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

When I entered the classroom, Zhou Ziheng was already there.

He sat in his seat, a textbook open in front of him, flipped to the middle. But Lin Bei glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and knew that there was a phone under the textbook, and the phone screen was probably showing an unknown chapter of "Battle Through the Heavens".

This is Zhou Ziheng's signature skill: using a textbook as cover, peeking at his phone, and keeping a constant eye on the door. Once a teacher appears at the end of the corridor, he can complete the "three-in-one operation" of locking the screen, putting his phone away, and looking down at the textbook within 0.5 seconds.

The proficiency with this set of moves is roughly on par with the "one-click combo" of some e-sports players.

His eyes lit up when he saw Lin Bei come in. "Brother Bei! Guess what I did last night?"

"Doing your homework?" Lin Bei put his schoolbag on the table and replied casually. He knew the answer definitely wasn't homework.

"No! I wrote a chapter of a novel!"

Lin Bei was taken aback.

"You? Write novels?"

"Yeah! Didn't you say you also write things online? I was thinking I'd give it a try." Zhou Ziheng pulled a crumpled notebook out of his bag.

He turned to the first page and cleared his throat.

"Listen to this: 'Lin Feng opened his eyes and found himself back in high school. Looking at his young face in the mirror, he was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. In his previous life, he was a loser; in this life, he's going to be a top student…'"

"Stop," Lin Bei interrupted him.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Your opening," Lin Bei thought for a moment, "is exactly the same as the rebirth novels online."

"Yeah, I think this formula is pretty good. A loser is reborn, rises to become a top student, gets into Tsinghua or Peking University, marries a rich and beautiful woman, and reaches the pinnacle of life." Zhou Ziheng said matter-of-factly, "Isn't this a classic formula? Everyone writes it this way."

Lin Bei remained silent for a moment.

He looked at Zhou Ziheng's excited face and saw the light in his eyes behind his glasses. That light was the light of "I feel like I've written something amazing," the light that every creator has when their work is first published.

He didn't want to extinguish that light.

"Then keep writing," he said. "I'll take a look when you're done."

"Really? You don't think my writing is bad?"

"How do I know if it's good or bad if I haven't seen it?"

Zhou Ziheng was happy and stuffed the notebook back into his schoolbag.

……

At lunchtime, most of the students had left the classroom.

Lin Bei took out an insulated bag from his schoolbag and walked to Su Wantang's seat.

"Today's meal is scrambled eggs with tomatoes and shredded pork with green peppers." Lin Bei opened the lunchbox. "My mom said the green peppers aren't spicy, so you can eat without worry."

Su Wantang picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of tomato, and put it in her mouth.

"Is it tasty?"

"Um."

They ate their meal quietly, without saying a word. The only sounds in the classroom were the clinking of chopsticks against their lunchboxes and the rustling of sycamore leaves in the wind outside the window.

Suddenly, Su Wantang spoke up.

"Lin Bei".

"Um."

"I found the property ownership certificate."

Lin Bei paused for a moment.

"It's in my dad's drawer. He forgot to lock it when he left yesterday, and I peeked in."

"Whose name?"

"It's my mother's." Su Wantang's voice was soft but steady. "This house is in my mother's name."

Lin Bei looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"My dad said the money from selling the house should be used to pay off the loan on Cuipingyuan. But this house belongs to my mom. The money from selling the house shouldn't all go to him." Su Wantang's hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly, but she didn't stop. "I checked, and after my mom passed away, I also have a share in this house."

Lin Bei leaned back in his chair and looked at her.

The girl who said "I don't know" yesterday said "I checked" today.

"How did you find out?" Lin Bei asked.

"Online," Su Wantang said. "I searched on Baidu, and there were also legal consultation websites. I looked at many results, some of which were different, but I picked a few that seemed reliable."

Lin Bei's lips curved slightly.

"So, do you know what to do?"

Su Wantang nodded.

