Although it was a question, Evelyn Young's tone was clearly hostile. The original William Thompson had an extremely bad relationship with her, and she looked down on this young master of the The Thompson Family—so young, tall and burly, yet idle all day long. He claimed to study but refused to work hard, couldn't even pass the county-level exam, failed five years in a row, and became the laughingstock of Linhuai County. In Evelyn Young's opinion, it would be best if William Thompson could help manage the accounts instead of chasing after that useless scholarly title—after all, being a scholar doesn't put food on the table. But whenever she brought it up, she would sting this young master's delicate and sensitive nerves, causing him to jump up and quarrel with her, smashing bowls and dishes, turning the household upside down. Just over half a month ago, Mr. Thompson mentioned the marriage arranged for him since childhood, hoping he would settle down after getting married, but for some reason, he suddenly shouted that a real man does not curry favor with the powerful, would rather marry down than up, and insisted on breaking off the engagement. Evelyn Young, unable to bear it any longer, ordered people to give him a good beating. He acted as if his tail was on fire, and after a bout of madness, actually jumped into a well. Evelyn Young was quite annoyed by this. Today, taking advantage of Mr. Thompson's absence, she came over to check on this troublemaker.

William Thompson was indeed meeting this woman for the first time, but he knew she was his stepmother. According to his father, the former him had almost burned her alive in her bridal sedan chair on her very first day at the The Thompson Family. For years, the two had glared at each other with hostility, their relationship extremely bad. He couldn't help but resent the former young master of the The Thompson Family for being so immature and causing him so much trouble—after all, harmony in the family brings prosperity!

William Thompson gave a bitter smile and said, "I can't remember the past, but I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have quarreled with my stepmother and made things difficult for Father. I apologize to you."

"Oh!" A trace of surprise flashed in Evelyn Young's cold eyes. He actually called her stepmother—something he had never done in the four or five years since she entered the The Thompson Family. And he even admitted his fault, which was unheard of. She had originally planned to take advantage of Mr. Thompson's absence to give him a good scolding, but unexpectedly, he admitted his mistake first. This made Evelyn Young feel both a bit pleased and a bit at a loss. However, after years of fighting with William Thompson, the resentment in her heart could not be dispelled with just a smile. The surprise in Evelyn Young's eyes disappeared in a flash, and she still said coldly, "I came to ask you what you plan to do in the future. If you want to continue pursuing a scholarly title, I can pay for you to study in Suzhou. Don't you like your uncle who runs the pastry shop? You can go to him, but I'll only support you for two years. If you still can't pass the county exam, you'll come home and farm. Do you understand? This family won't support a lazy bum."

"I don't know what I can do in the future either. Can you give me a few days to think about it?" William Thompson spoke sincerely, as he was completely lost about his future.

Evelyn Young looked at him for a while, then reluctantly nodded. "Fine! Let's talk after you recover your health."

Suddenly, a woman's low voice came from outside the door: "Madam, Master has returned."

Evelyn Young was startled, and immediately swept out the door like a gust of wind. At the doorway, she suddenly turned back and warned, "Don't tell your father I was here, understand?"

William Thompson nodded. After Evelyn Young left, the room quieted down again, but William Thompson's heart was in turmoil. Yes, what did he want to do in the future? He had been in the Ming Dynasty for almost twenty days now, and this question was becoming more and more urgent. His previous major was industrial economics—a jack-of-all-trades major—and in college he was addicted to all kinds of games, so much so that he wasn't even a real jack-of-all-trades. After graduation, he couldn't find a job at all. Fortunately, he was a local, and his parents pulled some strings to get him a job at a securities company, with a monthly salary of 1,800 yuan. He had neither a house nor a car, squeezed into two old alleyway rooms with his parents and brother, and didn't even have a girlfriend. But unexpectedly, his luck turned and he won the lottery. Just as he was full of ambition, he suddenly died of a heart attack. Although Heaven took pity on him and let him be reborn at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, what could he do now? He couldn't invent any advanced technology, and the few Tang and Song poems he could remember were already well known in this era. He vaguely remembered lines like "I draw my sword and howl at the sky" and "I urge Heaven to shake itself anew," but what was the point? He couldn't even recite the Four Books and Five Classics. Other than proving he liked to plagiarize, would anyone actually admire him?

"Unskilled in manual labor, ignorant of crops," William Thompson sighed. But to settle for being a country landlord, marrying a warm wife, and having a bunch of kids—he was unwilling. This was the era of Zhu Yuanzhang! He knew that next year the Li Shanchang case would break out, and in a few years there would be the Lan Yu case, then the struggle for the throne between Prince Yan Zhu Di and his nephew. The threads of history were clearly imprinted in his mind. Could he integrate into this period of history? Even if he wanted to, where should he start? Was he supposed to run to Zhu Di like a fool and say, "I know you'll be emperor one day—let me be your advisor!"

Even if Zhu Di didn't kill him, Zhu Yuanzhang would skin him alive. William Thompson hesitated for a moment. Just then, he vaguely heard Evelyn Young's fierce voice from outside: "Tell the truth—how much money did you steal from me?"

"Madam, I've already said several times, I only took five hundred strings of cash."

"Hmph! Five hundred isn't enough? Our family only makes a little over a thousand a year, and you really dared to take that much!"