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

The next few days passed peacefully.

Lin Bei gets up at six every morning to run, then takes a shower and goes to room 502 for breakfast made by Su Wantang. He attends English tutoring at noon, and after finishing his homework in the evening, he does dozens of push-ups and then writes a novel in his spare time.

When Shen Qingzhi saw him in the classroom, she didn't mention her grandfather again. Lin Bei still hadn't opened the envelope; it was tucked at the bottom of his backpack. She would occasionally glance at him, but her gaze would quickly shift away, as if she were just confirming that he was there.

On Friday afternoon after school, Lin Bei took Su Wantang home.

When Su Wantang rode her electric scooter to the bottom of the building, she suddenly spoke.

"Lin Bei".

"Um."

"Tomorrow's the weekend, are you free?"

Lin Bei parked the car and turned to look at her. Su Wantang stood at the entrance of the building, the setting sun shining from behind her, casting a long shadow that stretched all the way to his feet.

"I'm free. What's up?"

"I'd like to go to the bookstore to buy some English reference books," she said softly. "Would you... like to come with me?"

Lin Bei looked at her. Her gaze fell on his shoulder, not into his eyes, but the tips of her ears were slightly red.

"Okay," he said.

Su Wantang nodded and turned to walk into the stairwell. When she reached the corner of the stairs, she paused for a moment, as if she wanted to turn back, but ultimately did not, and continued walking upstairs.

Lin Bei stood downstairs, watching her figure disappear around the corner.

[Host's heart rate accelerated. Reason: Su Wantang initiated the invitation. The system advises the host to calm down; she's just going to buy reference books, not on a date.]

Lin Bei: ...

[Although the reference book and the date are only a meal apart, the host hasn't even had a meal yet, so don't overthink it.]

Lin Bei turned and entered the stairwell, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

That evening, Lin Bei updated Chapter Nine.

This chapter describes the protagonist, Fatty Lin's, first time spending time alone with the prototype of Su Wantang, a girl named Su Tang. He wrote more slowly than in the previous chapters, each word like polishing a stone, repeatedly hammering and revising until he felt "this is the feeling" before stopping.

After sending it, he refreshed the page.

The number of favorites increased from 48 to 51.

A new comment appeared in the comments section: "This chapter is so well written, it's so vivid."

Lin Bei stared at the message for a few seconds, then took a screenshot and saved it to his memory palace.

Saturday.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Lin Bei stood at the door of 502 and knocked on the door.

The door opened. Su Wantang was wearing a white dress, the hem of which just reached her knees.

She wore very light makeup, so light that Lin Bei almost couldn't see it. Her lips had a light pink tint, not lipstick, but more like the natural color of lip balm. Her eyebrows were drawn with just a few strokes, and there was a slight, unnatural blush on her cheeks, as if she hadn't quite gotten the hang of applying blush the first time.

But Lin Bei felt that this was the most beautiful she had ever seen.

No, she's always beautiful. It's just that today, she seems to be putting in more effort than usual.

"Let's go," Su Wantang said.

They went downstairs, Lin Bei pushed out his electric scooter, and Su Wantang sat on it sideways, her hands naturally resting on his waist.

The car drove out of the residential area.

The bookstore Su Wantang mentioned is in the city center; it's the largest Xinhua Bookstore in Jiangcheng, spanning three floors.

Lin Bei parked the car and walked into the bookstore with Su Wantang.

The first-floor supplementary education section was the busiest, filled with parents and children buying reference books. There were middle school students in uniforms, elementary school students with backpacks, and young parents pushing strollers... The babies in the strollers couldn't even sit up properly, yet they were already buying "Essential 300 Characters for Preschool." Lin Bei glanced at it and thought to himself, "These parents are really ruthless."

Su Wantang stopped in front of the English textbook shelf, her fingers tracing the spines of the books slowly and carefully. As she selected books, she tilted her head slightly, silently reciting the titles, occasionally picking one out, flipping through a couple of pages, and then putting it back.

"Lin Bei".

He turned his head. Su Wantang was holding two reference books, one was "Complete Explanation of High School English Grammar" and the other was "Essential Vocabulary for College Entrance Examination English".

"Which one do you think is better?" she asked.

