Jiang took over the sofa the big orange cat had claimed and lay there lost in thought.
In his previous life, he would have been working at a company by now.
Enduring the grueling 9-to-9-6 schedule, earning meager wages, and frequently subjected to psychological manipulation by bosses.
In this life, he attended a better university. Would working be any different?
He hoped so; after all, this was Shenzhen University, not some second-tier school like in his past life.
He checked his university dorm group chat.
No new messages; everyone was busy. Not everyone could afford to slack off like Chen Jiang.
His roommates were impressive: one passed the graduate exam, another was preparing for civil service exams, and the last had secretly joined his father’s company, working with enthusiasm every day.
“No wonder they’re my good pals—all destined for greatness!” Chen Jiang felt a slight sense of comfort.
Students at Shenzhen University were exceptional. As the top university in this promising first-tier city, students enjoyed privileges akin to favored children.
Even students from Tsinghua or Peking University didn’t necessarily receive better treatment here.
“Ding ding!”
His phone vibrated.
Chen Jiang saw a message from his mother.
[Mom]: How’s business lately?
[Chen Jiang]: Not bad. Don’t worry, your son is doing okay.
[Mom]: That’s good. I heard the market’s tough recently. Aunt Wang’s son lost quite a bit.
[Mom]: By the way, you’ve graduated—when will you find someone? Haven’t heard any news about your love life in these four years…
[Mom]: You better hurry. Your cousin is three years older than you and already has a kid in kindergarten. I’m not forcing you to marry, but you at least need to date, right?
Chen Jiang: …
No wonder Mom suddenly contacted him; it was the usual “pressuring to marry” routine.
Speaking of that cousin, he was the son of Chen Jiang’s second uncle—three years his senior, dropped out after high school.
Married young with a child already in kindergarten.
[Chen Jiang]: Mom, I’ll try. If there’s someone suitable, I’ll definitely…
Chen Jiang gave a perfunctory reply and ended the chat, citing being busy.
His mother thought he was engaged in business, but that was just his excuse.
To avoid the pressure of job hunting, Chen Jiang lied that he had been doing e-commerce since college.
This also gave him a reason to send money to his elders—he had sent quite a bit over the past two years, much to their delight.
His parents knew he had bought a house in Shenzhen but assumed it was a suburban place purchased on installment, unaware he had bought a large apartment downtown.
Most days, alone at home, Chen Jiang either played games, read novels, or went to the gym. Aside from that, life was indeed a bit dull…
“Sometimes, having too much money is a kind of trouble!”
Chen Jiang sighed.
“Need to find something to do, or I’ll go crazy.”
“Maybe I should really try e-commerce? Open an online store?”
He felt eager to try; after all, he wasn’t afraid of losing money, and the costs were low. It was just about finding something to occupy himself.
Suddenly, his mind jolted.
Memories once shrouded in fog suddenly cleared as if clouds parted revealing the sun.
Those vague remnants from his previous life’s entertainment memories didn’t just return; they came back vividly. Even songs he had only heard once before now felt like they had been played countless times.
“Holy crap!” Chen Jiang exclaimed.