Chapter 1

In 1998, in Longjiang Province, Shangbei No.1 Middle School, Examination Room No.17.

Qi Lei stared blankly out the window, his gaze passing through the lush poplar forest and settling on a storefront outside—the Trendy Music Store.

A sweet voice, with a powerful resonance, penetrated his eardrums.

Upon closer listening, it was Zhang Xueyou's "A Thousand Reasons to Be Heartbroken."

"Really trendy!"

Stiffening his neck, he turned his gaze back to the desk in front of him.

Well, this desk was even more impressive, made of solid wood with no joints. If it had a brand label, it could be worth a thousand or so in a high-end furniture store.

It was just a bit old, with the paint peeling off. Countless "geniuses" had left behind mathematical formulas, lyrics, and famous quotes, layered on top of each other.

Among them was a crooked, heartfelt declaration: "Farewell, Xu Qian."

Snap! If it were twenty years ago, Qi Lei would have found it refreshing. But now, he would join the vast majority of netizens in saying, "A love slave will end up with nothing!"

His gaze shifted from the book to the desk, scanning every object in the classroom.

The three-ply board blackboard, with a corner broken off, had the same vintage feel as the desks.

The "Hygiene Corner" with its white tablecloth, the wooden lattice windows with their cracked and aged green paint...

And the youthful faces hurrying to their seats, so serious and spirited.

Of course, the neatly written large characters on the blackboard were even more shocking:

"1998 Shangbei City Junior High School Entrance Examination, Examination Room No.17"

"Fake."

Qi Lei looked at "Farewell, Xu Qian" and then at Examination Room No.17, "It must be fake!"

Finally, he fixed his gaze on the short-haired girl at the next desk, who exuded a youthful aura.

"Miss?... Miss!"

"Miss?"

The short-haired girl took a while to realize that the call was for her.

She turned and glared at Qi Lei, her eyes filled with seven parts anger and at least three parts disdain. She spat out, "You're sick!"

In the north, peers cannot call each other "miss"; it's a term used by elders for younger people.

"Hey!!"

Qi Lei was also quite unhappy. This kid... she looked so adorable, but why was her temper so bad?

He tried to be patient, "Miss, don't misunderstand! Uncle just wanted to ask..."

Before he could finish, the girl exploded, "I'm your aunt! Idiot!"

Qi Lei was defeated. He turned back and stared at the "Xu Qian" on the desk and his own small, white hands, his expression gradually fading, and he stopped trying.

But he began to feel inexplicably excited and elated.

The current situation...

To put it poetically, it was a man in his thirties, weary and unwilling, regressing through time.

To put it bluntly, it was—rebirth!

From a greasy old man in 2021, he had returned to the summer of 23 years ago.

Whether it was a gift from God or an accident of time, it was worth celebrating for Qi Lei.

The only regret was that the time of his rebirth was a bit off.

Why did it have to be the middle school entrance exam?

In Qi Lei's previous life, his student days were far from pleasant.

Especially during junior high school, he was not the kind of diligent and studious child. His mind was not on his studies, leading to abysmal grades.

The middle school entrance exam was even more disastrous, scoring just over 100 out of 600.

Including 20 points for physical education.

Forget about a key high school; even a regular high school wouldn't accept him. He could only attend a vocational high school to pass the time.

Although he turned over a new leaf in vocational high school and started focusing on his studies, it was too late.

One step behind, and he fell further behind. The poor teaching quality, learning environment, and limited college majors at the vocational high school meant he had no chance to compete with his peers.

Qi Lei went from a vocational high school to a non-prestigious college, then to a bachelor's degree.

From a mediocre major to a mediocre master's degree.

From graduating with a master's degree to struggling with employment, life, and marriage, every step was exceptionally difficult.

While others needed to put in 10 points of effort, he had to put in 20.

But who could he blame? The seeds he sowed led to a life of hardship.

Qi Lei had often fantasized that if he had worked harder back then, if he had performed better on the middle school entrance exam, even if he couldn't get into a key high school, just a regular high school would have made the next twenty years completely different.

At least he would have had better grades and more choices for college.

But why put me in the middle school entrance exam room?

Twenty years ago, I didn't know what Newton said, and twenty years later, I've almost forgotten who he was. How can I take the exam?

Do I have to go back to vocational high school to learn how to set tables and serve dishes?

After a brief complaint, Qi Lei calmed down. The soul of a middle-aged man gave him a composure far beyond that of a 16-17 year old boy.

Upon reflection, it wasn't so bad, at least better than twenty years ago.

First, thank goodness, he still remembered the middle school entrance exam essay topic— "My..."

Qi Lei's grandfather was diagnosed with colon cancer and had just undergone surgery before the exam. Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and the whole family went through a process of extreme grief and joy.

Qi Lei was deeply moved by this, so his middle school entrance exam essay was "My Grandfather."

Because of his personal experience and a bit of natural writing talent, that essay became the only highlight of his middle school entrance exam.

Out of a possible 50 points, he scored 40, a memory that still lingered.

