The only thing left on the table was a single sheet of white paper, bearing the book title “A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality”...

A family of three sat down to eat.

“Shichen, have you finished your homework?” Brian Carter’s father, Mr. Carter, asked.

“I’ve finished. Today was registration day, so only the homeroom teacher assigned an essay. I’ve already written the six-hundred-word essay.”

“Good.” Mr. Carter nodded in satisfaction.

“Old Su, do you know what day it is today?” Grace Miller asked.

“I was just about to ask you. What day is it? With all these dishes, is it your birthday? No, your birthday is March 8th, that’s long past. Is it my birthday?” Mr. Carter wondered.

It really was a table full of delicious dishes: spicy fish, boiled pork slices, husband and wife lung slices, twice-cooked pork, braised pork intestines...

“It’s not about birthdays. This feast is to celebrate Brian.” Grace Miller rolled her eyes, but when she mentioned celebrating Brian Carter, the smile at the corner of her eyes couldn’t be hidden.

“Celebrate? Celebrate what? Did he get a high score on an exam? No, today was just registration, there couldn’t have been an exam.” Mr. Carter looked inquiringly.

Brian Carter was about to speak, but Grace Miller beat him to it: “Brian wrote a book, and it was picked up by Deyun Publishing House. It’s going to be published! My son is about to become a famous author, and he’ll even get a manuscript fee of five thousand yuan.”

“Shichen’s book is going to be published?” Mr. Carter was momentarily stunned. When did his son become capable of something like this?

“That’s right!”

“Very good. But you can’t slack off in your studies either.” Mr. Carter still maintained his calm demeanor, but the delight in his tone was unmistakable.

They ate heartily. The family of three enjoyed a very happy meal, and father Mr. Carter even made an exception and had two extra drinks. He was also the one who signed the contract.

The next day, clouds of cotton candy drifted in the sky.

In the classroom, it was noisy and chaotic. After a whole summer vacation, the students hadn’t settled down yet.

“Hey, Little Emily, have you finished your essay? Let me see it.” David Thompson bounced over and reached out for the essay.

“Wow, Head Prefect, you’re not trying to copy my homework, are you?” Brian Carter said exaggeratedly.

“Hmph, I’m not that dumb. Who would dare copy an essay? The teacher would spot it right away.”

“Head Prefect, do you remember the bet we made yesterday? Did you check when you got home? Was I right?” Brian Carter asked.

“No, I just guessed. Anyway, the teacher’s coming, I’m going back to my seat.” David Thompson stammered, her cheeks flushed. In fact, she had gone home and asked her mother about it yesterday. That word did mean what Brian Carter said, and the explanation was exactly the same. The other “effects” he mentioned were also real.

In her heart, David Thompson wondered how Brian Carter seemed to know everything after just one summer break. Not only could he write a book that was going to be published, but he could also explain the meaning of any English word off the top of his head.

He had become so impressive that a seed of admiration was planted in her young heart.

But even so, with her little pride, David Thompson would never admit it, so she just played it off.

“Ding ding!” The bell rang for class. The first period was Chinese.

“Hand in all the essays assigned yesterday.” Each group leader collected the homework, then handed it to the Chinese class representative, who finally carried it to the homeroom teacher’s office.

“A new semester has begun. I hope everyone can settle down and focus on your studies. Today, we’ll start with the first lesson, ‘So-called Freedom.’” The homeroom teacher, Penelope Clark, opened the textbook and began to speak: “America was once called the land of freedom, even the president is elected by citizen vote. But America has very serious racial discrimination. For example, white Americans are very prejudiced against black Americans, and black Americans don’t even have the right to vote. This article was written by a Chinese author, using a satirical tone...”

It had to be said that the history of this world was very different from that of Earth. There was emancipation of black slaves here, but there was no Martin Luther King, and no civil rights movement for black Americans. Black Americans were still in a very awkward position.

“Class, that’s the end of the period...” The bell rang for the end of class.

The teacher returned to the office to grade essays.

As for the students, they all rushed out of the classroom—some to the restroom, some to buy snacks.

“Little Emily!” A familiar voice called from behind. Turning around, “Tiger, what’s up?”

“Come on, let’s go out and play. Why stay in the classroom?” The speaker was William Reed, nicknamed Tiger Reed, and Tiger was Brian Carter’s nickname. The two were, of course, best friends.

“No, you go ahead. I’ve got something to do.” Brian Carter changed the subject, “By the way, Tiger, I remember you said you had a relative who teaches painting.”

“Yeah, that’s my uncle. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and runs a training class. Why, Little Emily, are you interested in painting now?”

“Yeah, Tiger, can you help me get in touch?”

“No problem, leave it to me!” William Reed patted his chest in assurance...