The United States, Texas, Austin suburbs.
Early morning sunlight filtered through the drawn curtains, illuminating the slightly gloomy room.
On the large bed, a boy of about 13 was fast asleep.
The sunlight outside seemed to make him uncomfortable; his eyelids twitched slightly, and he unconsciously turned his head away from the window.
“Ding—!” Just as the boy turned his head, the cat-faced alarm clock on the bedside table let out a piercing sound, waking him from his dream.
Frowning slightly, the boy stretched his arm out from under the quilt, skillfully turned off the alarm, and then slowly opened his somewhat sore eyes.
Rubbing his eyes, he sat up from the bed, stretched his limbs, and let out a strange, constipated-sounding moan.
Checking the time on the alarm clock, it was 7:00.
Without a trace of hesitation, he threw off the quilt, put on the slippers by the bed, and entered the bathroom to wash up.
Picking up the cup and toothbrush from the sink, he looked at his own handsome reflection in the mirror, his mouth curling slightly upward as he said with some pride: “I didn’t expect such a perk after transmigrating.” Yes, the boy was someone who had transmigrated due to an accidental death.
He had been in this world for almost a month.
From his initial confusion and anxiety to his gradual adaptation, he found that this world was not much different from his original one.
In this world, he was called Brian.
His parents were overseas Chinese who were rarely home due to work, so only he and a nanny lived in the house.
This saved him from the awkward situation of having to recognize parents right after arriving.
Overall, he was very satisfied with his current life.
He was free from the life pressures of his past life, didn’t have to worry about the mortgage and car loans that weighed on him daily.
Most importantly, he had been an orphan over there and had never been married, so he could live here without any psychological burden.
After washing up, Brian took off his pajamas, took a school uniform from the closet, put it on, tidied up simply, and turned to leave the room.
In the first-floor hall, a middle-aged woman was preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
When she heard footsteps on the stairs, she leaned back and immediately saw Brian standing on the stairs.
“Hi, you’re up really early today.” Seeing the middle-aged woman poking her head out, Brian nodded and greeted her: “Good morning, Josie.” “Go sit at the dining table; breakfast will be ready soon.” Walking through the living room, Brian sat on a chair in the dining room and picked up the newspaper on the table to read.
There was no help for it, as he didn’t have a mobile phone.
However, looking at the content in the newspaper made his brows furrow slightly.
“Admissions to the local Hospital surge; strange infections cause a 300% increase.” “FDA finds more contaminated agricultural products, expects mass recalls.” “Woman goes crazy and kills her husband and 3 others.” Brian noticed that since he transmigrated, strange infection incidents and murder cases in this world were increasing daily, which made him very suspicious that his arrival had brought some strange changes to this world.
“Here is your breakfast, eat it all.” Just as Brian was carefully reading the newspaper, Josie placed a freshly prepared breakfast in front of him: eggs, donuts, hash browns, and a glass of milk.
He couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
He missed the soy milk, fried dough sticks, and congee from his past life incredibly much.
It wasn’t that they were so delicious, but eating these sickeningly sweet, Energy-packed foods every day was something he couldn’t quite accept.
After hurriedly dealing with a few bites, Brian took advantage of when Josie wasn’t paying attention, quickly grabbed his school bag, and bolted out the door, ignoring the voice calling out from behind him.
“Hey, Brian.” Just as he turned to close the door, Brian heard someone calling his name nearby.
He turned his head and saw that it was the girl living next door.
The girl’s name was Sarah.
She had short, light blonde hair and was very cute.
She was the first friend Brian made when he arrived in this world.
Well, he had also managed to get quite a bit of information about his original self and all the nearby residents from her.
“Good morning.” Seeing Sarah walking quickly toward him, Brian greeted her affectionately.
Then, he saw a middle-aged man with a square face, The Bearded Man, standing not far behind the girl, staring at him with an unfriendly expression.
The middle-aged man was called Joel, Sarah’s father.
He seemed to be a construction worker.
Brian hadn’t met his wife, but he figured she was either divorced or deceased.
Looking at the man’s gaze, which was like looking at a pig, Brian’s mouth twitched slightly, but he still greeted him calmly: “Good morning, Joel.” Opposite him, Joel stared at him for a good while, until Brian felt a bit uncomfortable, before nodding slightly to acknowledge him.
