The system arrived too early

Zhen Nan was a small county town in the south, where the late-summer heat was unbearable.

Jiang Nian had just returned home. He opened the refrigerator door, and a white mist washed over his face.

He searched for a while and finally found a few slices of bread left over from breakfast. He made do with a few bites. Only after getting something into his stomach did he recover a little.

His phone buzzed with an incoming call.

It was Le Zhi, their class welfare representative, a flashy poser with a face full of acne. The guy had added everyone in class on QQ, supposedly to foster class unity. In reality, he just had his eye on the girls close at hand.

"Jiang Nian, Zhou Yuting's getting people together to hang out. She asked me to see if you wanted to come." There was a coaxing note in Le Zhi's voice. He had once said he liked Zhou Yuting.

To be precise, there were few boys in class who didn't like Zhou Yuting, Jiang Nian included.

Zhou Yuting had an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, a slender waist, and long legs. Beneath her summer school uniform, her chest had soft curves like the ridgeline of a mountain in spring. Smart and rich, she was their class academic representative.

"No."

"Really? Are you still hung up on what happened at Zhou Yuting's birthday dinner?" Le Zhi tried to persuade him. "Is it really worth it? She didn't mean anything by it. It was just a joke."

The mere mention of that birthday dinner made Jiang Nian angry.

A little while ago, six or seven of them had gotten together for a meal to celebrate Zhou Yuting's birthday.

Out of kindness, Jiang Nian had volunteered to buy some C100 vitamin drinks from a nearby convenience store. When he returned, he overheard Liu Feipeng and several girls making fun of him.

"He didn't make an excuse and run off, did he? We did order some pretty expensive stuff. He probably thought we were splitting the bill. He doesn't know Feipeng's paying for everything tonight."

"Exactly. Going on about how good those crappy drinks taste, too. Like we need his spare change."

"Haha, he's such a caring guy. Ranks below a dog."

Everyone burst out laughing, leaving Jiang Nian feeling awful outside the private dining room. He heard Zhou Yuting laughing too. They usually got along so well, yet she hadn't said a single word in his defense.

After that, Jiang Nian had seen them for what they were.

A bunch of brain-dead, motherless little shits.

If it hadn't been Zhou Yuting's birthday dinner, he wouldn't have wanted to go at all. These days, pure gold beat pure love. So what if they had money? Could it buy them a mother?

If he had money, he wouldn't even spare someone like Zhou Yuting a glance. He had really misjudged her before.

Fuck, so that's what they think of me!

"No. Let them have their fun." Jiang Nian sneered.

"All right. I'll let Miss Gorgeous Zhou know," Le Zhi replied.

Jiang Nian put down his phone, leaned back against the sofa, and let out a long sigh. The world really had changed. Since when did being kind make someone a clown?

His chest rose and fell. Without money, people bullied you. With money, everything you did was right.

The moment his anger peaked, a ding sounded in his mind. A translucent panel appeared before his eyes, and lines of white text slowly emerged.

[At eighteen, you entered an ordinary second-tier university. After graduation, you joined a large company. You worked overtime until your liver nearly burst and ran errands until your legs cramped, yet you never received a promotion or a raise.

At twenty-eight, your parents earnestly urged you, who had accomplished nothing, to go on blind dates. Careful to protect your pride, they gingerly handed you a bankbook.

At thirty, the bride price came to a staggering 588,000 yuan. You gritted your teeth and took out loans totaling 1.34 million yuan for a home and a car. The five pieces of gold jewelry cost 80,000, the gift thanking her parents for raising her cost 128,000, the gift for addressing them as Mom and Dad cost 30,000, and the gifts for getting into and out of the wedding car cost 66,000.

The luxurious hotel teemed with guests, smiles shining on every face. Someone tossed the bridal bouquet high into the air, like a white dove taking flight.

At thirty-two, your company downsized, and you were fortunate enough to escape. Your boss always assigned you the heaviest workload. You came home later and later, and your health steadily declined.

At thirty-five, you lost your job, and your wife grew increasingly dissatisfied with you. You had no children, your medical examination results grew worse each time, and your arguments became more frequent.

At thirty-eight, a suitcase rolled across the floor as your wife left with an icy expression. Your cracked phone screen lit up. Your parents were calling, and it kept ringing.

Amid the ruins, you lowered your head and lit a cigarette.

Host: Jiang Nian. Divorce Comeback System loaded. Do you. Have the courage. At this age of forty, to begin. Turning your life around?]

On the sofa, Jiang Nian stared at the words in his mind, completely stunned.

Divorced? Thirty-eight?

Huh?

Wait, was this panel talking about him? The name Jiang Nian was right. He sat in a daze for over ten minutes, goosebumps breaking out all over him.

Suddenly, he jerked his head up as something struck him.

"Wait, I'm only eighteen!"

Holy shit, had this system arrived too early?

He looked at the final line of small white text frozen on the panel: Do you. Have the courage. At this crossroads of thirty/forty, to begin. Turning your life around?

He reached toward it, and two options faintly appeared: yes and no.

There wasn't really anything to hesitate over. If the system was fake, he could treat it as a life simulation game. If it was real, he had even less reason to give it up.

Jiang Nian knew very well just how low poverty could force a person to stoop. He counted himself relatively lucky. At least his parents were there to hold up the sky if it fell, and his standard of living wasn't bad.

But what about the future? What if he couldn't hold up the sky for his parents?

In this world, a person could be incompetent, but they couldn't be penniless. Hard work didn't necessarily pay off. Choose the wrong direction, and one wrong step led to another.

He selected yes!

The panel vibrated with a hum, then a line of small text appeared.

[Divorce comeback game loaded. Host: Jiang Nian. Sex: male. Age: 38.

Your marriage has failed. Standing at the crossroads of forty, you remember your childhood sweetheart. After getting married, you cut off contact and never heard from her again.

Reestablish contact with Xu Qianqian. Reward: 300 RMB.]

After reading it, Jiang Nian couldn't help curling his lip. Why was this system so stuffy?

Still, it didn't matter, as long as it paid.

Reestablish contact with Xu Qianqian, the childhood sweetheart he had fallen out with. Hmm. He got up and paced around the living room for a while. Then he opened his front door and stared thoughtfully at Xu Qianqian's home across the hall.

...Hmm.

Bang, bang, bang!

Jiang Nian pounded on the door with all his strength. "Xu Qianqian, what are you doing!?"

A moment later, hurried footsteps came from behind the door. Before she appeared, her clear voice rang out.

"Get lost, Jiang Nian! Do you have a death wish?"

The door swung open, revealing a delicate little face puffed up in anger.

A slender, graceful girl appeared, somewhere in the one-hundred-and-sixty-centimeter range, wearing a beige knit-

top, her chest bulging as though treasure were hidden underneath.

The girl had lively eyes, fair skin, and brows like distant mountains. Her smooth, long hair was tied back with an elastic. He had never noticed before, but she really was a beauty in the making.

Unfortunately, they had never gotten along, and their relationship had deteriorated rapidly since middle school.

He had stolen Xu Qianqian's ice cream and released her pet turtle into the sewer.

When Xu Qianqian had a slight cold, he had scooped her into his arms and carried her to the hospital without letting her argue. As a result, she had missed an exam, and Jiang Nian had ranked first in class for the only time in his life.

Considering all his misdeeds, he ought to thank Xu Qianqian for sparing his life all these years.

(End of chapter)