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

Lin Bei sat up in bed, took out his phone, and found a number in his contacts labeled "Aunt Wang".

Aunt Wang is a long-time resident of the community, having lived in this building for over ten years. She knows everyone and is familiar with all the gossip. In his previous life, his mother always said, "Aunt Wang's mouth is faster than the radio," but that was because Aunt Wang worked in the neighborhood committee before retiring; she was warm-hearted and liked to get involved.

To put it bluntly, it's just that I can't break my professional habits, and it has nothing to do with whether I'm retired or not.

He dialed the number.

The phone rang twice before being answered. Aunt Wang's strong, clear voice came from the other end: "Hello, who is this?"

"Aunt Wang, I'm Lin Bei, from room 501."

"Oh, it's the Lin family's fat son! What's wrong?"

"Aunt Wang, I want to ask you something," Lin Bei said. "It's about the apartment across from mine, 502... Did Su Wantang's dad move away? We're in the same class today, and she seems... not doing too well. I was thinking we're neighbors, so I was wondering if I could help her out."

There was a second of silence on the other end of the phone. For Aunt Wang, a second of silence was equivalent to ten seconds of information processing time for an average person.

Then Aunt Wang lowered her voice noticeably: "Why are you asking about this?"

"Well... I saw her alone in the school cafeteria today, and she seemed listless." Lin Bei spoke vaguely yet sincerely, like a concerned student showing concern for a neighbor. "And she didn't eat much at noon, so I felt... something was off."

"Sigh..." Aunt Wang sighed. "Her mother passed away a few years ago. Now her father has remarried, and I can't really say anything about his new wife, but she's just not easy to get along with. Last week, her father moved out, carrying all sorts of bags, making several trips. I even went to ask him about it, and he just said, 'Let's move somewhere else,' and didn't say anything else."

"So she lives alone now?"

"That's how I see it. Anyway, I've run into her when I'm grocery shopping these past few days, and she's always alone." Aunt Wang paused, then added, "That young girl has it tough, Fatty, you... just keep an eye on her at school. Don't meddle in other things, you're too young..."

Lin Bei tightened his grip on the phone.

"Okay, I understand, Aunt Wang. Thank you."

Lin Bei chatted with Aunt Wang for a few more minutes, then hung up the phone.

He pieced together the fragmented information in his mind: her father remarried and started a new family, moved away, and she lived alone and was not in a good state.

The situation is now roughly clear.

Lin Bei leaned against the headboard, the string of numbers he had just seen flashing through his mind again.

36 days.

It sounded like much more than a few hours, but he knew in his heart that this countdown didn't mean he could rest easy; it was more like "extra lives" in a game. It had simply changed from "today" to "next month." If he did nothing, or did something wrong, the number would change again.

What's more troublesome is that he glanced at the expiration dates of the two abilities on the system panel: Life Countdown, 7 days; Mind Reading, 7 days.

Seven days later, he would no longer see the countdown or hear her heartfelt words.

At that point, he would have to rely solely on his eyes and mind to make a judgment. And if she were to fall into that state again, he might not even be able to give her a warning.

Lin Bei took a deep breath.

It wasn't depression, it wasn't school bullying; it was her biological father who cut off her financial support on her very first day of high school, leaving her to fend for herself.

In her past life, she didn't tell anyone. When she couldn't bear it alone, she...

He didn't want to think about it anymore.

She needed money. This was her most direct and urgent need. All the life lessons, psychological comfort, and concern from her classmates were meaningless in the face of the fact that she only had two hundred yuan left in her account.

Lin Bei's gaze fell on the phone screen: 2012.

In his previous life, he lived for thirty years. Although he spent most of that time slacking off, he still heard plenty of classic "If only I had known..." stories of regret. For example, if he had known Bitcoin would rise, he would have bought it with all his savings; if he had known housing prices would rise, he would have sold everything he owned to buy it; if he had known WeChat would become popular, he would have started a public account.

