Chapter 2

In the early morning, the first rain fell like silk, filling the ancient and elegant bedroom with a "rustling" sound. Zhao Yan, the Prince of Guangyang, who had already woken up from his sleep, did not immediately open his eyes but lay in bed, muttering to himself, "All of this is just a dream. As soon as I open my eyes, everything in front of me will disappear, and I will return to the 21st century, back to being that ordinary volunteer teacher!"

As Zhao Yan said this, he suddenly opened his eyes. Unfortunately, what he saw was still the familiar red silk canopy above his bed. He raised his hand to touch his chin, and it was still those few soft hairs, without the rough feeling he used to have every morning. This made Zhao Yan extremely disappointed, and he sat up from the bed, unwillingly looking around the environment he was in.

Everything he saw was decorated with old antiques. Although they looked very beautiful, there was not a trace of anything modern. Now, Zhao Yan would rather be in his shabby dormitory than in this room full of antiques. Recalling his experiences over the past few days, Zhao Yan felt an overwhelming headache. Who knew how he had suddenly traveled from the 21st century to the 11th century during the Northern Song Dynasty?

Zhao Yan had indeed traveled through time. To be precise, the current Zhao Yan was no longer the original Prince of Guangyang but a future person from the 21st century, also named Zhao Yan. Although they had the same name, their identities were completely different.

The Zhao Yan who had traveled through time was originally just an ordinary person. After graduating from university, he worked in society for a few years. Then, on a whim, he went to a village in a central province to be a volunteer teacher. Everything was going well, and Zhao Yan got along well with his students. Their grades improved significantly, which gave him a great sense of achievement.

However, one day, while Zhao Yan was returning to school from the county town, he was suddenly struck by lightning from the sky. When he woke up again, he found himself in the first year of the Zhiping era of the Northern Song Dynasty, and he had become a prince. Although his status was very noble, the thought of never seeing his family, friends, and those adorable students again made him feel a deep sorrow.

Moreover, Zhao Yan realized that he could not use his phone or computer to go online when he was bored at night, which made him feel even more painful. Some things are only cherished after they are lost, like his cheap domestic knock-off phone, which often shut down on its own but was at least a smartphone with fast internet, allowing him to read news, chat, and even watch movies, especially those that men enjoy.

"Phone!" Thinking of his phone, Zhao Yan suddenly remembered that something had come with him through time. He quickly searched around. Now that he was in the Northern Song Dynasty, every item he brought from the future was extremely precious. However, in the past few days, he had been so overwhelmed by the shock of his time travel that he had not had the time to think about these things.

Zhao Yan soon found what he was looking for in a cabinet beside his bed. He had seen a beautifully dressed woman in ancient attire when he first opened his eyes after traveling through time, which made him think she was a fairy. Later, he learned that she was his newlywed wife, Cao Ying. Unfortunately, Cao Ying did not like him and only appeared when someone came to see him.

Zhao Yan had no time to think about his relationship with Cao Ying. He shook his head vigorously, calmed down, and placed the items he found on the bed. There were three items: a silk-wrapped bundle containing the clothes he wore before traveling through time, including a white shirt, blue jeans, a black waterproof jacket, and even underwear.

When Zhao Yan woke up and saw Cao Ying, she was also frightened by the ball of lightning and ran out to call for help. Zhao Yan took the opportunity to look around his surroundings. Although he was still a bit confused, his intuition told him that something terrible had happened to him. He quickly gathered the items around him. What puzzled him was that his items, even his clothes, had come with him, but his body had changed into the current Zhao Yan. Who knew what had happened when he was struck by lightning?

Not thinking about things that couldn't be understood was one of Zhao Yan's few strengths. He touched the familiar clothes and took out a few items from the jacket pocket: a set of ordinary keys, which were useless without the locks left in the 21st century; a black wallet containing over a hundred yuan and some cards, which were now just waste paper; and the last item, the knock-off phone he deeply missed.

Zhao Yan was a fan of Stephen Chow. He remembered that in "God of Gamblers 2," the protagonist, Ah Xing, traveled back to 1930s Shanghai and could still use an old mobile phone to contact people from the future. Although the plot was absurd, Zhao Yan now hoped his phone could have the same function.

With this thought, Zhao Yan trembled as he picked up his phone and gently pressed the button.

