Chapter 003: Back to High School

Suddenly, something appeared in his mind, something akin to the search engines found on the Internet. When Lin Yu first discovered it, he thought he must be dreaming. Yet, after pinching himself ruthlessly several times and feeling the pain, the incredulous Lin Yu had to admit—there really was something in his head.

In his previous life, computers were already widespread, so Lin Yu was no stranger to search engines. Realizing that such a system had inexplicably appeared in his mind, he decided to test it out. Without much thought, he input: Chinese Men's National Football Team.

The instant he entered it, numerous links instantly surfaced in his mind: for example, "In the recently concluded Korea-Japan World Cup, the Chinese Men's Football Team was defeated 0-4 by the previous runner-up, Brazil..." The date accompanying the answer was September 2, 2002.

“How miraculous!” Lin Yu marveled inwardly, as if he had discovered a new continent. He began searching for all sorts of strange and curious things, as well as places he dreamed of visiting.

The Netherworld's Last Farewell. The Giant’s View. Tick Hound. Thalassophobia. The Guinea Pig Experiment. American Underwear. The Floating Corpses of the Ganges.

China’s most beautiful place: Wuzhen. Paradise on Earth: Lijiang Old Town. Modern Shangri-La: Ink-Wash Wuyuan. Rain-swept Border Town: Phoenix Old Town. The People’s Forbidden City: Hongjiang Ancient Commercial Town. The Eastern Capital of Art: Dunhuang.

Whatever he entered, answers would materialize instantly. The response speed far surpassed even the best processors of the twenty-first century; the answer arrived the very moment he thought of the question, almost as fast as the legendary speed of Cao Cao.

After experimenting over twenty times, Lin Yu felt a slight headache, but was now convinced of the reliability of this search system.

“With this thing in my head, does it mean I can change the course of many things in this life?” Lin Yu mused, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he opened the bathroom door, rushed to stand before Qi Yue, and pinched her fair cheeks with both hands.

The result was obvious: caught off guard, Qi Yue let out a shrill scream. Once she regained her senses, she immediately lifted her long leg and aimed a kick at Lin Yu’s lower half. She had been learning taekwondo with Lin Yu since the second half of their first year in junior high—almost five years by now—so her strength was not to be underestimated.

Faced with her sudden attack, Lin Yu dared not be careless, fearing he might be left a eunuch. Clamping his legs together, he trapped her long leg, then lunged forward, wrapping the enraged little tigress in his arms to prevent her from launching another outburst.

He drawled, “Hey, don’t get worked up! Your third brother is just a little excited. Is today really September 2, 2002?”

Being held tightly in his arms, the nearly berserk Qi Yue instantly softened, the anger fading from her face, replaced by a faint blush. Still, true to her nature, she didn’t respond in a gentle, demure tone, but cursed instead, “Nonsense, of course it’s September 2! Stop dawdling—get dressed, now!”

Hearing this, Lin Yu finally let her go. He took a few steps, bent down, and picked up his school uniform from the floor, putting it on at his leisure.

But before he was fully dressed, Qi Yue kicked him squarely on the backside, sending him sprawling onto the bed. Having committed her mischief, Qi Yue made a face at him before dashing out to the living room, the slam of the security door behind her announcing her escape from the apartment.

Lin Yu rose with a smile, straightened his clothes, and slowly left Qi Yue’s bedroom. Entering the living room, he was nearly overwhelmed by the pungent odor of alcohol. The place was a mess, making him shake his head with a wry smile. These kids sure knew how to party. Remembering his own wild youth, he couldn’t help but laugh, sighing inwardly—who hasn’t been young before?

Without realizing it, he muttered, “Being young—it really is wonderful!”

As he dawdled towards the hallway, he saw Qi Yue holding the elevator door open, waiting for him. Lin Yu’s heart gave a little squeeze—he was secretly touched.

Impatient as ever, Qi Yue urged him to hurry up. Yet Lin Yu remained nonchalant, strolling over at his own pace. He draped his right arm over her shoulders with a roguish air and drawled, “What a lovely young lady! How about spending some time with me, sweetheart? How much do you charge for an overnight stay?”