Now that he's been reborn, those "if only I had known" moments have transformed from regrets into strategies.

Bitcoin. In 2012, one Bitcoin cost about ten dollars. If you bought it now, it could reach twenty thousand dollars per coin during the 2017 price surge. He only had eighteen thousand dollars left in his account. If he bought all of it in Bitcoin, at $12 per coin, he could buy more than two hundred coins, which would amount to more than four million dollars by 2017. But that money was a long way off; Su Wantang couldn't wait five years.

What she needs is the money in front of her.

There are other ways.

In 2012, housing prices hadn't yet taken off, but real estate speculation required capital. What about stocks? The few top-performing stocks he could recall were all later developments; it was 2012, and the real doubling-up market hadn't even begun.

Also, in August 2012, just last month, an app called "WeChat" launched its official account feature. He remembered clearly that in his previous life, WeChat began its explosive growth in 2013, and Tencent's stock price soared afterward.

But that was a few years later.

After thinking about it for a while, none of the solutions could immediately solve the money problem.

Lin Bei lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He suddenly realized that he, as a reborn person, was somewhat different. Others were reborn with the thought, "I want to conquer the world," but he was reborn with the thought, "I want to keep my female neighbor alive."

Forget it, I'll stop thinking about it now. He glanced at the time on his phone; he'd be late for school if he didn't get there soon.

I'll think about making money more when I have time.

Lin Bei got out of bed, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and went out the door.

He glanced at 502 from the doorway, then turned and went downstairs.

……

The first class in the afternoon was math.

As Lin Bei walked into the classroom to the sound of the school bell, his gaze swept towards the front of the middle of the classroom, and he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Wantang came to class and sat quietly in her seat.

This life is truly different.

Just then, Old Gu walked into the classroom carrying a stack of forms. His hair was still neatly combed, and his leather shoes were still shiny.

"Class, we're going to do something during the first period this afternoon." Teacher Gu placed the forms on the podium. "Elect class officers."

Lin Bei sat in the last row, twirling his pen. He had no interest in being a class officer. In his previous life, he hadn't held any position, and it was the same in this life. His goals were much grander and more specific than being a class officer: First, to keep Su Wantang alive; second, to make money; and third, to lose weight.

Just then, a thought flashed through his mind.

Mind reading.

He hadn't officially used the superpower the system had given him yet. He'd tried it on Su Wantang in the cafeteria at noon, but that was just an emergency. Now, in this quiet classroom with so many students sitting together, it was the perfect opportunity to test his mind-reading ability.

Lin Bei took a deep breath and silently chanted in his mind: Mind reading, activate.

In an instant, countless voices flooded his brain like a tidal wave.

"I'm so nervous, so nervous, so nervous! I want to run for class monitor, but I'm afraid no one will vote for me... What if there's only one vote? And that vote is one I cast myself..."

"I really need to go to the bathroom... Why now of all times? The election is about to start, and if I raise my hand and say I need to go to the bathroom, will everyone think I'm just nervous? Oh well, I'll hold it in... But I can't hold it in any longer... Why is life so hard..."

"Is my hair messy today? I sprayed half a bottle of hairspray before leaving, it shouldn't be messy, right? But the wind blew a little just now... Oh no, I have to sneak a peek with my phone... Old Gu is looking down at the podium, now! Now! Okay, it's not messy. Let me check again. Okay, it's not messy. Let me check again to confirm. Alright, I've checked three times, it should be fine... Wait a minute, isn't this tuft on the left sticking up?"

"..."

I thought I'd hear some profound thoughts on campaign strategy or grand narratives about life ideals, but instead, it was all about bathroom anxiety and hairspray becoming a spirit...

Lin Bei silently withdrew his mind-reading ability.

The students' strange thoughts vanished instantly, and the classroom became so quiet that only the sound of the electric fan could be heard.