"Go talk to my dad," she said. "Not beg him, but reason with him. The house belongs to my mom; whether to sell it or not isn't up to him alone. And that woman..."

She paused for a moment, then said, "I thought about what you said yesterday for a long time. Maybe you're right, maybe that woman really does have a problem. But regardless of whether she has a problem or not, my dad should have listened to my thoughts before selling this house."

Lin Bei looked at her and felt that the dark circles under her eyes were indeed lighter than yesterday.

It's not that I slept well, it's that my eyes have a light in them.

It's not the kind of light that says "I'm so amazing," it's the kind of light that says "I know what I'm going to do."

After parting ways with Su Wantang, Lin Bei returned to his seat in the last row.

Zhou Ziheng leaned closer: "Brother Bei, why did you have lunch with Su Wantang again today?"

"She helped me improve my English."

Do I need to take English lessons every day?

"What else can we do? If you don't study English for a day, your skills will deteriorate."

Zhou Ziheng thought about it and felt that it made sense, but something still felt off.

"She tutors you in English, and you bring her food. It's a give-and-take, an equal exchange," Zhou Ziheng said seriously, adjusting his glasses. "It's an economic principle, something my dad taught me."

Lin Bei ignored him and took out her English textbook to continue memorizing vocabulary.

After school in the afternoon, Lin Bei rode his bicycle and took Su Wantang home.

Lin Bei rode the bike to the apartment building. He parked the bike, and Su Wantang jumped off the back seat.

They went upstairs together.

She went into 502, and he went into 501.

No one is home.

Just as he entered the door, his father called.

"Hello, Dad."

"Xiao Bei! I asked Liu Ping." Lin Jianhua's voice came from the other end of the phone. "Liu Ping said he can help check, but he needs the person's name and ID number. Try your best to get them."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Bei sent Su Wantang a text message:

"Can you get Zhao Yumei's ID number?"

After typing that line, he added, "No rush, take your time looking. It's okay if you can't find it, we'll think of another way."

send.

It wasn't because he felt there was no rush. In fact, it was very urgent; time was of the essence, and the house contract was due to be signed next week. It was because he didn't want Su Wantang to feel that "if she couldn't find a job, it would be the end." Pressure was necessary, but not too much. Too much pressure would break a person. And when a person breaks down, they can't do anything. Like a rubber band, if stretched too tight, it will break; only when stretched just right will it spring back.

About five minutes later, Su Wantang replied to the message:

"I'll give it a try."

Lin Bei put his phone on the table and went to the kitchen to heat up the food.

After finishing his meal and washing the dishes, he sat down at his desk.

He took out the brand-new notebook and turned to the page he had written yesterday.

Below "Su Wantang's List of Problems," a few more lines were added:

progress:

1. Su Wantang has the legal right to speak on the matter now that the house is in her mother's name.

2. Su Wantang is willing to investigate Zhao Yumei's background.

3. Su Yuan sent me a text message warning me, which means he's starting to pay attention to me.

4. There's been progress on Dad's end; they need Zhao Yumei's ID number.

Next step:

1. Get Zhao Yumei's ID number as soon as possible.

2. When Su Wantang goes to talk to Su Yuan, it would be best if a third person were present. Could I be present?

3. I can't stop dieting. I almost died from running 800 meters today.

Lin Bei closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair.

Outside the window, the light was on in apartment 502 across the street, and the curtains were still drawn.

He activated his mind-reading ability.

It wasn't eavesdropping, it was confirmation.

Su Wantang's inner thoughts flooded in:

"...Where is the ID number...? I remember Dad had a notebook...with lots of people's ID numbers written in it...Could he have taken it with him when he went to Cuiping Garden...?"

"...We need to get to the bottom of this..."

"...Lin Bei said not to give up...I didn't give up..."

Lin Bei deactivated the mind-reading ability.

He didn't give up. He silently repeated those four words to himself.