"Zhou Rui! Don't walk so fast!"

"Did you watch last night's episode of Insidious? I only saw half of it before I had to finish my homework. Yu Zecheng is so handsome!"

Behind him, Li Wenqian was carrying a heavy schoolbag. Her voice was soft yet lively.

Zhou Rui looked around blankly.

The early morning sun cast its rays on the wet stone road, giving it a glossy sheen.

On the glass window of a nearby barbershop, faded photos of exaggerated hairstyles hung in a row. The colors had dulled over time, making them look far less striking than the flashy hairdo sported by the barber himself.

Zhou Rui turned to his side and noticed the morning news playing on an old TV in a street-side breakfast shop.

"Earlier this month, the U.S. and Mexico experienced successive outbreaks of H1N1 influenza A. This influenza virus is transmissible between pigs, poultry, and humans," a news anchor reported.

"Next year's Shanghai World Expo has become a global focus. Construction of various venues is nearing completion, and the highly anticipated China Pavilion will soon be unveiled."

"Experts warn that video games are destroying the younger generation and urge parents to intervene early."

Thick steam rose from the snack bar, eventually obscuring the old television mounted on the wall.

The steam seemed endless, like the passage of a long life.

In 2003, when 33-year-old Zhou Rui returned to his hometown, the snack bar had still been steaming.

And now, it was 2009.

Zhou Rui felt a little dazed. He hadn't expected rebirth to happen to him.

And, as though fate couldn't bear to let him wait too long, the legendary "golden finger" appeared almost instantly after he realized his situation.

"The life entry synthesis system is now online."

"This system can help the host obtain entries, enhance abilities, and even synthesize more advanced entries."

A flood of information surged into Zhou Rui's mind, leaving him shocked. Subconsciously, he clenched his fists.

Had God finally taken pity on him? Not only had he been given a second chance, but he'd also been granted a system!

In his previous life, Zhou Rui worked 996 hours a day. Finally, after years of burnout, he took a hard-earned vacation. Gritting his teeth, he bought a plane ticket and went to Dali—a place he had dreamed about since he was a teenager.

By then, in 2023, Dali was no longer the famed tourist haven of old. Its reputation had dwindled to stories of overpriced meals and empty shops. Yet, Zhou Rui still found a trace of peace there.

That trip was a small dream he had chased for over a decade, but it came too late.

Sitting in a dingy bar surrounded by pushy drinking touts, Zhou Rui drank alone. Reviewing his difficult and unremarkable life, he let the liquor flow a little too freely.

His days had been a blur of overtime, commuting, and nights turned into days. Life in the big city, meant to fulfill so many dreams, had instead worn him down.

Ten years of work left him with a receding hairline, an out-of-shape body, and dreams that felt increasingly out of reach.

He remembered how proud and ambitious he had been when he first graduated from college, promising his classmates that they'd "meet at the top." But by their thirties, they were all struggling in different trenches.

For Zhou Rui, even owning a house in the city was an unattainable dream. He didn't dare to spend the meager savings in his bank account, let alone buy a car.

That night, perhaps there was something off about the wine. Zhou Rui drank until his head throbbed and his whole body felt ill.

Back at the B&B, he wanted nothing more than to sleep, but his phone buzzed. It was his company leader, ordering him to work overtime and finish a PPT.

Zhou Rui clenched his fists but had no choice. Despite the headache, he pulled out his laptop and surrendered to the demands of capitalism and survival.

Midway through, he fainted.

When he woke up, he found himself 14 years in the past—back on the eve of the college entrance examination.

"Zhou Rui! Have you listened to Jay Chou's new song Rice Fragrance? It's so good!"

Zhou Rui snapped out of his daze and turned his gaze from the swirling steam to the girl behind him.

Young and full of life.

Li Wenqian.

Her name represented both regret and distance.

He hadn't expected that after so many years, he'd be walking this path with her again.

But right now, Li Wenqian was just a shy, unconfident high school girl. Her mushroom-shaped haircut hid 90% of her beauty.

Li Wenqian stretched her slender neck. The collar of her blue-and-white school uniform was slightly askew, revealing a small patch of snow-white collarbone. Her bright eyes blinked, and her nose wrinkled slightly, as if waiting for Zhou Rui's response.

The two of them had grown up together. They attended the same elementary, junior high, and high schools. In their small county town, they were the quintessential childhood sweethearts.

But after the college entrance exam, their paths diverged. Zhou Rui went to Shanghai, where he struggled and sank, while Li Wenqian moved to Beijing, where she rose to fame.

Especially after entering the music industry, Li Wenqian became as distant as two railway tracks never destined to meet.

