Chapter 1

The sound of the telephone rang, "Ding~Ding~" Wang Peng was awakened by the phone, abruptly sitting up from his chair, causing the papers and documents beside him to scatter all over the floor.

"Hmm? Is it already morning? Did I pass out again without realizing it? But this should be the last time..." Wang Peng was still a bit confused after waking up. He sat in the office chair for a few seconds before gradually regaining his senses. Turning his head to look out the window, he saw the glaring sunlight slanting into the room, shining directly on his body. Wang Peng instinctively squinted his eyes, raised his hand to block the sunlight, and muttered.

"Hmm~" Wang Peng stood up from the office chair, stretched lazily, and let out a comfortable sigh.

"Ding~Ding~" The phone on the desk continued to ring incessantly.

"Hello? Who is it?" After stretching, Wang Peng picked up the phone, placed it to his ear, and asked with a lazy, hoarse voice from not having had water all night.

"Hey! Dear Wang, did you stay up late working again last night? You came back to rest, didn't you? If I had known this, I wouldn't have sent you the documents. You need to take care of your health. We don't want a young genius like you to die from overwork." The voice on the other end of the phone was deep and masculine, but the person spoke English with a heavy Egyptian Arabic accent.

"Get lost. Do you dare to wish me well? By the way, I've finished reviewing the documents these past few days. There shouldn't be any problems. You can start the project. If possible, I'll come over." Wang Peng immediately recognized the familiar voice. They had been working together for several months, so he knew exactly who it was. He responded in Arabic without any hesitation.

"You're coming back? When you fainted at the excavation site a while ago, it scared us. The doctor said you were overworked and needed to rest. If you come back, you need to get a health certificate from the doctor. Otherwise, even if you come back, we won't let you near the excavation site." The person on the other end of the phone responded without any courtesy, but his words were filled with genuine concern.

"Overwork? I'm fine, I'm very healthy." Wang Peng defended himself.

"Healthy? It's almost noon now. From the sound of your voice, you just woke up. You must have stayed up all night reviewing the documents and passed out again. If I hadn't called, who knows when you would have woken up. This isn't good." The person on the other end of the phone interrupted Wang Peng before he could finish speaking.

"Alright, you don't need to say more. If you insist, I'll tell your uncle and aunt." The person on the other end of the phone, as if anticipating Wang Peng's rebuttal, immediately used his trump card.

"Uh..." Hearing this, Wang Peng's words were cut off.

"Oh! By the way, did your uncle and aunt tell you? They somehow found out about your overwork and plan to let you rest for a few months. They've enrolled you in a high school so you can enjoy campus life. They also said they hope you find a girlfriend. I heard this from them a few days ago when we talked on the phone." The person on the other end of the phone, remembering something, asked casually.

"What!?" Wang Peng was stunned for a moment, then shouted loudly, "Make me go to school!?"

"Yes, didn't they tell you? Strange, they said they already informed you, and the admission notice should have been sent to your house." The person on the other end of the phone, hearing Wang Peng's surprised voice, asked in confusion.

"I don't know! When did this happen? Wait!" Wang Peng immediately blurted out, but then suddenly remembered something.

It seemed that about half a month ago, his mother had indeed called him, but she didn't mention anything about school. If she had, he would have remembered. At the time, she had said something about... preparing a surprise for him?

"Damn! No way!" Thinking of his mother's character, Wang Peng immediately felt a sense of foreboding. He hung up the phone without a second thought and quickly ran out of the study to check the unsorted mail.

"Sure enough, it's here. Really, Mother's bad habits should really be changed." After searching through the pile of mail for a while, Wang Peng found his mother's letter, and he couldn't help but complain.

Wang Peng opened the letter and found a school notice inside. However, it wasn't an admission notice but a transfer notice, apparently for a high school in a small town where he could start from the second year.

In addition to the school notice, there was a letter from his mother. Wang Peng unfolded it and read her words. The general idea was that she was worried about his health and had taken a long leave for him to prevent overwork. The school was in a small town they had passed through during a road trip, and she thought the environment was nice. She had decided to enroll him there as a surprise.

Holding his mother's letter and the transfer notice, Wang Peng felt only shock and no joy. Having lived two lifetimes, Wang Peng had only heard of terms like "pit father" and "pit mother," but this was the first time he had encountered the term "pit son."

Indeed, Wang Peng had lived two lifetimes. Although his current body was a seventeen-year-old, his mental age was already that of a man in his forties.

In his previous life, Wang Peng was a typical Chinese nobody, the kind who would be lost in a crowd. He went to school like everyone else and then attended an ordinary university, where he lived a life of idleness. The only thing that made him feel alive was reading various novels online, watching Japanese anime, and American TV shows.

When Wang Peng graduated from university, he perfectly embodied the common phenomenon that graduation equals unemployment. However, it seemed that the heavens favored him and gave him a small reward, allowing him to be reborn.

In his new life, Wang Peng couldn't tell if he had been reincarnated or reborn, as he was reborn as an infant, almost ready to be born. He stayed in his mother's womb for nearly half a month before being born.

After being born, Wang Peng spent less than a week understanding his new situation. He was born in the United States, a country that ninety percent of the Chinese population aspired to live in, but his body still had an Asian face, and his name remained the same, Wang Peng, given by his parents, who were Chinese Americans.

Based on the various novels he had read in his previous life, it seemed that whenever someone was reborn, they would have some kind of special ability. Wang Peng was very excited about this, looking forward to the day he could slay gods and conquer the world.

However, when Wang Peng turned one year old, he completely gave up on the idea of having a special ability. Despite his efforts, he found no mysterious grandfathers, unremarkable artifacts, superpowers, or heaven-defying techniques.

Apart from his memories from his previous life, he seemed no different from other infants. If anything, he felt he was a bit smarter in this life, with a stronger memory. However, he attributed this to genetics, a rather sad fact.

Moreover, over the course of a year, Wang Peng realized that this world was not a magical or sci-fi world with flying mechs and hover cars. It was almost identical to his previous life, with the same countries, the same geographical locations, and the same global dynamics. China was still struggling, and the United States was still the world's superpower.

This realization was a significant blow to Wang Peng, who had hoped for a life different from his previous one of idleness.

So, Wang Peng resumed his carefree life from his previous life. Apart from the small, sad fact that he was still a child, he felt he was living in paradise, as he could play however he wanted.

Additionally, due to the cultural differences between the United States and China, when he occasionally caused trouble, his parents did not beat or scold him as Chinese parents might. They easily forgave him, which made Wang Peng realize the differences between the two countries and feel a bit embarrassed.

However, even with this carefree life, Wang Peng still attracted the attention of his parents and neighbors.

The reason for this attention was that Wang Peng was too well-behaved and too understanding, unlike other children his age who cried and fussed. He only made a sound when he needed to use the bathroom, never causing any trouble for his parents.

In China, parents would proudly show off such a well-behaved child, but in the United States, Wang Peng's parents were very worried. They even thought he might have a congenital disease and took him to the doctor.

After the doctor confirmed that he was just naturally well-behaved, his parents were relieved, and Wang Peng once again felt the cultural differences between the East and the West.