He hadn’t slept so soundly in years. When David Thompson woke up the next morning, he felt grounded and content.

His parents had already left for work. The food was kept warm in the rice cooker, and there was a hundred yuan left on the table.

David Thompson didn’t get sentimental about it. Right now, he didn’t have the means to refuse what his parents gave him. Until he earned his own money, he had no right to ask them to give up the hard work that supported the whole family.

After a quick breakfast, David Thompson slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed to school, all the while thinking about how he could make some money as soon as possible—at least enough for his parents to quit their current seafood business.

He thought about it for a long time but couldn’t come up with a plan. If he had some capital, it would be easier; he had plenty of ideas that could make a profit.

But when he checked his pockets, including the hundred yuan his parents gave him that morning, he realized that after all those trips to the internet café, he had no savings left. His total assets amounted to 134.5 yuan—not enough to do anything.

Even someone reborn has their worries, and clearly, David Thompson was feeling troubled now.

On one hand, he needed to study hard to get into a good university; on the other, he was eager to improve his family’s life so his parents wouldn’t have to work so hard. It was turning out to be far less easy than he’d imagined.

When he got to school, David Thompson still hadn’t sorted out his thoughts, until an offhand comment from William Clark finally gave him an idea.

“Dongzi, how about we go hang out at Oriental Plaza tonight? We finally get a day off tomorrow, so let’s go out and clear our heads tonight.”

“Oriental Plaza…”

David Thompson’s eyes lit up a little. Dongping County was inland, not very developed, and the city itself wasn’t big.

But Oriental Plaza was just as lively and bustling as some second- or third-tier cities. Back in the day, some leader must have gotten carried away with a vanity project, but now it had become the go-to spot for the people of Dongping to relax after meals.

At night, the place was ablaze with lights, especially in the summer when it stayed noisy all night long. The crowds were no less than those in some big cities.

Especially since several small commodity markets and a pedestrian street had sprung up nearby, Oriental Plaza had become even more prosperous, and was showing signs of becoming the county’s new center.

Although he had a vague idea now, David Thompson still hadn’t figured out exactly what to do next.

After thinking it over, he nodded and said, “Alright, let’s go check it out tonight.”

“David Thompson, William Clark, I want to go too! Don’t forget to bring me along!”

Sitting in front of David Thompson, Evelyn Brooks couldn’t help but chime in when she heard the two talking. She loved lively places and was eager to join in.

David Thompson nodded indifferently, not particularly interested. If it were a stunning beauty like Hannah Quinn, he’d be excited, but Evelyn Brooks was at best a sweet, girl-next-door type—she didn’t really catch David Thompson’s attention.

Men are all the same—they care about looks. If they have the chance, no one would mind bringing home a beautiful wife. As for those who say “sour grapes” just because they can’t have one, they don’t count.

But William Clark was thrilled, craning his neck to start discussing with Evelyn Brooks what they should do that night.

As they chatted, Evelyn Brooks nudged her deskmate, the recognized class beauty of Senior 3 (Class 8), Sarah Young, and said, “Xiaoxue, are you coming tonight? Aren’t you tired of studying all the time? You’re already top of the class, and you still work so hard—how are the rest of us supposed to survive?”

Sarah Young smiled softly and shook her head, not even glancing at William Clark’s hopeful face. She said calmly, “I don’t want to go. You guys have fun.”

David Thompson curled his lips but said nothing.

Come to think of it, this year’s Senior 3 class was a bit lopsided—girls outnumbered boys in both the arts and science classes, and the top spots were all held by girls. Not to mention Hannah Quinn from the arts class, even in David Thompson’s science class, the number one spot was firmly held by a girl. It was kind of sad, really.

Sarah Young wasn’t just a top student—she was also beautiful. There weren’t any official “school beauty” or “class beauty” rankings at the time, but Sarah Young was universally acknowledged as the class beauty, and the dream girl of almost every boy in the class.

“Almost” because that didn’t include David Thompson. Normally, everyone loves a pretty girl, and a guy like David Thompson shouldn’t be an exception.

But for some reason, whether it was the younger David Thompson or the current one, he just didn’t like Sarah Young much. There was no real conflict between them, he just couldn’t stand her aloof, pure-as-ice demeanor—it felt fake to him.

Seeing Sarah Young always made David Thompson think of Hannah Quinn. Hannah Quinn was also smart and pretty—maybe not necessarily prettier than Sarah Young, but deep down, David Thompson just liked Hannah Quinn more.

Even after so many years in his previous life, he could still remember Hannah Quinn’s mischievous, sly smile, but he could barely recall Sarah Young’s face, even though they’d been classmates for three years, while he’d only seen Hannah Quinn a few dozen times in high school.

“Pfft!”

Suddenly, David Thompson spat at himself. Why was he suddenly thinking of that troublemaker Hannah Quinn?

He figured it was probably because he’d been single for too long, and now, suddenly running into the “big loli” again, he couldn’t help but feel happy.

“If I could really marry that troublemaker and bring her home, that’d be pretty great. At least we’d have things to talk about, and seeing her mischievous smile every day would be nice.” For some reason, David Thompson started daydreaming, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

While David Thompson was lost in his fantasies, it didn’t look that way to everyone else.