At first, after graduation, she had tried to contact Zhou Rui. But out of pride, he had avoided her. Eventually, they lost touch completely.

More than ten years had passed since then.

Zhou Rui couldn't resist reaching out and gently scratching the tip of Li Wenqian's nose.

Startled, Li Wenqian blushed furiously. "What are you doing! You're being a hooligan!"

Zhou Rui answered calmly, "There was something on your nose."

Li Wenqian immediately touched her nose in a panic. "How did I not wash my face properly?"

Zhou Rui didn't wait for her and kept walking toward the school. "I don't know what it is. It fell on the ground. How about you lie down and look for it?"

After taking a few steps, Zhou Rui noticed a delicate hand out of the corner of his eye, the skin two shades lighter than his own.

He turned around and saw Li Wenqian, her hands tucked into her school uniform sleeves, with one of her earphones dangling loosely. She said casually, "Here, listen to it! It's Jie Lun's new song."

Zhou Rui took the headphones and began walking side by side with her.

If you're sharing the same pair of headphones, perhaps you won't drift farther apart.

Melodious music filled his ears:

"Remember~ you said home is the only castle~"

"Keep running along the rice-scented river~"

"Smile~ I know your childhood dreams."

Zhou Rui felt a sense of calm wash over him. The confusion and tension from his rebirth began to dissipate.

"This song still hits differently," he thought. "Our Zhou family still rules this era. I can't stand listening to those future so-called 'chicken singers,' 'daddy singers,' or 'pants singers.'"

An idea sparked. Now that he was reborn, could he borrow from his predecessors and make some pocket money by copying songs?

And then there was this girl beside him.

Zhou Rui turned his head and glanced at Li Wenqian, who was softly humming along to the music.

Her voice was as lively and clear as a lark's. The title "The Last Singing Queen" she would earn in the future was well-deserved.

But his peaceful and promising thoughts were shattered in an instant.

Because of what Li Wenqian said next.

"Zhou Rui, did you finish your math homework yesterday? I only finished one of the two papers. Can you let me copy yours?"

Li Wenqian tugged at the corner of Zhou Rui's clothes, looking up at him expectantly.

Zhou Rui was momentarily stunned. He wanted to complain in his heart: You? A future Beijing University student, asking to copy my homework?

But then reality hit him like a bucket of ice water.

He immediately opened his schoolbag and rummaged through it, finding a stack of math homework papers. As a high school student with the college entrance exam only two months away, homework primarily consisted of endless test papers. His schoolbag was stuffed with more papers than textbooks.

It was over.

Zhou Rui's mind raced as panic set in.

I can't recite ancient texts or poems for the Chinese exam. I barely remember the main ideas of any passage.

What do all these symbols on the math paper mean? I only know sin and cos!

The English test? Okay, maybe I can get through that one—barely.

But physics? What's this about a bullet hitting a block? Or how far a ball slides? This is even worse than the math!

Zhou Rui swallowed hard.

You're asking a corporate slave who's been out of school for over a decade to take high school exams again?

You might as well ask a monkey to explain Maxwell's demon!

This knowledge wasn't returned to the teacher—it was returned to the school!

In his previous life, Zhou Rui's grades in the first two years of high school were mediocre due to a lack of effort. But he'd managed to buckle down in his third year and scrape into a second-tier university in Shanghai.

Now, with his rebirth, Zhou Rui felt like his brain was an empty shell. If he could even score 200 points on the college entrance exam, it would be a miracle.

Forget exams. Should I just drop out of school and live as a "rebellious boy"?

I thought I was starting over and heading for the pinnacle of life, but my new beginning is worse than my first one! Should I just go to a factory and screw in bolts to save myself from decades of detours?

Wait.

There's still the system!

What's this "Life Entry Synthesis System"? Let's see what it can do!

Zhou Rui focused his consciousness, and a holographic-like display appeared in his mind.

"Life Entry Synthesis System is online."

"This system can help the host obtain various entries, enhance abilities, and even synthesize higher-level entries."

"Host currently has one entry: [Student] (White)."

"Do you want to activate the Newbie Bonus?"

Without hesitation, Zhou Rui answered, "Yes!"

"Newbie Bonus unlocked: A craftable path related to the host is revealed. A random green entry is also rewarded."

A crisp electronic voice followed:

"Novice Reward 1: The synthesis path is revealed: [Student] + [Self-Disciplined] = [Student Master]."

"Novice Reward 2: A green entry has been obtained: [Absolute Musical Sense]."

"Host, please start the entry mission as soon as possible to unlock new entries and maximize the system's potential."