The father was clearly as surprised as the mother, even a bit evasive; in his life, hugging his son had almost never happened.

In fact, Brian Bolton also felt a bit awkward, but right now he really wanted to hug them.

The hug was brief, almost as soon as it started it ended. He took the large bag from his astonished father's shoulder, slung it onto his own back, and, waving his thin arms with some effort, said, "Mom, Dad, take care. I'm off."

He tried to act cool, but honestly, the bag was a bit heavy.

Fortunately, the minibus was right in front of him. After a few steps, he got on. The ticket lady was very friendly, helping him with the big bag and suitcase, stuffing them into the trunk.

"Be careful on the road, don't fall asleep," called out Megan Bennett, who had finally come to her senses.

"Got it."

Watching her son's slightly thin back, Megan Bennett said somewhat blankly to Kevin Bolton, "Did you notice, Dad, that Ryan seems a bit different? He wasn't like this before... I can't quite say, just not the same."

Ryan was Brian Bolton's nickname, given by his grandfather, who was a retired cadre from the old commune, fond of quoting classics, and the unquestioned authority at home. On the day Brian Bolton was born, there was a strong wind. On the way to the town health clinic, his grandfather quoted, "The great wind rises, the clouds fly high," so Brian Bolton's nickname became Ryan.

Later, when it was time to register his household, his grandfather wanted to name him "Zhang Feiyang," but thought that sounded too arrogant, and that names should be more low-key. At this point, the usually outspoken Megan Bennett also had some thoughts about her son's surname. In the end, no one quite remembers whose idea it was, but combining the surnames of Kevin Bolton and Megan Bennett, they came up with the rather odd name Brian Bolton.

From then on, his formal name was Brian Bolton, and his nickname was Ryan.

Kevin Bolton was also a bit stunned by his son's sudden hug, but being somewhat careless by nature, he didn't notice much change in Brian Bolton. "He's fifteen now, time to grow up."

"Anyway, I just feel Ryan is a bit different. I hope he really has matured. He wasted time in middle school, he can't afford to waste high school too. If he works hard and gets into a good school, we won't have to worry so much," Megan Bennett muttered quietly.

On the other side.

With the burden gone, Brian Bolton regained his agility, quickly boarded the minibus, found an empty window seat, sat down, opened the window, and waved to his parents. "You two head back."

"Be careful on the road," Megan Bennett repeated once more.

"Mm."

Megan Bennett wanted to say more, but more and more people were getting on the bus. It was the start of the school year, and almost all the parents were there to see their kids off. The noise and commotion swallowed up what she wanted to say. She could only stand outside the crowd, watching her suddenly "grown-up" son, trying to warn him to be careful with her eyes.

A few minutes later, honk honk honk, the minibus slowly pulled away, leaving the parents far behind.

Brian Bolton watched his parents gradually disappear around the corner and let out a slight sigh of relief.

The reason he went along with going to high school was, in large part, because he still didn't know how to get along with his "young" parents. He hadn't fully adapted to being back in his teenage years and needed some unfamiliar space to process the current sense of distance.

After all, he was no longer the naive fifteen-year-old Brian Bolton.

...

The scenery along the way had an old, worn-out feel, but Brian Bolton couldn't really appreciate it.

Traveling from his hometown, Gangji Town, to Shuangdun Town—even though both were under Changfeng County and right next to each other—there was no direct road, so he had to detour through Hefei City. Gangji Town was by National Highway 206 and Hehuai Road, while Shuangdun Town was by a county road and Heshui Road. From Gangji Town, he had to take a bus to Xinya Bus Station, then transfer to Changyun Bus Station, and only from there could he catch a minibus to Shuangdun.

In 2001, Hefei was just starting its big construction boom. The roads were either broken or under repair, and travel was tough.

As a second-tier city, even within the city itself, there weren't many buses. Unlike the future, where buses would go everywhere, taxis and black cabs would be as common as fish in a river, and there would even be subways and light rail.

The bumpy bus was crowded and stuffy.

Brian Bolton couldn't even fall asleep, so he just hugged his backpack and tried to sort out his thoughts. Yesterday, he had woken up to find himself back on August 31, 2001, and had been busy figuring out his surroundings ever since. He hadn't had time to process his feelings or think about what to do next.

As for studying, to be honest, he found it hard to believe he would obediently finish three years of high school and work hard to get into a good college.

He was in his thirties now and knew he wasn't cut out for studying. He hadn't been as a kid, and even with a second chance, he still wasn't. At best, he could maybe scrape into a second-tier university, and that would be a huge stroke of luck.

Besides, he didn't think he needed to rely on college anymore to secure his future.

"Make movies? That's not really realistic right now... Singing? Seems like I'm just an amateur, though I can write lyrics, but composing is a hassle—I'd have to learn from scratch... Writing novels, maybe. I've been reading for over ten years, I should be able to write a few books. But it seems like online novels haven't really taken off yet, and traditional publishing is still all about martial arts and fantasy."