Reborn as a high school freshman with an awakened system, a fat boy transforms into a male god.

Su Wantang looked up at him. Then she lowered her head, stopped talking, picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in her mouth, chewing very slowly.

Lin Bei didn't say anything more and lowered his head to eat. He felt that saying anything at this point would be superfluous.

After finishing her meal, Su Wantang tidied up her lunchbox and wiped the table clean with tissues. She wiped it very carefully, not only the area in front of her but also the area around Lin Bei. After wiping, she folded the tissues into a small square and placed them on the corner of the table to throw away later.

"English," she said, her voice returning to its usual calm, "what don't you know?"

Lin Bei took out his English textbook from his schoolbag, flipped to the first unit, and spread it out on the table.

"Nowhere."

"Let's start with vocabulary then." Su Wantang opened the vocabulary list in the textbook, pointed to the first word, and said, "Read the words in the first unit once, and I'll listen to your pronunciation."

Lin Bei forced himself to read it once.

After reading it, Su Wantang fell silent. The silence lasted quite a while.

Lin Bei secretly glanced at her expression. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.

[Su Wantang remained silent for 4.2 seconds. She was organizing her thoughts, trying to find a way to express herself that was both honest and wouldn't hurt the host's self-esteem.]

Lin Bei: ...

Su Wantang's lips moved several times, each time about to speak but then closing again. Finally, she said, "...There's still hope..."

Lin Bei's lips twitched.

Su Wantang opened her textbook and pointed to the first word: "This pronunciation is wrong. Read it after me, paying attention to the vowels. The vowels should be pronounced fully, not swallowed."

She read it once, slowly and clearly, pronouncing each syllable precisely.

Lin Bei read it aloud once.

"Not right yet, open your mouth a little wider."

Lin Bei read it again.

"A little better, let's try again."

And so, during the one-hour lunch break, Su Wantang led Lin Bei through the vocabulary of the first unit. She taught very carefully, correcting each word two or three times before letting it go.

Lin Bei studied very diligently, not because English was so important, but because he discovered something interesting.

When Su Wantang was teaching him English, she became a completely different person.

It's like he's become a completely different person.

She usually sits there like a flower that's about to wither, huddled in a corner.

But when she picked up the textbook, pointed to the words, and corrected his pronunciation, her voice became steady and her eyes brightened.

It's not the kind of brilliance that says "I'm so amazing," but the kind of brilliance that says "I'm doing something useful."

Lin Bei had seen that kind of brightness before.

In his mother's eyes.

Every time she brought the food to the table and watched Lin Bei wolf it down, her mother's eyes would light up.

That is a light that is needed.

After finishing his English tutoring during lunch break, Lin Bei returned to his seat in the last row.

By this time, quite a few students had already arrived at the classroom. Zhou Ziheng was engrossed in reading "Battle Through the Heavens" on his knock-off mobile phone.

"Brother Bei, what's going on between you and Su Wantang?" Zhou Ziheng leaned closer and whispered, his eyes behind his glasses gleaming with gossip.

"She helped me improve my English."

"Tutoring in English?" Zhou Ziheng looked incredulous, a knowing smile playing on his lips. "Does tutoring in English require sitting so close? You're just separated by an aisle. Is that tutoring in English? That's called..."

"What's your name?"

"It's called... well, it's not called English tutoring." Zhou Ziheng pushed up his glasses, looking like he knew everything but wouldn't say it. "You know, our junior high homeroom teacher said that male and female students should maintain a 'safe distance.' What is a safe distance? It means... you can't reach them, you can't make eye contact, and your parents can't find out anything if they come."

Lin Bei: ...

Zhou Ziheng lowered his voice: "But I'm serious, Su Wantang is really beautiful. Do you know how many boys in the class are jealous of you sitting so close to her?"

"How many?"

"Conservative estimate: at least two."

"..."

"One is me, and the other... I haven't found it yet. I'll let you know when I find it." Zhou Ziheng said sincerely. "But don't worry, I'm not jealous of you, I'm only jealous of her."

"What are you jealous of her for?"

"I'm jealous that she can sit so close to you without being pushed to the ground."

Lin Bei rolled up his textbook, pretending to hit him.

Zhou Ziheng nimbly shrank his neck and turned back to watch Xiao Yan show off. The speed at which he shrank his neck was so fast that it was clear that this was not the first time; it was muscle memory honed from repeatedly testing the limits of being beaten.

The afternoon classes proceeded uneventfully.

Physics class covers kinematics, and chemistry class covers the amount of substance; these are basic topics for first-year high school students. Lin Bei was a science student in his previous life, and although he had forgotten a lot of this material, picking it up again wasn't too difficult.

When the school bell rang, Lin Bei didn't rush to leave.

He waited until Su Wantang finished packing her schoolbag before walking over.

"I'll review today's lessons when I get home," he said. "Shall we continue tomorrow at noon?"

Su Wantang nodded.

"My mom said she'll cook an extra portion next time, it's no trouble," Lin Bei said. "Don't refuse."

Su Wantang looked at him, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only said one word softly: "Okay."

He smiled, turned around, and left.

When Lin Bei arrived home, it was already quite dark.

The twilight in early September always stretches out long. After the sun sets, a large patch of orange-red remains on the horizon, like someone has accidentally spilled a palette of paint.

He pushed the old-fashioned bicycle into the building, the chain creaking and rattling all the way, creating a strange resonance in the narrow stairwell.

He stopped abruptly as soon as he reached the fifth floor and turned the corner of the stairs.

The door to room 502 was open.

It wasn't just a crack; it was wide open, with the door almost touching the wall.

There were people in the living room, more than one.

Lin Bei glanced inside from the edge of the door frame.

All the lights in the living room were on, making it bright and illuminating every corner clearly.

Two people were sitting on the sofa. Several sheets of paper were spread out on the coffee table, probably contracts or floor plans.

A young man in a white shirt and trousers stood in the middle of the living room, holding a folder and gesturing towards the window as if indicating something. Lin Bei recognized him; he was a real estate agent.

In his previous life, he had accompanied his colleagues to view apartments several times, so he was very familiar with this kind of professional enthusiasm. "Look at the natural light," "It's well-ventilated from north to south," "This price is really rare"—he could recite every single phrase.

A man in his early forties sat on one side of the sofa. His hair was slightly gray, but neatly combed. He wore a dark blue polo shirt, the collar of which was loose, indicating it had been worn for many years. His fingers traced the edge of the coffee table back and forth, again and again.

Lin Bei recognized him.

Su Yuan. Su Wantang's father.

The family living in 502, although they had been neighbors for many years, had only met a handful of times. Occasionally, when they bumped into each other in the hallway, they would simply nod and say, "You're back?" or "Going out?"

It doesn't even qualify as a "hello," it's just the bare minimum of politeness between people living in the same building.

But Lin Bei still remembered this face.

Lin Bei had never seen the woman sitting next to Su Yuan before.

She was around thirty-five years old, with long, wavy hair dyed dark brown, which made her skin look very fair. She wore a fitted red dress and a sparkling necklace around her neck, which swayed under the lights.

She had one arm linked with Su Yuan's, her body slightly turned towards him in an intimate gesture. Her other hand rested on her knee, her nails painted bright red, gleaming under the light.

This is Su Yuan's new wife. Lin Bei made that judgment in his mind.