"Huh? No reaction!" Zhao Yan pressed the button again, but the screen remained black. Sweat appeared on his forehead. The greatest pain in life is to give someone hope and then cruelly shatter it.

With a last hope, Zhao Yan held down the power button. Since the knock-off phone often shut down unexpectedly, he had to restart it every time. Moreover, it had traveled through nearly a thousand years with him. Who knew what problems it might have?

"Ding~" With a clear sound, the Android robot appeared on the screen, which relaxed Zhao Yan. However, before he could be happy, the screen went black again and shut down. No matter how long Zhao Yan held the power button, the screen would not light up again.

"Damn it, it just turned on, why can't it turn on now?" Zhao Yan, angry, kept pressing the power button and shaking the phone, but it remained unresponsive. He raised his hand to throw the phone away.

"Huh, wait? I've been here for a few days, this broken phone should have run out of battery and shut down automatically. If I could charge it, it might work." Thinking of this, Zhao Yan became excited again. However, he soon realized that it was the Northern Song Dynasty, and he couldn't find a place to charge it. Could he fly a kite during a thunderstorm? That would be too dangerous.

But who knew? If he got struck by lightning again, he might be able to travel back. However, the probability of this happening was extremely low, similar to winning the lottery ten times in a row. Zhao Yan seriously calculated and realized he probably didn't have such luck, so he decided not to take the risk.

A phone without power was useless, even less useful than a brick. So Zhao Yan could only throw the phone and the clothes aside and look at the remaining two items: a cardboard box and a backpack.

Zhao Yan knew what was in the cardboard box without looking. It contained a second-hand microscope. The village where he taught was not poor, but it was full of left-behind children. The village had only children and the elderly, with the young people working elsewhere. Besides him, the only young people were pregnant women.

The school's conditions were not good. When he wanted the students to learn more about biology, there was no microscope. So he asked a friend in Beijing to get a second-hand microscope, which was said to be from a local school and in good condition. It was cheap, but he had to go to the county town to pick it up. On the way back, he was struck by lightning, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Thinking that his misfortune was all because of the microscope, Zhao Yan felt a surge of anger and reached out to grab the box to smash it in frustration. However, he hesitated and couldn't let go, eventually placing it gently back on the bed. After all, it cost him several thousand yuan, and that was the lowest price his friend could give him. If he bought it on the market, it would cost at least tens of thousands.

Finally, Zhao Yan turned his attention to the backpack on the bed. It was an ordinary denim bag. He unzipped it and poured out all the contents: a portable toothbrush cup with a toothbrush and toothpaste, a manual razor, a bar of soap for washing his face, and a phone charger. Since the school was far from the county town, it was not easy to go there, and he had to stay overnight, so he brought these items with him.

In addition, there were two packs of cigarettes, one of which was already opened and half-smoked, and two lighters, which cost one yuan each and were disposable. However, they were now rare treasures. If Zhao Yan remembered correctly, there were no cigarettes in the Northern Song Dynasty. Tobacco was still in the fields of America, and the local Native Americans had started smoking, but they were separated from the Northern Song Dynasty by the Pacific Ocean. With their technology for making dugout canoes, it would be difficult for them to bring tobacco to the Song Dynasty.

Looking at the half-pack of cigarettes, Zhao Yan felt an itch in his throat. He hadn't smoked for several days before traveling through time because he had promised his students to quit smoking. Zhao Yan remembered that two days before he went to the county town, the prettiest girl in his class had told him she had found a way to help him quit smoking and showed him many materials about the dangers of smoking. Although Zhao Yan pretended not to care, he secretly decided to quit smoking and had successfully done so until now.

Thinking of his mischievous and adorable students, Zhao Yan felt a lump in his throat. He habitually took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff. Since there were no cigarettes in the Northern Song Dynasty, he would have no more after finishing this half-pack.

"Cough, cough, cough~" Zhao Yan coughed violently after the first puff because he forgot that his current body was not used to the taste of cigarettes. He had a habit of taking a deep puff when he was in a bad mood, which naturally made him choke.

However, the Zhao Yan from the past was already a seasoned smoker. After a few coughs and a deep breath, he slowly took a few more puffs, quickly making his body adapt to the taste of cigarettes. The nicotine helped him ease his anxious and restless mood after traveling through time.

"Ah! Ghost!" Before Zhao Yan could finish the cigarette, a piercing scream suddenly rang out, making him jump and almost drop the cigarette butt on the bed.