RGL – Chapter 92

Su Min lowered her head and said nothing, continuing to walk forward.

She had always known she didn’t fit in. She felt older than the others, had no common language with them, and her thoughts were completely different. Even if she wanted to play with them, she couldn’t really join in. In her previous life, she had nothing, so in this life, she just wanted to have more than others. Not only did she want to excel academically, she also wanted to succeed in her career.

In junior high, she poured all her energy into studying and smoothly got into the city’s top school. Once she got to high school, she had saved up a little money and found an industry she liked. She wanted to take this first step while she was still young.

She just hadn’t expected her grades to slip. In other people’s eyes, she had suddenly become “abnormal.”

She thought she didn’t care what others thought of her, that as long as she lived well, that was enough. But when she heard Tang Man’s criticisms, she still couldn’t help feeling upset.

Liao Zhaodi saw how downcast she looked and quickly took her hand. “Su Min, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Just do what uncle and aunt said—do what makes you happy. Don’t force yourself.”

Su Min took a deep breath. “Zhaodi, I don’t want to go home. I want to walk around for a bit. You go back without me.”

Hearing that Su Min wanted to be alone, Liao Zhaodi suddenly remembered what happened with Tang Man by the river last time and immediately said, “No way. If you don’t want to go home, I’ll walk with you. I can’t let you stay by yourself— uncle and aunt would be worried sick.”

“Then let’s go home.”

Su Min sighed and turned in the direction of home.

Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong had noticed that their daughter had been getting more and more withdrawn lately. Though she was still serious and diligent, something about her just seemed off. They asked her a few times, but Su Min just said she was fine. Even Liao Zhaodi pretended like nothing was wrong and didn’t say a word.

Sun Qiufang felt like this couldn’t be ignored. Clearly, the child had something weighing on her heart. She must have encountered some difficulty. If it wasn’t resolved, how could she find peace of mind?

That night, Sun Qiufang didn’t go back to her room to sleep. After washing up, she went to Su Min’s room to talk with her.

Seeing her dazing off, Sun Qiufang walked over and gently patted her head, smiling. “What’s wrong? You’ve looked unhappy these past few days and won’t talk to us about it. Your dad has been so worried he can’t sleep—he asked me to come ask you.”

“I’m fine.” Su Min shook her head and kicked off her shoes, leaning back on the bed. She couldn’t exactly say she didn’t know what kind of person she was supposed to be. After living two lives, she still didn’t know how to live as a person.

Sun Qiufang grew serious. “You’ve always been an understanding child since you were little, but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to us when something’s wrong. You’re still a kid. No matter how mature you are, you should still act like one. Don’t try to shoulder everything like an adult. Isn’t it exhausting to keep all that inside?”

Su Min was silent for a long while. Just as Sun Qiufang sighed again, she looked up and asked, “Mom, if you could go back to your childhood, what would you do?”

“Go back to my childhood?” Sun Qiufang was a little taken aback by the question and chuckled, “Child, what a strange thought. People can’t go back to childhood. Life just moves forward.”

“I’m just using it as a metaphor. If you could go back, what would you do?”

Seeing how seriously her daughter asked, Sun Qiufang smiled and thought for a moment. Then a wistful look appeared on her face. “If I could go back, I’d find a way to keep your grandpa alive, and I’d work hard to give our family a better life. But I doubt there’d be much of a chance—it was tough back then, and hardly anyone had it easy. But at the very least, I’d make sure your uncle got to go to college. If the whole family was doing well, I would’ve just gotten married.” Then, half-jokingly, she added, “But maybe I wouldn’t marry your dad. Your grandma and her lot were terrible. Even though life has gotten better now, I never had a good day when I was young. Thinking back still makes me feel bitter. I should’ve found a mother-in-law who treated me well.”

“Is that all, Mom? Aren’t you planning to pursue a career or something?”

“A career? What for? As long as we can get by, that’s good enough. After getting married, if you want to live well, both husband and wife just need to work hard. If I really could go back, I’d just want to relive my youth properly—wear more colorful clothes, learn how to dress up like other people, and take better care of my skin. It would’ve been great if I could’ve studied more. In this life, I just want to be an educated person. I heard university is wonderful, with so many educated young people. Just walking out of there makes people admire you.”

As she spoke, Sun Qiufang’s tone carried a trace of longing and regret.

Listening to her mother’s wishes, Su Min suddenly felt a bit puzzled.

Her mother, at this age, was mentally even older than she was. Su Min had assumed her mom, having achieved success in this life, would definitely want to build a great career after being reborn. But her mother hadn’t even thought about making lots of money or achieving great success—instead, she just wanted to live her youth all over again.

