Sarah Bennett immediately shrank back in fear, nervously looking at William Clark, her small mouth slightly open, eyes wide with shock—clearly startled by William Clark's sudden outburst.

William Clark opened his mouth, then raised his hand to point at his own nose, stammering, “You... you said I... am from Class 2... of the second year.”

Sarah Bennett took two steps back and nodded gently.

William Clark slowly lowered his head and looked at himself: a shirt covered in patterns, light blue gauze pants, and an ordinary pair of unbranded sneakers. His gaze swept over the books scattered on the ground, and on one of the exercise books, a few large cursive characters were boldly written... William Clark.

William Clark was stunned for a moment, his eyes once again scanning the surroundings. Suddenly, the floodgates of memory opened—he remembered where this was. This was clearly the small path he liked to walk during high school, and the black 26-inch straight-bar bicycle on the ground was the one he used to ride to school. That green little backpack was the most popular military-style schoolbag back then. All of this seemed to indicate that he had suddenly returned to his second year of high school, which was 1994.

As someone who had read plenty of online rebirth novels, William Clark was clearly more accepting of such things than most people. Watching Sarah Bennett hurriedly picking up the books from the ground, occasionally sneaking a glance at William Clark, looking extremely nervous—obviously still frightened by what had just happened.

Taking a deep breath, William Clark suppressed the overwhelming surge of emotions in his heart and tried to speak in a calm tone: “Sarah Bennett, I’m really sorry, I was a bit out of it just now. Maybe I hit my head earlier. I hope I didn’t scare you?”

Pure-hearted girls are usually kind, and Sarah Bennett was clearly no exception. Hearing William Clark say this, the panic in her eyes immediately subsided, and she said, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m all better now. But I’m really sorry for bumping into you. If you actually got hurt, that would be my fault.” In his mind, he was desperately trying to recall who this Sarah Bennett was, but all he could remember was that Sarah Bennett was a beauty at school, though they had never really interacted.

Sarah Bennett was clearly not much of a talker, and now she fell silent again. With no one else around, William Clark was thinking about how to say a few more words to Sarah Bennett, hoping to get some information from her. After all, even though this was his own past from sixteen years ago, he had forgotten many things and urgently needed someone to remind him.

His eyes swept around and landed on a book Sarah Bennett had picked up from the ground. The title was "Camille" ("The Lady of the Camellias"). William Clark's eyes lit up—he had finally found a breakthrough.

Chapter 002: Kindred Spirit

“You’re reading ‘The Lady of the Camellias’?” William Clark asked, pretending to be casual.

“Ah!” Sarah Bennett immediately stuffed the book into her bag in a fluster, dodging his gaze and saying, “N-no... I just read it occasionally.”

William Clark smiled and said, “It seems not many people in our high school read books like that, right?” Back in 1994, very few high schoolers read world classics, which is why William Clark said so.

Sarah Bennett grew even more nervous, stammering, “Th-this book isn’t anything special, it’s just about a... girl who sells camellias, just... just like the little match girl.”

William Clark couldn’t help but smile. This adorable girl couldn’t even tell a lie—her flustered expression gave everything away. He smiled gently and said, “Marguerite always carried a bouquet of camellias with her, which is why she was called the Lady of the Camellias. It’s a tragic yet admirable love story, truly unforgettable.”

“You’ve read it too?” Sarah Bennett looked up at William Clark in surprise, but quickly lowered her head again—she really was a very shy girl.

William Clark blinked and said, “Heh, maybe the one I read isn’t the same as yours. The one you read is about a little girl selling camellias.” He felt a bit awkward acting like this, but it seemed to fit his age at the time.

“You’re so annoying.” Sarah Bennett blushed and said, “If you read non-curriculum books at school, they’ll get confiscated.”

“How can you call that a non-curriculum book? If even world classics are considered non-curriculum, then there’d be nothing left to read. Besides, reading books like that is actually good for you—it broadens your horizons, and lots of reading will really help your language studies.”

“Really?”

“Of course it’s true. Whether someone is knowledgeable or not isn’t just about their test scores—it’s about a well-rounded view. Ninety percent of top college entrance exam scorers are multi-talented, with knowledge of literature, history, geography, computers, and more. If they hadn’t read books like ‘The Lady of the Camellias,’ now that would be truly ridiculous.”