The figure ahead suddenly stopped in their tracks at the sound, turning around once more in astonishment to look straight at Brian Carter, eyes filled with shock and confusion. At this moment, Brian Carter in his line of sight was still reading with his head down, not even looking up.

David Miller stood stunned for a moment before turning again and walking out the door.

What happened today truly left him, the homeroom teacher, at a loss for words—so surprised he was almost dazed. Normally, around eleven at night, he would hurry back to the classroom to urge the students who were still studying to go rest. After all, no matter how hard senior students work, they still need to get enough sleep.

But today, to his surprise, he found that after school, there was one more person staying in the classroom to study. And the extra person was the one he thought least likely.

That person, studying seriously? The sun rising in the west would be more believable than that.

Yet the reality was that the student he deeply disliked but had to tolerate was actually sitting here studying diligently. The other students left at eleven, but David Miller stayed to watch Brian Carter for nearly two hours. After two hours of watching, seeing this student study so seriously for so long, he still found it unbelievable, suspecting he was dreaming.

Equally baffling was that abrupt, out-of-nowhere apology.

……

“Wake up, seriously? You’re sleeping here? What time did you go to bed last night?”

The lights in the teaching building flickered on one by one in the darkness. Brian Carter, who was sleeping soundly on his desk, was woken by someone shaking him. The first thing he saw upon waking was his deskmate Eric Sullivan’s strange expression.

Only then did Brian Carter lift his head, pull out his phone to check the time—5:10. There still weren’t many students in the classroom; in a class of over ninety, only thirty or forty were present.

“I’m going to wash my face.” Withdrawing his gaze and rubbing his face, Brian Carter stood up. He had studied until four in the morning last night, and only when he couldn’t stand the constant throbbing in his head did he finally lay down to rest for a while. After nearly twenty hours of hard work, his body wasn’t tired at all, but his brain really did feel a bit swollen.

But after washing his face and coming back, Brian Carter was once again full of energy and started morning reading.

This day and night passed uneventfully, but he felt very fulfilled.

Chapter 11: I’ll Pay for Him

“Boss, a bottle of Erguotou, the one-jin size.”

On a spring afternoon, close to two o’clock, inside a small restaurant on the streets of Yanhe County, Brian Carter sat at a table, ordered his food, and then called out to the boss who was turning to leave.

At his words, the boss suddenly turned around, looking at him in astonishment. “The one-jin size? Just for you?”

Brian Carter nodded, saying nothing, just casually took out a cigarette, lit it, and smoked quietly.

Fond of smoking and drinking—he probably wouldn’t have much time left to enjoy these pleasures. The side effects brought by his increasingly strong physique were obvious. Even now, though he was only at the initial stage of gathering spiritual energy, the taste of baijiu was already very mild to him, only a bit stronger than beer for an ordinary person.

Drinking a whole one-jin bottle of Erguotou alone was, for him, no different than a young man drinking a bottle of beer—no effect at all. When the Erguotou arrived, Brian Carter didn’t care about the surprised looks from the other diners, just twisted open the bottle and took a big swig. The light taste with a hint of spiciness made him feel extremely comfortable.

Ten days.

It had been ten days since he took the Fenghua Pill. It was another Sunday afternoon. In these ten days, Brian Carter’s life had been very plain, even dull. Only on two nights did he follow a normal student’s routine, going back to the dorm to rest after evening self-study. The other eight days, he studied all day and stayed up until around four in the morning, resting only two or three hours at most in a twenty-four-hour day.

After more than a week of hard study, Brian Carter did make some progress. Although it wasn’t a huge leap, at least now, when he looked at his textbooks, it was no longer like reading a foreign language as it had been when he first reincarnated.

That was enough.

Though this period was exhausting—not physically, but mentally and emotionally—he felt very satisfied. If he kept this up, he believed that by the time of the college entrance exam, he would never let his parents down again.

And this weekend, because the relentless studying had left him so tired, he decided to relax a bit and reminisce about some already fading memories.

Alone, smoking and taking big gulps of Erguotou, sitting by the window basking in the warming spring sun, Brian Carter felt calm and content.

“Boss, one bowl of spicy hotpot, and a bottle of Coke.”

Amidst his quiet eating and drinking, a pleasant voice suddenly sounded beside him. The voice felt very familiar to Brian Carter. When he turned around in surprise, he saw a graceful figure sitting at a table across the aisle.

As he looked over, that figure happened to look back.

With just one glance, Brian Carter was stunned.

Was it really her?

The figure sitting across the aisle had a neat ponytail, a pure, makeup-free face, and features so exquisite they were nearly perfect. Paired with her fair, delicate skin, just sitting there quietly and looking over gave a powerful visual impact.