Chapter 2

Most of the seats in the classroom were already occupied. The teacher had just walked in and was organizing lesson plans at the podium.

Lin Sheng quickly walked to his seat and sat down, glancing up at the podium.

The foreign language teacher was adjusting his black-rimmed glasses, slowly flipping through the pages of his lesson plan, his eyes occasionally drifting downward.

Any student who caught his gaze would instinctively straighten up and settle down, and Lin Sheng was no exception.

However, his sister's words from earlier kept echoing in his mind today. His hand unconsciously gripped the two hundred yuan in his pocket—the only money he had—and his mood felt heavy and dejected.

His grandfather had suffered a sudden cerebral infarction, and the family had borrowed money from everywhere, leaving their savings completely drained. Even his sister, who was in college, had been forced to take on a part-time job.

As he thought about it, he let out a soft sigh.

At least, even though things are tough, it's not like we can't go on.

Coming back to his senses, he suddenly recalled the nightmare from last night. The dream had been so incredibly vivid.

Beep.

The bell for class rang shortly after. Lin Sheng pulled his focus together, took his foreign language textbook out of his bag, and began to study in earnest.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, the nightmare, his grandfather's upcoming surgery, and the increasingly strained atmosphere at home kept surfacing in his mind throughout the entire morning.

Class after class passed, and by the time the final period was drawing to a close:

"Lin Sheng, are you alright?" the girl sitting in the row in front of him tapped his desk.

"I'm fine." Lin Sheng's expression remained calm as he looked up at her.

The girl had a slightly long, oval face with long, narrow eyes; she wasn't particularly pretty, looking a bit like an elongated fox face. Wrapped in her baggy school uniform, it was hard to tell much about her figure. The only distinctive feature she had was her fair, delicate skin.

Her name was Shen Yan, one of the few friends he had in this temporary class. She often borrowed erasers or pencils from him.

"Are you really okay?" Shen Yan had a tomboyish personality. She liked anime and didn't really hang out with the other girls, preferring the company of boys instead.

"I'm fine." Lin Sheng shook his head.

Shen Yan reached out and patted Lin Sheng on the shoulder.

"There's a Gymnastics Club activity in a bit. You look so listless today, so this big sister is going to take you to broaden your horizons!"

"..." Lin Sheng felt a bit helpless.

"What's with that look?! Don't you boys all love going to the Gymnastics Club to see—hey! Ah!!" Before Shen Yan could finish, Lin Sheng pinched the flesh on the back of her hand, causing her to let out a sharp cry.

Lin Sheng retracted his hand, his expression blank.

This only friend of his had one bad habit: she would occasionally blurt out some unacceptable, lewd words.

"Lin Sheng, you've lost it! Take my invincible Sacred Heart Palm, ahhh!" Shen Yan jumped up and lunged at him, her hands clawing toward his face.

Unfortunately, her combo was precisely blocked by Lin Sheng, who had grabbed his textbook to shield himself.

She was too easy to read; she was just a simple-minded, crazy girl.

"I was being nice and taking you to see some eye candy! Is this how you treat me!?"

Shen Yan wouldn't give up, continuing her assault.

Yet, Lin Sheng blocked every move without the slightest effort.

A few students nearby watched the two of them bickering and couldn't help but laugh.

The history teacher at the podium was used to it. He glanced over, rubbed his bald forehead, and pretended not to see.

It was their final year of high school, and with only a few months left, most teachers turned a blind eye—it was the only small perk for everyone struggling so hard in the class.

The bell rang soon after, its harsh sound making one's scalp tingle.

"Xiao Yan, are you going to look for new tapes at noon?" A girl from the side leaned in and whispered to Shen Yan.

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I only need one more to complete my entire collection of Zhang En'ai tapes. This time, I'm definitely going to..."

The two girls huddled together, chattering away.

Lin Sheng's gaze swept over the girl next to Shen Yan.

Suddenly, Shen Yan let out a shriek and jumped up to chase the long-legged girl. The girl decisively turned and ran.

Crisp laughter filled the air, giving Lin Sheng a headache.

An Ling, nicknamed Coconut, was considered a minor beauty in the class. With her black ponytail and a fit figure honed by years of gymnastics, she was quite popular. It was said that boys from both inside and outside the class had even fought over her.

"Boring."

Lin Sheng shook his head, packed his books into his desk, and stood up to go eat.

The food in the cafeteria was quite to his taste.

Sitting among the sparsely occupied metal tables and chairs, Lin Sheng ate the food on his tray in silence.

A serving of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and two taels of rice—that was his entire lunch.

Simple as it was, it tasted good.

This was his daily life.

Every day, he went to class, came home to do homework, reviewed exam papers from previous years, struggled until late at night, and then went to sleep.

The next day, he rose and continued to repeat this routine.

His parents left early and returned late, while his older sister, who was still in university, would soon be heading back to campus; she had only returned home temporarily because their grandfather was critically ill.

"Honestly, how boring."

Lin Sheng calmly scooped his food spoonful by spoonful, lifting it to his mouth.

His gaze drifted occasionally with the ebb and flow of the students in the cafeteria.

But for the most part, it remained flat and rippleless.

Although he was born into an ordinary family, possessed no extraordinary talent, and lacked any unprecedented level of intelligence or emotional quotient.

Even at school, his grades were merely average, making him entirely unremarkable.

Yet, he had one major issue.

That was, a lack of desire.

This was the primary reason he could remain calm in the face of most things.

And the second reason was that he was a strange person who had awakened memories of a past life.

Nearly thirty years of memories from his previous life left him feeling almost completely unmoved by his current existence.

Because the college entrance exams of his past life were not much different from the ones here; it was the same daily grind of endless practice tests.

Experiencing it all over again, he naturally found it dull and tedious.

The level of technology here is only on par with the newly established China of my past; there are cars, planes, and quite a few newly popularized gadgets. But it is still far too distant from the most prosperous era I once knew.

Lin Sheng sighed inwardly.

Having experienced an era of incredibly convenient mobile payments and highly developed computer networks, returning to a world where computer games were only at the level of the first StarCraft left him feeling quite miserable.

Fortunately, the greatest strength of humanity is adaptability.

After more than a decade of adjusting, he had long since grown accustomed to an ordinary student life.

At the same time, because he understood the principle that the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be broken by the wind, he had never prominently displayed his mature personality.

That he had been able to live safely and steadily until now, he felt, was no accident.