At this point, William Brooks had already experienced this deeply in his previous life when he was transferred out of the honors class. When he was first moved to another class, there was a period when he thought about working hard to get back into the honors class.

But after lunch, when he returned to the classroom, the other students were either sleeping or chatting in small groups. He simply couldn’t focus on studying, and was even seen by others as just putting on a show.

Those so-called experts who claim that dividing students into honors and regular classes causes some students to develop inferiority complexes and is bad for the country’s education—it's all nonsense.

For students at this age, personal willpower isn’t very strong, so it’s easy to be influenced by the environment. The learning atmosphere is very important for students; if everyone is working hard, others will naturally follow suit.

“In the second semester of sophomore year, the school will adjust classes based on academic performance. I was transferred out of Class 1 and placed into Class 7 next semester…”

Walking along the campus path, William Brooks began to recall memories in his mind.

Guangfeng High School’s liberal arts grade had twenty classes. The honors classes were Class 1 and Class 2; the rest were regular classes. All students who didn’t make it into the honors classes would be randomly assigned to the remaining eighteen classes.

“My grades may be at the bottom of my class, but that’s only compared to my classmates. In the whole school, I’m ranked around 100th, so my foundation isn’t bad. If I study hard, even if I can’t get into a 985 university, getting into a first-tier university shouldn’t be a problem.”

Returning to his high school days, William Brooks didn’t plan to give up on his studies. Even though he was someone who had been reborn and could live a comfortable life thanks to his knowledge of the future, that wasn’t enough for him.

But William Brooks’s ambitions went beyond that, and he knew very well that society in China is built on connections and relationships. Whatever you do, you can’t get away from them.

After 2010, it became very difficult for new tycoons to emerge in traditional industries. The only real grassroots success stories came from new internet companies, and these companies all had one thing in common: their founders were almost all graduates of prestigious universities.

Graduating from a top university not only means your abilities are recognized, but more importantly, it allows you to build a network of connections. Why are these founders able to secure venture capital within just a few months of starting their companies? Besides having attractive business ideas, the key is that they have the connections to get in touch with those VC firms.

Ninety percent of the wealth and resources in society are controlled by three percent of the elite, and almost all of these elites are graduates of top universities. This creates a certain circle of connections. Each university even has its own alumni business club. An entrepreneur who didn’t graduate from a prestigious university will naturally be excluded from this circle.

In later years, many top universities held executive programs, and only fairly successful entrepreneurs could enroll. These entrepreneurs obviously already understood business management—they just wanted to use the opportunity to build connections and enter the circle.

Behind every top university stands a massive elite group in society. With the identity of a top university student, in business competition, many rivals wouldn’t dare to use underhanded tactics.

William Brooks wasn’t afraid of fair competition; what he feared were those dirty tricks from competitors. That’s why being a student at a top university was his protective talisman.

“2008—this is an era of rapid change and development.”

William Brooks sighed. At this time, the internet was growing wildly and unchecked, the major giants were expanding their territories, talent shows were popping up endlessly, the phenomenon of Chun Ge was sparking nationwide debate, and housing prices were skyrocketing.

The clash between the older generation’s views and those of the youth had reached its peak. Online, there were countless criticisms of the post-90s generation: non-mainstream, internet addiction, a ruined generation—ideas and changes were developing at lightning speed.

E-commerce was rising, the mobile internet era was arriving, and people’s work, lives, and travel were about to undergo huge changes.

Before 2008, phone manufacturers only made phones, and home appliance sellers only sold appliances. But after 2008, industry barriers would become thinner and thinner, and cross-industry integration would become the choice for many companies. Countless companies would end up losing to competitors from completely different industries.

Kodak perfected film, but who would have thought that its downfall wouldn’t come from a competitor in the same industry, but from mobile phones?

Who could have imagined that after years of competition between China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, with communication fees dropping again and again, their real competitor would turn out to be Tencent?

Even Master Kong probably never expected that the reason for their reduced production wasn’t Jinmailang or Uni-President, but Ele.me.

This was also an era of cross-industry disruption. If your mindset couldn’t keep up, you’d be eliminated by society.

……

This was the best of times, and now, having returned to the starting point of this era, William Brooks looked up at the azure sky and silently whispered in his heart:

“After half a lifetime away, I return still a youth!”

Chapter 2: Our Non-Mainstream Years

Walking once again along the campus path, William Brooks looked at the school from his memories. On the left in front of him was a rust-covered railing, and behind it, the stone slope was draped with withered Boston ivy. With no leaves left, only yellow vines hung straight down.