"Hello!"

　　William Clark stood up respectfully.

　　"This is a new little friend I just made, called Little William. I brought him over to introduce him."

　　"Of course, the kid looks great."

　　With Mr. Carter around, he quickly mingled with everyone, and in the small club of Hope Community in Tianhai City, he began to build his first network of connections.

　　……

　　"Mommy, he took our coat."

　　"Who?"

　　"Just kidding!"

　　"This kid, keep an eye on him!"

　　"Mommy, he took the pants."

　　"Who?"

　　"Just kidding!"

　　"Hahaha!"

　　"Little William, do another one, do another one!"

　　"No, no, I don't have much material left. Next time, if I think of something, I'll definitely say it, definitely."

　　The club had a big stage. William Clark cupped his hands and jumped down from the stage. The group of elderly men and women below looked at him as if he were their own grandson.

　　The age range in the apartment block was very narrow, mostly middle-aged and elderly, or little kids; all the young people had gone to work in the XC district. Playing here every day, everyone gets tired of seeing each other, so when a newcomer shows up, especially a young guy—

　　Wow, the middle-aged and elderly folks got excited!

　　As soon as he came down, an aunt grabbed him: "Little William, can you dance?"

　　"What kind of dance?"

　　"Just fitness and leisure dancing."

　　"I know a bit, but I'm afraid I won't do it well."

　　"Oh, we all just dance randomly. Come on, show us something. We always dance to the same few songs."

　　He was pulled into the dance area. Sure enough, the music started playing. He picked one that was similar in style to "Drunken Butterfly" and recalled the square dance he had learned out of boredom.

　　"This one has 32 steps. Watch closely, get ready, and then the first step..."

　　"Slightly turn your body, raise both hands, twist to the right and kick your left leg, twist to the left and kick your right leg."

　　"Then put your hands on your waist, step half a step sideways, tiptoe touches the ground... like this, one two three four, two two three four, and add a bit of playfulness, that's even better..."

　　"Oh, we're all getting old, still being playful?"

　　"I don't like hearing that! What's wrong with getting older? Can't older people have spiritual pursuits? You all should be full of spirit, old trees sprouting new buds. Look at how brilliant and glorious this golden sunset is!"

　　"Hahaha!"

　　"Oh my, you're such a funny kid!"

　　"Why are you striking poses now? Who did you learn that from?"

　　From my Mrs. Green!

　　William Clark spent a whole day at the club, and his biggest gain turned out to be the accent—yes, the accent. Just like with Mandarin, there were dialects here similar to those in China, just with different names.

　　For example, Tianjin dialect wasn't called Tianjin dialect, but Jinggu. He was already planning to tell the story "Fishing" next time. Without the Tianjin dialect, "Fishing" just didn't have the flavor.

　　So by evening, when Old Foster came by, a bunch of people crowded around to vouch for him.

　　"Little William is a good kid!"

　　"He's warm-hearted and funny, and he's willing to play with us."

　　"Yeah, yeah, anyone who can hang out with us old folks can't be bad."

　　Mr. Carter even pulled him aside and whispered, "Little Foster, our culture department is short-handed. I want him!"

　　What the heck?

　　Old Foster was confused: "What are you talking about?"

　　"Anyway, you don't get it. Only the two of us speak the same language. Hurry up and get him in."

　　"No way, no way. His probation period isn't over yet. Who knows if he's good or bad? Besides, you have to pass a test to join the community. It's not that easy."

　　So rigid!

　　No flexibility!

　　Mr. Carter blew his beard and glared. How could someone who likes Naizi have any bad intentions???

Chapter 11: Renaissance

　　"Are you going back to Little Evelyn's place, or staying somewhere else?"

　　"Back to Little Evelyn's place."

　　"Oh, Little Evelyn is a good kid. If you treat her badly, no one in the community will forgive you."

　　"No, no, we're not..."

　　"It's okay, it's okay, we understand. She grew up without parents and relies a lot on mature men. Maybe that's why she brought you back.

　　You're 26, she's 17. It's not illegal, but living together like this isn't great. How about this: there's an empty apartment in your building. The owner lives in the city and it's been vacant for a long time. I'll talk to them for you, so you can stay there for now and look for a job... If you really want to live together, at least wait until she's 18."

　　Alright then!

　　William Clark stayed at the shelter for five days.

　　He was injected with something, mainly to check if he had any mental issues, illnesses, or drug addictions, then they built a psychological profile to see if he had violent tendencies, etc.

　　Since he took the "friend of the elderly" route, he quickly regained his freedom, but he still had to wear that wristband until he got his ID card. According to Old Foster, it would take a few months to half a year.

　　Evelyn went out to work, so he carried his assigned washbasin and towel to the apartment Old Foster had told him about.

　　It was on the seventh floor. As soon as he entered, there was a musty smell. The furniture was all there, but it hadn't been cleaned in ages. William Clark felt miserable—back in 2021, he had three apartments and a fresh food supermarket, but in 2049, he was down and out.

　　No choice but to tidy up.

　　After a whole day of cleaning, it was almost done. In the evening, Evelyn came by too. She walked in and laughed, "You finally moved out! From now on, you have to be self-sufficient. I don't have to feed you anymore!"

　　"In your dreams. Give me the key."

　　"What for?"