Volume One

Chapter 001: Reborn

William Clark felt like he had been constantly violated—not by a woman, but by life itself. Eleven years after graduating from college, he had worked at twenty-one different jobs, the longest lasting two years, the shortest only three days. Yet, he had never achieved anything remarkable in any of them. Instead, his ambition had been worn away, and he could only struggle to survive. He felt like a worker ant in an anthill—no dreams, no future, just watching the soldier ants show off and the queen ant be worshipped.

William Clark had complained before, had struggled before, but no matter what, he could never break free from the layers of oppression, toiling away in mediocrity just to get by.

Maybe William Clark's complaints had worked, and some deity took pity on him. Maybe the heavens decided to give him another chance, and some kind-hearted angel intervened. Or perhaps the old lady in charge of time and reincarnation was in a bad mood because of her period and accidentally made William Clark reincarnate.

One moment, William Clark was in a car that had just had a close encounter with a truck. The next second, he was riding a bicycle, colliding with another cyclist in a spark of "love," and both of them fell to the ground at the same time, with William Clark landing squarely on top of the other person.

Shaking his head, William Clark first looked to both sides: on the left, a red brick wall over two meters high; on the right, a lush cornfield about half a meter tall. William Clark's mind short-circuited. Just a moment ago, he had been in a serious car accident on the highway—his company’s Jetta had crashed into a big truck. How had the car accident suddenly turned into two bicycles, and there was no sign of a highway anywhere? His body ached a little, but it was very mild. What really caught his attention was the soft sensation beneath him.

"Ah! You're crushing me... it hurts!" a soft, weak voice came from under William Clark, with a pair of small hands pushing hard against his chest.

William Clark quickly propped himself up on his arms, and a pure, beautiful girl's face appeared before his eyes. Her big eyes shimmered with tears, her fair cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and shyness. She turned her face away, not daring to meet William Clark's gaze, her arms braced against his chest, her palms soft and delicate, making her seem so fragile.

This made William Clark feel very guilty. He pushed up with his arms and pulled his legs back, trying to stand up. But behind him came a clatter—the two bicycles, which had been leaning, now fell completely, landing on top of William Clark.

William Clark cried out in pain and, unable to help himself, fell forward again, landing once more on top of the girl.

"You..." The girl bit her lip hard, her hands now pinned to her chest by William Clark.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" William Clark apologized repeatedly, then used one hand to support himself on the ground and the other to hurriedly push the two bicycles off himself, finally managing to stand up.

Once William Clark stood up, the girl also pushed herself up to a sitting position. As she was about to stand, William Clark quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't rush. Move your arms and legs a bit, see if anything hurts badly. If you have a bone injury, getting up now will only make it worse."

The girl's expression changed. She glanced at William Clark, then gently moved her arms and legs, slowly shook her head, and said, "I'm fine."

"That's good. I'm really sorry, I don't know how I ended up crashing into you. I'm sorry, little sister." William Clark reached out to help her up, but the girl pulled her hand back, so William Clark awkwardly put his hand down. He still didn't understand how he had collided with this girl.

The girl stood up by herself, then took two steps back, avoiding William Clark's gaze, gently rubbing her arm, looking pitiful and delicate.

"Hey! Why do I feel like I've seen you before?" William Clark looked at the girl again, suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu. Such a distinctive girl—he should remember her, but he just couldn't recall where he had seen her.

"My name is Sarah Bennett, I'm in Class 4, Grade 2."

"Class 4, Grade 2?" William Clark was stunned, looking Sarah Bennett up and down. She wore a light green chiffon dress, the style surprisingly old-fashioned, but it only made Sarah Bennett look even more elegant and pure, like a blooming lily.

"I've seen you at school too. You're in Class 2," Sarah Bennett added.

"What?" William Clark couldn't help but widen his eyes and shout, hardly believing his ears.