In the morning, the alarm rang as expected, and Xiao Qi was groggily woken up. He turned off the alarm on his smart device and tilted his head, ready to go back to sleep, but then he suddenly remembered something and sat up straight.
In the process, something on his pillow fell off with a loud crash.
The older brother was woken up by the noise and groggily raised his head from the blanket.
“Xiao Qi, why are you up so early? Isn’t there no class today?”
“Oh, I have something to take care of. You go back to sleep, I won’t disturb you.”
“Alright, then go ahead.”
With that, the older brother pulled the blanket back over himself and immediately fell asleep again, as though he had never woken up. Xiao Qi found it amusing.
He didn’t take much with him, just tidied himself up, and left.
He found a private study room in the school library and entered.
He didn’t choose to stay in the dorm because he was afraid that being seen by his roommates would affect everyone’s mood, and it would be more convenient for him to be alone.
Even if he didn’t get what he wanted, at least the disappointment would be his alone, and others wouldn’t feel down too.
Xiao Qi sat up straight, and in front of him was the smart device already set to the product page.
He had browsed through posts from people who managed to get the items, and many mentioned a method: before trying to purchase, one should silently repeat the item they wanted to buy a thousand times to increase the chances of getting it.
It sounded unreliable, but it was the only thing Xiao Qi could do. He didn’t have the conditions to try other methods, like soaking watermelon rind in water to wash his hands, as some people suggested.
This was the only thing that gave him some psychological comfort.
“Tomato, tomato, tomato…” Xiao Qi silently repeated in his mind.
With one minute left on the countdown, he started getting ready. His eyes were fixed on the screen, and his hands hovered above it.
As soon as the time hit, his fingers quickly clicked on the tomato product page, and the page opened smoothly without being grayed out.
Xiao Qi felt a surge of happiness. This was much better than before when the page would turn gray as soon as he clicked, showing the item was sold out.
Without hesitation, he clicked to purchase and pay. The page froze for a moment, the screen went black, and a new page slowly appeared.
When he saw the page, Xiao Qi’s bright eyes darkened, and his shoulders, which had been straight, slumped.
The page showed “Payment failed, this product is sold out,” which was not the result he had hoped for.
He still didn’t get it. He had thought that once he got through to the product page and clicked to pay, it would go through, but he was just a little bit too late.
“It’s fine,” he comforted himself. “Next time, I’ll be quicker.” He told himself it was okay, he had only missed by a little bit this time.
Still holding onto hope, he tried again, but fate didn’t seem to favor him. In the subsequent attempts, he never managed to secure the product. Every time, he was just a little bit short.
In class, after another morning of lessons, the third roommate looked at Xiao Qi with concern and asked, “Are you feeling unwell these past couple of days? You seem to be zoning out a lot.”
“Ah, I’m fine, don’t worry,” he quickly replied and tried to change the topic to the content of the lecture to show that everything was fine, but it seemed somewhat forced.
Xiao Qi didn’t want to act like this, but he had been trying to get the product for a week straight, setting his alarm every day, and still couldn’t get it.
Meanwhile, Wang Haotian and his group had been taking every opportunity to mock them.
He knew that with the current odds, it was really hard to get it. Many people had been trying since the beginning and still hadn’t managed to get it, even with Wang Haotian mobilizing everyone in his company to help. They had only succeeded once. Xiao Qi had been trying for just a few days, and it was normal not to get it.
But the more he focused on it, the more it became an obsession. Originally, he just wanted to stay competitive with Wang Haotian’s group, but now it had become an obsession.
Lying in bed, the darkness hid his expression, but he knew something wasn’t right. He just couldn’t control himself anymore.
As night deepened, he tossed and turned until he finally fell asleep.
Since he had slept late the night before, when the alarm rang today, he struggled for a long time before reluctantly getting up. He splashed his face with cold water, instantly waking up.
Back in the familiar study room, it was another failure. Xiao Qi felt extremely frustrated. Was he just not meant to get it?
“Ding ding ding, ding ding ding.”
The familiar ringtone rang. Xiao Qi picked up his smart device, glanced at the screen, and answered the call.
“Hello, Mom. Is there something you need?”
On the other end, his mother replied with a teasing tone, “Why, can’t I call you if there’s nothing urgent?”
“No, no, of course, you can call me anytime. I’ll be available whenever you need me.”
Talking to his mom made Xiao Qi feel much better, lifting his gloomy mood.
They chatted for quite a while. His mother told him about the situation at home, and Xiao Qi talked about what was happening at school, like his classes, assignments, how he was getting along with his roommates, and so on. He didn’t mention anything about Wang Haotian and his group making trouble for them.
Finally, when they had talked enough, his mom reluctantly ended the call, reminding him one last time to take care of himself.
