Chen Nuo was looking at Sun Keke... classmate.
Yeah, Sun Keke, the one who "jumped off the building."
A face that could be called rather delicate and pretty, but paired with a pair of almond-shaped, bedroom eyes—that's got a certain flirtatious flair to it.
Girls this age, in this era, rarely wore makeup, but even au naturel, this face absolutely counted as high-tier looks.
She could totally count as the school belle.
And if you add in that C... absolutely bonus points!
Right now, the two of them weren't actually at the scene outside the classroom.
Instead, they were both standing straight and orderly in the Head of Discipline's office.
The jumping incident had already become No. 8 Middle School's top headline today.
Luckily enough, Chen Nuo's classroom was on the first floor, and the school belle fell from the second floor. If the floor had been any higher, well—forget about C, even DEFG couldn't save her from a splat.
What Chen Nuo was most curious about at this moment was: why is this girl staring at me with that look?
A cough came from outside the door, snapping Chen Nuo out of his daze just in time.
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Seems like the Head of Discipline's face at every school on earth is exactly the same: stern, uptight.
Mr. Sun was no exception.
Add in some tobacco-stained yellow fingers, and... that pretentiously serious way of speaking.
"...I just happened to be standing there when she fell off the building and landed on me." Chen Nuo thought for a second, trying his best to put on a naïve and innocent smile: "So, um... technically, I saved her, right?"
Mr. Sun's face was serious: "School infirmary already checked you? No issues?"
"Nope."
Mr. Sun let out a sigh of relief, his gaze skipping past Chen Nuo and zeroing in on Sun Keke: "You jumped off a building?? Why would you jump??"
Under scrutiny from two men, School belle Sun finally spoke up.
"I was on the second floor, leaning on the railing, you know... looking at the scenery. Then I accidentally fell over." School belle Sun seemed nervous: "Dad... I wasn't trying to jump!"
Dad?
Chen Nuo shot a surprised look at the school belle's alluring eyes and her flower-like beauty, and then glanced at Mr. Sun's pancake-flat, weathered mug...
Adopted, right?! No way they're biologically related!!
"Classmate Chen Nuo, regardless, thank you very much." Mr. Sun gave Chen Nuo a formal look: "Are you injured? Feeling unwell anywhere? I already requested a leave from your homeroom teacher. Do you want to get checked at the hospital? Need me to contact your parents?"
Chen Nuo waved his hands quickly, putting on a face as innocent as any teenage boy: "Sir, I'm really fine. Must've just tumbled the right way, not a scratch on me."
"I've already requested leave for you; you can go home and rest this afternoon. But honestly, are you sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital?" Mr. Sun looked a little uneasy still.
Chen Nuo suddenly pulled his hand back from the door handle.
He turned around, with that special teenage boy's shyness and nervy look all over his face—sincerity just oozing out.
"Um... Mr. Sun, actually, can I trouble you for a little favor... if it's convenient?"
"Go ahead and ask!"
Chen Nuo's face had that classic boyish awkwardness and embarrassment: "Could I borrow fifty bucks? I feel a little dizzy, can't ride my bike home."
Mr. Sun whipped out his wallet and pulled out a hundred-yuan bill!
He thought about it, and drew out two more bills.
"Take this! And really, go get checked at the hospital!"
Three hundred—that's no small sum for this time period.
But considering his daughter was saved, Mr. Sun was happy to fork it out.
·
Chen Nuo stood outside the school gate, looking at the rows of parked bicycles, then fished the bike key from his pocket and sighed.
Simple reason: he had no clue which one was his bike.
Stuffing the three hundred yuan he'd gotten from the Head of Discipline in his pocket, Chen Nuo made his way toward a nearby bus stop.
Oh, and he dug a student bus pass out of his backpack.
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Let's break down Chen Nuo's situation right now.
Died for who knows what reason and somehow ended up time traveling from 2021 to 2000—not exactly unheard of.
There are enough novels and TV shows about this to wrap around the Earth.
But here's the snag—his name in his past life was also Chen Nuo, also from Jinling, also grew up in Jinling...
But this Chen Nuo is not that Chen Nuo.
So, soul swapped into a teenager with the same name and surname?
To him, this was a strange school, strange classmates, strange teachers.
And—a strange family!
Finding his own house wasn't hard.
Chen Nuo found a filled-out Communist Youth League application form in his backpack.
It had his address written on it.
After finding this unfamiliar house, Chen Nuo spent an entire afternoon finally piecing together his current situation.
A regular high schooler in Class 6, Grade 2 at Jinling Jiangning District No. 8 Middle School.
For the record, this Jiangning No. 8 High was no top-notch school. To be precise, it only got turned from a vocational high into a regular one just a year ago.
As for the school spirit and academic achievements... well, it's got a vocational school foundation—say no more, you get it.
As for Chen Nuo's own status...
Let's put it this way—Heaven gave him this alt account... definitely a complicated one.
The Chen Nuo in this timeline, well, how to put it? His life was kind of tragic.
Parents divorced when he was young. Dad supposedly went off to do business, then moved overseas to open a Chinese restaurant—vanished, basically.
Chen Nuo's mom remarried six years ago... Not like in those melodramatic soap operas where she just dumped her son entirely.
Left some money and put Chen Nuo in his grandma's care.
So, not heartless. Used to come visit her son occasionally, even if only once in a while.