Lin Bei glanced at the covers of the two books, then looked at Su Wantang.

"Buy them both," he said. "Grammar and vocabulary don't conflict. Grammar is the bone, vocabulary is the flesh. Having only bones makes you a skeleton, having only flesh makes you fat. You need both to be a normal person."

Su Wantang glanced at him, a smile playing on her lips, and put the two books into her shopping basket.

After browsing around for a while, buying the books, and leaving the bookstore, it was almost eleven o'clock.

Su Wantang stood at the entrance of the bookstore, looked at her phone, and then looked at Lin Bei.

"How about... we eat before we go back?" Her voice was soft as her gaze fell on a row of restaurants across the street. "There's a noodle shop over there. I've eaten there once, and it was pretty good."

Lin Bei looked at her. Sunlight shone from behind her, turning her hair a light brown color. The tips of her ears were slightly translucent in the sunlight, revealing fine veins.

"Okay," he said.

"Let's go this way, it's closer." Su Wantang pointed to an alley next to the bookstore.

Lin Bei followed her across Zhongshan Road and turned into a side alley along Yanjiang East Road.

The alley was narrow; it was difficult for two bicycles to ride side by side. The houses on both sides were dusty and gray, with peeling paint on the exterior walls, revealing the mottled cement underneath.

Some windows had broken glass, covered with plastic sheeting, which rattled loudly in the wind. Electrical wires crisscrossed overhead like spider webs, and clotheslines stretched out of the windows, hanging sheets, duvet covers, and faded clothes.

This is the oldest area in Jiangcheng.

Lin Bei slowed his pace. He recognized this alley. In his previous life, he had lived in this city for thirty years, passing through this old district countless times. He remembered what it had become... high-rise buildings, commercial streets, subway stations.

He still remembers that time: after the National Day holiday in 2012, the government released the old city renovation plan, and the southern part of the city was included in the first batch of demolition areas.

That was the news he saw while scrolling through his phone in his rented room in his previous life, but now, standing in this alley, that forgotten memory suddenly surged up from the depths of his mind.

Lin Bei's heart skipped a beat, then sank heavily back down.

What about money?

How much money does he have in his card?

The system provided a total of 50,000 yuan, of which 2,000 was given to Su Wantang, leaving 48,000 yuan. This is far from enough to buy a house.

Looking at the drab houses on both sides of the alley, Lin Bei felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his heart.

He knew these houses would soon become demolition compensation, yielding returns several times over. He knew the policies, the timing, which areas to buy, and which pitfalls to avoid.

But he had no money.

"Lin Bei?" Su Wantang's voice drifted over from the front.

He snapped out of his daze. Su Wantang stood at the entrance of the noodle shop, tilting her head as she looked at him, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Why are you spacing out?"

"It's nothing." Lin Bei quickly followed. "Let's go, let's eat noodles."

The noodle shop is small, but very clean.

The walls were covered with white tiles, and a disposable tablecloth was laid on the table. The menu was written on a blackboard on the wall, with crooked chalk writing.

They found a seat by the window and sat down.

Su Wantang ordered two bowls of beef noodles, one large and one small.

When the noodles were served, Lin Bei picked up a piece with his chopsticks, blew on it, but didn't put it in his mouth. His chopsticks hung in mid-air, his gaze fixed on the rim of the bowl, his mind still swirling with those drab houses.

"Lin Bei, the dough's all soggy." Su Wantang's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Lin Bei looked down and saw that the noodles in the bowl had risen. He quickly took a bite, but the noodles were limp and had no chewiness.

"Are you troubled?" Su Wantang looked at him, her chopsticks hovering in mid-air. "You've been acting strange ever since we entered the alley."

Lin Bei looked up at Su Wantang. There was worry in her eyes, not the polite "Are you alright?", but the genuine concern, "What happened to you?"

He forced a smile: "It's nothing, it's just... something suddenly came to mind."

Su Wantang glanced at him for two seconds but didn't ask any further questions. She lowered her head and continued eating her noodles, but then picked up a piece of beef and put it in his bowl.

"Eat up, eat more."

Lin Bei nodded, finishing not only the noodles in his bowl but also the soup.

Never mind, I'll stop thinking about it for now.