Chapter 1 The Struggle of the Post-80s
The chirping of cicadas in early summer echoed outside the window. Wang Chengguang rubbed his slightly swollen head and sat up from the bed. He took a look at the dormitory with four people and bunk beds, and he was a little confused.

Is this time travel?
Wang Chengguang was born in the 80s. By 2024, he has entered his middle-aged 40s. He has an ex-wife and children. He is divorced from his wife. He takes care of his son while his ex-wife takes care of their daughter.

They are the breadwinner of the family and their life is just like that of an ordinary family in a small county town.

His hairline was rising and his beer belly was rising. He was busy running around for the family all day long. That was how he lived his life. He seemed to see a peaceful burial place decades later.

A normal citizen.

How come it broke after a big drink? This is too sudden.

What will happen to my children after I wear it? My ex-wife... Never mind, she's my ex-wife who I divorced three years ago.

He is a true 80s guy, went to college in the mid-00s, stayed in the provincial capital to work hard after graduation, and returned to his hometown ten years later with some money, and went on a blind date to get married.

There was not much love between him and his ex-wife, but they got along well and gradually developed a family relationship. Then, due to the accumulation of small problems over the years, they eventually divorced. After all, the divorce rate has exploded since the 10s, and they each had their own reasons.

But he loved his two children very much and loved them very much.

His parents are teachers with pensions. To put it bluntly, the pensions they receive steadily every month add up to more than 7,000 yuan. His monthly salary in the county is sometimes not as much as his parents'.

I wore this for no reason...Apart from looking younger, what benefits does it have?
Wang Chengguang was still having a headache when he heard a knock on the door. "Old Wang, is Old Wang here?"

Wang Chengguang responded, and the dormitory door was pushed open. Two young men who looked very familiar walked in, making Wang Chengguang even more confused. The tall young man in the lead smiled and said, "Old Wang, I plan to go to Hailong Building to build a computer."

"Can you help me? We are old classmates. How about you help me build a stable and easy-to-use computer and I will give you 50?"

Another baby-faced young man also smiled and said, "I'm not as rich as Lu Tao, so I can't afford it. I'm just going to take a look. If I have a chance to ask you for help in the future, I'll treat you to a meal."

Wang Chengguang looked at the tall young man and asked uncertainly, "Lu Tao?"

Lu Tao smiled and handed over a cigarette, "Fuck, don't you recognize me? Even though we are not familiar with each other, we have been classmates for four years."

"I know 50 yuan isn't a lot, but buying a computer is a lot of money. I had to get it from my parents with great difficulty."

"With a computer, I don't have to hang out in Internet cafes anymore. Not long after Gao Qiang committed suicide, our CS team was disbanded. I feel uncomfortable when I see Internet cafes now..."

Wang Chengguang felt a pain in his forehead as a lot of information emerged. He finally understood his new identity. He was a 22-year-old senior graduate from Beijing University of Architecture. The current time was June 6th.

A few days ago, my classmate Gao Qiang cheated in the exam before graduation and failed to get a diploma from the University of Architecture. In addition, he had difficulty finding a job and his parents put pressure on him through words, so he jumped from the 4th floor and committed suicide.

On June 6, many classmates attended Gao Qiang’s funeral together.

Have we traveled to a world of struggle? The struggle of the post-80s generation... It's so annoying. This is a story about the post-80s generation relying on their fathers.

The three male protagonists are headed by Lu Tao. Graduation means unemployment, and he has been unable to find a job. He relies on his adoptive father, biological father, future father-in-law, etc., and rises with the connections and funds of his father?

That’s right. It’s 2007 now. All the wild times have passed in a flash. Not to mention the stratification of classes, if a graduate born in the 80s wants to gain a foothold in society, especially in Beijing, what else can he rely on if not his father?
As his mind turned, Wang Chengguang asked curiously, "How much money do you have prepared? What kind of computer do you want to assemble?"

When assembling a computer, Wang Chengguang realized that after traveling through time, he was a graduate of the Department of Architecture of a key university. In the previous four years, because he loved surfing the Internet and there was an assembly expert in his dormitory, he learned some basic computer DIY techniques from him.

The real assembly master left after graduation and returned to his hometown in the provincial capital.

