If Liu Sizhen had known that this would be the last time he saw the boyish, poor Lin Bosheng, he would have definitely paid more attention, even taken a few photos of his embarrassing moments to sell to him in the future. That way, he wouldn’t have ended up wandering the streets of a foreign country… Of course, Liu Sizhen only thought about this, but he wouldn’t actually do something so morally questionable.

Before going to bed that night, he was still thinking about what the first class would be the next day. Even though he had already covered those high school topics once, there’s always something new to learn. Although others might think Liu Sizhen doesn’t pay attention in class, he actually listens very carefully to every lesson. Moreover, since each teacher has their own teaching style, the same topic taught by different teachers can be surprisingly fresh.

Liu Sizhen liked the feeling of being with a group.

In his past world, during his three years of high school, he was always on edge. While others reminisced about their youth, all he could recall was endless studying and memorization, with hardly any time to relax. After all, at that time, Liu Sizhen had no friends. He forced himself to endure those three years.

When he got to college, things were finally a bit easier, but then his mother had an accident, and he was constantly running between the hospital and school. It wasn’t particularly tiring, but he didn’t have the energy to think about anything else.

Now that he was in this small world, it felt more like a vacation. After staying in Changning City for a while, he even started to forget why he came to this small world in the first place…

He thought he would stay here until graduation and retake the college entrance exam. But the system didn’t give him any time to react; one moment, he opened his eyes and found himself in a foreign country with a time difference of more than ten hours.

The passersby around him had different skin colors, facial features, and spoke unfamiliar languages. Amid the crowd, Liu Sizhen appeared particularly small, utterly confused by what was happening, with a cacophony of noise filling his ears.

When he was first transported here, he had been standing at a crosswalk, likely about to cross the street. The light had just turned green, and before he could understand what was going on, the crowd was pushing him forward.

[System, what’s going on right now?]

The temperature had changed so suddenly. Just a moment ago, it was hot, but now, Liu Sizhen could feel his skin prickling and could see his breath in white mist.

[The important plot points for the beginning have already passed.]

[I know… I’m asking about right now.]

Liu Sizhen looked down at his thin autumn clothes. Judging by his own physical feeling and the thick winter coats the people around him were wearing, he quickly guessed it must be winter. He didn’t even need to analyze it further, especially after noticing the festive decorations on the street.

There was a shop across from him where an employee was hanging lights and decorations on a Christmas tree, along with other Christmas-themed ornaments like Santa Claus and candy canes.

It was quite festive, and clearly, Christmas was coming.

The system’s narrative up to this point was quite brief, even to the point of being sparse. From the few lines, it was obvious what had happened: Liu Sizhen, always getting into trouble, was sent abroad by his parents before his senior year of high school. Even overseas, Liu Sizhen didn’t change; he continued to squander recklessly, unaware that things were falling apart back home.

The project under his parents’ company ran into quality issues, and if exposed, it would have a huge impact on their reputation. It was just a few production lines at one factory having issues, which could be fixed by replacing them.

Naturally, the PR department tried to cover up the situation, but things got worse. The public outcry only grew, and eventually, there were several lawsuits involving fatalities.

The family’s internal problems worsened as well. A product they had been preparing for years was preemptively launched by a competitor. Because the public relations issue hadn’t been handled, their assets were frozen, and they were facing possible legal consequences.

The downfall of Liu’s family was inevitable, and many people who had been jealous of their success jumped at the opportunity to take advantage.

However, Liu Sizhen was completely unaware of all this, only finding out about it through the news much later, by which point it was too late to do anything. By the time he learned of it, everything had already been lost…

In stark contrast, the male lead, Lin Bosheng, had a much smoother time. He wasn’t stupid; with enough talent and hard work, combined with his “male lead halo,” even the bumps in the road were quickly overcome.

The system didn’t provide much detail on Lin Bosheng’s situation, but it was clear he was doing well. Even without Liu Sizhen, Lin Bosheng would continue to rise higher, a sharp contrast to Liu Sizhen’s downward trajectory.

This is a common contrast technique used in storytelling.

[So… now it’s…]

[Just a little bit left to wrap up the plot.]

[Good luck!]

258 mentioned that most of the earlier campus plot points were already covered, so it directly skipped to eight years later…

Seeing Liu Sizhen remain silent, 258 continued explaining.