“The interstellar express I sent you should be arriving soon, remember to pick it up. In addition to the one from home, there’s also one from your Uncle Gan. It’s two packages, so make sure to get both.”
“Mom, don’t worry, I’m all grown up now. I can handle such small matters.”
It was quite a coincidence. Just after finishing the call with his mom, the intelligent assistant popped up with a message saying that the package had been placed in the locker.
To make it easier for students to pick up their packages, the school had set up special lockers at the bottom of each building. Once the package arrives at the school, staff sorts them, and robots deliver the packages directly to the designated locker for the students to pick up.
After tidying up the study room, Xiao Qi simply stood up. Since he wasn’t in the mood to stay there, he thought it would be better to go back to the dormitory and pick up the package on the way.
He successfully picked up the package, which was a very large box. He had no idea what was inside, but it felt quite heavy.
After struggling to carry it back to his dorm, he finally had a chance to check the name on the package. It was the one his Uncle Gan had sent him.
Speaking of Uncle Gan, Xiao Qi remembered that he loved listening to stories from him when he was younger. Uncle Gan worked as a zookeeper and knew many stories about animals, which Xiao Qi found fascinating.
His father and Uncle Gan had been good friends since childhood, growing up together on Poyang Star. Later, when his father settled on the current planet, they moved away from Poyang Star, but their relationship remained strong. His father would help Uncle Gan find better job opportunities, and Uncle Gan would often send gifts to their family.
Uncle Gan used to work on their current planet, but he would return to Poyang Star during vacations. Poyang Star was famous for its labor workforce, and the workers spread across the galaxy. They would always bring local specialties when they returned.
The gift Uncle Gan had sent was likely a local specialty from his new workplace, which Xiao Qi thought would be something interesting from another planet.
Xiao Qi originally planned to open it right away, but he suddenly received a message from his roommate, saying that the class scheduled for tomorrow had been moved to today because the professor had something else to do. The class would start soon, so he had to hurry and pack up to attend.
The professor who rescheduled was an extremely strict old professor who loved to ask questions. Everyone paid close attention in class, afraid of being called on. Xiao Qi was no exception.
After two intense classes, the members of Dorm 506 were exhausted. They decided not to do anything else and went straight back to the dorm.
“Hey, Xiao Qi, you got another package? Who sent it?”
Since they shared a dorm, Xiao Qi’s roommates often saw him receiving packages. Xiao Qi was also the one who received the most packages in the dorm.
Every time Xiao Qi got something, he would share some with them, and when they bought things, they would share with him as well.
They knew that Xiao Qi’s packages were from two sources: one from his parents, and the other from his uncles and aunts. Xiao Qi had mentioned that his father had many friends, and they often exchanged gifts, so as the only child of his father, Xiao Qi naturally benefited.
“Oh, it’s from Uncle Gan. He just got a new job, so he probably sent some local specialties.”
They knew who Uncle Gan was, as he was the closest friend of Xiao Qi’s father and the one who sent the most packages. Xiao Qi often received packages from him.
“Then what are you waiting for? Open it and let us see. We can learn something new.”
This wasn’t an exaggeration. Xiao Qi’s relatives worked in different places, and the things they sent were always local specialties from their areas. Over the past few years, just by looking at the things Xiao Qi received, they had learned a lot about things they had never seen before.
And this time, it was even more exciting since it was a gift from Uncle Gan’s new workplace.
“Hold on, I’ll open it in a minute. I’m curious too. If the professor hadn’t rescheduled the class, I would have opened it during lunch.”
Saying this, Xiao Qi placed the package on the table. Because it was quite heavy, he struggled a bit while holding it. His roommate, Lao San, quickly came over to help carry it.
“Wonder what’s inside? It’s heavy, and the box isn’t small.”
“Just open it and find out.”
The package was in an intelligent refrigerated box, and Xiao Qi was curious.
The lock was a bit different from the ones on the packages Uncle Gan usually sent. After entering the password, instead of opening immediately, a fingerprint lock appeared. This made Xiao Qi even more curious.
With the smart refrigerated box and multiple locks, the package felt quite heavy.
Following the instructions, Xiao Qi placed his finger on the scanner. After about ten seconds, the blue light turned green.
With a “click,” the lid of the package popped open slightly, and a faint cool breeze floated out, brushing across Xiao Qi’s face.
He was surprised at how effective the refrigerated box was. The cool air was quite strong. Xiao Qi, who had never received a package like this before, was impressed. He casually lifted the lid to check the contents.
The contents inside caught Xiao Qi’s eye, packed tightly, yet so familiar. He stood there, stunned.
[dropdown title=”Discord”]@dogfoodplease or @dogfoodplease#8837
translation works:
ARTTEDSBGT (After Rebirth The True Eldest Daughter Starts Brewing Green Tea):
main story – completed translating
extras/side stories – i still dont have money and account to access this
ATISIUP:
ongoing
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