Second, in his previous life, his total score for Chinese, English, comprehensive science, comprehensive social studies, and politics was less than 100, minus the 40 points for the essay... he only scored 50-something.

5 subjects, 50 points!

This wasn't just poor performance; it was the result of being cursed.

Even if he guessed again, it would be better than before, right?

Finally, in his later life, to gain more confidence in job hunting and in society, he studied English hard during his college and graduate years and passed the TOEFL. Even if there were some differences with junior high school English, it shouldn't be too different.

So, in summary, scoring over 100 points would be harder than getting into a key high school.

His goal wasn't high, just to pass the regular high school line. If he could think of a way, there might be a slight chance of reaching the key high school's quota line.

Of course, it was very slim, and he shouldn't have too many illusions.

But as someone who had been through it, he knew that for a small-town youth, especially in the north, if you didn't have a "cool dad," education was almost the only way out.

The middle school entrance exam was the first major turning point in life.

The gap between vocational high school, regular high school, and key high school was vast. Even the slightest chance was worth fighting for.

Thinking about this, Qi Lei became serious and looked at the exam time on the blackboard.

The exam lasted two days. Today, the first session in the morning was mathematics, the second session was politics, and the afternoon session was Chinese.

Tomorrow morning, there was only one session for comprehensive science, and the afternoon session was English.

Two days, five exams, with little time for adjustment. For Qi Lei, it was even more urgent.

Moreover, at that moment, the invigilator had already entered the room with a stack of exam papers. Qi Lei's first test after rebirth had begun, with no time to adjust.

...

The mathematics exam, a combination of algebra and geometry, lasted two hours.

Upon receiving the paper, Qi Lei first wrote his name and school, then copied the exam number from the sticker on the desk corner.

He immediately started answering, or rather, looking for questions he could answer.

After all, it had been over twenty years. Even a top student would have forgotten most of it, let alone a poor student, who was almost a stranger to the material.

However, Qi Lei still carefully reviewed each fill-in-the-blank, true/false, and multiple-choice question.

Some questions could still be answered, such as those that could be deduced using high school or college knowledge.

Although high school and college knowledge was also vague for Qi Lei, he had studied it seriously and had some impression, which could now be useful.

In addition, there were some straightforward questions.

Even if he was a poor student, he knew the "Pythagorean theorem," could solve "quadratic equations," and could handle "equation operations," "substitution," and "elimination."

He aimed to get as many points as possible from these straightforward questions, ensuring no points were lost due to mistakes.

However, such questions were few. After quickly reviewing most of the paper, he found only about ten questions he could answer, and the rest were beyond him.

But it didn't matter. The exam had only started for about ten minutes, and all the other students were deep in thought, while Qi Lei slowly stretched his neck...

He cast his 8.0 vision towards the short-haired girl next to him, who looked amazing but had a bad temper.

After all, every point counted, even if it was copied.

Indeed, although they were sitting at a double desk with a aisle between them, Qi Lei managed to glimpse quite a bit until the girl noticed.

Due to their previous unpleasant encounter, she already had a bad impression of Qi Lei. She glared at him fiercely and used her white arm to cover her exam paper tightly.

"Really white!" Qi Lei thought to himself.

Indeed, whether 16 or 36, men of all ages liked 16-year-old girls!

He gave the short-haired girl an apologetic smile and stopped bothering her.

The advantage of a middle-aged soul was knowing one's limits, and the invigilator, who had been about to warn him, held back.

Actually, she had noticed that Qi Lei wasn't being entirely honest. But unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn't warn him, let alone expel him.

After all, these children didn't understand, but she knew what the middle school entrance exam meant to students.

It meant that educational resources were no longer fair, and a good school was a good start.

Qi Lei couldn't copy anymore. He scanned the paper and found that he had filled in about half of the questions, but he didn't know if they were correct.

But he knew he had reached his limit!

He filled in the remaining fill-in-the-blank, true/false, and multiple-choice questions randomly and then... submitted the paper.

Yes, he gave up on the major questions, not even attempting them, as it was meaningless.

When he stood up, the short-haired girl looked at him in surprise, "He... submitted the paper?"

The invigilator also frowned slightly, "Too lazy to copy? Just giving up?" She shook her head slightly.

As an experienced teacher, poor students were nothing new, but she feared students who gave up. A student who submitted the paper after 20 minutes was worse than those who dared to copy, at least they knew the importance of every point.

However, Qi Lei's next action surprised the invigilator even more.

He brought the paper to her, smiled brightly, stood still, and bowed deeply, without any pretense or insincerity: "Teacher, I'm sorry... I caused you trouble."

After saying this, he left the exam room.

Stunned, the invigilator watched Qi Lei's back, not reacting immediately.

Sorry... causing trouble?

He didn't know I caught him cheating? And he could still do this...

She smiled sincerely, feeling warmth.

This child was good, so composed and perceptive at 15-16. With her 20 years of teaching experience, he was indeed good.

Well, this invigilator could change her mind faster than turning a page.

...