Then, gradually improve oneself, look for opportunities, increase income, then get married and have children, focus on education and training, worry about the child's future, and so the cycle repeats.

Until one finishes an ordinary and unremarkable life.

But now, although he has memories from his previous life, many things simply don't apply in a different environment and world. As for what to do in the future, whether he can go back, and what plans he has, William Thompson feels somewhat lost.

He is still in a state of unfamiliarity, as if he has been forcibly inserted into a harmonious environment, feeling out of place.

Aside from these things, in William Thompson's impression—

This world, overall, feels a bit strange in many ways.

He can't say exactly what it is, but it's just a feeling. Compared to his previous life, the feeling is very odd.

After sitting for a while and looking up various information, he checked the time—it was about time to head out to school.

The meeting time with his advisor David Brooks was in half an hour, just enough time if he factored in the commute.

Ding-dong.

Suddenly, a text message alert sounded.

William Thompson was about to put away his phone, but quickly glanced at the screen when he heard the sound.

The text message would automatically pop up on the lit screen.

‘A friend’s little garden has a pest problem. Aren’t you majoring in this field? Come to this address and help take a look.’ —Samuel Clark.

William Thompson thought for a moment and quickly replied.

‘What kind of pest? Send a photo.’

‘You’ll know when you get here. Just help me out, okay? It’s the same people you met this morning. Getting along with them will be good for you, trust me!’ —Samuel Clark.

‘How will the fee be calculated?’ William Thompson asked again.

‘You still want to charge a friend for helping? Do you have to be so stingy? Hurry up and come, you must arrive before 2 p.m., or don’t blame me for turning against you later.’ Samuel Clark replied with a tone that clearly showed a bit of attitude.

In the past, whenever the three of them had any disputes, as soon as she got angry, the other two would soften up and start trying to appease her.

So every time she used this trick, it was very effective.

William Thompson glanced at the address she sent—about thirty-two kilometers away. With that distance, public transportation definitely wouldn’t be fast enough, so he’d have to take a taxi. The taxi fare, plus the medicine and pest detection cards he’d need, would add up to several hundred yuan for a round trip.

And that’s if it’s an easy pest problem. If it’s a troublesome one, just the medicine alone would cost at least a thousand.

Even though he really wanted to live according to his predecessor’s habits and gradually transition to his own,

this was a bit much. He didn’t know those people at all, which meant that by going to help, he was really just doing Samuel Clark a favor.

Not to mention whether it was worth it—his own memories were still fuzzy, and he didn’t have the capability.

So William Thompson decisively ignored Samuel Clark and then put his phone on silent.

Not to mention he wasn’t his predecessor—even if he was, without the filter of love, Samuel Clark’s request was just a waste of time and energy to him.

Ignoring the vibrations from his phone, he quickly left the house, caught a bus at the community gate, and headed straight to the suburban school.

Suiyang University, located on the southern outskirts of the city, is a local comprehensive university.

It covers an area almost the size of a small town, with dozens of buildings arranged in an orderly fashion.

By the time William Thompson arrived, more than twenty minutes had passed.

On the third floor of the university’s main office building, he followed the nameplates to the fifth office.

The office door was open, and not far from the entrance stood two young men talking. Both wore glasses, one tall and one short, both dressed in shirts and trousers, looking scholarly and refined.

William Thompson recognized them—they were graduate students of his advisor David Brooks, and could be considered his seniors.

“Charles Foster and Benjamin Harris are here to attend the school’s symposium. I’m also very happy about that, but I really can’t get any extra spots. I already have more than most other professors...”

Inside the office, next to a yellow wooden bookcase, a balding old man with silver-rimmed glasses, dressed in a suit and tie with a dark red tie and a white shirt underneath, was speaking in a low voice to a middle-aged woman in front of him.

He was the plant maintenance specialist, William Thompson’s advisor David Brooks.

When he saw William Thompson enter, the balding man David Brooks waved his hand, signaling him to wait a moment, then continued talking to the middle-aged woman.

The two seemed to be arguing over some kind of quota.

Bored, William Thompson had no idea why his advisor wanted him to come over. His relationship with David Brooks was due to his outstanding performance in plant maintenance courses at school, which earned David Brooks’s appreciation and a recommendation to participate in an advanced training program related to plant maintenance.

David Brooks then became William Thompson’s advisor.

Originally, both David Brooks and William Thompson’s predecessor thought he would naturally go on to pursue graduate studies under David Brooks.

Unfortunately, it turned out that William Thompson’s talent and performance weren’t enough to continue on that path.

Later, William Thompson gave up. After a big argument with his sister, he abandoned the major and the course, choosing to graduate and go straight to work.

After David Brooks and the middle-aged woman talked for a while, the woman snorted coldly, grabbed the form, and turned to leave.

Only then did David Brooks wearily take off his glasses, rub his eyes, and look at William Thompson sitting on the sofa nearby.

He had actually admired this student quite a lot at first.

But now...