Su Min remembered that in her previous life, she had also once envied those who lived carefree lives. She wanted to be like other girls—pampered, growing up happy.

Now that she had been reborn and her family’s situation had improved, she started wanting more. But then she realized her energy was limited. This was just a second chance—not a transformation into someone smarter. She wanted good grades and to make money, but ended up exhausting herself and failing at both. In the eyes of her peers, she probably even seemed abnormal.

Sun Qiufang had originally come to console Su Min, but ended up dozing off herself while talking.

Su Min lay awake until the middle of the night, only falling asleep after she had figured things out.

The next morning, when Su Min got up, Sun Qiufang was already in the kitchen making breakfast.

She walked out of the room with a smile, and after washing up, went to the kitchen to grab some food.

“Mom, can I go out with Zhaodi tonight for a bit?”

“What? At night? That’s no good. It’s not safe for two young girls. I’ll go with you.”

Su Min nodded. “Okay, that works.”

Seeing her daughter in such good spirits today—not looking upset like before—Sun Qiufang couldn’t help asking, “Why the sudden urge to go out? You used to just come home and stay in your room.”

Su Min smiled and said, “Just feel like going out for a bit. The exams are over—even if I didn’t do well, I still want to relax.”

She needed to reevaluate her approach to life.

No matter what, seeing her daughter change made Sun Qiufang happy. As for why she changed—that was Su Min’s secret. If her daughter wanted to share, she’d listen. If not, she wouldn’t push.

A grown girl needs to have some thoughts of her own.

Once back at school, Su Min stopped thinking about the clothing store and went back to the mindset she had in middle school—focusing on studying and improving her grades.

She had overestimated herself after a few successes with Sanye, and once she came to the city, she became too eager for quick results. Her grades fell, and because she lacked energy, she started neglecting the people around her—including her parents, who had worried about her a lot.

Looking back, she really had gotten stuck in a dead-end mindset—only thinking about success, about getting ahead of others. But when she looked back, she realized she had nearly wasted this second life.

Heaven had sent her back to age thirteen—not some later point in life—not just to change her family’s situation, but perhaps to give her a chance to truly experience the childhood and adolescence she had missed.

If she kept going down the same path, even if she became wildly successful one day, her memories of this time would only be of busyness, with none of the experiences someone her age should have. She’d forever be missing a piece of her past.

Sometimes, Tang Man would sneak glances at Su Min and feel that she had changed—but couldn’t quite pinpoint how.

Still, she was just as annoying as ever.

On the weekend, Su Min and Liao Zhaodi went out to look for a shop.

Liao Zhaodi was worried that if Su Min started running a shop again, her grades would suffer, and she’d fall into another slump like before. Back then, she had been really scared—afraid Su Min would end up like Tang Man and run off to the riverbank again.

“Su Min, maybe we shouldn’t do this business thing. Let’s just focus on studying.”

“It’s okay. I’ve thought it through. Once the shop opens, I won’t manage it myself. I’ll have my cousin, Sun Yan, take care of it. She’s got good skills—can even do alterations—so I won’t have to worry. As for inventory, I’ll just source from the garment factory. Whenever there’s a new style, I’ll have them make it.”

“Then what’s the point? Might as well not open it.”

Liao Zhaodi felt that if the shop didn’t make money, it wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

Su Min smiled. “I already poured so much effort into this. If I gave up now, I’d feel like I let my past self down. So I’ll open it, at least so I won’t have regrets. I probably won’t lose money—just won’t make a lot, that’s all.”

“Alright then. As long as you’ve thought it through. But this time, we can’t let your grades slip again.”

Liao Zhaodi said with concern.

Su Min nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson. I wouldn’t dare do poorly again, or my parents will never let me off the hook.”

Hearing Su Min mention this, Liao Zhaodi quickly nodded. “I didn’t even dare tell them about the exam. Thank goodness they didn’t ask.”

Seeing how anxious Zhaodi looked, Su Min smiled with her lips pressed together, then pulled her along. “Come on, let’s go look for a shop. We’ll treat ourselves to something tasty afterward.”

At this time, there were more shopfronts available in the city than in the county town, though many of them were old residential houses converted into storefronts.

Su Min took a liking to one such former residence. The outer wall was a bit run-down, but it was located on a main street with heavy foot traffic. More importantly, there were already a few clothing stores nearby, so the potential customer base would likely grow.

The rent was also significantly cheaper compared to places in shopping malls.