Then, he picked up his phone and started making a call.
Although they were some distance apart, he could still hear him talking about something like contractors.
“Hmm~” Standing to the side, Sarah had witnessed the whole process.
She covered her mouth and giggled, patted Brian on the shoulder, and when she saw him turn his head, she teased: “My dad doesn’t seem to like you.” “Heh.” Brian and Sarah attended the same school.
The school had a dedicated shuttle bus.
Because they lived in the suburbs and near the highway entrance, for safety reasons, students here would wait at designated spots, and would board the vehicle as soon as it arrived.
If one didn’t arrive at the designated time due to personal reasons, well, sorry, parents would have to drive or take the bus to take the child to school themselves.
“Good morning, Jimmy.” “Good morning, Cooper.” “…” The two walked on the path they took every day.
Sarah seemed particularly happy today, waving her arms and greeting people she knew passing by.
“Hey, Brian.” When there was no one else nearby, Sarah turned her head and said to Brian: “I’m planning to sneak out of school to go to the mall today.
Are you coming?” Brian raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhat surprised.
After spending a month together, he knew Sarah was a very well-behaved girl, and he didn’t expect her to have such a rebellious side.
“If you dare to do that, Teacher Judy will be furious.” “Hmph, as long as she doesn’t find out, it’ll be fine.” Sarah was clearly prepared for today’s truancy.
She took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Brian.
“I saw this on Teacher Judy’s desk last time.
You’ll understand once you look at this.” Taking the paper Sarah handed over, Brian unfolded it and immediately understood her confidence.
The content was as follows: XX School Notice: This school will hold an XXX meeting in the school’s public conference room at 1:00 PM on September 6, 2013.
All teachers are requested to arrive on time.
This is a special notice.
“You were prepared for this.” Shaking the notice in his hand, Brian was very surprised, and then asked curiously: “What are you going to do at the mall if you skip class?” “Today is my dad’s birthday, I’m planning to buy him a gift.” “Alright, I’ll go with you.
When are we leaving?” “I’ll let you know.” …
Entering the school bus, Brian found a seat at random and enjoyed the beautiful scenery outside the window.
This was scenery he couldn’t see when he lived in the city before.
Compared to the cold steel, cement, and concrete, he actually preferred the lush, vibrant scene before his eyes.
The school bus swayed for half an hour before Brian and Sarah arrived at school.
The teachers were already waiting at the school gate.
After the bus doors opened, they led their respective classes back to the classroom.
The education method here was completely different from what Brian had faced before—it was very happy, and basically had no teacher supervision.
He could feel that teachers in American schools paid more attention to students’ imagination and creativity, following a high-end education route, whereas the education he had received before focused on learning cognitive abilities, following a basic education route.
Both had their own advantages and disadvantages, and it was hard to say whose method was better.
Just like that, they spent another happy morning.
Brian arrived at the Cafeteria, looked at the burgers and sandwiches in the display case, and his expression was very helpless.
He could feel his stomach protesting, but skipping lunch wasn’t good for his health.
It seemed he would have to cook a little something for himself in the evening.
After eating lunch, Brian had just walked out of the Cafeteria when he saw someone posting a new notice on the bulletin board at the entrance.
With nothing to do, he walked forward curiously.
After the person posting the notice left, he stepped forward to watch.
It turned out that because the recently emerged infectious disease was becoming increasingly serious, the entire Austin was about to enter a state of martial law.
The school issued a notice: starting from October, the school would enter an indefinite closure state.
Students were requested to return home and inform their parents.
If there were any questions, please call XXXXXX.
“Is it that serious?” Thinking of a certain pandemic from his past life, Brian decided he needed to buy some masks to keep on hand.
But just as he was about to turn and leave, he didn’t know when a large crowd of students had gathered behind him, all excitedly looking at the notice, and some were even clapping and cheering.
After finally squeezing out of the crowd, just as he was about to return to the classroom, he suddenly felt something poking his waist violently from behind.
His steps faltered, and he turned his head to find that it was indeed Sarah standing behind him.
Seeing him turn his head, Sarah blinked her eyes, made a shushing gesture, pointed to a corner of the Cafeteria, and said silently with her lips: “Action!”