"Wake up, wake up!"

"He's really awake! Oh my God, his eyes are moving!"

"Oh God! Jesus!"

"Hey, William, I never thought you could save him! Bless me, you finally--"

"𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙…can you hear me?"

…

When 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 struggled to open his eyes, the first thing he heard was a loud, constant chatter in English. The noise was so loud that it gave 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 a headache. He forced his eyes open and saw a crowd gathered around him, standing in a circle, their necks craned to get a better view.

The midday sun poured through the gap between the heads of the crowd, hitting 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 face directly. Its intensity was blinding, forcing him to shut his eyes again after only a brief attempt to open them. He tried to raise his hands to shield himself from the harsh sunlight, but as he moved, a wave of dizziness washed over him. The effort was too much, and he almost passed out once more.

"Here comes the stretcher... Be careful, John, come and help me lift his head up... Be careful, don't use too much force... Carol, lift his hips up, don't lift from the waist, lift from the hips! You idiot, don't you even know where the hips are?... Be gentle! You'll hurt him again."

𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 felt himself being carefully lifted up by several people. Only then did he realize that his whole body was in pain.

…

𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 lay in bed for several days. During these days, he tried hard to figure out one thing, that is, he transmigrated to past.

After spending a few days, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 figured out that he had traveled to the United States in 1855 and became an 11-year-old kid named 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 MacDonald. A few days ago, "he" fell down from a tree while trying to take out a bird's nest and died. Fortunately, William Rockefeller, who was said to be proficient in medicine (of course, some people said that he was just a liar who sold "special medicine for cancer"), happened to be at home and saved him after some work.

Of course, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 parents are now extremely grateful to William. They feel extremely ashamed for believing the rumors and thinking that William was a charlatan with no moral values, and even slandering his reputation in front of others more than once. When William cure 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙's father Joseph apologized to William sincerely in front of everyone.

William's wisdom was undeniable. In the following days, when Alex exhibited strange behaviors—like not recognizing people and speaking with an odd accent—Joseph grew concerned. He even went as far as seeking out a priest, wondering if something unclean was at play, and consulted his neighbor William for advice. William reassured him, suggesting that these symptoms were typical after a head injury, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. When Pastor Stephen later agreed with this assessment, Joseph and his wife, Laura, were relieved. While they greatly admired William's insight, they weren't overly shocked by Alex's strange actions. They could only sigh and mutter, "Poor Alex, I hope he gets better soon."

A week later, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 MacDonald was finally able to get up and go out. After spending two days running around, Luo Yong or now 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 finally believed that he really had traveled to the United States in the 19th century.

𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙's luck is pretty good among time travelers. Although he didn't transmigrated to the family of a noble or wealthy man, his family is still quite middle-class. His father, Joseph, is a good shoemaker. The shoes he makes are beautiful in appearance, comfortable to wear, strong and durable, and he has a very good reputation in the neighborhood. Thanks to Joseph's craftsmanship, the family lives a pretty good life. The family can eat meat twice a week. It's better than the neighbor William family. As the youngest son, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 is the most beloved child in the family. Whether it is his father Joseph, his mother Laura, or his eldest brother Carol who has already started to make leather shoes for his father, they all love him very much.

But this is not what 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 is most satisfied with. This standard of living, no matter what, cannot be compared with 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 original standard of living. What really satisfies 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 is his neighbour Rockefeller family. And 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 is now sure that this Rockefeller is the Rockefeller who will become a legend.

Neighbor William Avery Rockefeller had three sons and two daughters (actually four, but one of them died at the age of two). The eldest son was named John, the second son was named William, and the third son was named Frank; the eldest daughter was named Lucy, and the second daughter was named Mary. Isn't this the Rockefeller family that will become famous in the world in the future?

According to history, John D. Rockefeller will become the oil king. The Standard Oil Company he founded controlled more than 80% of the oil in the United States and more than half of the world's oil at its most powerful time. He himself became the first super-rich man in American history with personal assets exceeding 1 billion US dollars, and when he died, his personal wealth reached 1.4 billion US dollars!

This $1.4 billion is not the worthless $1.4 billion of the 21st century. The ratio of this money to the GDP of the United States, which had become the world's largest economic power at the time, was as high as 1:65. According to the total GDP of the United States in 2013 of $16.88 trillion, his personal wealth was as high as about $255 billion!

Of course, The Rockefeller family isn't wealthy yet, and John D. Rockefeller, who will one day become the richest man in the U.S., is still just a middle school student. This is the perfect time to build a connection with him—holding onto this opportunity could lead to immense success in the future.

𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 is four years younger than John D. Rockefeller,but because of his better-off family, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 started school younger than John. As a result, the two are now studying in the same middle school. It's just that John is one grade higher than 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙. In the past, the two went to school together every day.

After resting at home for two more days and making sure everything was fine, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 finally went to school. After breakfast, John came to his house to call him.

"𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙, you should go to school today!" John said as he helped 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 pick up his schoolbag. The two walked out together. "My mother asked me to take good care of you on the way. She is always worried that my father is not reliable... Well, let's not talk about this... I heard that you have forgotten a lot of things. Do you still remember what you learned in school?"

"I forgot some of it, but I remember most of it. Even if I don't remember it, I can just learn it again. I think as long as you are willing to work hard, there is no reason why you can't learn it well." In the eyes of 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙, who was an engineer in his previous life, the things taught in American middle schools in the 19th century should not be difficult to deal with.

John suddenly stopped, staring at 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 from head to toe for a long time, then said, "𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙, can a fall really change a person into a completely different person? You are much calmer now than before, and much more confident! It's as if you have grown up all of a sudden."

Seeing a 16 years old kid saying that he had grown up all of a sudden was a really weird feeling. Although he knew that this half-grown kid in front of him would be the richest man in American history in the future, and that he would drop out of high school this year, and then enter a business school to learn bookkeeping, and then embark on the road to creating legends, 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 still felt weird.

The road to school is very long, and it takes almost half an hour to walk there. The two of them talked as they walked.

"Well... 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙, there is one thing I wonder if you remember?" John said suddenly.

"What is it?" asked 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙.

"I knew you forgot." John shook his head and said, "I don't plan to continue studying in high school. I plan to go to the business school in the city to learn bookkeeping. I think this is more practical for me. You know, our family situation is not good. My father has always been unreliable. Although he performed well when he saved you this time, he... Anyway, as the eldest son, I must take on the responsibility of supporting the family as soon as possible."

"I seem to know something." 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 frowned, as if thinking hard, "I seem to remember that the tuition fees for this kind of school are not cheap. John, do you have that much money?"

"That's the matter. It costs 40 dollars. My father agreed to lend me 40 dollars, but he asked me to pay 15% interest. Damn, the interest is much higher than the bank! He is bullying me because I can't borrow money from the bank. I want to know if you can ask your family to lend me some money, just a part of it. When I get a job, I can pay you back at the bank's interest rate, no, a little higher than the bank's interest rate, 11% interest rate. How about it?" John looked into 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 eyes expectantly.