Wang Chengguang has not found a place to live yet, so he is temporarily staying in the dormitory.

Lu Tao smiled and said, "With just over 6000 yuan, it would be best if I could build a computer that can run various games without lags and has high-quality graphics."

"I asked around, and found out that if a branded computer wants to meet my requirements, it will generally be one or two thousand yuan more expensive than an assembled computer. I can't even find a job with a monthly salary of 800 yuan."

Xiangnan also hurriedly said, "If it was easy to find a job, Gao Qiang wouldn't have committed suicide. Damn, it feels like he went to a fake university. Why don't so many real estate and construction companies hire graduates?"

Wang Chengguang glanced at Xiangnan and asked, "You guys want something like a discrete graphics card and a dual-core CPU, right?" "For more than 6000 yuan, you can buy a very good mid- to high-end computer."

This was more than 2007 yuan in 6000!

At this moment, a translucent screen appeared in front of Wang Chengguang. He could see it clearly, but Lu Tao and Xiang Nan turned a blind eye and did not notice it.

God rewards hard work system.

Host: Wang Chengguang, 22 years old.

Every effort will bring a reward, and every hard work will be rewarded.

skill:
Cooking, ordinary, (297/500).

Assembling and repairing computers, entry level, (89/100).

Fitness, normal, (272/500).

Architectural Design, Introductory, (42/100).

Driving, excellent, (237/1000).

Fishing, Common, (222/500).

…………

The sudden appearance of the system scared Wang Chengguang, but he just shook the cigarette between his fingers and calmed down. As an experienced driver, who often drives his car on the provincial capital's highway for hundreds of kilometers, he must drive steadily.

Wang Chengguang smiled and said, "When are we leaving? Just to be clear, I only have a passing knowledge of assembling computers. Don't blame me if you get cheated."

Lu Tao waved his hands proudly, "Not really, that's definitely not the case. I heard from people that some stores in Hailong Building are really rip-offs. A friend of mine went there to get a machine assembled, and the store said they were exaggerating, but what they got was a second-hand CPU and refurbished memory."

"One pit costs one or two thousand yuan. Even if you know a little bit, you are much better than us novices."

Wang Chengguang almost spit out his food. What was the forty years before he traveled through time? His previous life? He studied advertising design in college, played around with PS, 3DsMAX and other software, and was unemployed after graduation. He worked in Internet cafes and computer malls, and worked as a salesperson for various purposes.

Including setting up a stall at the night market, and later in 2016, I became a professional medium- and long-distance driver, driving a private car without an operating license from the county to take people to the provincial capital. It seemed to be very profitable. With four passengers in a trip, the fare for one person was 100 yuan for a one-way trip of more than 50 kilometers, which was 200 yuan for a trip. It would cost more than yuan to pick up two or three people back in the city.

Two trips a day, gross income is six or seven hundred.

But there are fines for traffic violations, and heavy fines for being caught driving an illegal vehicle without an operating license… Also, you have to rest, get the car repaired, etc., and fuel consumption and highway tolls, etc., which is hard work money, and you have also been unemployed for a long time because of the pandemic.

Therefore, the system shows that the driving is excellent.

As for assembling and repairing computers, it should be a legacy from the time when he was a computer assembly salesman in the computer city in his hometown's provincial capital in his previous life before traveling through time.

Wang Chengguang's identity after traveling through time is also a graduate, and he has not yet found a place to live outside the dormitory. Whether it is Lu Tao, Xiang Nan or Gao Qiang who committed suicide, they are all native Beijingers with a diploma in architecture, but none of them has found a corresponding job.

What about him? 2007 was the last glorious era of assembled computers, such as desktops. In two or three years, they were swept away by increasingly advanced branded notebooks, tablets, smartphones, etc.

Nowadays, it is common for people who don’t know much to go to computer malls like Hailong Building and be cheated out of a few hundred dollars for a desktop computer with a big-butt monitor and an independent chassis.

If a merchant doesn’t make more than a thousand yuan from you for an assembled computer, then he is considered a conscientious merchant!

Gao Qiang, who committed suicide, couldn't find a job with a monthly salary of 800 yuan after searching for a long time, and he committed suicide due to the stress.

(End of this chapter)