He tried his best not to look, but the girl's long, fair legs kept swaying in front of him—sometimes kicking up, sometimes twisting and turning.

Her fair, delicate skin reflected the sunlight, radiating a taut, youthful ivory glow. The alluring, rounded curves and smooth sheen made it hard to resist the urge to reach out and touch.

“Helen Grant!! Are you crazy? How dare you grab my chest!”

Suddenly, Grace Sullivan let out a sharp scream up ahead, jumped up, and started chasing after the long-legged girl. The girl immediately turned and ran.

Crisp laughter rang out all around, making William Clark's head ache.

Helen Grant, nicknamed Coconut Flake, was considered a little beauty in the class—black ponytail, a well-developed chest from an early age, and a graceful figure honed by years of gymnastics, making her quite popular. Rumor had it that boys had even fought over her, both in and out of class.

“So boring...”

William Clark shook his head, packed up his books, put them in his desk, and got up to eat.

The food in the cafeteria really suited his taste.

Sitting among the sparsely scattered metal tables and chairs, William Clark quietly ate the food on his tray.

A serving of tomato and scrambled eggs, and two taels of rice—that was his entire lunch.

Simple, but delicious.

This was his daily routine.

Classes every day, then home to do homework, review past exam papers from various years, study late into the night, then sleep.

The next day, he’d get up and repeat the same life all over again.

His parents also left early and returned late; his older sister was still in college and would soon be heading back to campus. This time, she was home only because their grandfather was seriously ill.

“Really, so boring.”

William Clark calmly scooped up rice, spoonful by spoonful, and put it in his mouth.

His gaze occasionally flickered with the ebb and flow of students in the cafeteria.

But most of the time, he was utterly calm.

Although he was born ordinary, had no exceptional talent, and certainly no unprecedented intelligence or emotional quotient—

Even at school, his grades were only average, nothing remarkable.

But he had one major problem.

He lacked desire.

That was the first key reason he could remain calm in most situations.

The second reason was that he was a weirdo who had awakened memories of his previous life.

Nearly thirty years of memories from his past life left him almost unmoved by his current existence.

After all, the college entrance exams in his previous life weren’t much different from now—endless drills and practice tests every day.

Now, going through it all again, it naturally felt dull and tedious.

“The technology level here is only about that of the newly founded New China—there are cars, planes, and some newly popular gadgets. But it’s still far behind the most prosperous era of my previous life.”

William Clark sighed inwardly.

Having experienced the era of ultra-convenient mobile payments and highly developed computer networks, coming back to a world where computer games were only at the first-generation StarCraft level—

His mood was pretty terrible.

Fortunately, humanity’s greatest strength is adaptability.

After more than ten years, he had long since gotten used to the ordinary life of a student.

At the same time, fully understanding the saying “the tallest tree in the forest gets the wind,” he never showed off his maturity.

Being able to live safely and steadily until now, he felt, was no accident.

Chapter 3

After rushing through a full day of classes, William Clark turned down Grace Sullivan's invitation to grab snacks together in the afternoon.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go—he liked many of the snacks on the school’s snack street. Unfortunately, he could only spend an average of three yuan a day now, so he had to save money.

He boarded the free bus home.

William Clark sat by the window, gazing out at the old streets flashing by on the right.

Those winding folk patterns of birds and flowers were carved into the edges of shop signs and the corners of walls, making him unconsciously recall last night’s nightmare.

‘Doo... Next stop, Old Town Textile Factory.’ The standard female voice in Xilin language snapped William Clark out of his thoughts.

He picked up his gray-and-white backpack, stood up from his seat, and gave it to an elderly lady who had just boarded. Then he grabbed the overhead handrail and slowly squeezed through the crowd toward the door.

‘Why are you pushing! Are you looking for trouble!’

‘Young man, be careful! Don’t disturb everyone.’

‘My foot, you stepped on my foot! What’s your problem!’

The people being jostled around him all started complaining, like a bunch of children’s toys that squeak when touched.

William Clark remained unmoved. He was 1.75 meters tall, neither skinny nor fat, with healthy, strong muscles hidden under his school uniform. Apart from his skin being as pale as a white person’s, he had no real flaws.

Pfft.

The bus doors opened automatically. William Clark jumped down, took a deep breath, and glanced back inside.

Seven or eight more people had gotten on, and the whole bus looked like an overstuffed, about-to-burst can of expired food. The doors slowly closed, and the bus drove off.

A dozen meters to the right of the bus stop was his residential complex—Huili'an Community.

The main gate was a round-arched iron frame, with the words ‘Huili'an Community’ hanging a bit crookedly above.

On both sides of the gate, elderly men and women were selling vegetables from baskets. Some residents stopped in front of the stalls to haggle.

In the afternoon, the hot temperature had already dropped to the twenties, not as hot as during the day.