……

Weekend.

With money in hand, Henry Carter's first priority was, of course, to upgrade his gear. The most crucial thing for his safety was his running shoes, so he went to a store and was shocked to find that all the brands he knew from his parallel world still existed here. It seemed that in this parallel world, only the entertainment industry had gone off in a different direction.

In his previous life, Henry Carter was a pseudo-outdoor enthusiast—the kind who paid attention to the scene but never actually went out for outdoor activities himself...

In the world of outdoor sports, some brands are truly classic, like Arc'teryx jackets and so on. If those brands were gone, Henry Carter would have to do a lot of homework again when taking on new tasks, but now things were much simpler.

When it comes to extreme outdoor sports, having quality gear is a prerequisite for survival. No one understood this better than Henry Carter, who always kept an eye on outdoor activities.

However, Luoyang was just a third-tier small city, and none of the brands he wanted were available. He had to make do with a pair of Nike running shoes for now. Coming to buy gear as soon as possible was really a necessity—he just couldn't stand running in canvas shoes every day anymore...

For now, all he needed were running shoes. If he needed anything else later, he could deal with it then. The other thing was a laptop. He needed to buy a slightly better and more compact one—he couldn't keep typing on his phone every day.

If he switched to a laptop, his writing speed would improve even more.

In the end, Henry Carter gritted his teeth and left himself only 400 yuan, spending the rest on a laptop...

"Money just flows away like water," Henry Carter thought bitterly. It was like he’d gone back to square one overnight. The manuscript fees he’d risked his life to earn had ended up buying him just a pair of running shoes and a laptop.

But life would get better.

Henry Carter planned to complete the rooftop-jumping task next Monday, which was six days before the one-month deadline. He could have dragged it out a few more days, but that just wasn’t his style—once he was confident, he’d go for it. Having a task hanging over his head every day wasn’t a long-term solution. Besides, after practicing his running jumps these past few days, he could already clear about five meters.

Theoretically, this task was no longer a challenge for him.

When he finished shopping and was about to head back, he happened to run into a classmate he barely knew, who was picking out a laptop with his parents. Henry Carter had no intention of talking to him and just brushed past without even a greeting, as if they were total strangers.

But when that classmate saw the laptop in Henry Carter's hand, he opened his mouth in surprise and was momentarily speechless.

His parents noticed his reaction and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just a classmate I've heard is really poor—he just bought a pretty expensive laptop."

"Don't compare yourself to others blindly!"

"Oh..."

"At school, you should focus on competing academically with your classmates. If it weren't for your good ranking in this exam, we wouldn't be buying you a new computer!"

"Oh..."

Is a laptop costing over 7,000 considered expensive? Henry Carter chuckled at the conversation behind him. Damn, he was broke now, but in his eyes, 7,000 was cheap. Seeing that classmate silenced by his parents' scolding gave him a secret sense of satisfaction. What had Henry Carter fantasized about during his student days?

Wasn't it just being able to earn a lot of money and have complete control over it?

At this moment, Henry Carter found himself slipping back into the mindset of a student. In fact, he seemed to be getting more and more used to this identity.

Chapter 10: Flying Over the School Building

"Henry Carter, which high school do you want to go to?" During the flag-raising ceremony, the chubby Nora Grant whispered to Henry Carter.

"Number One High, of course. Isn't that the best one?" Henry Carter replied as if it were obvious.

"Don't joke around, be serious. Everyone in class is discussing which school to apply for," Nora Grant knew how hard it was to get into Number One High, so he thought Henry Carter was just kidding.

"Who's joking with you?" Henry Carter answered carelessly, but his gaze had already drifted past the flagpole to the two teaching buildings behind: "Hey, do you think if someone fell from the top of the school building, they'd definitely die?"

"Why are you thinking about stuff like that?" Nora Grant said in horror. "Don't do anything stupid! It's just high school—going to a less prestigious one is still going to school!"

"Shut up, why are you being so loud? The homeroom teacher is watching you," Henry Carter muttered quietly. Nora Grant was startled and quickly looked to the front of the line, only to see the middle-aged, balding homeroom teacher glaring at him coldly. Nora Grant immediately shrank his head back.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Henry Carter's mouth. School was actually kind of fun. Honestly, for most people who have struggled in society, their biggest dream is probably to go back to school, right?

No real pressure, no real worries. The so-called pressure of studying, the teachers' dissatisfaction—after you start working and look back, it all seems laughable. You wonder why you were ever so afraid of teachers.

After the first class, Nora Grant was about to call Henry Carter to go get some air, but saw Henry Carter running straight up the stairs. The upper floor was the high school section, and as far as Nora Grant knew, Henry Carter didn't know anyone up there.