But pretty unlucky—three years ago, her new husband racked up gambling debts, and to help pay them off, the woman embezzled a huge sum from the company, and even more, she got caught.
...So now the couple are both receiving a bit of "serious re-education"—prison, in other words.
But last year, yet another blow hit the boy living with grandma.
The old lady passed away.
So now, at seventeen and a half, Chen Nuo is all alone.
Of course, the local neighborhood committee assigned a case worker to visit regularly, check in on the boy, and make sure he's okay.
—That's actually very responsible.
The apartment wasn't big, just a modest two-bedroom his grandma left behind.
One of those old buildings from the 80s. Hallway walls plastered in random flyers and ads.
Bleach-white paint on the walls and that era's cheap PVC carpet on the floor.
The furniture was old-fashioned too.
The TV wasn't big, one of those CRT color TVs that were typical for the era—LCDs hadn't appeared yet.
As for a computer, fat chance.
Chen Nuo found a little over 600 yuan cash at home.
That was his living expenses.
The old lady had left behind her lifelong savings—twenty-odd thousand yuan. Since Chen Nuo was still a student, the neighborhood committee managed the funds and gave him a monthly allowance.
No property certificate, obviously. The apartment was originally work-unit housing, still owned by the company.
There was housing reform, but obviously the boy couldn't afford to buy, so he just made do there.
Yup, pretty much sums up the whole situation.
"Could be worse." Chen Nuo let out a breath.
Simple social relations, a "jinxed orphan" kind of MC setup, actually cuts down on a lot of complications.
Chen Nuo wasn't quite satisfied though.
He couldn't help but pay a visit... Actually, he was pretty curious to see what his younger self at this age was like.
The real him!
Sadly, disappointment followed.
When he tracked down the address where his past self lived at this age and knocked, the door was answered by a chubby guy holding instant noodles.
After poking around the area a bit, Chen Nuo finally realized something.
Everything was the same—his past life's neighbors, the shrewd shopkeeper lady at the store downstairs, and even the chubby little guy from next door who used to beat him up all the time.
Everyone was still around.
Except... he himself was missing.
In this timeline, his past life's self had vanished.
Only this "jinxed orphan" version of Chen Nuo was here.
With hands in his pockets, Chen Nuo drifted aimlessly in the night, heading home.
When he passed the convenience store downstairs, Chen Nuo bought a pack of cigarettes.
The familiar yet unfamiliar, shrewd shopkeeper lady glanced at Chen Nuo's young face and the blue-and-white school uniform, then coolly handed him a pack of Yuxi cigarettes.
Chen Nuo felt it.
Yup, just as expected.
Fakes.
Chen Nuo laughed, same as his memories.
The convenience store's TV was playing a bootleg VCD—young, radiant "Sister Qiao" was sobbing like crazy in Song Seungheon's arms.
Yup, Endless Love—the viral drama of 2000, sweeping across Asia.
Song Hyekyo's looks were seriously top-tier—how else could she manage to snag Song Joongki as a cougar twenty years later?
As for Song Seungheon... Chen Nuo sighed, even he would go on to date the goddess Liu Yifei a decade later.
These random thoughts spun aimlessly in his mind.
Suddenly, Chen Nuo's expression shifted. Something popped up in his memory!
Half an hour later, Chen Nuo walked into an internet cafe... Back in 2000, internet cafes were still rare beasts, and going online wasn't cheap.
Of course, there were cheaper options called "computer rooms," where you could play Red Alert and StarCraft.
But most computers there didn't even have internet.
This internet cafe was pretty high-end by local standards.
Chen Nuo endured all the weirdness of Windows 98, and looked up what he needed to look up.
Ten minutes later, Chen Nuo let out a breath, absentmindedly took out the Yuxi cigarettes, and lit one up.
The harsh taste of counterfeit smoke made him cough.
But his brows were tightly furrowed.
"This is... kind of a problem."
·
Hi everyone, my name's Chen Nuo. I'm a high school student at Jiangning No. 8 Middle School. I like computers and games, and I hate chemistry class and the periodic table.
Of course, none of that really matters.
The real headache right now is: I have to somehow get to South Korea's capital, Seoul, within fifteen days... Oh right, in 2000 it wasn't called Seoul yet, it was still "Seoul" (Hancheng) officially.
As for why I have to be in Seoul within fifteen days...
Because, at midnight fifteen days from now, someone will face the most tragic and terrifying event of their life!
So, here's the dilemma.
No money for plane tickets, only fifteen days, no passport, no way to get a passport in time, and definitely no South Korean visa. (Underline this.)
So how can a broke, undocumented, seventeen-year-old high school kid manage to go abroad and get to South Korea's capital, Seoul, in just fifteen days?
Waiting for replies online, and I'm actually in a hurry.
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[To those complaining about prices: Some say their family made 500 a month in 2000, some say 800, some say 1200. I just gotta sigh—can you please consider individual circumstances? Even in the same time, economic situations differ by region.
In 2000, if you were in the west, even 400/month was decent. But in Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou, 1,000 or more was the norm.
If someone says they came from the mountains and only made two hundred per year in 2000, and that proves the author is wrong—
How's an author supposed to survive?
This novel is set in Jinling, which is Nanjing—one of the big three Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou cities and among the country's most developed regions.
Please think about regional differences before calling me out, okay? Sigh.]
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