Su Min wasn’t aiming to make big money with this store anymore, so she didn’t want to pressure herself too much. The rent was affordable, the costs relatively low, the space decently sized, and the location decent too—just right for what she had in mind.

After picking the shop, Su Min rushed home to get Sun Qiufang to help her with the lease.

The landlord was eager to offload the place and get a lump sum, so the leasing process went quickly. They signed a three-year contract right away, paying the first year’s rent upfront.

Su Min figured three years was perfect—by then she’d be graduating high school. Whether she’d keep running the store or move on would depend on the situation at the time.

After securing the shop, Su Min asked Su Changrong and the others to help her find people for renovations.

Since Su Changrong’s own store was also due for renovation, he didn’t hesitate to take on his daughter’s project too. His current store was quite large. While it wasn’t in a prime location like a mall, it was nearby. He had rented a whole row of units and was knocking down the walls to create one big storefront. It hadn’t been easy to get the lease—he’d suffered a lot of aggravation and had to offer many benefits. Now that everything was settled, he was in a good mood. That evening, he even chatted with his daughter about the renovation plans.

Su Min, hearing that her dad was also renovating, said worriedly, “Dad, my shop isn’t that important. Don’t delay your own business for my sake.”

Su Changrong laughed. “What’s there to worry about? It’s all just renovations. I’ll run back and forth. When a daughter wants to do something, the family’s got to help out. And your idea is quite something—most kids spend money, but you’re trying to make it.”

Sun Qiufang said, “Weren’t you just worried recently that the shop would affect her grades? You kept nagging her not to open one. Now listen to yourself. You’re so wishy-washy.”

Su Changrong scratched his head. “Didn’t my daughter already think things through? What am I still worried about?”

On Saturday, Su Min planned to make another trip to the factory to pick up stock.

She had previously designed a batch of butterfly tops for early autumn and wanted Sanye to produce them, but autumn had already passed and the weather was turning cold. That batch wouldn’t sell well anymore. Remembering the short wool coats Sanye had made before, she got an idea—she could get a batch of those instead, giving her store a competitive edge.

Hearing it was something as major as restocking, Sun Qiufang didn’t feel comfortable letting her go alone and insisted on accompanying her.

Su Min didn’t try to act tough. She wanted to slowly adjust to being a sixteen-year-old again. Where she could rely on her parents, she would. When the time came that they needed her support, she’d stand strong for them.

Life was about relying on others and being relied upon. In her past life, she had no one to lean on. In this life, she was learning how.

Early Saturday morning, the mother and daughter bought breakfast outside and boarded a bus to the county town together.

Once there, they first went to Sanye to talk to Ye Yongfu about the order.

Seeing Su Min arrive, Ye Yongfu beamed with joy.

“Su Min, you came at just the right time—I’ve got some great news for you,” he said, unable to hide his excitement. “That short wool coat you modified last time? It didn’t just sell well in our county. I went on a trip to S City and B City recently. After showing them the sample, they placed an order right away! Our Sanye name is really getting out there now.”

Hearing that the clothing had even reached major cities, Su Min was a bit stunned. She hadn’t expected it to have such a big impact—she had only hoped Sanye’s batch would sell. She never imagined it would reach nationally influential markets.

If these coats became popular in big cities, wouldn’t everyone else start copying them?

Su Min could already picture the near future, where women across the country would be wearing short wool coats.

Ye Yongfu was clearly over the moon. Seeing Su Min again reminded him of the contract they’d signed earlier, and he assumed she was here to place another custom order. “Are you planning to release a winter collection too? Things are a bit busy now, but if it’s not a big batch, I’ll arrange it for you right away.”

He looked at Su Min as if she represented the future of Sanye.

Su Min said, “I’m ordering a bit late this time. I just want to place an order for some of your new designs.”

“Oh, that’s what this is about.” Ye Yongfu waved his hand happily. “No problem—I’ll make sure your batch gets produced first. Just give me the cost price. Hey, Su Min, we’ve had a great partnership so far. If there’s a good opportunity in the future, don’t forget about Sanye.”

Su Min smiled. “I’m the sentimental type. As long as we keep working well together, I’m sure we’ll have more chances in the future.” She didn’t want to make any firm promises, but she left room for possibilities.

Once the order was settled, Su Min reminded Ye Yongfu that the fabric quality had to match the last batch—no compromises.

Ye Yongfu laughed heartily. “You really know your materials! I actually sourced that fabric from outside the province. I doubt even the provincial capital has it. Not much left, but I’ll set aside a batch just for you.”

After leaving Ye Yongfu’s office, Su Min headed to the workshop to find Sun Yan.