[Didn’t you say you wanted to go back earlier…]

[…………]

Having gotten used to spending money recklessly abroad, Liu Sizhen was now in a situation where he couldn’t save any money. After things went wrong back home, he had lost his financial support and found himself quickly falling from his high position into a pit of hardship.

At this point, Liu Sizhen had already graduated from a language school. It was more of a money-for-certification type of institution, where there wasn’t much supervision. Calling it a university would be an overstatement—it was more like buying a certificate.

Once he ran out of money to spend on treating others, all the Chinese friends who had been constantly surrounding him started to disappear one by one.

Liu Sizhen sold the luxury items he had once bought, but because he didn’t understand the trade, the resale prices were deliberately low, and it didn’t make much of a difference. In the end, he could barely even afford his rent and had to take a job at a restaurant.

This young man, who had never worked a day in his life, found his work experience to be full of hardships. He switched between several jobs, facing numerous setbacks. Eventually, after scraping together enough money to return home, he witnessed the former lackey, who had once been bullied, transform into a successful, new rich person.

“Thirty years on the east bank of the river, thirty years on the west bank,” “Don’t look down on the poor youth,” “Once, you ignored me; now, you can’t reach me…”

This was nothing but a typical “slap in the face” trope commonly found in novels.

Liu Sizhen could guess what would happen next—there would definitely be a reunion, and at that reunion, something predictable would occur.

If the person about to get slapped wasn’t him, Liu Sizhen would even enjoy watching the drama unfold while eating sunflower seeds…

The system confirmed his guess directly.

[Yes, the invitation will probably be sent to your email tonight.]

Back in his own world, even though Liu Sizhen’s mother had gotten into an accident, the family situation wasn’t catastrophic—his family hadn’t gone bankrupt, and those who had been waiting to see him fail never got the chance to witness any downfall.

Liu Sizhen had once blamed Cheng Ying, thinking that she was always working, never having time to rest, always on business trips, and never able to spend time with him. When he was younger, he even felt that his mother didn’t love him at all.

After his mother’s accident, Liu Sizhen met her lawyer and learned how meticulous she had been, how she had prepared for so many eventualities in advance. She had made arrangements so that even if she were gone, no one could take anything from him against his will.

The fact that she was able to build such a career as a woman was already an incredible achievement, requiring far more effort than a man would have to put in. She had to be hands-on with many things, and because of that, she didn’t have time to be with Liu Sizhen.

Even after his mother’s accident, Liu Sizhen didn’t suffer much.

So, this was Liu Sizhen’s first time working. According to the narrative, he knew that he was now working at a Chinese restaurant. However, since he had been unwell the day before, he had taken the day off and would start working tomorrow.

[System, did you do this?]

[……]

The intelligent system didn’t respond, but the meaning was clear. Liu Sizhen knew that he hadn’t experienced much hardship before. With the sudden change in environment, he definitely needed some time to adjust.

[…Thank you.]

In the end, Liu Sizhen followed the system’s guidance and finally found his current rented place. He had already mentally prepared himself for the situation, knowing that with his current wages, the accommodation wouldn’t be great.

However, the reality was even worse than he had imagined. He rented a small attic in a local resident’s home, where the front door had been turned into a small mini pub—a bar.

If Liu Sizhen wanted to go upstairs, he could only use the back door, and the narrow passage to the attic was extremely cramped. It was difficult for even one person to squeeze through, and the stairs were steep, so he had to be careful not to fall while going up or down.

The attic was so small that everything inside was visible in one glance. It was extremely cramped, smaller than Liu Sizhen’s old walk-in closet. Because it was an attic, the ceiling was very low, and he could almost touch the roof with his hand. The room was filled with clutter, looking more like a neglected storage space than a living area. There were piles of miscellaneous items everywhere, making it almost impossible to move around. Liu Sizhen furrowed his brow in displeasure.

The only light source in the attic was a small window, which appeared to be broken, tightly shut, and sealed, letting no air or light in.

Truly, “Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west bank.”

Just one day ago, Liu Sizhen had been a rich young master, driven around by a chauffeur, living in a spacious bedroom of over a hundred square meters, with a bed so large he could roll around without falling off, an enormous walk-in closet, a private balcony with a pool…

Everything was taken care of for him—food, cleaning, all his needs met. He had all the time in the world to squander…

But now… just after one night of sleep…

He had transformed into a destitute worker.