“Get lost!” Qi Yue, though unruffled by his teasing, waited until the elevator doors closed before delivering a sharp hook to his chest. Lin Yu, jolted by the blow, burst out laughing.

At that moment, the elevator stopped on the eleventh floor. In stepped a middle-aged woman in a tailored lady’s suit, exuding the air of someone accustomed to authority. Seeing the two of them entwined, she frowned in disapproval. She seemed about to speak, but thought better of it and turned toward the elevator doors instead.

Seeing her reaction, Lin Yu remembered that this era was far less permissive than it would be ten years later. This was the year before a certain professor would become the center of attention due to a notorious scandal; schools were not yet plagued by such incidents; the actress who would later become famous across Asia was just making her debut...

This was a time when the girls everyone liked were still pure.

Thinking about soon reuniting with those classmates he’d barely seen since adulthood, Lin Yu, lost in a waking dream, allowed a faint smile to blossom on his lips. His mischievous hands, still draped over Qi Yue’s shoulders, inadvertently squeezed a bit tighter, earning himself a sharp pinch that made him quietly beg for mercy.

The twelfth floor was high, but the elevator ride was swift—just a minute or two before they reached the second floor. The pair exited, strolled down the sloping walkway to the first floor, and hailed a red Xiali taxi by the roadside.

The woman in the suit pressed the button for the basement, clearly heading to the underground garage for her car—a sure sign of a successful, well-to-do individual.

After Lin Yu and Qi Yue exited, she shook her head and sighed, “The world is really going downhill! Thank goodness my own child is sensible—not causing me worry like that girl, running around with a boy…”

Qi Yue’s home was close to Bincheng First Senior High, so after a brief chat in the taxi, the two arrived at school in just a few minutes.

It was nearly the end of the day, so they dared not enter through the main gate, for fear of being caught by the guards. Instead, they circled around to the back wall, scaled it with practiced ease, and landed in a grove of poplars at the corner of the campus. Then, like a pair of thieves, they crept toward their classroom building, looking for all the world like invaders sneaking into a village.

It was already past three in the afternoon—the last period at Bincheng First Senior High. The entire campus was silent, making their hearts pound with nervous anticipation, terrified they’d be discovered by a teacher or administrator.

But life has a way of throwing exactly what you fear at you.

Just as they reached the entrance to the teaching building, almost home free, they ran straight into a portly, balding middle-aged man—a man well-known as the Director of Moral Education, Yang Yongming, nicknamed “Iron-Faced Mediterranean.” He was famous for his strictness with students, earning both fear and resentment from many.

Seeing the two walking side by side, Yang’s square face darkened, and he barked, “What are you doing here during class time?”

Qi Yue, flustered, didn’t know how to answer. Though her personality had a touch of the tomboy, at heart she was still an innocent girl.

But Lin Yu’s eyes darted as he replied vaguely, “She got her period during class, so I’m accompanying her.”

He then dragged the still-stunned Qi Yue into the building.

Yang Yongming nodded, “Ah, a girl’s period—indeed an inconvenience.”

With that, he sauntered away. But after a few steps, he suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing something was off. He spun around and shouted, “Hey, you brat! Why would a girl need you with her for that? Both of you, get back here! You’re getting a major demerit!”

But by then, the hallway was empty—the two had already darted up to the third floor, arriving at the entrance to Class 7, Senior Year 3.

From the corridor outside, they saw that the current period was English reading, taught by a male foreign teacher.

They thought to themselves that foreigners were usually more open-minded and probably wouldn’t mind a couple of students being late. So they knocked, pushed open the classroom door, and walked in.

But to their surprise, the foreign teacher smiled at Qi Yue, made a gentlemanly gesture inviting her to her seat, then blocked Lin Yu with a ruler.

In awkward Chinese, he said, “When a beautiful lady makes a mistake, even God forgives her. So she may enter. But you—no. Do you understand? You are a block of wood that cannot be carved.”