To put it bluntly, it still has to do with the identity of the convenience store owner. If teachers often come here, what student would still dare to skip class and buy things here...

　　"How stupid. Those teachers were just here to buy something. Look how scared you all got."

　　A cold, clear voice came from inside the convenience store. The boys, having been scolded, turned back and glared angrily in the direction of the store. But when they saw who was walking out, each of their faces showed an awkward expression.

　　At this moment, William Brooks also turned his head to look inside the store, where a tall girl was just stepping out the door. She had a very typical non-mainstream hairstyle, bangs covering her eyes, and a head of fluffy hair. To William Brooks, it looked ridiculously tacky, but at this time it was the height of fashion. More than a decade later, this group of people would all be called by a common name: the non-mainstream Shamate "Zang Ai" family.

　　Although her hairstyle was very non-mainstream, it still couldn't hide the girl's natural beauty.

　　She had great skin, a delicate face, and her chin was raised high like a noble white swan. She wore a black jacket over a white long shirt, jeans from Metersbonwe, and paired them with Deerway sneakers.

　　For the post-90s generation, Jay Chou was definitely the number one idol, and as the spokesperson for Metersbonwe and Deerway, these two brands were naturally loved by all students.

　　However, William Brooks also knew that at this time, only students from wealthy families could afford Metersbonwe and Deerway. Students like himself, from the countryside, usually bought off-brand clothes from the town's clothing stores.

　　The first time he bought clothes from this kind of specialty store was when he graduated from high school and was preparing to go to college. He bought an mbsky brand shirt on the county's pedestrian street.

　　"Man-jie..."

　　Seeing the girl, the boys looked a bit embarrassed, and when William Brooks heard the words "Man-jie," he suddenly remembered who she was.

　　Mary Foster, the school's famous rich girl. It was said her family was very wealthy in the county, owning many shops and businesses. She was the classic "rich and beautiful" of this era. Because the The Foster Family owned several internet cafes—and at that time, internet cafes were a mix of all kinds of people—Mary Foster knew all sorts of characters, so naturally, no one at school dared to mess with her.

　　"It feels like I forgot something."

　　Looking at Mary Foster, William Brooks frowned. His intuition told him there was more to her story, but he just couldn't recall it at the moment.

　　"You all ran pretty fast just now. With that speed, you could compete in the Olympics. Too bad you don't have the brains for it."

　　Hearing Mary Foster's words, the three boys looked even more embarrassed, but at this moment, William Brooks's eyes lit up, because he finally remembered what he had forgotten.

　　The Olympics!

　　There was a key figure in the 2008 Olympics: Liu Xiang.

　　Because of an injury, Liu Xiang failed at the Olympics, which triggered a nationwide outcry.

　　As for whether Liu Xiang should have participated in the Olympics, William Brooks didn't care to discuss it. He only remembered that after the race, Liu Xiang said, "If I hadn't been injured, I could have run even faster."

　　There was nothing special about this sentence, but not long after, it was copied and posted in the offices and business halls of major securities companies.

　　In 2008, China experienced a terrifying stock market crash, one that made all investors shudder. After the crash, 22 trillion yuan evaporated from the market, and the average investor lost 130,000 yuan.

　　Mary Foster's father was one of the investors wiped out by the stock market this time, and he lost especially badly.

Chapter 3: The Chuunibyou William Brooks

　　Before 2008, the The Foster Family was one of the wealthiest families in the city, but because of this stock market crash, the The Foster Family collapsed overnight, and all their assets were frozen by the court.

　　Mary Foster's father couldn't take the blow and ultimately chose to jump to his death.

　　At the time, this incident caused a huge stir in the city, but William Brooks's family lived in a smaller town, and he was just a student, busy skipping class to play games at internet cafes, so he didn't know about the The Foster Family situation back then. He only learned about it at the 2019 class reunion.

　　In 2019, at the ten-year high school reunion, William Brooks naturally attended.

　　Class reunions are nothing more than two activities: eating and singing. While singing at the KTV, William Brooks met a woman—the KTV's customer manager, also known as the "mama" who manages the hostesses. This manager was very beautiful, with heavy makeup.

　　At first, William Brooks didn't know who she was. Later, after she toasted him and left, a classmate told him that this woman was Mary Foster, a student from their year.

　　After the The Foster Family went bankrupt, Mary Foster's father committed suicide, and her mother, devastated, was in a car accident and became a vegetable, leaving only Mary Foster and her younger brother, who was still in elementary school.

　　To take care of her mother and brother, Mary Foster dropped out of school.

　　Later, it was said that she went to the city to work as a hostess at a KTV. After a few years, as she got older, she switched to being a "mama."

　　There were also rumors that while working at the KTV, Mary Foster was kept by a big boss in his forties or fifties, but was later dumped.

　　A rich girl ending up like this—at the time, William Brooks couldn't help but sigh at the unpredictability of life.