The school and society had not forgotten this poor orphan; the school organized charity donations for him and helped him apply for relief funds.

The school leaders even made the front page headline of the Beichen Daily because of this, and the neighborhood committee also applied for subsistence allowance for him. The monthly 560 yuan allowance was managed by his uncle, who was his guardian.

Every month, his uncle would give him 300 yuan for living expenses, and the rest was kept by his so-called guardian uncle, supposedly saved for his future college tuition. But anyone could see that the current David Bolton had no chance of ever setting foot in a university.

David Bolton had once been very likely to get into a prestigious university like a 985 or 211, but that was in the past. After the car accident, no one thought that way anymore.

He quickly fell from first place in the city’s high school entrance exam to dead last in his grade, and without suspense, he held onto that last place all the way to senior year. The only reason he wasn’t held back or advised to drop out was entirely due to the model example he had been made into when he enrolled.

How could the object of the whole school’s love and support be abandoned halfway? The century-old Beichen No. 1 High School would never give up on any student.

Even though everyone knew that David Bolton's presence would lower the graduation rate for the current year, there were 18 classes in the senior year, with over 800 students. There could be many top students, but there were only a few key support cases that could be used for publicity.

How could such a publicity point be held back a grade? So David Bolton smoothly and somewhat muddle-headedly advanced to the senior liberal arts experimental class.

Although David Bolton's grades never improved, his body kept growing sideways after the car accident, swelling up like a steamed bun, looking less and less like the typical struggling student.

This forced the school to focus its publicity on the silent, nurturing care and meticulous attention he received. His weight gain also became strong evidence for his uncle and aunt to show off how much they valued family and cared for their nephew.

David Bolton didn’t eat much; after the car accident, he became the type who gained weight even from drinking cold water. He was slow to react, clumsy, and though he was fair and chubby, he had little strength and would be out of breath after just a few steps.

Most people saw David Bolton as useless, and some even thought he was an idiot. William Carter was one of the few classmates who never looked down on David Bolton. Before middle school, David Bolton had always been the one William Carter admired and tried to catch up to.

The optimistic, articulate David Bolton suddenly became silent and withdrawn after the car accident. William Carter still liked to confide his thoughts to this childhood friend, never worrying that David Bolton would reveal his secrets.

There was another reason William Carter chose to go home with David Bolton: he wanted to do something, and having the big, burly David Bolton with him at least gave him some courage—just courage, nothing more.

William Carter's backpack was large, but David Bolton's was small, because unlike others, his bag wasn’t filled with textbooks and review materials.

David Bolton didn’t need to review; he hadn’t even learned the material in the first place, so what was there to review? As early as the first semester of senior year, all his teachers had completely given up on this struggling student. Whether he listened in class or not, whether he handed in homework or not, they just let him be. Even the hospital said the child not only had brain damage but also psychological issues—this wasn’t something education could cure.

Fortunately, David Bolton always followed classroom rules; his biggest problem was that he loved to sleep. He even went to the hospital for this, and the doctor said it was because the brain injury had caused insufficient oxygen supply to his brain, and his increasing weight only made things worse, so he became drowsy all the time.

The doctor warned him that he had to lose weight. If this continued, one day he might suddenly die from lack of oxygen to the brain.

David Bolton still looked dazed and confused; no one knew what he was thinking, not even himself.

In the three years since the car accident, today was the clearest day he’d had. Suddenly, he was wide awake—awake enough to see his own and others’ physical states clearly, able to visualize and quantify things like intelligence, emotional intelligence, strength, and defense.

Even back in the Heavenly Court, he’d never had such an ability. David Bolton thought it was probably his drinking buddy Clairvoyant who had secretly done something to him as a reward for keeping his mouth shut and not betraying him.

David Bolton understood that he was no longer the promising young immortal in the Celestial Palace, nor the brain-damaged mortal he used to be. Now, he was a brand new life, reborn. Today was his first day facing the world with a clear mind.

Chapter 3 This World Is a Bit Chaotic

"I'll help you carry it!"

Such an ordinary sentence, yet it left William Carter extremely surprised.

In three years of high school, although they had gone home together countless times, it was always William Carter who initiated conversation, while David Bolton played the role of a good listener.

If William Carter didn’t ask, David Bolton would never help with anything.

The most common scene of them going home together was William Carter carrying a big backpack, talking to himself, while David Bolton trailed behind with his head drooping, carrying his shabby little backpack like a sleepwalker. Whatever William Carter said, he didn’t understand, nor did he care.

At first, William Carter felt sorry for him, but later he gradually got used to it—this was just fate.